Bishop helped Harper out of the wheelchair beside the last pew in the aisle. She wobbled and grabbed his arm to keep from falling.
He frowned as he steadied her. “You shouldn’t have worn those dangerous high heels. Kick them off. The preacher isn’t going to mind if you’re barefoot. And if he does, who cares? There’s no one else here to notice, and I’m fine with it.”
She gave him a reproachful look and leaned past him to smile at the preacher waiting at the front of the little mountain church just a few miles from Bishop’s home in Gatlinburg the two of them now shared. She looked up. “I care. I’m not going barefoot to my son’s funeral.”
“Our son.”
She straightened his tie and smoothed his suit jacket. “Our son. Come on, Gage. Let’s say our final goodbyes to Shane.”
He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? It’s only been two weeks. A brain bleed is nothing to sneeze at.”
“No. It’s not. But you ordered everyone around at the hospital like a general, so they took excellent care of me.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m fine, Bishop.”
“Are you always going to call me Bishop when you get aggravated with me?”
“Maybe.”
“I prefer my fiancée to call me by my God-given first name.”
To his horror, she blinked back threatening tears.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “Call me whatever you like. I just want you to be happy.”
“They’re happy tears, future husband. But sad, too. I’m happy we’re finally together, after all this time. And I’m happy to be able to put Shane to rest. But I’m sad, too. I wish my mom had lived long enough to know I had a son. And I wish my dad could have been here.”
“We can postpone this if you want, wait until he’s come to terms with everything that’s happened and feels he can face the memorial service.”
She shook her head. “No. He’ll never feel right being here, not after what Julia did. He feels guilty that he didn’t realize how unbalanced she was. Not to mention how much Cynthia was hurting, without him even realizing it. He’s doing a lot of soul-searching right now, and he’s focusing on helping Cynthia.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“Surprisingly, no. Not really. She’s young, immature. She didn’t realize how much she was hurting anyone with her scheme. I think it got away from her, became bigger than she expected. She admitted she never thought she’d really get the money. She was hurting, and wanted to hurt my father. At least she’s finally getting what she really needed all along.”
“What’s that?”
“His attention. And love.”
“You’re an amazing woman, Harper Manning.”
“No. I’m a blessed woman. I had a son I cherished. I spoke to him, sang to him, read to him, while I carried him for those nine months. And I got to look into his beautiful blue eyes and tell him I loved him when he was born.” She reached up and cupped his face with her hand. “I’m also blessed to love one of the most decent, strong, smart, handsome, and honorable men I’ve ever known. I love you, Gage. With all my heart and soul.”
He cleared his throat, twice, before trusting himself to speak. “I love you, Harper. More than you can possibly know. I thank God every single day that I got a second chance. And I plan on spending the rest of my life doing everything I can to make you happy.”
She dabbed at her eyes then gasped in dismay at the makeup smeared on her fingertips.
He smiled and gently wiped the dark smudges from beneath her eyes. “Brielle wouldn’t appreciate you messing up her hard work putting makeup on you this morning.” He winked to let her know he was teasing. “You’re beautiful, with or without makeup.”
“Oh stop it. You’re going to make me cry even worse.”
He kissed her again, this time on the lips. “Come on. Let’s head up the aisle before the preacher gets tired of waiting.”
HARPER STOOD BENEATH the tent in the church graveyard, her hand on top of the casket as she whispered her final goodbyes to Shane. Gage stood off to the side, thanking the preacher and the altar boys who’d served as pallbearers during the private ceremony.
Once the others left, he returned to her with the wheelchair. “Come on, sweetheart. This is the longest you’ve stood at any one time since you woke up in the ICU. You have to be exhausted.”
She gave him a tentative smile and sent up a silent prayer that she’d made the right decision. He wheeled her around to face the parking lot and stopped. She didn’t have to ask why. She knew why.
An older man with white hair and faded blue eyes stood about twenty feet away from them, leaning on a cane. He, too, was dressed in a suit, his tie slightly askew.
His mouth drooped slightly at one corner, as if he’d suffered from a stroke sometime in the past. But he stood straight and tall, a proud-looking man in spite of the anxious look on his face, the uncertainty in his gaze that was locked on his son like a laser.
As Gage’s father limped forward, Harper turned in the chair. Gage’s jaw was set, lines of tension crinkling around his eyes as he looked at her.
“Why?” His voice was a harsh whisper.
She winced then put her hand on top of his on the chair handle, relieved and hopeful when he didn’t pull away from her touch.
“Because I’ve learned how precious and short life can be. I’ve also learned how special love is, and that it should be cherished, and nurtured, and never taken for granted. He loves you. And you love him. It’s my fault what happened between you two. I don’t know if this can be fixed. But I know I owe it to you to at least try.”
BISHOP LOOKED DOWN at the woman who meant more to him than breathing. He ignored his father who’d stopped just a few feet away. His annoyance that Harper had contacted his father had evaporated the moment she’d looked up at him with those gorgeous light blue eyes of hers. She had a pure, true heart.
Even though he didn’t want this, he knew she’d set up the meeting because she cared, because she loved him. And he didn’t want her to ever feel guilt again about anything in his past. He squeezed her hand and tried to reassure her. “It’s not your fault, Harper. It never was. It’s his.”
“Listen to what he has to say. That’s all I ask.”
“I already did. Years ago.” He finally met his father’s gaze. “He made his feelings perfectly clear. And he told me he never wanted to see me again.”
His father’s chin wobbled as he drew a bracing breath. “What I said that day was foolish and wrong. I’ve regretted it every day since. But by the time I got over my stupid pride and pushed past the grief that was still eating me alive, I couldn’t find you. I tried. I went everywhere, called your phone. But your number was out of service. You were gone. Vanished.”
Bishop frowned. “You went looking for me?”
“Two weeks after our fight. And for months after that. No one I talked to knew where you were.”
He’d left Tennessee within days of the fight with his father. He’d sold his expensive smartphone, opting for a much cheaper one that wouldn’t drain his savings while he tried to find a new way to make a living. If his father had tried to find him, unless he’d hired a private investigator, there really hadn’t been any way to track him down.
“Fair enough,” he grudgingly allowed. “But you being here now, as if you actually care, means nothing.”
Harper gasped.
Bishop threaded his fingers through hers. More than anything, he didn’t want to hurt her, or even to disappoint her. That was the only reason he hadn’t walked away from his dad, that he was still standing there. He was doing this for her. But, as she’d said, he didn’t know that this could be fixed.
“You’re only here now,” Bishop continued, being brutally honest, “because Harper told you the full story. She told you that I was drunk with grief over Shane the night we made love. That even to this day, I have no memory of the night we conceived our son, which is why I refused to stand up as his father when I learned she was pregnant. Not because I had no honor, as you accused me that day. I didn’t have all the facts. And I was foolish enough not to trust her.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. Harper and I have made our peace. It’s not for you to forgive or not to forgive.”
His father’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “Son, I’m not even sure what you’re talking about. Harper didn’t tell me about you being drunk, or anything else. She just told me about...about your child, my grandson, that he’d died at birth. And that you were holding a memorial service. I understood it was private, but I asked if I could be at the graveside afterward, to pay my respects—to him, and his parents.”
It was Bishop’s turn to be confused. “Then, you’re not here to forgive me?”
The elder Bishop stepped forward and clasped his son on the shoulder. “It was never my place to forgive or not to forgive. My job, as your father, was to love you unconditionally. And I completely failed in my duty to you. I said some awful things that day. But I didn’t mean any of it. I do love you, always have, no matter what.
“I’m here, as I said, to pay respects to my grandson. But I’m also here to beg you to forgive an old man who has nothing but regrets for what he did to you. I love you, son. What can I do to try to make it up to you?”
Bishop slowly shook his head in wonder. “Just love me, Pop. That’s all I ever wanted.” He stepped forward and clasped his father in a tight embrace.
Harper was crying like a watering hose when the two men finally stepped back.
Bishop grinned and motioned toward her. “Dad, meet my weeping soon-to-be bride, the love of my life, Harper Manning.”
She gave Bishop a playful shove and wiped at her tears.
His father wiped at his own tears before offering a hand to Harper.
She motioned for him to come closer and she hugged him instead.
When his father stepped back, Bishop gave Harper a soft kiss on the lips and whispered in her ear. “Thank you for giving me back my family, for being my family. You’re my everything.”
She gave him a tremulous smile. “I love you, Gage Bishop.”
“I adore you, Harper soon-to-be Bishop.” He moved behind the chair and grabbed the handles. He smiled down at her as he spoke to his father. “Come on, Dad. You can ride with us to our home. We’ll come back later for your car. We have a lot of catching up to do. To start, Harper and I will tell you all about your grandson. And how he saved his mother’s life.”
Look for the next book in award-winning author
Lena Diaz’s The Justice Seekers series when
Deadly Double-Cross goes on sale in June 2021.
And don’t miss the previous books in the series:
Cowboy Under Fire
Agent Under Siege
Available now wherever
Harlequin Intrigue books
are sold!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Summer Stalker by Nicole Helm.