It took less than an hour for Paul to reveal Stockard’s duplicity. It might have taken longer if Cindy Davenport, fearful of maximum jail time, had not willingly spilled her guts. She admitted setting Harris up, following Stockard’s orders. After all the videotapes had been confiscated and destroyed, Stockard, with Cindy at his side, had been escorted from the building by security men and the Chicago police. They still needed to be questioned about the fire at the Jacksonville office and the break-in.
Due to the possibility of the scandal it could have caused Silas Harris and his family, Nicholas decided not to press charges against Stockard and Cindy regarding the blackmail scheme. However, after terminating them, he issued a warning that if they were seen on the premises of Chenault Electronics, in Chicago or Jacksonville, charges of extortion and blackmail would be added.
“You were working undercover?” Shayla asked Howard Reeves after Stockard and Cindy had been taken from the building.
“Yes,” he replied, smiling, “Nick, Trent, and I are childhood friends who spent most of our summer months together at camp. With Paul’s retirement fast approaching, Nicholas wanted Paul’s replacement to be someone he knew he could trust, and he didn’t feel completely comfortable with any of his top contenders. He offered me the position around six months ago, but wanted me to secretly be his eyes and ears for a while. He needed to know which of his employees were loyal.”
Shayla nodded, understanding Nicholas’s strategy. The MC Project required complete loyalty and trust from his employees. Too bad Stockard hadn’t known Nicholas had already chosen Paul’s replacement. All of his underhanded plans had been for nothing, since he wouldn’t have gotten the job anyway. “Is that why you constantly made negative comments about Nicholas, to filter out disloyal employees?”
Howard smiled ruefully. “Yes, I was testing you.”
Shayla returned his smile. “Did I pass?”
Howard couldn’t keep from grinning. “Yes, with flying colors.”
Hours later, after things had gotten back to normal, Nicholas and Shayla sat in his office along with Paul and her aunt. Shayla suddenly remembered something. “Aunt Callie, you never did say why you’re here. How did you know what was going on?”
For a few minutes Shayla’s question hung in the air. Then Callie finally answered. “Paul came to see me.”
“Paul?” Shayla shifted her gaze from her aunt to Paul Dunlap, surprised her aunt was on a first-name basis with him. “You two know each other?”
Again Shayla’s question seemed to linger in the air before her aunt responded. “Yes. When Eva worked for Chenault, I spent the summer with her during break from college one year.” She glanced at Paul, then met Shayla’s gaze once more. “I met Paul when I dropped by to have lunch with her one day.”
Shayla nodded. “Oh, I see.”
Nicholas shifted in his chair. He didn’t think Shayla really did see, but he was beginning to. Only someone close to Paul could detect that at one time Callie Foster had meant something to him. He would not be surprised to discover that they had once been lovers, and even figured it was a good possibility that she was the one Paul had lost after accusing her of something she had not done. He shuddered at the thought that he had almost lost Shayla the exact same way.
“Shayla, there’s something I need to tell you,” Callie said softly.
Shayla lifted her brow. Her aunt’s tone made her alert. Something was wrong. “What is it? What’s the matter?” she prompted softly.
A tense silence followed. Then her aunt spoke in a ragged low voice. “I lied to you. We lied to you,” she said as tears suddenly washed across her eyes.
Shayla’s throat tightened. She was confused. “Tell me, Aunt Callie. Who lied?”
“Glenn, Eva, and I.”
Shayla frowned, still not understanding. “What lie are you talking about? I already know that Glenn’s not my father, and that Thomas Jordache is.”
“He’s not your father, either.”
Shayla caught her breath. “But I—I thought he and Mom…” Shayla stared, bemused. “I thought he was the one who got Mom pregnant. Her diary said so.”
Callie wiped at a tear. “He was.”
Now even more confused, Shayla lowered her head for a brief moment. Lifting her head again, she met her aunt’s tear-filled eyes. “Then I think you need to explain things to me, Aunt Callie, because at the moment I’m totally confused.”
Callie stared at Shayla as if what she was about to say could make her lose her forever. She took in a deep breath and said, “Eva lost her baby from Thomas Jordache. She wasn’t your mother. At least, she wasn’t the woman who gave birth to you.”
Shayla’s head reeled from her aunt’s statement. She felt blood slam urgently through her body. Her turbulent senses reached out to Nicholas. As if he felt her anxiety, he walked over to where she was sitting and stood next to her. She looked up and met his attentive gaze, then leaned her shoulder against the lower part of his body, needing a connection to him, needing to rely on the comfort of his strength.
Her breathing was coming too fast, and she willed herself to slow it down. Inwardly shaking with the effort to remain calm, she turned to her aunt. “If I’m not Thomas Jordache and Eva’s child,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper, “then whose child am I?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Shayla saw Paul come into view. She watched him cross the room and sit down next to her aunt on the love seat in the office. She watched as his hand closed firmly around hers, protectively and endearingly. They both met her gaze. Then she heard them answer her question simultaneously in torn ragged voices. “Ours.”
Shayla stared at them—then everything went black.
In the deep recesses of her mind Shayla heard Nicholas softly calling her name. She felt the warmth of his hand gently rubbing hers, felt the tender butterfly kisses he was placing around her lips. She slowly opened her eyes and discovered she was lying on the love seat, with him hovering over her. His face was lined with worry. She blinked. “What happened?”
“You passed out on us.”
Shayla nodded, remembering. She tried to sit up and felt the force of Nicholas’s arms holding her down. “Just lie still for a minute, sweetheart.”
Shayla nodded and settled back down, but not before she glanced around the room. “Where are they?”
Nicholas rubbed her forehead. “Outside the door. I wanted you to myself for a while.” He stood and lifted her up in his arms, then sat on the love seat with her cradled securely in his lap. He looked down at her. “I know hearing that was quite a shocker. You okay?”
Shayla shook her head. “I don’t know. I can’t believe it. I can’t imagine anyone being my mother but Eva.”
“Then you shouldn’t. Callie loves you, Shayla. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes. But she didn’t tell me the truth.”
“Only because she loves you, and didn’t want to hurt you,” he said softly.
“She gave me away, Nicholas.”
Nicholas leaned over and kissed her lips. “No, she didn’t give you away, Shayla. She shared you. She shared you with the two people she loved and trusted most. Has there ever been a time when she wasn’t there for you?”
Shayla heaved a sigh, then shook her head. “No.” And that was the truth. Her aunt had always been a part of her life, a major part. She’d always been like her second mom. Even when Glenn had gotten a huge job offer to head the pediatrics department of the largest hospital in Chicago, Callie had made the move from D.C. with them.
“The way I see it,” Nicholas was saying, “the person who’s gotten the short end of the deal is Paul. He just found out today that he has a daughter.”
“Oh.” Shayla had forgotten all about that.
“You’re blessed, you know. Some people have only one set of parents. In your lifetime, Shayla, you’ve had two.”
Resigned, Shayla nodded. That was true when presented that way.
“So, what do you want to do about it? Callie thinks you hate her, and poor Paul is a basket case, because he isn’t sure how you feel about him one way or the other.”
Nicholas’s hold on her tightened securely. “I know you love your aunt, and I tried to assure her that things would work out. I know that, like me, you believe true love overlooks a multitude of faults. And that would include any she has. Right?”
Shayla blinked away her tears, then raised her eyes to Nicholas. “Right. Can I see her now?”
“What about Paul?”
“I’d like to see him, too.”
Nicholas smiled down at her. “Later. It’s been one hell of a day, and right now I think we both need this.” He leaned down and captured her lips. The heat in his kiss warmed her soul, repaired her torn heart, and promised her many tomorrows with him. It also made her thankful for the day Nicholas Chenault had walked into her life.
Shayla was standing at the window when she heard the sound of the door to Nicholas’s office opening. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face the older couple who had walked in behind Nicholas.
Her gaze immediately lit on her aunt’s broken features before moving to Paul’s stiff and uncertain stance. They were the two people who had created her. She could imagine a young, handsome, self-assured Paul Dunlap falling in love with the beautiful, vibrant, and classy Callie Foster. Seeing them now it seemed that was how it was meant for them to be—together.
Slowly walking over to them, Shayla leaned over and kissed her aunt’s cheek. Then she reached out and took Paul’s hand in hers. Through misty eyes she looked up at them. “Nicholas is right. Not everyone gets the chance to have two sets of parents. I feel blessed that I’m lucky enough to get that golden opportunity.”
She then pulled the two of them to her, holding them close and feeling the tension leaving them, appreciating the value and importance of true love.