Dawn Read online

  He leaned down and moving a magazine with a photo of this hotel, he revealed a manila envelope. “Mrs. Murray, your light shines bright. Seeing your hand in Reid’s and looking in your eyes, I see the dawn of a new day. The goodness within you shines.” He sighed. “I couldn’t be happier for Rendell’s son.”

  He handed the envelope my direction. “The information in this envelope is for you to do with as you wish. You may never pursue it, and that is your choice. You may pursue what I have given and it might not end the way you want or maybe it will. Knowing the future is not a gift I possess. I do, however, know the past, and I believe we can all learn from that.”

  While the envelope was light, its significance felt weighty. I looked up to his eyes. “Do you want me to open it now?”

  “No.” He stood. “I can’t tell you what a pleasure this has been. I have business I must attend, and I’m sure you have better things to do than converse with this old man.”

  Reid and I also stood as I held tight to the envelope.

  Mr. Walters’s hand came to Reid’s shoulder. “Your father is proud.”

  “Is?” Reid replied.

  “I believe that those who made the ultimate sacrifice never truly leave us. They work continually on our behalf in ways we never know and in ways reason defies. They send people to intervene when it’s appropriate. I can’t come up with another plausible reason why after all this time, I’d come face-to-face with Rendell’s son.” Mr. Walters turned his attention to me.

  I offered my hand. “Thank you, Mr. Walters.”

  Mr. Walters took my hand and turned it. With a bow, he brushed his lips over my knuckles. When he stood erect, he nodded. “It has been a pleasure, Mrs. Murray.” He moved us toward the door and reached for my coat. Fluffing its length, he held it for me to put on.

  “Thank you,” I said again as I placed my arms within.

  “I hope you will know,” he said with a shimmer in his eyes, “the pleasure has been mine.”

  For our entire walk toward the elevator, neither Reid nor I spoke. It wasn’t until we entered, Reid hit the button for another floor, and the doors began to close that I found words. “That was odd.”

  Reid grinned. “I don’t know what’s in that envelope. I could take it back to the tower and assure you it’s safe.”

  “I don’t get the feeling the man invited us there to poison us with anthrax or something else.”

  Once we arrived to our suite, Reid opened the door. Soft music filled the room. On the table were a huge bouquet of red roses and a chilling bottle of champagne. “Champagne?” I asked.

  “It’s alcohol free.”

  Placing my hand on his wide chest, I lifted myself and kissed his cheek.

  “It’s my turn to help you with your coat,” Reid hummed near my ear. “And then your dress and then...”

  The warmth of his breath on my neck sent chills across my skin and a twisting deep within.

  “Our dinner is scheduled to arrive in thirty minutes.” He grinned. “In this time frame, it won’t be full-out ravaging, but I’m willing to give it a go.”

  I took a seat at the table and pushed aside the two champagne flutes. “I want to know what’s inside this envelope.”

  “There’s only one way to find that out.”

  My fingers trembled as I laid back the clip and opened the flap.

  “Sweetheart, it’s only an envelope.”

  “It feels like more.” Inside was a folder. Pulling it out, I laid it on the table and opened the cover. Tears filled my eyes at the top picture. It was black and white and taken from a distance.

  It had been twenty-five years and yet I knew in my heart who I was seeing. “Oh my God.”

  Reid was immediately at my side. “Fuck. Is that Missy?”

  I couldn’t speak. All I could do is nod as I moved the picture and began reading the report. Finally, I found words. Looking up at Reid’s anxious stare, I swallowed again. “She’s alive. My sister isn’t dead. Not only is she alive, she’s married and has two children. I’m an aunt. A real aunt.”

  Reid took my hand and led me to stand. As I leaned into the security of his embrace, he asked, “Are you sure it’s her?”

  “I am, Reid. In my heart I am.” I pulled away and looked down at the information and turned another page. “Here is all her contact information.”

  “Are you ready to call her?”

  I shook my head. “No. Not yet. Let me think about this. I understand what Mr. Walters meant. I have to decide what to do with this information. Even if I do nothing, I now know.” I threw my arms around his broad shoulders. “Missy’s alive.”

  Reid laid his hand over my stomach. “You know, she might want to know the same about you and Mason.” He grinned. “After all, she’s going to be an aunt too.”

  Epilogue

  Reid

  Late summer of the following year

  I paced outside our apartment in the common area waiting for the doctor to allow me reentry. Dr. Stevens, the Sparrow family’s obstetrician, was inside our apartment with Lorna. After what had happened to Ruby during Edward’s birth, the decision was to deliver future children at home, as long as there were no concerns. I wouldn’t say I was currently in a no-concern status.

  It wasn’t the noise or chaos around me that had my attention. Honestly, it had become commonplace in the same way that ten years ago, stillness had prevailed. While it would be me who was let into the apartment and extra bedroom, the one currently set up with everything that was needed for a home birth, I wasn’t alone.

  “She’s going to be fine,” Laurel said, wrapping an arm around my waist.

  Our gaze went to the two small children playing on the floor. According to the mothers and experts, they weren’t really playing together. It was called co-play and perfectly normal for their ages. Edward was now eight months old and while not yet walking, he pulled himself up on everyone and everything he could find. He jabbered nonstop. And with dark hair like his mother, he had Patrick’s eyes. I imagined he was a male version of his older sister.

  Near him with various toys hanging over her from a little contraption was the tower’s princess. Officially, she was Jacquelyn Goldie Sparrow. Word was that as a Sparrow she needed a stately if not pretentious name. Since naming her for Sparrow’s mother Genevieve was quickly nixed—honestly—by both parents, they began a search for a name they both liked. While our Sparrow princess was named Jacquelyn, it was Araneae who came up with the middle name Goldie. After all, her father was Sterling. If he could be silver, their daughter was gold.

  Now with a wavy crown of silky blonde hair, rarely was the name Jacquelyn uttered. To everyone who loved her, she was simply Goldie. If memory serves me, as a teenager, there would be a time in her future when her parents would use all three names—usually when she was in trouble. At five and a half months, the smiling blonde with her daddy’s dark brown eyes was everyone’s Goldie.

  I leaned toward Laurel. “I believe she will. Lorna’s had a great pregnancy.”

  Laurel smiled. “I always love to hear men say that.”

  “Don’t lump me or any of the men here in that group. You know we would move heaven and earth for any one of you.”

  She nodded. “I know that, Reid. I’ve watched you do that. I just want you to know it’s okay to be nervous.”

  “I think I’m more nervous about what comes next.”

  “Next?”

  Madeline’s and Araneae’s laughs filled the air as Edward investigated Goldie’s hanging toys.

  “Listen, I know I can function on little sleep, but I know my wife. That woman loves her eight hours.”

  Laurel laughed. “You two will work it out, and if you need a break, Aunt Laurel and Uncle Mason are right next door.”

  I knew that. I knew Lorna and I weren’t in for this change alone. Simply seeing all the women present, utilizing the space that forever seemed to sit unnecessarily between our individual entrances and the elevator, let me know Lorna a
nd I were surrounded by family and friends.

  The elevator doors opened as Sparrow, Mason, and Patrick joined the rest.

  “Am I an uncle?” Mason asked above the din.

  “Yes,” came from both Araneae and Madeline.

  “As for Lorna,” I said with a grin, “not yet. The doctor is checking on progress and told me to take a break.”

  Mason looked around the room. Goldie was now off the mat and lifted high in the air in her daddy’s hands while Patrick was sitting on the floor in his thousand-dollar suit building block towers so Edward could knock them down. “Is this what she considers a break?”

  With Goldie on his arm, Sparrow came closer. The joyousness of the occasion seemed suddenly lost in his expression. “Nothing to be concerned about,” he began, “but Patrick found some irregularities with some recent reports coming from the institute. We’re watching everything like hawks. There was an instance before we stopped Morehead with a concern of a security breach. I wouldn’t have put it past her to have planted something to get the institute caught up in an audit.”

  I grinned. “We’ve shut everything down she’s thrown at us. If this is something left behind by Morehead, we’ll shut it down too. Araneae’s project, Laurel’s life’s work, and Madeline’s passion will be safe. You know we’re watching your back.”

  Sparrow grinned as Goldie reached for his nose. “You always have.”

  “Reid?”

  I turned as Dr. Stevens opened the apartment door. “Lorna is doing well. We have some time before baby Murray joins us. Come on back and sit with your wife.” She looked out over the crowd. “Goodness. You’re all here. It’s all right with me if you want to come back one at a time.”

  While Patrick and Sparrow shook their heads and the ladies all nodded, I looked at Mason. “Come back.”

  “Childbirth isn’t really my thing.”

  “Doesn’t have to be. She’s your sister.”

  “She’s your wife.”

  I laughed, recalling the same conversation on the way to Montana. However, this time, it seemed that Mason was emphasizing my role over his. “Come back for a minute.”

  Together we walked through the living room, passing the man at the dining room table and a woman at the breakfast bar. They looked our way. “Slow day?” I asked.

  The man grinned. “Glad to help.”

  “Nothing like having your own medical staff on hand,” Mason said as we entered the hallway.

  “He’s the anesthesiologist and she’s a labor-and-delivery nurse Renita suggested.”

  “It’s nice to have connections.”

  The bedroom in use wasn’t ours, my office, or our newly decorated nursery. It was the room across from the office. I peeked my head in.

  Propped up on the special bed—it was more than a hospital bed. It broke down to a delivery bed when needed—was the most stunning redhead I’d ever seen. Her red hair had grown out and was now long enough for a ponytail. But when she looked up, it was her emerald gaze that caused my heart to skip a beat. “Hi, sweetheart, are you up for visitors?” I asked.

  “Anyone except Mason,” she said with a smirk.

  “I heard that,” Mason said, stepping into the room.

  She lifted her hand, beckoning him closer. “And I saw you behind Reid.”

  Mason took her hand and stepping closer, kissed the top of her head. “Are you all right?”

  “Well, I’m about to push an approximately eight-pound baby out of me.” She tilted her head and after flashing her gaze toward me, she added, “I’m great.”

  “There’s a whole room of people out there who want to see you.”

  Lorna held tight to her brother’s hand. “Mace, stay a minute.”

  “Don’t get mushy on me.”

  “Me. Never.” She took a deep breath.

  “Are you all right?” he asked again. “Because if you’re not, I’ll kill the guy who knocked you up.”

  Though I knew he had the skills, I wasn’t concerned.

  Lorna’s grin faded as she reached to her midsection. “Even with the epidural, I think the contractions are getting stronger.” After a moment, she looked up at her brother. “Reid and I have been talking about names.”

  He nodded. “It is about time. I think Mason Murray has a nice ring.”

  “It does. We were talking about maybe Edison.”

  Mason didn’t respond.

  “Hear me out. Now that I know who he is, I think I owe him a debt of gratitude. Honestly, I owe him more than that.”

  “You don’t owe him anything.”

  Her eyes glistened. “I do, Mace. He gave me both of my siblings back. I know you lived through hell, but, Mace, you made it back. What if they hadn’t taken you? What if you would have died here in Chicago? I remember how tense of a time that was. Allister’s or McFadden’s men could have killed you in the hospital, and you wouldn’t be here. Edison’s organization saved you.”

  Mason scoffed. “Saved.” He took a breath. “It’s not his organization. He is just currently the top.”

  “He is also a connection to Reid’s father.”

  Mason took a deep breath. “Sis, have I ever told you that you see the world through fucking rose-colored glasses?”

  “And there’s Missy.”

  “We haven’t contacted her.”

  That was Lorna’s decision. Nevertheless, we’d checked on her, since Nancy had mentioned she’d told them about her. Her history was another story, but she was safe.

  “But we have the option.” Lorna squeezed her brother’s hand. “Edison gave us that too.”

  “Don’t you think it will be a little weird having two Eddies around here?”

  His question made me chuckle. “We talked about that. Just like Goldie isn’t Jacquelyn, we’ll call our boy Jackson.”

  Mason took a step back, his green eyes going wide. “Jackson?”

  “Unless you and Laurel want that name.”

  Mason smiled. “Use it, sis, who knows what the future holds for Laurel and me. I believe Jackson would be proud to have a strong little boy named after him.” He grinned. “I guess the ranch will be going to...” He paused. “Will it be Jackson Edison or Edison Jackson?”

  “It’s Edison Jackson,” I said. “Our Jack.”

  “They both brought you back to me,” Lorna said.

  “Mason would have been easier,” Mason said with a smirk.

  “But then we’d have two Masons.”

  During the next few hours, people came and went, each one excited about our growing family. And then finally the doctor made her declaration: it was baby time.

  “Talk to me, Reid,” Lorna said as the pains intensified and the doctor and nurse prepared for the birth.

  Holding onto my wife’s hand, I stared down in awe of our connection, her small pale hand in my large dark one. Barely a chicken nugget and she was everything, not only to me, but to all of us. Truly Lorna was a wonder of a woman, and that showed every day in her continued strength and ability to love, to even love and admire Edison Walters and another man named Jackson, a man she never knew.

  Lorna’s capacity to feel affection had no bounds. It was evident during the unofficial ceremony she held for Nancy on the shores of Lake Michigan. With all of our family present—and a few dozen Sparrows on watch—she gave a tribute that in my opinion was more than Nancy deserved as Lorna emptied her ashes into the water. It was also evident in her persuasive efforts to reunite Anna with her nephew, Little Gordy. While they were still in the midst of their custody pursuit, with the Sparrow influence, soon Steve and Anna would have a new son.

  Lorna cared for everyone in this tower. I believed in the depth of my heart we wouldn’t be the family we were today without my beautiful, courageous, and giving wife.

  “Reid.”

  I swallowed, trying with all my might to be half as strong as this tiny woman and wishing I could take away her pain. “I fucking love you.”

  “I love you, too.”


  “Lorna, we need to push,” Dr. Stevens said. “Three rounds of ten seconds.”

  Lorna gripped my hand with the force of a three-hundred-pound man as the doctor counted to ten followed by ten seconds of breathing. Another ten of pushing. More breathing. The final ten.

  “Very good. Let’s rest.”

  Did this doctor think this was a team sport?

  All of her directives sounded as if she too were having a baby.

  “Reid, can you tell me a story?” Lorna asked, her green eyes only on me. “Like I heard you telling Goldie.”

  Goldie’s story was different. It was about a beast who pursued a beauty.

  This was Jack’s story. “Once upon a time,” I began, “in a land far away, there was this quiet boy who never dreamed of what life had in store. And then one evening, once he was grown, he met a beautiful princess.”

  Lorna shook her head. “She wasn’t a princess. She was nothing more than a cleaning maid.”

  “She wore a crown, so the man was certain she was of royal blood.”

  “She thought the man was royal,” Lorna added. “After all, she’d never been to a ball.”

  “And from the moment the man saw the beautiful woman, he gave her his heart. But then the clock struck midnight and he was certain she would be forever lost. After all, even with her shoe in hand, what were the chances their paths would cross?”

  “And then they crossed.”

  I grinned. “They crossed and intertwined as this beautiful woman with flowing red hair agreed to live in a glass castle high in the sky. And through the years, that simple maid infected even the king and queen with her love. Her caring and giving couldn’t be contained. It spread to all the inhabitants of the kingdom. The man who first saw her was simply happy that every night, her love was reserved for only him.”

  “Lorna, push.”