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Authors: Cheryl Douglas

Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary, #Family, #next generation, #nashville nights, #cheryl douglas, #short story, #holiday, #novella

Holiday Homecoming (5 page)

BOOK: Holiday Homecoming
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“Thanks,” Trey
said, patting him on the back as he walked out the door.

“I’m glad to
see you’re not holding him responsible for the choices I made,”
Alisa said, eyeing her father cautiously. She didn’t want to upset
him. Everyone who knew him knew he’d never gotten over losing his
first daughter, Callie, and probably never would.

He claimed the
seat Liam had vacated and reached for her hand. “You know how brave
I think you are for doin’ this, right, baby girl?” He smiled,
shaking his head. “Crazy maybe, but brave nonetheless.”

“Daddy…” She
tried to breathe through the contraction, knowing the man who’d
made it his mission in life to protect her would feel helpless in
the face of her pain. When it passed, she opened her eyes to see
him looking at her, wide-eyed and pale. “It’s okay,” she said,
stroking his arm. “I’m gonna be fine.
We’re
gonna be
fine.”

“That’s the
only thing that matters to me, honey. You and that baby you’re
carryin’.” He brought her hand to his lips, kissing it, before he
said, “You’ve got yourself a good man. I don’t know that I’ve ever
told you that before, but I couldn’t have picked a better husband
for you if I tried.”

Alisa smiled.
“No doubt about it, he’s the best. The love of my life…”

Trey glanced
at a picture on the bedside table. Alisa was fourteen, and she and
Sierra went to one of Trey’s concerts. The three of them were
backstage after the show and a friend captured a candid shot of
them laughing at a shared joke. “You and your mama have been the
very best part of my life. I want you to know that.”

“I do know.
You’ve shown us every day, in every way.” Alisa closed her eyes,
bit her lip, and tried to keep from crying out.
Where the hell
is Maria?

“You okay?”
Trey asked, leaning forward.

“I’m fine,”
she said, anxious to put his mind at ease. “You were saying?”

“I worried
about you for a long time…” He paused as though he wanted to
consider his next words carefully. “First with the modelin’ thing,
then when that bastard cheated on you. You were so unhappy, so
lost. I thought you married Liam to fill some kind of void, but it
didn’t take me long to realize you’d found the real deal with
him.”

Alisa smiled
at her father’s assessment of her marriage. “How could you
tell?”

“You guys
looked at each other the same way your mama and me did. Hell, still
do.” He grinned before his smile fell. “I’ve been a lot of places,
met a lot of people, but I knew only one person could be everything
I needed. That was Sierra.”

It used to
embarrass Alisa to see her parents kissing and hugging like
teenagers, especially in front of her friends, but now she realized
how lucky she’d been to grow up in a home with two parents who
loved each other as much as they did.

“Baby, the
reason I’m tellin’ you this is because I don’t wanna see you make
the same mistakes I made.”

“What do you
mean?” Another contraction wracked her body, and it was even more
intense than the last. “Sweet Jesus…” she whispered.

Trey glanced
at his diamond wristwatch. “Where the hell is that midwife? She
should be here by now.”

“Relax, she’ll
be here soon.” At least Alisa prayed she would. She didn’t know how
much longer her baby would wait to make his or her grand entrance.
“You were saying something about mistakes?”

“When your
mama and I first married, I got so caught up in bein’ the next big
thing in country music that I lost sight of what really
mattered—our marriage.”

Alisa knew her
parents had divorced after they lost their first child, but Trey
never discussed the details with her. “But that’s all behind you
now. You learned your lesson.”

“Yeah, but I
sure wish I hadn’t had to learn it the hard way. Those five years
without Sierra were the toughest of my life. I was drinkin’ every
day, goin’ from one party to the next ’cause I didn’t want anyone
to know how bad I was hurtin’. Hell, I couldn’t even write
music.”

Music had been
a part of Trey’s life for so long. Alisa had trouble imagining how
difficult it must have been for him when his gift was suddenly
taken away. “How’d you get it back?”

He smiled.
“The only way I knew how—by gettin’ your mama back. I knew that my
life would never make sense without her. She brought out the best
in me and never judged me for the worst. She made me believe I
could be a better man.”

“Why are you
telling me all of this now?” Alisa asked. “Not that I’m
complaining. I could certainly use the distraction.”

“Honey, your
life’s about to change in a big way. I just want you to remember
what your mama and I went through.”

“You’re not
saying you think that could happen to me and Liam, are you?” She
couldn’t even conceive of a life that didn’t revolve around her
husband and family.

“I know you’ve
got big plans to expand the boutique, and I think that’s great. I’m
all for followin’ your dreams. At the end of the day, you don’t
wanna feel as though you left anything on the table…”

“But?”

“Take it from
someone who came out on the other side of makin’ the biggest
mistake of his life. Put your family first, ’cause nothing else
matters if you don’t have them.”

Liam appeared
at the doorway with Maria standing just behind him.

Alisa looked
up at her father. “I expected you to come in here and try to talk
me out of having the baby here. Why didn’t you?”

Trey brushed a
fingertip over her cheek as he looked into her eyes. “My baby
girl’s all grown up. It’s time for me to let her make her own
decisions. Just remember one thing, sweetheart. I’ll always be here
for you. Anything you need, anytime, you just call on me.”

Chapter
Five

Alisa had been
in labor for several hours. She was exhausted, and Liam was getting
nervous. What if…

“Hey, Dad,”
Abby said, slipping an arm around Liam’s waist. “How’s Alisa?”

Liam had just
stepped outside for a breath of fresh air while Sierra and Lena sat
by her bedside, helping her to breathe through the endless
contractions.

“She’s getting
tired.” He kissed his daughter on the top of her head. “It’s been a
long night, for all of us. Why don’t you and your nana head on
home? We’ll call you later.”

“No way! I
wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Liam slipped
his jacket off and wrapped it around his daughter. It was cold,
with a rare snowfall gracing the ground, but he barely felt the
chill. He felt numb. “You’re really excited about becoming a big
sister, honey?”

It was just
the two of them for so long, until Alisa came into their lives. Now
his wife and daughter were as close as any mother and daughter he’d
ever known and Abby finally had the female role model she’d craved
her whole life. Liam was grateful they formed a strong bond, but he
worried about all of the changes he forced on his daughter during a
tumultuous time in her young life.

“Are you
kidding? I can’t wait.”

Liam pulled
her into his side and rested his chin on the top of her head.

“I’m so glad
you have Alisa in your life now. I was so worried about you… you
know, being alone when I went away to college.” She tipped her head
up and smiled. “Now I don’t have to worry. You have Alisa to take
care of you and a new baby to spoil.”

“You’ll always
be my baby.” He brushed her hair off her forehead and his heart
ached with the knowledge she was growing up. The day would come
when some other man would become the center of her world and he
would be relegated to the background as she began a new life with
him. “You know that, don’t you?”

She smiled as
she turned to look at the trees capped with snow and clear lights.
“I know.”

“Have you
spoken to Colin lately?”

Colin’s family
owned the property next to their vacation home in Barbados and Liam
suspected his daughter’s relationship with him was evolving faster
than he wanted it to. She was too young to get serious with anyone,
even a kid they’d known for years. He wasn’t ready to let her go.
Alisa reminded him that he didn’t have a choice; his daughter was
growing up. But for a man who dominated boardrooms and brokered
multi-million dollar deals, complacency wasn’t an option,
especially when it came to the people he loved.

“Yeah, he
called earlier to wish me a merry Christmas. He was wondering
whether we would make it to Barbados over the holidays. They’re
going to be there in a few days.”

“Are you
disappointed that we won’t make it this year?” That was their
tradition when Liam was single, one of the rare times he was able
to take a few consecutive days off and spend some quality time with
his daughter.

She shrugged.
“Not really. Things are different now. I get that.”

He sensed the
hesitation in her voice, and he knew this conversation was long
overdue, though he didn’t know how to broach the subject or prepare
himself for the potential fallout. The last thing he wanted was to
create a rift between them, especially with Abby living so far
away.

“Come here,”
he said, taking her hand and leading her back into the house. He
led her down the back hallway to Trey’s empty study. “There’s
something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.” He sat down on
the leather couch in front of the fireplace and invited her to join
him. Turning toward her, he asked, “Honey, I need you to be honest
with me about something. Do you have any resentment about me giving
up so much to build a life here with Alisa?”

“What are you
talking about? Why would I be resentful? I want you to be
happy.”

He reached for
her hand. “I wish I could have been there for you growing up so
many times, but I had the company to run and…” He sighed. “There
were never enough hours in the day to get everything done.”

“I know that.”
She released his hand and reached for a cushion, holding it against
her body. “I’m not gonna lie. I got lonely sometimes. I wished you
were around more, but I knew why you worked so hard, to give me the
best. And you did. I’ve had the kind of life most kids only dream
about.”

Liam felt a
pang of regret for all of the years they could never get back. He’d
trade every cent he’d ever earned if he could re-live his
daughter’s childhood and make different choices. “But we both know
material things don’t matter, not in the big scheme of things.”

Abby grinned.
“Maybe not, but I wouldn’t turn down a car, you know, if you’re
looking for ideas for my next birthday.”

Liam chuckled,
relieved when he saw that playful glint in her eye. “I’ll keep that
in mind.”

“Dad, I know
you feel guilty you weren’t there more, but you don’t have to. No
one’s childhood is perfect. Do I wish I had a different mother, one
who cared? Sure, but that’s life.” She looked into the blazing fire
a long time before she said, “I learned so much from you growing
up. When you want something, you go after it until you get it. Why
do you think I wouldn’t give up on the idea of going to art school?
I am your daughter, after all.”

Liam set his
arm on the back of the couch and tugged a lock of her hair. “That
you are. I want to do things right this time, Abby. I’ve learned a
lot from the mistakes I made with you—”

“That’s just
it, Dad. You didn’t make any mistakes. You made choices, and they
were the right ones. You made me the person I am and I love you for
that.” She leaned her head against the back of the couch and looked
at him. “I know this baby is gonna get a different father than I
had, because you’re a different person than you were back then.”
She grinned. “Thank God.”

“Hey, what’s
that supposed to mean?”

“Alisa did
what I thought no woman would be able to… She reined in the great
Liam Bryson.” She grinned when he frowned at her assessment. “And
I’m glad. Alisa could never have loved the guy you were back
then.”

He thought
about it a minute before he asked, “What do you mean? She fell in
love with the man I was when we met.”

“She also left
that guy, remember?”

Liam hated
thinking about that time. He’d married Alisa on impulse in Las
Vegas, fallen in love with her virtually overnight, and he almost
drove her away with his compulsive need to put his company at the
top of his priority list. When he had a heart attack that almost
claimed his life, he realized he didn’t want to live that way
anymore, and nothing, not even the company he spent his life
building, was worth losing the only woman he ever loved.

“How can I
forget?”

“I’m so glad
you came to your senses and realized what’s important… before it
was too late.” She looked him in the eye. “You’ve never talked to
me about your father much. What it was like for you growing
up?”

Liam didn’t
like to dwell on the past, and his father wasn’t a man who’d earned
the title. “My old man was busy building his own business. I didn’t
see him much.” He tried to conceal the bitterness when he said, “It
was probably for the best.”

“Nana’s talked
to me about him,” she said quietly. “She used to say that you were
so much like him that it scared her.” She held a hand up when he
would have protested. “Not as ruthless or nasty, but you were so
focused, so determined to succeed.”

“I had to be,
honey.” He didn’t want to sound defensive, but he knew he did. If
there was one man he didn’t want to be compared to, it was his
father. “I would never have achieved what I have if I hadn’t been
driven.”

“I know that.
I’m just glad that you’ve found some balance now.” She smiled. “It
makes me happy to see you so happy.”

“Thanks,
sweetheart.” He leaned over to kiss her forehead when someone
knocked on the door. “Come in.”

BOOK: Holiday Homecoming
8.44Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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