Legacy by M.A. Foster
_____________________________
Dylan
“Dilly!”
A smile spreads across my face as Willow comes barreling into my office. “Hey, pretty girl.” Dropping my feet to the floor, I turn my chair and hold out my arms as she rounds my desk. “What are you doing here?” I lift her up, kissing her cheek before settling her on my lap.
“Ahpee bwinged me.” She gives me a toothy smile before snuggling against my chest.
“What are you and Harper doing today?”
“She wants to go to the cemetery,” Harper's voice cuts in.
My gaze moves to Harper, who’s standing in the doorway of my office.
“Ahpee, we hafta get fowlers first,” Willow insists.
“We’ll stop for flowers on the way so you can say hi to Miss Adeline. Pops is off the phone now if you want to go see him.”
“I go see Pops.” She wiggles off my lap and darts toward the door, squeezing past Harper.
“Do you want to come with us?” Harper asks as she walks farther into my office.
“I’ll pass.” I offer her a tight smile.
“Did you go last week?”
I nod. “Of course.”
“Willow has been asking a lot of questions about Jade lately. She’s asked to go to the cemetery almost every day this week.”
“She’s curious.”
“I’m okay with her wanting to feel close to Jade, but Cole thinks it’s too much.”
“So what are you going to do? If you tell her no, she’ll get upset.”
“Probably.” She sighs. “I know she’s only three, but I think she’s bored. Playdates with Zoe a couple times a week isn’t enough. She needs structure, so I’m looking into some private preschools.”
Leaning back in my chair, I kick my feet up on my desk and tuck my hands behind my head. “How does Cole feel about that?”
“You know Cole. He doesn’t want her with a bunch of strangers, but I don’t think a few hours a day or a few days a week will be a bad thing. Willow is smart, and if she doesn’t like it, she’ll let us know.”
“True.”
She lowers her head, twisting the diamond engagement ring around her finger. “I know things have been tense between us ever since you found out Jade was—is my sister.”
Shortly after Harper and Jay became friends, Harper found herself in a bad situation with nowhere to go, so Emerson took her into her home. While unpacking Harper’s things, Emerson found a copy of Cole's patient information sheet from his doctor's office. Emerson brought it to my dad, and when Harper showed up at Mac’s for her shift, we confronted her. That’s when she admitted Jade was her sister. She explained how, while packing up Jade’s things, she found the journal. I was the one who suggested we sit Cole down and tell him the truth about Harper, but then she called me out for the things Jade had written about me. Like the night of the party, when I’d lied about going to the bathroom to follow the mystery girl with the pretty eyes.
“Harper, you and I are good. I’m not holding any resentment toward you. We both lost someone we loved.”
Harper’s face pales, and she moves to sit in one of the seats across from my desk. “That’s the thing, Dylan. I didn’t know you were in love with Jade.”
My brows pinch in confusion. “I thought you said—”
Harper cuts me off with a vehement shake of her head. “She never went into detail about her relationship with you. The first mention of you was the night of that party. How you’d lied and said you were going to the bathroom, but she saw you watching some girl with long black hair.” Wow. The house was overcrowded that night, and for her to know exactly who I’d been eyeing, she must’ve been watching me like a hawk. “She wrote about what happened after—”
I hold up my hand. “What else did she say about me?”
“That you apologized for what happened at the party, and she felt guilty for what she did. There was something in there about how you’d given her the best Christmas gift she’d ever gotten. She said she didn’t deserve you.”
“She actually said those exact words to me a few times,” I recall.
I find it strange that the only things Jade wrote about me were the first time I hurt her and the gift I’d given her for Christmas. What about all the stuff in between? Did none of that matter? Did she even love me? Does it even matter anymore? She’s gone. Let her go.
“I love and miss my sister every day,” Harper continues. “I’d give anything to have her back, even if it meant trading my life for hers. She was all I had in the world, and I thought we were close. It wasn’t until I found that journal that I realized just how much she was hiding from me.”
“Why would she lie about living with her dad and having a sister?”
She fidgets with her engagement ring, again. “When our mom got sick, she told us to always make it known that there was a man living in our home. Jade’s father died overseas, and I didn’t know who my father was at the time. Jade was hardly eighteen when our mom died. We were two young girls living alone, but mentioning a father in the home made us less of a target.” Makes sense. “She lied to both of us, Dylan, and I wish I had a straight answer for you. If you loved Jade, then you know she wasn’t a bad person. We were young, alone, and scared. Whatever her reasons for lying, I want to believe it was because she was protecting me. Just like I know you were only protecting Cole.” She drops her gaze to her lap and speaks softly. “I looked up to Jade. She was my big sister. My best friend. My confidante. Having to find out important things about her life through a journal was a slap in the face.” She lifts her head to meet my eyes. “Do you have any idea how much that hurt me?”
I nod once in understanding. “Yes.”
Her expression turns sympathetic. “Now imagine how Cole feels.”
* * *
My dad walks into my office holding a thick manila envelope. Closing the door, he strides over to my desk and places it in the center before dropping into one of the leather chairs opposite me. He kicks his feet up on the edge of my desk, clasping his hands behind his head, and gives me a sly grin.
My gaze bounces between him and the envelope. “What’s this?”
“It’s your future.”
“I’m not following.”
“One of your mother’s favorite quotes is by a man named Hodding Carter. He said ‘there are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.’”
I tilt my head. “You mean the quote painted around the family tree in the foyer?”
It’s been there since I was a kid.
“That’s the one.” He nods, grinning. “It’s time for you to fly.”
My brows pinch in confusion. “I’m still not following.”
“We’ll come back to that.” He tips his chin. “Are you happy working here, Dylan?”
“Yeah,” I drawl. “Why?”
“Do you have a life outside this place?”
“Of course.” I meet up with Owen for drinks occasionally when he’s in town. That counts, right?
“I don’t believe you.” Dropping his feet to the floor, he leans forward, resting his forearms on the tops of his thighs. “You’re a twenty-five-year-old workaholic. Do you date?”
“Where is this coming from, Dad?”
“Answer my question.”
“No. I don’t date.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m too busy for a relationship.”
He scoffs. “Bullshit. You’re burying yourself in paperwork to avoid living your life. Why?”
“Because I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
Clenching my jaw, I avert my gaze to the window overlooking the bay.
“Tell me why, Dylan. Why aren’t you dating?”
“Because,” I shout, jerking up from my chair.
My dad’s expression remains impassive as he waits me out.
My chest heaves as I turn to the window. “Because—” I exhale a shuddered breath. “I don’t want to feel that kind of pain ever again.”
“You can’t stop living because you’re afraid of being hurt. She was your first love, Dylan, and she was taken from you. It makes me sick to my stomach knowing you’ve endured such an atrocious amount of heartbreak so young. I haven’t had a peaceful night’s sleep since I found out about you and Jade. You weren’t the only one who lost her. Harper lost her sister, and Willow lost her mother.” He pauses. “If you haven’t noticed, the older Willow gets, the more she wants to feel connected to her. Willow never knew Jade, but even in her young, confused mind, she knows Jade is a part of her, so she’s made room in her heart all while she continues to be happy with the people who love her. I think Willow has the right idea, and I think you should try it. Jade was your first love, but she doesn’t have to be your one and only. As I said before, you deserve to be happy, too.”
“I’m not opposed to finding love. I’m scared of what happens after.”
“We’re all a little afraid of the unknown.” He clears his throat as I move to sit back down in my chair. “You know… there’s something that’s been nagging at my conscience—two things, really—that I feel I need to apologize for.”
“What?”
“The first is the day you came home from California. I was pissed at you for taking your fifteen-year-old brother to a frat party, and because I didn’t know how deeply involved you were, I made you feel guilty and inadvertently shifted the blame onto you. And for that, I feel very guilty. That was never my intention.”
“It was my fault.”
He gives me a pointed look. “We’ve already gone over this. It wasn’t. You’re a good kid, Dylan. You always were. Which brings me to my second apology. You were the one to suggest we sit down and tell Cole the truth about Harper, which meant you would’ve had to admit your part. It was me who said not to tell him. I told him about that conversation last weekend after you left the birthday party. However, he is still owed a conversation.”
“I know.” I nod. “I thought a lot about what you said that day, and I’m working on it. I’ll talk to Cole.”
“Good.” He rubs his hands together. “Are you ready to fly?”
* * *
“He did what?” Alex exclaims through the phone.
“He’s taking a step back and giving me full control over Mac’s,” I reply. “He said I could do whatever I want as long as I run my ideas past him first.”
“I’m speechless. What’s the motivation behind it?”
“He said he wants more free time to be involved with our family. He wants to travel more with my mom. Spend more time with Willow. Attend all of Aiden’s practices and games.”
“Sounds like Max is going through a midlife crisis.” He chuckles.
“I think he’s feeling the ticking of the clock. Think about it. Cole will likely be drafted in three years, and the chances of him staying in Heritage Bay are slim. Which means Willow and Harper will be gone. Aiden will be graduating high school, and with any luck, he’ll stay here for college. I think he’s just trying to absorb as much as he can.”
“I get it. So do you have an alternative plan for Mac’s?”
“I have some ideas, but it’s going to cost money. I’ll need investors.”
“I’m intrigued. Tell me more.”
“How much time have you got?” I ask.
“As much time as you need.”