Page 45 of The Billionaire's Fortunate Accident
No. I couldn’t have heard her right.“Lily, calm down and say that again.”
“He’s dead, Jessa. A heart attack. The jet’s coming for you as we speak. You have to get to the airport right now. I need you, sister. I can’t do this alone. You have to come right now.”
“Dad’s dead?” The shock had me feeling numb all over. “No. This can’t be. He’s healthy.” My mind raced back to the last time I’d seen him. He’d gained weight. “Why couldn’t you make sure he was eating right, Lily?”
“You can’t blame me, Jessa Moxon! You’re his daughter too. You should’ve made more time for him — for us. Come home, Jessa. Please, don’t make me beg you.”
“Of course, I’m coming home.” I couldn’t believe she thought I wouldn’t go back for my own father’s funeral. “I’ll go to the airport now. See you soon.”
Grabbing my things, I rushed out of the office. “Tammy, I need you to call one of the other managers. My father’s died. I’ve gotta go to North Carolina. I don’t know when I’ll be back.” I didn’t knowifI would be back. My father had many responsibilities, and now those would all be falling on Lily and me. And I knew Lily wasn’t up to any of what was about to hit us.
With a full heart, I drove like a demon to the airport, not bothering to stop by my apartment to get anything. I had plenty at our family home anyway. I had to get home. I had to see my father one last time before they put him in the ground.
Why didn’t I call him more often?
Guilt tugged at my heart as I parked my car in the long-term parking lot then ran as fast as I could, somehow sensing that the jet was already waiting for me.
I’d been right about the jet and saw the pilot sitting in a chair at the gate. “Miss Jessa, I’ve been calling your cell to let you know that I was here. I’m so sorry about your daddy.” He opened his arms to give me a hug. But I knew that would only serve to put me into hysterical tears.
“Sorry, Mr. Peterson. No hugs. I’m not prepared for them yet.” I moved past him to get onto the family plane. A plane I’d often ridden in with my father as he’d come along to pick me up most of the time.
“I understand, honey.” He followed me quietly as I ran up the stairs, stopping as I got just inside the aircraft.
Daddy’s seat sat empty, and I felt a knot form in my throat. I would never again see him sitting there, waiting for me to board and go back home with him. “I’m sorry.” I wiped my eyes as I went to take a seat beside his.
The pilot had been with us since before I was even born. He knew our family well. “He loved you, you know. And he was damn proud of you too, Miss Jessa. He told everyone how you were going to come back home, a real doctor.”
One tear fell down my face, and then more and more gushed until I could no longer hold back what had been damming up inside of me. “I loved him too. I’m sorry.” I tried to suck it up, remain the ever-strong person I’d always been. “I’m so sorry.”
He leaned over, put something in my hand, then hugged me. “Here’s some tissues. I’m gonna leave you alone and get you back to your home, Miss Jessa. You go on and cry all you want. It’s natural to cry at a time like this.”
I lost track of time as sorrow took over. I found my hand on my stomach more often than not. “I’m sorry for everything,” I told my little vanilla bean. “I’m sorry I’ve brought you into a world that you might not be ready for. I’m sorry I didn’t think about what would happen if I brought a kid into all this. I’m sorry I did this to you. But I swear to you that I’ll do my best to do what’s right for you. I’ll just have to put myself on the backburner for now. I can do that.”
Being under the stress of losing my father couldn’t be good for the baby. But there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I looked up, wishing I could see straight through that plane and the night sky, right up to Heaven. Dad was once again with his wife, our mother. It had been such a long time that he’d lived without her.
I knew they were happy, even if they’d left behind two daughters who loved them. Lily and I had had Dad to ourselves for long enough. It was time our mother had him.
It wasn’t just that I’d lost my father. It was so much more than that. There would be so much to do, and things wouldn’t stop after he was buried and the funeral was over either. I’d lost my life in a very real way. Unless my sister would step up to take things over.
That was going to be a longshot. Lily was spoiled and hadn’t wanted to learn a damn thing. But she did have a college education. She had a bachelor’s degree in Business. Daddy had made sure she’d completed college. He wasn’t about to have either of his kids go without proper education. It wasn’t as if my older sister was dumb. She was able to learn. She just didn’t want to do anything other than shop and socialize. And our father never saw fit to try to push either of us to do anything more than graduate from college.
In a way, he’d left my sister in such a state that it would leave me to carry the burden of keeping the money we’d inherited moving and growing. I couldn’t keep up with school and the internship if I were to oversee all he’d overseen. My life as I knew it — my dream — was over.
For now, my tears had dried, leaving my eyes swollen and my heart waterlogged. There would be so much to do in the coming days, that I knew I’d have this chance to talk to Stone, and that would be about it.
I wasn’t going to bring up what I’d seen. It didn’t even matter now, anyway. He had a right to be with anyone he wanted. I wouldn’t be there anymore.
I couldn’t expect him to uproot and follow me to North Carolina. He’d just found his passion, and his life was in Austin. He’d been working so hard, and he’d come so far in a short amount of time, too.
He would need to move on, and so would I. And that made my shattered heart ache even more.
It was late, but I made the call anyway. I had to turn my cell phone back on, angry at myself for turning it off in the first place. I’d handled things in an immature way. That wasn’t like me.
It may have been jealousy or the pregnancy hormones that had me acting so childishly. Whatever it was, it no longer mattered.
“Jessa,” he answered my call. “Baby, where are you? I went to your work, and Tammy said you’d left. I know about your father. I’m so sorry, baby.”
“Thank you.” It felt good just to hear his voice. “I’m on my way home now.” The fact that he knew about my father let me know that he likely now knew that I was wealthy and had come from money. “Do you hate me for calling you out when I found out that you had money?”
