Page 51 of Taming His Honeydoll
“You are welcome to listen in on Zoom if you don’t believe me,” Big Henry added with a chuckle. “I draw the line at personal viewing though, that’s for me only to see. She’s too involved in charity functions and such to ground her or take her phone, but I can guarantee she’ll be reminded of her transgressions every time she sits for a good long time. And I’ll have someone keeping an eye on her when I can’t so she doesn’t give you any more trouble.”
“Just a minute,” Sawyer replied. He looked at Emma. “What do you think?”
“Normally I wouldn’t agree to anything remotely like that, but in this case, if Henry thinks his dad will keep his word, then I’ll agree,” Emma replied slowly, looking over at Henry.
Henry nodded, his face pale. “I know he’ll keep his word; he always has.”
“What do you think, Nat?” Sawyer asked.
“It’s your decision, Sawyer, but I suspect he’s right. I doubt Marlene would spend much time, if any in jail. It’s up to you.”
Sawyer nodded, then spoke to Big Henry. “Sir, I’ll accept your promises based on three conditions.”
“Name them,” Big Henry said cautiously.
“The first is that the codicil remanding the house back to you two be destroyed and the only owners be Emma and Henry as the deed states.”
“Done,” he replied instantly. “I didn’t know she had the codicil created until you told me. She should never have done that. What else?”
“Second is that Marlene’s budget takes care of all the repair costs to the house. And there will be a lot since the entire inside is totaled.”
“Done again,” Big Henry boomed. Marlene whined in the background.
“And the third is that during the course of Marlene’s sentence, she has no contact with Emma or Levi. No phone calls, no emails, nothing.”
“You can’t do that,” Marlene yelped in the background. “I love Levi, I want to maintain contact with him. I’m sorry—really sorry for what I did, but don’t take Levi away from me.”
“Levi isn’t yours to begin with,” Big Henry told her gently. “Sawyer has a point. I think you need to cut close ties for a while and get on with your life. You’ve been obsessing ever since we moved back over here about grandchildren. I believe Sawyer’s suggestion is an excellent one. They are a family now and need time to adjust to all that means for the three of them.”
“But Levi’s the only grandchild I’ll ever have,” Marlene sobbed.
Big Henry cleared his throat. “When all of this is over, I’m willing to start looking into options for a child if you think you’d like that. We’ve been too hard on Henry and he needs to get on with his life as well in the way he chooses to live it. We are still young enough to raise another child, maybe even a boy and a girl.”
“Really? Do you promise?” Marlene sobbed in the background.
“If you’re sure that’s what you want.”
“Oh yes,” she squealed.
Big Henry chuckled. “Okay, son, you’ve got a deal. I’ll make sure she keeps to her word. We’ll let you decide what’s best for you and Levi going forward,” he added kindly. “Give him our love, he’s a wonderful grandson.”
“Done,” Sawyer replied.
“Oh, and son? Can you kindly erase this recording?”
“After justice is served, I’ll be happy too,” Sawyer replied smoothly.
“Did anyone ever tell you that you drive a hard bargain?”
Sawyer grinned. “It’s been known to happen.”
Big Henry sighed. “I guess trust will have to work both ways. Good day to you, Sawyer. And best to you Emma. I’ll be in contact.”
He rang off and they all stared at one another. Then Nat spoke up. “Everett, are you happy with your job?”
Everett looked at him, confused. “Umm...yes,” he replied slowly. “Why do you ask?”
“Because anyone that can hack into and break down a security system as fast as you appear to have done is a man worth having on my team. Does the hacker’s nameThe Windmean anything to you?”
