“I just can’t imagine that happening.”
“That’s because, if this is true, we have a brother out there we’ve missed knowing, and our mother has a child she never knew,” George said, overtaken by sadness.
“One thing I know for sure — we need to meet this man and find out if he really is family.”
“But what do you think that will do to him, Joseph? We would cause upheaval in his life, change everything that he believes about himself and his loved ones,” George said. “Let’s try to be reasonable.”
“Can you honestly do nothing but stand by when a man who may be our kin is so close by? He has children, George, and they are most likely our nephews and our niece. We have to find out the truth, even if it’s a painful one.”
“You’re right, Joseph. Of course you’re right. I just don’t know whether our visit will be a welcome one to this man. Heck, we know nothing about him. What if the man who could be our brother is a terrible person?”
“He can’t be terrible, George. No matter what his birth certificate says, he’s an Anderson, and Andersons are good people,” Joseph said with confidence.
“Right you are, Joseph. Well, you know what this means, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. Go-kart racing is off the schedule today. It looks like it’s time to pay a visit to Richard Storm.”
“I’ll grab my hat. You lead the way brother; I’m right behind you.”
The two men walked out the door, climbed into Joseph’s Mercedes and made their way to the new Storm Corporate offices. Expectant smiles spread across their faces as they neared their destination. Granted, it would be heartbreaking to learn they had a brother they hadn’t had the pleasure of growing up with. But still, if it were true, they were now blessed with a whole line of family members to get to know.
Joseph grinned, thinking of all those first-rate great-nieces and -nephews. More and more babies on the horizon and potential love matches to make.
Chapter One
Two years earlier
“Do any of you have any idea of what this is about?”
“Not a clue. It seems the old man has got something up his keister again. I haven’t gone to bed yet from yesterday. I seriously considered not showing up.”
“You may as well stop complaining about it, because you know how father gets. You don’t want your precious trust fund cut off, now, do you?”
“Shut up, Brielle. You’re the one who’d be hurting if you lost Daddy’s money.”
“All of you should shut up before the old man walks in. The more compliant we are, the sooner our family reunion can end, and the quicker we can get on with our lives.”
“That’s very good thinking, Lance. I know how important it is for you to run from my presence.”
The five young bickerers turned in surprise to find their father standing in the doorway. Richard had to quickly disguise the sadness in his eyes. This wasn’t the time to coddle his children, who, though grown up, were thoroughly spoiled. It was time to do what he should have done years ago, before it was almost too late. He didn’t have much time left, and he feared that his kids would never change if he didn’t act now.
Would they even care that the doctor had given him the grim diagnosis of only three years to live? At this point, he doubted they would. It saddened him to no end how much he had failed them — and he was certain that his failures as a parent had caused the distance among them all.
“Fine, you heard us complaining. We’re sorry, Dad, but we haven’t all been together in one room in years, so what’s the big emergency?” Richard watched as his youngest child, Brielle, walked to the liquor cabinet and poured herself a scotch. She was only twenty-four years old, but she had so much bitterness inside her.
Why shouldn’t she? Their mother had walked out on all of them, but Brielle was the only one who couldn’t remember her — she’d only been three at the time. It made her feel as if she’d really missed out the most. Lance had vague memories, as he had been five, but Tanner, Ashton and Crew remembered the most. The kids were all two years apart, his ex-wife having produced them almost on a strict schedule.
Soon after Brielle was born, Suzanne was done being a mother and left them without ever turning back around. Richard had been too busy for years to date another woman, and when he’d tried, it had always been disastrous, since he’d been too exhausted to put forth any real effort. Eventually, he’d just given up.
He’d been wealthy and worked long hours to become even richer, leaving the children with nannies during the day. Yet he’d felt guilty enough to stay home in the evenings and on the weekends so he could spend as much time as possible with his offspring.
It was only when they’d gotten older that he’d started working even longer hours, and that’s when they’d begun to drift away from him. He just hoped it wasn’t too late to reverse the damage.
Now, here he stood in a room with grown children ranging in ages from twenty-four to thirty-two, and he didn’t like them. He loved them, as he always would, but they’d become selfish and spoiled, and even worse — entitled.
“You’ve all been cut out of my will and I’m freezing your trust funds.”
Richard watched as, slowly, each of his children turned toward him with varying expressions of disbelief. Of course it was Crew who finally cleared all expression from his face as he stood taller and faced his father.
“Do you care to elaborate?”
“My parents were hard workers their entire lives. They built not only one medical practice, but two. They scrimped and saved, and gave me a good education. When they passed, I was devastated, but I took my inheritance and I created something both of them would be proud of. Unfortunately, I’ve pampered and indulged the five of you, making you think that life is nothing more than one big party, and that you deserve to be handed everything on a silver platter. Well, that stops today. As I’ve just said, you’ve been cut out of my will. Your trust funds are frozen, and your credit cards canceled —”
“You can’t do that!” Ashton shouted.
“I can and I have. You can leave the room now and be on your way, or you can hear me out.”
None of them budged, and Richard made sure to look each child in the eye. He refused to back down this time, no matter how many tears Brielle shed, or how convincing the group charmer, Tanner, tried to be. He would lose his children forever if he didn’t stand firm and show them that life was about so much more than what they’d made it.