Daniel's Gift (44 page)

Charles reached out his hand to touch Luke's shoulder, but Luke stepped away. Charles's hand fell to his side.

"I wanted the best for you," Charles said quietly. "I still do. If that makes me a bad father, then so be it."

Luke stared at him, feeling the guilt creeping up his spine, but he would not give in. This was his life, not his father's life.

"I didn't say you were a bad father," Luke replied. "Just one with incredibly high expectations."

Charles cleared his throat. "It's not just the boy. It's the woman, too, isn't it?"

"Yes. I love Jenny. I always have. You'd probably like her, too, if you gave her a chance."

"You're married to Denise. You could have a child with her."

At his words, Luke felt an agonizing pain right down to the bottom of his toes. He shook his head. "I can't have a child with her. Denise had a tubal ligation."

"She what? For God's sakes, why?"

"She doesn't want children." Luke sat down in his chair while his father thought about his statement. The tension between them eased. They were no longer shouting at each other. Luke had always thought the truth would drive his father away. In fact, it had brought them closer.

"So, this boy of yours, he's going to be my only grandchild?"

"Ironic, isn't it? And you don't want to see him."

Charles stared at him thoughtfully, then nodded his head. "I do want to see him, Luke. And I want to see him now."

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The nurse was adjusting Danny's IV when Luke and his father entered the hospital room. She smiled at them, finished what she was doing, and left.

Luke watched his father walk to the bed. Charles stared down at Danny, his expression carefully guarded. He placed his hands on the bedrail, gripping the bar for support. As Charles studied Danny's face, he started to sway. Luke rushed forward in alarm.

"Are you all right?" Luke asked.

The color left Charles' face. When he turned to Luke he looked shell-shocked, as if he had seen a ghost instead of his grandson.

"My God. He looks just like you. That could be you in that bed. I need to sit down."

Luke helped his father to the chair, poured him a glass of water from the pitcher by the bed, and handed it to him. Charles took a drink and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. "I didn't know. I didn't imagine that he would look like that."

"He's a part of us, a Sheridan."

"I can see that."

"Can you accept it?"

Charles didn't answer.

"He's also a part of Jenny. Can you accept that, too?"

Charles sent Luke a pained look. "I never disliked her. I just didn't want her for you. I didn't think she was good enough."

"Good enough?" Luke ran a hand through his hair. "You're right she wasn't good enough. She was better. She was her own person, and that's more than I can say for myself. I'll always regret the fact that I walked away from her and from Danny." Luke looked at his son. "I want the best for him, too, Father. But it doesn't have to be what I want, only what he wants."

"What do you want, Luke? Do you even know?"

"I'm beginning to. There comes a point when a man has to take a stand. I'm taking a stand."

Charles took in a deep breath and let it out. "And what exactly is your stand?"

"I'm taking a leave of absence from Sheri-Tech, starting immediately."

"How long a leave of absence are we talking about?"

"At least three months."

"That's a long time."

"Right now, I want to be with Danny. After that, we'll see. It's time I made a few changes in my life -- for better or worse."

Charles got slowly to his feet. "Believe it or not, Luke, I want you to be happy. I've always wanted that. If you want a leave of absence, take it -- with my blessing. We'll work something out." Charles took a last look at Danny. "I must admit, it's kind of nice to know that you're not the last of the Sheridans after all."

"It is, isn't it?" The voice came from behind them. Luke and Charles turned at the same time. Standing in the doorway was Beverly Sheridan, behind her, Denise.

"Mother."

"I had to come, Luke. I had to see him." Beverly stepped forward and put her arm around her husband and her son. When she looked at Danny, her lower lip began to quiver. "So this is Danny."

"Yes, this is Danny." Luke pulled his mother against him, feeling her tremble in his arms. His parents didn't seem nearly as strong or invincible as they had in the past.

"He's beautiful. He's you," Beverly said.

Luke looked over his shoulder to see Denise at the foot of the bed, standing silently, staring at his son, at his parents, at him. She met his gaze, her eyes troubled and sad. For a moment, they connected on a deep and personal level, a place they hadn't met in months, years even.

"I think I understand," she said slowly. "I finally understand." Denise turned to leave.

"Go after her," Beverly urged. "Talk to her. You owe her that much."

Luke strode after Denise. He found her at the end of the corridor by the elevators.

She held up her hand when she saw him. "Don't say anything. Not one word."

"We need to talk."

She shook her head and turned away from him, pushing open the door to the stairwell. Luke ran after her, down one flight, then another, hearing her heels click on the stairs as she ran.

"Denise, wait," he shouted.

He finally caught up with her somewhere between the first and second floors as she stopped to catch her breath. When he approached, she held up a hand, and he saw the tears running down her face in a wash of mascara.

He reached for her. She pulled away. He grabbed her back and yanked her into his arms.

Denise started to cry, and he felt like crying along with her. "It's over," she said. "I've been fighting it for so long, and now I know that it's over."

"Denise -- "

She pulled away from him. "Maybe it would have been different if we'd had a child. Then maybe this one wouldn't mean so much to you. I thought about trying to get my tubal ligation reversed. I thought about in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, adoption. Because if I could give you a son, I think I could hold on to you."

"What's done is done. You don't want children. You've made that very clear."

"I made a mistake."

"We've all made mistakes."

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Because that boy upstairs reminds you of his mother, and I think ..." Denise hesitated, her mouth trembling. "I think you're still in love with her."

Luke felt her pain as deeply as his own. "I never wanted to hurt you."

She pulled a tissue out of her purse and blotted her eyes. "You know, for a moment, a horrible moment, I actually wanted that boy to die. I thought if he was gone, we could go back to being the way we were. But that won't happen. Because you've changed, and I have, too. Just tell me one thing, Luke. Did you ever love me?"

"Yes. I still care for you. I just don't know if we can be happy together."

"Care? That's not a very strong emotion, Luke. Certainly not the way you should feel about your wife." She squared her shoulders. "I don't think we can be happy together, either. I want a divorce."

He stared at her, feeling such incredible relief, he didn't know what to say. "Are you sure?" He felt almost obligated to protest, even though he wanted to shout for joy.

"Positive."

And she sounded positive. He tried one last argument. "We can wait, Denise. Everything is crazy right now. We shouldn't be making big decisions."

"I don't want to wait. I don't want to think about it anymore. I came to the hospital the other day." She looked at him steadily. "I saw Danny, and I met Jenny. She's actually nice."

"What did you say to her?"

"Nothing horrible. I realized after I spoke to her that she's perfect for you -- at least for the new you, the one who wants a basketball hoop in the driveway, and insists on a real Christmas tree when an artificial one is just as good, and the man who wants to make love on an open air deck for all the world to see." She shook her head. "We could try counseling, but it wouldn't work. The truth is, I don't want to get stuck taking care of that kid for the rest of our lives. He might not get better. He might be that way forever, and I don't think I could handle spending every Sunday in a hospital room." She shrugged. "I'll call Dale as soon as I get home."

Luke stiffened at the mention of their attorney. "You're moving awfully fast."

"Life is short, Luke. Haven't you realized that yet?" She smiled and touched his face in a loving, regretful gesture. "I'm going to make you pay, sweetheart. You're a rich man, and you owe me half. I won't settle for less."

"I'm sure you won't."

She started down the stairs, then paused as she gave him one last look.

"Be happy, Luke."

"You, too," he whispered, but she didn't hear him, because she was already gone.

* * *

"Denise is leaving Luke," Beverly said to her husband as they waited in Danny's hospital room. "She's not the type of woman to wait for the other shoe to drop."

Charles shook his head. "I wish we could stop them from making such a big mistake."

"We can't. I don't think we should even try. Luke is a grown-up." She smiled at her husband. "I just realized that. You'd think I would have figured it out earlier."

"Where did the years go?" Charles asked, putting his arm around her waist. "It seems like yesterday when Luke was this age, and we were worrying about him."

"Now, he's taller than you, and we're still worrying. Were we bad parents, Charles? Did we ruin his life by wanting so much for him, by expecting so much?"

"We wanted him to have the best of everything. What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know." Beverly smiled down at Danny and ran her fingers through his cowlick. "This little boy has caused one heck of a lot of trouble, hasn't he?"

"He's a Sheridan. Would you expect anything different?"

"Danny isn't a Sheridan. He's a St. Claire," Jenny said as she walked into the room, holding a teddy bear in front of her chest like a shield. She looked warily from Charles to Beverly. "What are you doing here?"

"We wanted to see our grandchild," Charles said.

"Really? I find that hard to believe."

"That's because you don't know us very well."

"I'd like you both to leave." Jenny felt good after she said the words. She wasn't a naive kid anymore. This was her child, her life, her territory. She wouldn't let them come in and hurt Danny.

"We're sorry about what's happened to your son," Beverly said.

"Thank you." Jenny didn't waver in her stance. Beverly and Charles Sheridan were arrogant and used to getting their own way. She had no idea what they wanted now, but she was not going to let them get it.

Beverly offered her an apologetic smile. "I know you won't believe me, but I'm sorry about the way I treated you all those years ago. I was afraid of your influence, afraid you would take Luke away from us, away from what we wanted for him."

Jenny softened a bit at her explanation. Charles and Beverly didn't look nearly as intimidating as she remembered. "I obviously didn't do that. He left me," she said.

"Not willingly." Beverly nudged her husband.

Jenny set the teddy bear down in the bed next to Danny. "I understand you better now that I have a child. I don't suppose I looked like a great catch at the time. But things are different now. I'm looking to the future, not to the past."

"So are we," Beverly said. "We don't want to interfere in your life. In fact, we'll go now."

Jenny watched them walk to the door with mixed emotions. She didn't want Beverly and Charles back in her life, but then again they were Danny's grandparents. She looked over at her son's face and remembered his endless list of questions about his ancestors, his fascination with family history.

"Wait," she said.

Beverly and Charles looked at her with expectation in their eyes.

"Danny wants to know you. He wants to know Luke. That's all. If you're open to that, I would welcome you into his life."

Beverly smiled at her. "You're very generous, much more than I would have been."

"Just be kind to my son, because I'm a lot older now, and a lot tougher. And I'll be watching you every second."

Charles laughed at her spirited statement. "And so you should."

Luke entered the room with a look of surprise and wariness, "Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine," Jenny said.

Beverly kissed him on the cheek. "We'll see you at the house, Luke. You have a handsome son. You should be proud."

"I am proud."

As the door shut behind them, Luke looked over at Jenny. "Are you all right?"

"Still in one piece. Your parents aren't as bad as I remember." She glanced over at Danny. "He certainly seems to have brought about change in a lot of people. I hope that isn't the lesson, Luke. I hope Danny isn't paying the price for our foolishness, that we have to learn something from his -- " She couldn't bring herself to say the word. "God wouldn't be that cruel, would he?"