Page 115 of Charlie
“I don’t know. Maybe there’s some other family.”
Liv closed her eyes and opened them with a sigh. “I can’t bear the thought of them being split up and maybe never seeing each other again. They need each other.”
“Maybe a fresh start for them isn’t so bad.”
“They’ve suffered a severe trauma and I guarantee you that it will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Can you imagine growing up in a suicide cult and having no one who understands what it was like? They have a shared history, and only the five can relate to the issues that they’re bound to have in the future. I would adopt them all if I could but I doubt the Irish would let a foreigner adopt here.”
Stroking her hair, I kissed her again. “Try not to worry about it. The social services will find a solution. I’m sure of it.”
She didn’t look convinced, but she cuddled up in my arms and closed her eyes. “Good night.”
“Good night.” I was on my back staring up at the ceiling. My thoughts were all over the place, analyzing and processing. Her breathing had slowed down when I said, “I’m a dual citizen.”
“What?” Her speech was drowsy.
“My mother was Irish and before she died, she made sure I had both Irish and American citizenship. That’s why I can live in Ireland.”
“Oh okay.” She closed her eyes again, probably half asleep.
“Maybe we could adopt the children as a couple, with me being Irish.”
Her eyelids were heavy but she opened them enough to look at me. “You would do that?”
“To keep the children together, I would. But I don’t know if I’d be any good as a parent. I didn’t have much of a role model.”
That made her eyes open wide. “Darn it. Did you call Mr. Robertson – I mean your grandfather? What if he reads in the paper that twenty-eight people were killed? He’s going to die from a heart attack before he finishes the headline.”
“I don’t have the energy to call him right now.” I reached for my phone on the floor. “I’ll text him instead.”
Charles: Liv and I got the children out. We’re safe and I’ll call you when we’ve had a chance to sleep.
Liv read the text on my screen and the minute I pressed send, she closed her eyes again. “Thank you.”
I put the phone on silence before placing it back on the floor, and then I wrapped one arm around Liv. “It’s me who should be thanking you. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but as long as it includes falling asleep with you in my arms, I’ll deal with it.”
“Yeah, me too.” She yawned and two seconds later her breathing told me that Liv was fast asleep just like the five children around us.
When I first came to Ireland, I’d felt lost. My role as the heir to Solver Industries brought me only an empty feeling of misery, because the outlook of living as a copy of my grandfather felt meaningless.
Then I’d found a family in the Red Manor Group and my life had blossomed with meaningful conversations, laughter, personal growth, and a deep sense of connection that I hadn’t known before.
The Red Manor Group was gone now, but as I lay with my arm around Liv, my heart was bursting from a new sense of purpose. The bravest and most selfless woman in the world needed me, and so did five truly amazing children. I had wealth, connections, and I knew about international law. If anyone could find a way to make sure these children stayed together, it was me. In that quiet moment, I made a vow to dedicate my life to making sure that the six people sleeping around me would wake up to a better tomorrow. I would work night and day to make sure they had each other and everything else they needed to heal from this tragedy.
CHAPTER 27
Goodbye
Charles
The hardwood floor in the old house creaked as I walked to my grandfather’s room. The light was low and the sound of a machine beeping made me take in the changes since I’d last been in here.
“He just woke up.” A nurse stood by his bed and with a trained eye, she did a last check on the machines around the hospital bed that had replaced the four-poster bed that used to be here. “I’ll give you privacy.”
Looking down on the man in the bed, I hardly recognized my grandfather. His cheeks were sunken and everything about him looked gray, from his lips to his skin color, eyebrows, and the few strands of hair that he had left.
“Charles.” His hand shook as he tried to lift it. A needle was inserted in a vein on the back of his hand with a piece of tape covering it.
“I’m here.” I tried to swallow the hard knot in my chest and took his hand as I sat down on the bed.
