Her father sank back against the pillow. “I’m tired.”
“It was a panic attack.” She wouldn’t have pushed if he’d had a heart attack. But with nurses and doctors just outside the door to tend to him, she decided he was well enough to answer her questions.
“I’m still tired.”
“And we still need to talk. I’ve had a lot of time to think.” She tightened her hold on his hand when he closed his eyes. “In fact, I’ve been angry with myself for not seeing the truth.”
His hand was weak in hers, not returning her grip, and for a long moment, she thought he would ignore her. But at last he opened his eyes. “You weren’t supposed to see. I wanted to shield you. That’s why I made you an outside contractor, so you wouldn’t be affected by any of it.”
“For God’s sake,” Drew burst out, “tell her the truth, Dad. She deserves it after everything we’ve put her through. And I deserve it too.”
Her father pierced him with a long look, but her brother didn’t back down. Tension simmered in the air between them like steam rising.
“All right, if you really want to know the truth, your brother is the one who insisted on making you a subcontractor. And he insisted on not letting you go to the site. But I concurred that it was better to keep you at arm’s length.”
Drew stood then, his back suddenly straight and some of the haggard strain leaving his face. “You’re not tainted by this, Tasha. No one ever blamed you or thought any of this was your fault.”
Daniel tensed. She sensed his need to do battle for her, but she couldn’t let him. Three months ago, instead of fighting, she’d run to the mountains, licking her wounds. But she was stronger than that. She knew it now, even if she hadn’t known it before.
With a hand on Daniel’s arm, she willed him to relax. Then she said what had to be said. “You’re wrong, Drew. I am tainted, by all the lies if nothing else. But I love you for trying to make me believe I’m not.”
Her family wasn’t Daniel’s family. They weren’t good or pure. But they were her family, and no matter what, she could never stop loving them, flaws and all. She didn’t have to be like them, but she wouldn’t stop loving them.
She’d blamed herself, her blindness, but it was time to forgive. Daniel had taught her that, but she hadn’t believed, not until this moment, when she saw how the seeds of her blindness had been born.
Out of love.
“I understand now.” She gazed at her father for long, agonizing moments, at his haggard features, his downhill slide. “I love you, Dad. I always have and I always will, no matter what you’ve done. Because you made me feel loved. But I’m not a child anymore, and I can’t stand by and watch you destroy Drew. And I won’t watch you destroy other people either. You have to stop making excuses, saying that it was okay because I was only a subcontractor.”
“But it was only greedy people looking to get rich quick,” her father insisted.
She held up a hand to stop him from saying more. For the first time, her father shushed. She sensed Daniel’s outrage in his bristling body, and her outrage equaled his.
“Don’t you dare try to justify what you do,” she said. “You’re not Robin Hood. You’re not some sort of do-gooder.” She narrowed her eyes to a glare. “And if your lies and cheating and stealing weren’t bad enough, you dragged Drew into it.”
“Your brother—” her father started.
She couldn’t bear another excuse, so she turned to Drew. “Tell me the truth. Do you really want this for the rest of your life? To go on stealing? Because that’s what it is.”
“I’m tired.” His cracked voice sounded so weary. “And I’m done. I’ve been done since…” He shook his head sadly. “Since I lost you three months ago, Tash.”
He’d lost her the first time he’d helped her father with one of his schemes. Because he’d lost himself. But now that they’d found each other again, she wanted so badly to believe him. And to believe in him.
Maybe this was one of those times when looking on the bright side and seeing the best in people wasn’t a flaw.
She might end up being wrong for giving her brother a second chance. But she sensed that her belief in him would help the brother she loved actually become the good person he was capable of being. If she had faith in Drew and was there to buoy him up if he ever doubted, then maybe he could eventually find the will to trust in himself.
Maybe that’s what family was all about. Believing in them enough to make sure they believed in themselves. Just as Daniel’s mother believed in every one of her kids.
She went to her brother and took his hands in hers. “I believe in you, Drew.”
“You shouldn’t.”
But she wasn’t that easily scared away. Not anymore. “I do.”
Then she turned back to her father. “Before I leave tonight, you’re going to promise me two things.”
“What?” Her father looked mulish. But also a little cowed by her.