Destiny Of A Donovan (The Donovans Book 15)

  Destiny Of A Donovan

  By

  A.C. Arthur

  An Artistry Publishing Book

  DESTINY OF A DONOVAN, Copyright © 2017 by A.C. Arthur

  First Edition: 2017

  www.acarthur.net

  All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, locations, events and incidents (in either a contemporary and/or historical setting) are products of the author’s imagination and are being used in an imaginative manner as a part of this work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, settings or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Croco Designs

  Dear Reader,

  It’s hard to say goodbye. So I’ll just say,

  Happy Reading,

  AC

  Prologue

  Ten Weeks after Falling For A Donovan

  Houston, Texas

  “It’s a girl!”

  Brandon could hardly contain his excitement as he came bursting through the waiting room door, reporting the glorious news to his family.

  Albert jumped up out of his seat, moving quickly to wrap his arms around his son. He clapped his hands against Brandon’s back and whispered, “Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus!”

  “She’s beautiful, dad,” Brandon said as he and his father pulled away from each other. “She has the plumpest cheeks. They look like little peaches and they’re so soft.”

  He was gushing and it was perfect, Bailey thought as she watched with excitement from where she now stood beside her brother.

  “Ten fingers and ten toes, right?” Brock asked.

  Brandon nodded and grinned in their brother’s direction. “Right! She’s just perfect. Her hair is glossy and black, just like Bailey’s looked in her infant photo. She opened her eyes for a few moments and stared right at me and Amber, and I swear I lost my breath.”

  “Yeah,” Albert said with a nod. “That’s what they do to you. They reach right inside of you and take everything you have, everything you are. Your life won’t be the same, son. Not from this moment on, it won’t. She’s going to be your entire world.”

  Bailey ignored her chance to give Brandon a hug and moved to stand by her father instead. She took Albert’s hand in hers and squeezed it gently. He looked at her with somber dark brown eyes lightly sheened with tears.

  “What’s her name?” Noelle asked after she hugged Brandon tightly. “I know you and Amber have been trying to keep it a secret all this time. But she’s here now and we can’t keep calling her “Baby”.”

  Brock and Noelle had arrived at the new house Brandon bought for Amber, three days ago. Some of the other Donovan family members had come to Houston to attend Amber’s baby shower a few days ago as well. Brock and Noelle had decided to make their trip a vacation and spend a little time with Albert, who was staying with Brandon and Amber because he hadn’t decided yet whether he would ever return to the house he’d once shared with his wife and family. Bailey had been happy to hear that her father was going to be staying with Brandon and Amber because she knew that Amber would keep a close eye on Albert and his health.

  As for Bailey, she and Devlin had been in Houston twice since putting one of her kidnappers, Orin Weatherby, behind bars. All of the statements and reports that were finalized after Bailey and Devlin had returned from Michigan, and witnessing the birth of Keysa’s little girl, had led to Orin facing federal charges. He was now being held at an undisclosed facility in Virginia because that’s where Cade had requested he go. The FBI had lots of questions for Orin about his dealings with Roslyn Ausby.

  Bailey had loved seeing her father while she was in Michigan and Devlin—bless, his still thawing heart—must have known that, because the minute they were back in Connecticut he suggested that they both take some time off from work. That time off had started with a trip to Houston for two weeks. After that they’d gone to L.A. to see Tia and Trent. And by the time Bailey started to think of heading back to her job at D&D Investigations, Brandon was calling, asking for help with the shower for Amber. Since Amber’s sisters were in Chicago, they needed someone in Houston to finalize the plans they’d attempted to make long distance. Bailey had gladly returned to Houston to help, and now…now, her brother was a father and she was an aunt.

  “Yeah man, you’re gonna have to tell us the name now,” Brock was saying. “I can’t call everyone in the family and brag about my gorgeous niece without knowing her name.”

  Brandon shook his head as he grinned. “I know, I know. Okay, we decided to name our five pound nine ounce baby girl, Serene Darla Donovan.”

  “Oh, that’s so pretty,” Noelle said.

  Brock nodded. “It is,” he added in a voice that cracked just a bit.

  “Mama would have loved it,” Bailey told Brandon. “It’s a beautiful name and she would have been so very proud of you.”

  “Of you too,” Brandon said as he touched a hand to Bailey’s cheek. “She would have been proud of all us for staying together, no matter the adversity.”

  “He’s right,” Albert said to his children. “We’re still sticking together and even bringing new Donovans into the fold. We’re doing what we’ve always done—persevered. Darla’s smiling down on each of you right now.”

  Bailey shook her head. “No, she’s smiling down on Serene. She’s happy and she’s proud of her granddaughter and she’s probably whispering in the baby’s little ear that she’ll always be there with her. Just like she used to do with us.”

  Tears came next, along with more hugs, until eventually Bailey was wrapped tightly in Devlin’s arms. There she felt an amazing warmth and comfort that she’d never expected. She and Devlin weren’t expected. That’s why what they had was so special. Continuing in their own way, they hadn’t made any concrete commitments to each other, such as an engagement or even an official statement that they were going to live together. They were simply taking things one day at a time. She suspected, however, that Devlin was going to follow her lead as far as where she would go from here. In his line of work, he could have a home base anywhere he wanted. And while a part of her had come to covet her privacy and independence in Connecticut, in the last year, Bailey had wanted to be closer to her family in Houston.

  When things happened, she thought she was too far away. Then again, it hadn’t mattered where she was when Roslyn had decided to strike against her. It hadn’t mattered where any of them were when that woman decided to strike.

  “Something’s wrong,” Devlin whispered to Bailey the next day when they were once again at the hospital to visit Amber and Serene.

  “What are you talking about?” Bailey asked, but Devlin had already taken her by the arm and was pulling her through an exit door.

  They were standing in the stairwell when she opened her mouth to ask him again. He touched two fingers to her lips and stared at her intently.

  “While you were in the room with Amber, I walked the hallway and checked the stairwells,” he began.

  Bailey watched him closely while he spoke. His thick brows were drawn, dark eyes serious.

  “Everything looked fine, but I had a feeling,” he told her.

  And now, so did she.

  It had been weeks—ten to be exact—since Uncle Henry had told them about his phone call with Roslyn and her declaration that it was over. Her uncle had despera
tely wanted to believe Roslyn’s words and so had the rest of them. Each day that passed and nothing had happened, they’d all begun to relax a bit more, to hope…

  “When you came out, pushing Amber in the wheelchair, I figured you were heading to the NICU to see the baby. So I followed you.”

  Bailey nodded slightly as she remembered seeing Devlin come from around the corner when she had pushed Amber out of her room. He hadn’t spoken a word, but she knew he would follow her. Security was first with him now, even moreso than before. He always kept her within his sight, or even when out of sight, he remained close by should she need him. Bailey had wondered how long they were going to be able to live this way but she knew he was smart for being diligent. No matter what Roslyn may have said to Uncle Henry, as long as she was alive and walking the streets freely, she was a threat to them.

  “And what happened?” she asked even though her words were jumbled because she was unable to keep quiet any longer.

  Devlin moved his hand slowly away from her mouth.

  “You and Amber were in there for a half hour,” he said. “Then you went back to the room. Brandon and your dad came in so I figured it was fine to do another walk around the hospital. This time I went outside and then came back in. I stopped at the NICU before returning to the room.”

  Bailey’s stomach plummeted, her fingers clenched at her sides. “Devlin,” she said in a low whisper.

  “Serene is fine,” he told her, grabbing her hand at the same time. “But she left this.”

  He stuffed a piece of paper into Bailey’s hand. She’d been still struggling to breathe normally. The thought of something happening to her niece had come quickly and had taken away every ounce of composure she’d had in the same amount of time. But Devlin said she was fine. Of course she was, Bailey thought with a slow shake of her head. The NICU was a secure facility. Amber had to have one of the bracelets on her arm scanned by a nurse before they’d even allowed her inside. And the only reason that Bailey had been able to go in was because Amber was with her. Only the parents of the baby could go into the rooms where the incubators and babies were housed.

  Bailey looked down at the paper then. She took a deep breath before opening it and seeing at the two pictures on the plain white sheet. One picture was of a baby with a darker complexion, wrapped in a white blanket and a light blue cap on its head. The next baby’s picture showed a child with a head full of black curls peeking from beneath a pink cap, the blanket wrapped tightly around it was blue, white and pink striped. Beneath the pictures were four words typed in bold letters.

  Time is ticking by

  Chapter 1

  Basset Banks Vineyards

  Napa Valley, California

  She would never get tired of this sight.

  Part of the sky was a royal blue shade interrupted by a thick carpet of puffy clouds. The other half was golden yellow resting warmly over the mountain tops in the distance. Hills rolled up and down in layers of lush green while just bloomed daffodils announced that spring was on its way. In the time that Brynne had been at the vineyard, she’d learned a lot about the wine making process. Enough to notice the cover crops between the rows of vines had begun to grow and brilliant yellow mustard flowers provided a splash of color. The air was crisp and clean. Mixed with the calming silence around her. This place was addictive.

  Brynne walked slowly along the same path she’d been using every morning at dawn for the past four months. The movement had been great for her new exercise regimen, adding to her goal of twelve thousand steps per day. But this walk meant more than that to Brynne. It was living, she thought as she glanced up at the sky, watching as the golden hue began to dominate, pushing through the blue left over from the night before.

  She was pushing through as well. This past year, that’s precisely what she had been doing, pushing past the life she’d felt trapped in before and reaching desperately for the new life she knew she needed to pursue. Everything she’d done—the surgery, the therapy, the discipline, the exercise, the introspection, and yes, leaving her family behind—it was all for one purpose. It was all leading toward one goal. The new Brynne Nicole Donovan. The one with confidence inside and out. The one with a college degree in Art History and a prosperous career at the Lakefield Galleries. The one who could stand in the middle of a room and smile genuinely because she was happy and proud of all her accomplishments.

  She could do it.

  She would do it.

  And then what?

  An early morning breeze picked up and Brynne lifted her hand to push the curly strands of hair from her face. She also looked at the fitness bracelet on her wrist to see how many steps she’d already amassed. With a small smile of encouragement she continued walking, this time moving down the side of the road that lead to more hills and a lovely oak tree where she liked to sit and collect her thoughts.

  This morning there were lots of thoughts running through her mind. First and foremost was the phone call from her mother last night. It had been two months since Brynne had finally given in to her cousin, Bailey’s urgings and called her mother. Jocelyn had been relieved to finally hear from Brynne after months of wondering where her only daughter was. The first few minutes of that conversation consisted of Jocelyn admonishing Brynne for being selfish and careless for not contacting her. It was one of the few things her mother said that Brynne happened to agree with. She’d known her decision to come to California and have the gastric bypass surgery alone was a self-serving one. It was also self-preserving. Brynne really hadn’t thought of how her parents or any other members of her family would feel about her decision. She could admit that fact and only felt a minor twinge of guilt as a result. In January of last year, just a week after her father and his brothers had announced their duplicity and the result of which being a secret son and a crazy-ex, Brynne had received disturbing news from her doctor. It was time for her to make drastic changes. Her life depended on it.

  “I’m going to divorce your father,” Jocelyn had said, the minute the pleasantries of the conversation were over.

  “Are you sure?” had been Brynne’s response.

  She wasn’t actually surprised. In fact, Brynne wondered what had taken her mother so long to finally come to this conclusion. There was a pretense that Bernard Donovan liked to keep alive and well. Not the one where he was a successful businessman and a great upstanding guy from an affluent family. No, it was the other one, the loving husband and the doting father. That had been reserved for the first wife and daughter. Jocelyn and Brynne were on the receiving end of an entirely different brand of treatment from him.

  “I’m positive,” Jocelyn had replied. “I’ve lived in the shadow of his first wife. I watched him favor his first child over my own. And now this. Now, he has another child and another baby mama to deal with. This one happens to be out of her damn mind. No, I’m not dealing with any of this.”

  Brynne had nodded while she listened, hating the parts of her that she knew sounded exactly like her mother. Brynne had it bad on both fronts. Her father was a controlling egomaniac and her mother was a manipulative narcissist. Okay, that was probably being harsh and she knew she was wrong for that, but they were both screwed up. Bernard and Jocelyn Donovan were both living in denial and had been for a very long time. Brynne was the smart and usually cheerful daughter who was shafted because of them.

  She’d come to all these conclusions in her counseling sessions as she’d tried to weed out why food had long ago become her refuge. It was because she desperately wanted to be validated by her parents, who were totally clueless to that fact. She shouldn’t blame them. They’d done their best. But, she was older and wiser now, so she would act accordingly.

  “It happened before he even knew you,” she reminded her mother.

  “But he lied.”

  “Not necessarily,” Brynne had said, wondering why she was defending her father if she was, in fact, angry with him as well. “You never asked him if he had any other children besid
es Keysa. And I’m sure neither of you ran down a list of all your past lovers when you met.”

  “Don’t talk to me like that,” Jocelyn had said in her best motherly tone.

  Brynne hadn’t cringed the way she might have a year ago. Instead, she’d taken a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “You called me to talk about an adult issue between you and your husband. I’m responding the way I would to any other adult. You can’t say he lied to you if you never asked the question. Should he have confided in you that he slept with his brother’s ex-girlfriend? I’m not sure about that one. My guess is that he probably shouldn’t have slept with his brother’s ex-girlfriend in the first place. And to be quite honest, mama, I don’t know that he’s not feeling a world of guilt and regret about that fact himself.”

  “Brynne,” Jocelyn had warned.

  “Listen, I’m on your side,” she’d admitted finally. “If you feel like you’re finished with the marriage, you should go.”

  “He lied to both of us,” her mother said after a few moments of silence.

  “I can’t change anything that happened,” Brynne had said. “Nothing you or I can do now will alter the past.”

  She’d come to that conclusion in counseling as well.

  “I’m sorry I can’t be more compassionate,” Brynne added. Because she really was. She knew that she should be gentler with her mother, that she probably should have stayed in Seattle to help her mother cope with what had actually been a nightmare for them both.

  But she couldn’t.

  Brynne’s sanity and her health had depended on her making the decision that she had. For her, survival meant breaking free.

  Jocelyn hadn’t accepted Brynne’s apology, but she had gotten off the phone with the promise to keep Brynne updated on the divorce process. Her mother had sounded as tired of Brynne as she was of her husband. It didn’t matter. Brynne had been tired of both of them for quite some time now.