Surprises

Part Twenty-seven

My father?

Dara couldn't get Hope's words out of her mind. The last few days has been incredible as far as bonding goes, Dara thought. She and Sonny had finally settled on common ground when it came to Hope's welfare. The agreement that Hope would stay with her had been easy, and even though there was still animosity between her and Carly, Sonny's wife treated Hope kindly.

But this...

Hope's desire for a reconciliation between them came from nowhere. She never would have imagined that Hope would want that. Of course, most children wanted their parents together, but this situation was different. Sonny was married to Carly and shared a son with her. Dara had Marcus. She loved Marcus and maybe one day, she'd be ready to marry him.

"Oh, God," Dara groaned, running her fingers through her hair. Her feet moved on automatic as she paced the length of the sofa.

Why didn't the idea of granting her daughter's wish feel completely out of the question?

# # #

Sonny didn't get it. Okay, he got it, but he thought it was stupid. Jason was being stupid. Keesha wanted to be there for him. The paralysis didn't matter to her. She loved him. It was only Jason's bullheadedness that made him push her away. Which was dumb. Stupid.

"Hey, boss," Johnny greeted as Sonny approached the penthouse.

"Johnny," Sonny replied with a nod. "Everything quiet tonight?"

"You could hear a pin drop."

Sonny nodded once. He jutted his chin toward the penthouse that still belonged to Jason. "What about over there? Any problems?"

Johnny shook his head. "Taggert stopped by. He left in a hurry."

An untold emotion charged through him, but he refused to identify it. "Oh, yeah? In a hurry."

"Like he was pissed," Johnny volunteered. "Your daughter is there now."

His brows knitted into a frown. "He say something to her?"

"Hi and bye," Johnny said. "No hassle."

The frown didn't fade. He mumbled, "Good job, Johnny," and entered the penthouse. Curiosity about Taggert's anger nipped Sonny's heals. The former detective and Dara must have had words. Sonny was a little irritated with himself for wanting to know what they were.

"How's Jason?"

Sonny looked up at the quiet question. Carly stood on the third step from the bottom of the staircase. Her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Her features were drawn, and her voice sounded...odd. He hoped there wouldn't be a repeat of their earlier conversation.

"He's awake. There's no feeling in his legs."

She moved down the rest of the steps and went to him. "He's paralyzed?" Her hand closed over Sonny's forearm. "Are you okay?"

"He's my best friend," he said, closing his hand over hers and squeezing. "I'm not okay with this. He was there because of me--"

"It's not your fault," she quickly interrupted. "Jason knew the danger going in and he went anyway. It could have been worse."

He inhaled a ragged breath, pulled away from her and moved to fix himself a drink. "If it's a choice between a dead Jason and a paralyzed one... He's my best friend. I don't want to see him spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair." An image of that flashed before him. He shuddered and downed the shot of whiskey in one gulp. "They say it's not permanent, but they don't know. His mother blames me."