Dear Samuel,
I’m so pleased I was able to help you with your quest for Starr. I think it’s admirable you think of her as your own. I won’t go into what I think of her real father. As you are reading this, the Governor has signed the Pardon. He will be sending it, along with copies to the prison, the LPD, and young Cole Thornhart. I hope the young man realizes he’s gotten a second chance to do things right and does them, especially with regards to Starr and Hope. Remember we’re all family. Do take care of Blair, Starr, and Hope and please don’t be strangers. I would love to see all of you here in Washington.
Very sincerely yours,
Senator Dorian Lord
“You really refuse to see me as Todd, don’t you Auntie Dorian? And if you think I’ll set one foot in Washington while you are there, you’re nuts. But I‘ve got to tell you, this is going to make Starr’s day.” Todd grabbed his jacket, tucked the letter into an inside pocket and headed for the Hospital. He wanted to let Starr know Cole wasn’t going back to prison.
He walked down the hall noting the guard standing outside Cole’s room. He remembered all the times guards had stood outside his room, the more recent ones to protect him but long ago it had been to guard him. This gentleman was here to guard Cole. He walked up to the guard.
“I’d like to see him if I can. He’s the father of my granddaughter. I’m Todd Manning.”
The guard had obviously heard the name. “So you’re Todd Manning, huh? You know you’re quite the talk around Statesville. Some call you criminal and others call you a hero. Man, you’ve got some real enemies there.”
“Yeah well, it’s a gift. Let’s just say I’m an acquired taste. So, may I see him?“
”Sure, your daughter and granddaughter were just here. I expect they’ll be back soon.” He opened the door, then paused. “Hold it, I need to make sure you’re not carrying any weapons. Sorry, but I have my orders.”
Todd rolled his eyes and allowed the pat-down.
The guard’s eyes widened when he saw the official paper in Todd’s pocket. “Looks like you know some heavy players there, Manning.” He moved out of the way and allowed Todd to enter.
Cole had had a very unusual last couple of hours. He had awoken in a great deal of pain and heard a familiar voice urging him to stick around because she loved him. He had opened his eyes to find Starr beside him. He replayed the conversation, relishing its content.
“Cole, you got to wake up now. I couldn’t stand it if you left Hope and me. I know things haven’t gone the way you wanted them to, but we’re still here, if you let go, you lose us forever. Please, Cole, don’t leave Hope. Don’t leave me, I love you! I don’t want to lose you.”
“Starr??”
“Oh Cole, yes it’s me. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you heard me. Cole, you’re going to be all right.”
“God it hurts. Where am I?”
“You’re at the Llanview Hospital, Your injuries were serious and they brought you here from Statesville. Do you remember anything that happened?”
Cole had paused, struggling to remember the events .”I remember the blackout and all the cell doors unlocking. The prisoners went haywire and began attacking guards. It was chaos. Mostly I was being pushed toward the exits, then I spotted an inmate fighting with one of the guards and he was attempting to kill him. I stepped in to stop it and wrestled with the attacker, I heard gunfire and felt pain rip through me. That’s the last thing I remember. I don’t even know if the guard survived.”
“He did, you saved him, but almost lost your life doing it. According to Dr.Wolek, it was touch and go in the operating room then they got you stabilized. You were doing all right when I got the news and came to see you. Then you lapsed into a coma.” She covered his hand with both of hers. “I’ve been so worried. They said if you didn’t come out of the coma soon, you might never return. You had me so scared.” Starr’s tears streamed down her face and she could no longer stop herself. She leaned over and kissed him. “Don’t you do that again, you hear me! You need to keep fighting for Hope and for us.”
He tasted her tears and hoped her kiss meant more than he dared dream possible. “But what about James?”
“When I got here and you lapsed into the coma, my heart stopped. I can’t see the world without you in it. I was trying to talk you back to us when James came looking for me. He overheard me tell you that I still loved you. He said he loved me too much to keep me from you.” She sniffled and reached for a tissue, from the bedside. Cole stared at her in hopeful disbelief. “I’m sorry he was hurt, but Cole, I knew he was right. I never stopped loving you.” She reached and touched his brow, smiling down.
Just then, a nurse had looked in and seen he was awake. After that, they were interrupted a number of times by staff and finally, Starr had to go. She had promised to bring Hope and they had just left a short while ago. It had been so good to see Hope outside of the prison. Starr had told him her dad was trying to get him released. And now there he was, standing at the foot of his bed.
It was jarring to see the face of the man who had hurt his mother so terribly, to know that he had gone after his father with hatred at one time and yet, here he was, ready to help him. Cole felt angry for his mom, but it was tempered by the fact that he had already worked through that anger with the impostor. On the other hand, he couldn’t help being curious about what kind of reception to expect from this man. He knew Starr’s dad knew the whole story about the two of them and Hope, Starr had told him so on one of their visits. Cole was sure that the story hadn’t gone down well with her dad. Now face to face with the guy, curiosity won out over anger.
“Hello?” It sounded so inane, almost anticlimactic.
Todd found himself staring. The young man strongly resembled Marty and it was a little unnerving. The simple ‘hello’ sounded odd. He wasn’t sure just how to start the conversation, so he just decided to get all the bad stuff out in the open and go from there. “Look I’m sure you’re not too thrilled to see me. But I felt it was time. This last year has been full of a lot of revelations for me. One big one was finding out my daughter had a child. Another was that the father of that child was none other than Marty Saybrooke’s son. You probably can understand what that was like.” He paused waiting to see whether the kid was going to blast him for the past or not.
For a moment, Cole couldn’t believe the man had brought up his mother. His anger raged through him for a second time. He gripped the sheet tightly wishing for a brief moment he had Todd’s neck between his hands. Then he remembered something his counselor had said. Your anger put you in here, you need to let the anger go. He had been working long and hard to control the thing that had taken him away from Starr and Hope, this wasn’t the time to lose all that work. Starr’s dad was waiting for a response. His jaw muscles relaxed as he took as deep a breath as his wounds allowed and released it, letting the anger go with it. “I...I’m guessing it was a shock,” even as the words came out his hands loosened and he found the tension leaving his body, he continued, “similar to the one I experienced when I found out what you did to my mom.”
The kid took him by surprise. Todd had watched Cole carefully, he had seen the signs, he knew them by heart. At the mention of Marty the kid had gone rigid, the clenched jaw and hands screamed inner rage, yet he had brought it under control. Todd was impressed, Cole was one up on him in that category.
“Yeah, you guessed right? Although on a scale of 1 to 10, the shock must have been harder for you. I already knew my past with your mother, I just never figured we’d ever cross paths again when she left here, much less, that our kids would end up knowing each other. The shock for me was in finding out how young you and Starr were when all this occurred. Think about how you would feel if someone got Hope pregnant at sixteen.” He regretted the words as soon as he said them. He thought his own anger and bitterness were under control but obviously, he still needed to work on his issues.
“We never planned....”
“Stop.” Todd held up a hand. “You don’t have to explain. That last remark was … well, put it down to my frustration. You both were young and in love. You made a mistake and the result was Hope. I love Starr and Hope more than you know. My daughter....loves you. So I’m here to help.” As he finished speaking, he saw Cole’s eyes shift and turned to see Starr and Hope standing in the doorway.
He smiled shyly at his daughter, running his fingers through his hair. “Hi, Shorty. Cole and I were just getting acquainted.”
Hope squealed. “Sir Dragon!” and held out her hands to him.
Never one to refuse his granddaughter, Todd walked over and relieved Starr of Hope, who immediately hugged him.
Starr looked at her dad and back to Cole. “How’s that getting acquainted going?”
Cole answered truthfully. “I’m not sure.” He had watched his daughter Hope with Starr’s dad and had been amazed at how easily she reacted with him. He recalled how little contact the impostor had had with her. Yet Hope obviously loved the man holding her as much as he loved her back. He found himself actually wondering if maybe Starr had been right all along when she said her dad had changed a lot in eight years.
Todd looked over at Cole, he wasn’t sure where they stood with each other. “Let’s just say we’re working on clearing things up but now that you’re here, I brought you some good news. Princess Shorty can you get that paper out of Sir Dragon’s pocket and give it to your mommy?”
Hope reached into his pocket and Todd had to keep from laughing, she was being so serious.
Starr watched as her daughter worked to get the paper out and saw the smile appear on her father’s face. She also noticed the way he suddenly shifted Hope and realized he was close to losing it. Suddenly he broke out laughing and Hope turned startled eyes to her dragon. “Why are you laughing, Dragon?”
“Dragon’s laughing because Princess Shorty’s touch tickles.” He smiled at Hope, who giggled and hugged him again. She had gotten the paper out, so he instructed her to hand it to her mommy and she did so carefully. “Go ahead Starr, open it.”
Starr saw the government seal and recognized her Aunt Dorian’s handwriting. “Why is Aunt Dorian writing you, Dad?”
“Read it, Starr, you’ll understand.” Even as he said it, he hoped she’d get it read before the police showed up. He had figured he only had a short time before everything came down through official channels.
Starr read it and turned to her dad. “Is this true? You went to her for help?”
“For you Starr, anything.”
She swung around and faced Cole. “He did it. You’re going to be free!”
Cole looked at Starr unbelieving. “How?”
She smiled at her dad. “He asked the last person in the world for help and received it.” It meant the world to Starr that her father had asked. “Here, read this.” She gave the letter to Cole and walked over hugging her dad and whispering. “Thank you.” Then she stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “You’re the best.”
Cole had been reading and the words began to finally make sense. “A pardon? I’m getting a pardon. I don’t understand. Your aunt never liked me. Why would she help me now?” Cole looked at Starr and her dad. His eyes met Todd’s. “Why? You don’t even know much about me. What you do know, doesn’t make you happy. Why?”
“You know the answer, kid,” replied Todd.
Cole watched as a look passed between Starr and her dad and got his answer. The man had told him upfront he loved his daughter. This was the proof. He laid back against his pillow. He was going to be free and that meant there was nothing stopping him from being with Starr. The one man he had been sure would hate him, had been the one to make it happen.
Well, I like this chapter very much. I like it because it's all family stuff, the kind of drama I am interested in seeing/reading. Thanks!
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