One Special Moment - Brenda Jackson [77]
Sterling shrugged and took another sip of coffee before saying, “You were.”
“You still haven’t forgiven her, have you?” Nicholas asked after a few minutes had passed.
Sterling took his hand and rubbed it down his face. “Yes, I’ve forgiven her.”
“Then why do you want to close this chapter in your life? Why not fully open it and get to know Angeline.”
Sterling sighed deeply. He wondered how he could make Nicholas understand. Colby was right when she’d said forgiving wasn’t so hard, but forgetting was. “It’s for the best, Nicholas. I’ve forgiven her but a part of me won’t let go and forget just yet. You don’t know what it’s been like for me. You don’t know all the garbage I had to deal with all those years.”
Nicholas came back to the chair across from Sterling and sat down. “I think I have a good idea. Mom told me everything before she got sick. She even told me what she did to you that day in North Carolina when you were only a little boy. And while she was telling me I couldn’t believe it. It was like we were talking about two different people. The mother I know and love just could not and would not turn her back on her child. But she convinced me she wasn’t the same person then. When she walked out on you and your father she was barely seventeen.”
Sterling drew back wearily. “Barely seventeen or not, she was still Chandler’s wife and my mother.”
“I know that and again I think I understand how you may feel, but I’m asking you to accept her now as she is, a warm and loving person. And accept me as I am, a man who desperately wants to get to know his brother.”
Nicholas took a deep breath before continuing. “Don’t close this chapter in your life. Give yourself a chance to know the Angeline Chenault that I know, and in time, hopefully you’ll be able to forget the pain. And I want you to give yourself a chance to know me. There’s more than just you and Angeline involved in this now. There’s me.”
Nicholas stood. “Have a safe trip back to North Carolina and tell your wife that I send my congratulations. I hope to get the chance to meet her one day.”
Sterling nodded. “I’m sure that one day you will.” Then he glanced down at his watch. “I’ve a couple of hours before my plane’s ready to take off. How about lunch? I think you need a break from here. Do you know of any place nearby where we can grab a couple of sandwiches and engage in a private conversation?”
“A private conversation about what?” Nicholas asked.
“About you.”
Nicholas frowned. “What about me?”
“Some weeks ago Kyle Garwood approached me about a business proposition concerning you and Chenault Electronics. At the time, because of personal reasons, I wanted no part of it. Now I’d like to take another look at it.”
Nicholas’s mouth tightened. “That’s not what this is about, Sterling. That’s not what I want from you. I’d much rather have a brother than a business associate.”
Sterling heard Nicholas’s words and felt the truth in them. A tender smile touched his lips. “How would you like to have both?”
Silence settled around the two men as the meaning of Sterling’s words became clear. Nicholas returned the smile. “I’d like that.”
Colby enjoyed her walk, which covered the vast area of Sterling’s property. The trees were a mixture of pine, hickory and oak. She also noticed signs of birch, maple and hemlock. She smiled. Her class at school would have loved taking a field trip here during back-to-nature week.
She sniffed the air to smell the fragrance of the camellias, dogwoods and orchids. When she made it to the edge of the property she turned back around and took in her surroundings. The land that belonged to Sterling was beautiful.
In the distance, from where she stood high on one of the smaller mountains, she could see Sterling’s home. And not too far away was the older house where he was born, the one Chandler had preferred living in until the day he had died.
Brushing off an