Page 2 of Second Chance At Love

Henry smiled, basking for just a moment in her joy before leading them outside of the room where destiny awaited.

He listened as the music changed. He watched Addison straighten her back and posture to make their mother Mary proud as she walked down the aisle. He waited until given the signal from the wedding planner to proceed, then he walked, one foot in front of the other, heading towards his brother Nate.

He knew her smile, her bright eyes when she was excited, the way her nose wrinkled when she was confused. Henry knew the curve of her cheek and how she smelled like strawberries and vanilla. He knew what books she liked, how she was addicted to cheesy romance soap operas, and what she liked to eat.

Nate knew all of that too. And soon he would know everything there was to know about Cora. They were getting married, sharing their hopes, dreams, and their entire future together.

Henry kept his face impassive, his feelings to himself as they walked and people watched. Once at the front, he had the sudden wish to grab Cora, fling her over his shoulder and march out of the church. His car was outside. They could leave. They could go anywhere.

But she didn’t want to go anywhere. One look at her face told him that. She wasn’t looking at Henry like he hung the moon, she was looking at Nate that way. She loved him.

So he gave her hand a squeeze and stepped back, letting her go while feeling his heart fall to pieces.

Chapter One

He had promised the doctors to lay off the caffeine so Henry was stuck drinking decaf. Setting aside the mug, he rubbed his forehead and tried to make sense of the paperwork in front of him.

“Henry, if you’re getting tired, we can stop,” offered one of the lawyers.

“No,” he shook his head. While he had survived his initial surgery, his health wasn’t getting any better. “Let’s finish this. I have another twenty minutes before a conference call.”

Just two months ago he had undergone surgery to put grafts on the vessels around his heart. The grafts have taken, thus strengthening the vessels which allowed Henry to go on the heart transplant list. If a heart became available in time, the doctors had promised to fix that aneurysm below Henry’s heart during the transplant. If he came through the surgery, there was a chance his body could reverse the damage that had been done all these years.

Recently he had been diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy which made his veins thin to the point of starting congestive heart failure. The cause was normally hereditary, but in this case his doctor had come to the conclusion that Henry had been poisoned over a long period of time. Ironically enough it was an herbal tea he had been taking long term for depression which had caused the harm.

So there really was no one to blame but Henry, poisoning himself every day by putting two tea bags in his coffee.

Funnily enough, his health was the least of his worries right now.

Two months ago, just after Christmas, several members of his family were arrested for laundering drug money through their companies. The threat of arrest had been hanging over the Ramesly family for a while now. It was true that Henry’s father Oliver, and his uncles Robert, James, and David had all been involved. Henry had found through careful investigation that Gerrit had been aware and complicit. However, Henry was certain his cousins Jake, Dillon, Michael, and Noah were innocent.

The only good news was that everyone had made bail and were simply on restrictions. All five men were essentially on house arrest until the trial dates.

Their fathers had put all of them in a horrible position. The only one who had done right was James. James had paid an exorbitant fine, confessed to his involvement, and pleaded guilty to his crimes. In return, he had ensured the FBI wouldn’t prosecute his sons Gabe, Parker, and Marshall.

“The board believes this is the best course of action,” stated one of the lawyers, drawing Henry’s attention. “As do we. It is imperative RameslyHotels be protected from the actions of Gerrit Ramesly.”

His brother had a lot to answer for, decided Henry tiredly. “We have already done a press release. With the court’s permission, Gerrit is at a rehab facility. We blamed his addiction and put that out for the entire world to criticize. What else can the board want?”

“Full removal of Gerrit from the company,” one of the lawyers said plainly.

Henry reminded himself to keep this lawyer on staff. It was far better than the other two who spoke in circles. “Gerrit has been at the head of the North American division of the company since Nate’s death. I can’t just push him out.”

“He is guilty of money laundering. The accounting proves it and the FBI investigation has built a strong case against him. He will be convicted. Gerrit needs to be removed from the company, you need to sign off on the reduction of staff to keep RameslyHotels functioning, and a predecessor for your position needs to be named,” the more aggressive lawyer insisted firmly.

What he didn’t say is that a predecessor needed to be named since Henry was likely not to survive the heart transplant should he be lucky enough to receive one. He was on the donor list, but that didn’t always mean one got the heart.

“Addison Ramesly-Watersis my predecessor,” stated Henry. “She has been a member of the hotel chain and continues to perform well in her position.”

“It’s a conflict of interest. She’s married to the competition,” said the aggressive lawyer in disapproval. “If anything she should be forced to resign and sign a non-disclosure agreement to coincide with her non-competition agreement. Technically, RameslyHotels could sue on the basis of the agreements she signed when she was hired.”

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion. As for laying anyone off, we will not be reducing staff. We have the cash flow through Ben Ramesly to keep all of our staff on hand. Our employees depend on RameslyHotels and we will not let them down,” responded Henry. He signed the paperwork they had put in front of him, knowing he was about to make an enemy of Gerrit for removing him from the company. He gave the aggressive lawyer a particularly firm look. “No one is suing Addison or Waters. She knows the business. She’s family. Ads is capable of leading this company. Put together the paperwork today and bring it to me for signing.”

“Excellent. We will do that,” inserted the plain spoken lawyer smoothly as the aggressive one was about to protest.

Henry checked his watch as the trio of lawyers left the hotel suite. One of the lawyers, the more concise one, hesitated at the door.

“Yes?” questioned Henry, wishing the man would just speak his mind.