When I rounded the corner to the entryway, I found the
front door wide open. Fall leaves blew in from the porch, and my sister was standing
toe-to-toe with Macey, as I’d expected.
Julia was a straight shooter. She didn’t take shit from
anyone, and was as stubborn and whiny as they came. She was graduating high
school soon, and growing into an interesting young woman. I looked forward to
the day she met her match: someone to calm those temperamental mood swings. It
would either take a real man or a real fool, but if he treated her well, I’d
buy him a drink…regularly. He’d need it.
Darting my gaze around the room, I strode past Julia and
peered outside. No Oliver. I sighed with relief, stroking my hand across my
jaw. Thank Christ. Julia would’ve shed blood.
I closed the door for privacy in case my sister made a
scene and turned, walking back around her. “Why so early, Julia?” I asked,
ignoring the standoff she was in the middle of.
“Who’s the slut?” she hissed, shooting a judgmental glare
my way.
“Hey!” Macey shrieked. “I’m not a slut! And who are you?”
This wouldn’t end well. “Go,” I said, looking at Macey.
Her expression held nothing but disgust. Probably
assuming my statement about being single was a lie, she brushed past Julia and
yanked the door open. Just as she was about to shut it behind her, her narrowed
eyes caught mine. “You’re a pig!”
If that was the only scene she’d make, I’d take it. It wasn’t
the first time I’d heard a similar comment, and it was one of the friendlier versions.
I let her believe what she wanted, unaffected when the door slammed shut.
I would’ve considered the morning a success if I wasn’t
standing next to a ticking explosive ready to detonate.
“Walk and criticize,” I said, heading down the hall
again. “Oliver will be here soon.”
“Are you kidding me right now?” Julia bellowed, stomping along
beside me.
“What?” I asked, a smirk playing on my lips.
“
What?
Screw you, Logan, I’m not a child. I know
exactly why the whore was leaving.” She made a choking sound, followed by a
drawn-out “Yuck!”
She didn’t miss a beat as we entered my studio to set
things up for Oliver.
“Since when do you bring sluts to your house, huh? I
thought you were a hotel/motel type of guy. And her outfit!” Her face screwed
up. “Oh my God, could she be more lewd? Her tits were falling out, and her ass
barely fit—”
“Don’t be crude.” I stopped dead in my tracks and shot
her a disapproving scowl.
“Oh, get over yourself! You have horrible taste in women:
always the least dressed, it seems.”
I wasn’t about to discuss my sex life with my baby sister,
so I had to shut it down. “It makes it convenient.”
The look on her face told me that did the trick.
“Gross! No wonder Jax admires you so much. I can’t have two
brothers with no standards.”
“Are you implying one of us still has potential?” I
questioned, brow cocked, smug grin in place. “Because I’ve seen a few of the
coeds Jax sneaks in here when he stays over. I’d question his standards first.”
Frustrated, she stomped her foot and balled her hands
into fists. Yes, ticking time bomb for sure. I couldn’t help but find the humor
in it.
“Ugh, not the point! What if I had Oliver with me today?
He doesn’t need to see a tossed-aside tramp in his home.” Her head tilted to
the side as she watched my amusement disappear. “I don’t think you want him to,
either—unless you have some twisted plan for him to grow up and follow in you
and Jax’s disgusting footsteps.”
My jaw worked tight under my skin, back teeth grinding
together as anger brewed deep within me. My son would be better than me—and better
than Jax, who incorrectly thought he had life figured out.
I stepped forward, making myself clear as I growled, “He
won’t. I don’t bring anyone around Oliver, so
stop
being so fucking
dramatic!”
With that, I started toward the large table in the room
full of supplies. I ran my hands over my face, digging them in, the pressure
easing my aggravation. I picked out Oliver’s favorite brushes, then scanned
over the paints.
“Look, I…I know you’re an amazing father, Logan, but
lately you seem to be…I don’t know…different.”
“Different how?” I challenged. I spent every morning with
Oliver, making him breakfast and dressing him for Katherine’s, and from the
moment I picked him up after work he had my full attention until I tucked him
into bed and read him one of his favorite stories.
There was a long pause before she answered. “Your eyes.
It’s there that I see the change.”
I lowered my head, my back still to her, and let my
eyelids slide shut. What secrets did they reveal? Did anyone else see, or was
it simply a sibling thing?
“You look sad, and I know you won’t admit it, but I can
understand if you’re lonely.”
I scoffed, whipping around to stare at her. “I was far
from lonely last night, and my son will be here any minute to brighten the shit
of a morning you’re causing me. So no, I’m not lonely.”
“Fine, whatever,” she huffed exasperatedly. “I was trying
to be honest, that’s all.”
My expression lifted, and I offered the slightest smile
to appease her. “I apologize for your run-in this morning, but had you texted
me that you were planning on stopping by, it could have been avoided.”
There. That was easy enough. Looking back over the paint
bottles, I debated which colors to lay out for Oliver. He usually leaned toward
cooler tones. “Now, tell me, what do you need?”
Silence hung between us for too long. If she wasn’t over
her little fit, there was nothing else I could say to settle her. But when I
peeked back over my shoulder, I was met with shifting feet and a rigid posture.
Something else was up.
I turned slowly, my hands full of tubes and brushes, and
caught the nervousness clouding her expression. I leaned back against the
table, readying myself for the worst. With Julia, it could be anything from her
maxing out the credit card I gave her to revealing she was knocked up. There
was never any way to call it early; she was always dropping grenades.
“Might as well get it out,” I recommended.
I watched as she inhaled deeply through her nostrils, exhaled
through barely parted lips, and straightened her shoulders. “Listen, hear me
out before you say anything, okay?” Her voice was oddly soft—one she saved for
getting out of trouble.
I rooted myself in place, making no promises.
“I’m not going to the university here.”
I didn’t move. “Is that so?” I replied calmly. She
swallowed, nodding.
That wasn’t the worst news. She’d been acting dramatic as
always with her terrified-kitten routine.
“All right.” I pushed off the table and strolled over to
Oliver’s easel. “That’s fine. There are plenty of other suitable universities
out there.” I moved back, starting toward the armoire that housed Oliver’s
painter shirts. “You do need to start getting applications in, though.
Graduation will be here before you know it, and you don’t want to miss any
opportunities by waiting till the last minute.”
Suddenly feeling alone in the conversation, I peered up
to see her staring at her feet. “What?” I asked, irritation heavy in my tone.
She looked up, sucked in a breath, and blurted out, “I’m
going to go to school in Harmony.”
Before I could fully process what she’d said, laughter enveloped
me. This had to be a joke. However, the pinch in her brow expressed otherwise.
I cleared my throat, cutting through my amusement and clearing it away.
“You’re serious?” I asked.
“Yes.” She stood tall.
Unable to look at her as my anger grew, I began pacing
the room. I didn’t need another fight with her. I had to play this just right
and as delicately as possible to convince her to see reason. My hand scrubbed
over my tense jaw.
“Harmony, as in where Mom and Dad grew up?”
She nodded. “I’ve already been accepted. It’s fully
accredited and has all the classes I need, plus it seems like a cute little
town. I can hang out in the same library Mom and Dad did when they was younger—maybe
eat at the same restaurants they went to on dates. I don’t know…it just feels
right, not to mention it’s a safe place for a young, impressionable girl.” Her
voice softened to meet the pleading in her eyes.
“Don’t try that act on me. I’m not Lawrence.”
“I know, I just—” she started, but I wasn’t interested in
what she had to say.
“I am, however, the brother
kind
enough to not
only foot the bill for your higher education, but also to provide you with the
means to enjoy the next few years so you don’t have to work.” My blood began to
boil with every word I spoke.
“And I love you for that, but it doesn’t mean you get to
control where I go, Logan!”
“Never thought I needed that control—I thought you had
more sense than to go to some off-the-map school just because you’ve
romanticized some nonexistent connection with a town. And, by the way, I highly
doubt our father spent much time at any library. Think about this—really give
it some thought. You could go to so many other schools!”
“I
have
thought about it. I don’t need some high-priced
university to make me feel like I’m getting an adequate education. I’m—”
“Oh, save it,” I interrupted. There was more to this. She’d
been planning to go to the university near home since before high school.
Harmony had nothing to offer—that was the reason we moved from there when I was
still a kid. “Tell me the real reason why.”
“I am!” She held up her hand, ticking off a list on her
fingers. “The classes are smaller, which means I’ll get more attention from
professors. I’m over the city—I’ve lived here my entire life, and a little
country atmosphere sounds like heaven.”
“Bullshit! It’s a guy, isn’t it?” I shook my head,
releasing a frustrated growl.
“No! How could you think that? I want to be a journalist,
run a good-old-fashioned-but-uber-successful newspaper someday. No guy is going
to distract me from that.”
I eyed her skeptically. She seemed so damn sincere, but
my sister could lie better than anyone I knew. Did she really want this? Even
with a seven-year age difference between us, we were as close as she and Jax,
her twin, were—mainly because she’d followed me around ever since she’d started
walking. And now here she was, wanting to move to the middle of nowhere?
The buzzer rang from the front door. Oliver was home.
“The answer’s no. You don’t have to stay in the city, but
you
will
go to a reputable university or I’m not paying.” That was my
final word on the subject, and I left it hanging for her to make the right
decision. I left her in the room, convinced she’d see it my way soon enough. I
only wanted the best for her.
Futile
A
s the week drew on, I had to admit I found myself
waiting for my sister’s determination to stampede me into relenting. Instead,
it seemed I’d misjudged her stubbornness. There wasn’t so much as a single
text, even unrelated to the school topic, sent my way. I took it upon myself,
however, to e-mail her multiple website links to some of the best universities
in the country. If she wasn’t going to stay in the city, then she sure as hell
was going to a top-notch school.
I’d pay whatever it took to schmooze her through the
doors. If not for the run-in with Julia at Katherine’s the previous day, I
might have started to grow concerned with her lack of communication. My sister
didn’t do the silent treatment; she preferred loud-mouthed, feet- stomping
tantrums.
I rocked back in my chair, staring out at the bustling
city below my office window and recalling how Julia’s spine had stiffened and her
gaze had shot in the opposite direction when I entered the living room at
Katherine’s to take Oliver home the previous evening. She’d decided on the
mature game of ‘If I don’t look at you, you’re not really there.’
I took it for what it was: humorous.
She’d see my way, in time; of that I was confident. My
sister was a clever girl, and she knew what she stood to lose.
I glanced out over the mindless afternoon gridlock,
mentally rerouting my usual commute to avoid it. News choppers hovered in the
distance like flies on the latest tragedy.
The longer I stared at the chaos below, the more I
despised sitting there. Every day, it was a similar picture. I always did
better outside the office—hands-on with our projects.
My cell phone vibrated inside my suit-jacket pocket. I
took my time retrieving it, certain it wasn’t work related. No one had my cell
number except those I actually enjoyed speaking to on a personal level, which
left very few numbers saved in my contacts.
It was my father, which wasn’t too surprising; the older
I got, the closer we became. Despite my parents’ divorce shortly after Julia
and Jax were born, my father was supportive to my mother and us as a family
unit. I decided I’d call him back over the weekend and tucked my phone back in
my pocket.
I wondered what advice he’d given Julia, or whether he
knew about her Harmony plan. It was probably the reason for the call, and I
knew exactly what he’d tell me: to let her make her own decisions. He was a hard
man in business and steadfast in his beliefs about raising us, but he was
always there when in need.
However, from the time we were children, he'd made it abundantly
clear that he was done funding our education after high school. Our options
were to earn scholarships or pay our own way. I’d already explained Julia’s
ill-advised decision to Lawrence, and he’d agreed to offer her no assistance.
That left our obstinate little sister with no choice but to accept defeat.
“Mr. West,” a voice hummed from the intercom on my desk.
It was my secretary, Maria, breaking through my musings.
“Yes,” I answered, pulling my thoughts back to the
present. I twisted my chair around, returning to the numbers I’d been running
on the computer.
“Your four o’clock called to say he’d be late.”
My fingers stilled on the keyboard. Who would that be? I
glanced over the schedule sitting to my left and at the name I’d jotted down,
despite Lawrence’s protest.
Damn it, Jax
. He’d seemed interested enough when I
told him I’d penciled him in for an interview. I was confident I could convince
him to grow up; he listened to no one else, and needed to realize that with
high school ending, a real job where he had a chance to grow within a company
was the next step, since college was off his radar.
I held down the intercom button. “Reschedule it.” I
turned my attention back to the computer screen.
“Yes, sir.”
Almost instantly, Maria’s voice was back. “Um, excuse me
sir, but uh…Mr. Jackson West has asked me to tell you he’d be here in five
minutes and that a new appointment wouldn’t work for his schedule.” Her timid
voice cracked with nerves.
A small smile tugged at my lips. His schedule? I fought
back a chuckle. As pleased as I was with his tenacity that matched his twin’s, arriving
late to his first job interview was unacceptable. It was in his best interest
that I played the hard ass.
I’d been too easy on him the past couple years, watching
him act out and not doing a thing to stop it. He was the only one in the family
having any real fun, and I didn’t want that to end too soon for him. However,
his time to better his own future passed when he’d made no moves to do so. I
had to deliver a dose of reality, whether he liked it or not.
“Reschedule him, Maria. If he has a problem with it,
direct his call to me.”
“Right away, sir.”
I sat back in my chair with my elbow resting on the arm
and cupped my chin, waiting for the call. Time ticked by—nothing. There was no
way Jax would simply back down; I’d taught him better than that, which was why
I wasn’t startled when my office door flew open a few minutes later.
Jax entered, dressed impeccably in what I was certain was
one of my tailored suits. It fit him well. My brother spent most of his time
either in the gym or cozying up with pretty little bookworms he could
manipulate into keeping up his grades. He thought he had it made, but that was
high school. He’d be in for a rude awakening when our father cut him off at
graduation.
I straightened my posture, squared my shoulders, and pulled
on a stern expression, ready to hear his excuse.
“Jackson,” I began, resting both my elbows on my desk and
threading my fingers together. “You’re late, and I’m busy. Maria will
reschedule our interview for next week.”
He strolled forward confidently. “Come on. I’m here now,
and I’m only…” He pulled out his phone and glanced at it. “Six minutes late.”
He shoved it back in his pocket and plopped down in the chair in front of my
desk. “That’s pretty good, if you ask me. Plus, I called to let you know. How professional
is that?” he boasted with a smug grin.
“What held you up?” I asked, though I had a feeling I
already knew the answer.
“School ran late.”
My brows knit together at his blatant lie. “School ran
late? Are you sure you don’t want to try for something better?”
“Fine, you’re right. You see, there was a sweet little
girl outside school, crying her big ol’ eyes out, trying to coax her poor
kitten out of a tree.” He made a pathetically heartbroken expression. “You
should have seen it: a mangy little thing with black fur and beady eyes. I had
to climb up the tree, and—”
“Enough!” I barked. “You were either fucking or tattooing,
so don’t come into my office and give me a line of bullshit. Got it?”
“Yes,
sir
.” He saluted, failing to hide his
amusement. “Well, I’m here now and eager to get on the payroll. I was thinking
I’d be a good fit at one of Dad’s clubs.”
“Not happening.”
“Come on, it would be perfect for me.”
“You’re eighteen—I’m not putting you in a club. Besides,
I don’t have control of Dad’s businesses. If you want to work for him, go to
his office. Here, it’s Lawrence and me.”
He blew out a long, winded breath. “Does Lawrence even
know I’m in the building?”
“No, but give it time. He’ll get over it,” I advised,
knowing full well Lawrence had taken meetings outside the office all day. It
was the reason I’d chosen that day for Jax to come in.
Jax snorted, unconvinced. “It’s been over two months.”
“And Katherine’s still pissed. As long as she’s angry,
you need to steer clear of him.”
He tugged at his tie, noticeably frustrated. “I don’t get
it. You fuck everything that walks through your door. I hook up with one woman
and I get a shit storm.”
“First of all, I’m not a barely eighteen-year-old kid. If
you want Lawrence to respect you, then grow the fuck up and stop thinking with
your dick. And secondly, I’m smart enough not
to screw his wife’s best
friend. Some women you just stay the hell away from.”
His eyes rolled back. “Right, you’re a saint.”
“You had to have known that wasn’t going to end well.
Besides, since when are you into cougars?”
He shrugged. “I’m not. She was the one always hitting me
up. Shit, it was her that dragged me in there to begin with. How was I supposed
to know Charlie would barge in looking to use it for hide and seek?”
I bit back a snicker. He was lucky it wasn’t Oliver who
got an eyeful. If he thought Lawrence was intimidating when he took him by the
neck and threw him out, he’d have pissed himself at how I would’ve knocked him
around.
“You could have locked the door,” I snapped, my voice
hardening as I recalled my nephew’s sobs.
“I tried! There was no lock!” He threw up his hands.
“I guess that’s because most people don’t need privacy
inside a
kitchen pantry
.”
I sighed. There was no reason to rehash the past. Still, it
was a no-go subject for Lawrence. Katherine had gone above and beyond for
Lawrence’s birthday party only to throw out a house full of guests when Charlie
tore from the kitchen, screaming that Jax was hurting Lisa. Katherine’s face
was twisted in a way I’d never seen it before when she ran in to discover it
was more pleasure than pain that Charlie had interrupted.
It took over an hour for Charlie to calm down, and in
that time, Oliver refused to leave. When we finally did, I spent the entire
drive home clarifying to Oliver that everything was okay and that Uncle Jax
wasn’t mean or hurting anyone. Which was true—he was just horny—but there was
no way to explain that to a three-and-a-half-year-old.
“I’ve apologized to Katherine over and over again. I sent
flowers like Mom suggested, and even had the florist throw in a box of
chocolates and a little basket of soaps and crap. Not to mention I haven’t gone
anywhere near Lisa, so how long do I have to wait this out, huh?”
“I don’t know and don’t really care. Right now, we’re
here to talk about what you plan to do after graduation.”
He threw his leg over his knee, getting comfortable. “You
already know that answer. I just need a job to make some money. Something easy.”
I held his gaze, considering his words. I did know what
his dream was, and it had nothing to do with an office building or a suit. And
as much as I wanted to hand him a check to make it happen, I knew it wasn’t the
right way.
“No. If you work for me, it won’t be easy. You’ll start
from the bottom and earn your place.”
“You sound like Dad,” he ground out.
I ignored his statement and the stab that accompanied it.
“My architect Joe needs a new assistant. I think it will be a good start for
you.” I pushed back in my chair enough to open my top drawer, grabbing his
business card.
“Joe? The big burly guy?”
I nodded, extending my arm across the desk to hold out
the card. “Yeah, he’s expecting your call. He’s an ass, but he gets the job
done and needs someone to keep his shit together.”
“An assistant—as in fetch coffee and schedule meetings?”
His brow puckered and nose turned up.
“He has a secretary for his schedule. You just need to
fetch the coffee and do whatever else he needs so he can focus on the job.”
“No fucking way.” He laughed as though I was joking. When
he realized I wasn’t, his grin melted away. “Screw you!” He snatched the card
from my hand, ripped it in two, then stood.
I inhaled through my nose, eyes holding Jax in his place.
“Excuse me?” I grated through my clenched jaw.
“You heard me! I’m not a dog.”
“I’m aware. You’re a West, which means you need to stop
playing little-kid games and prove to this family that you have the drive it
takes to someday run a business—no matter what type it is.”
“I wanted to work for you, but if you’re going to pawn me
off on some nobody, then I’ll take my chances with Dad. And like you said,
Lawrence will come around eventually, and when he does, I know he’ll find me a
better job than as someone’s bitch.” He turned on his heel and stormed to the
door.
“Jackson!” I called out. He stopped in his tracks, but
didn’t bother to look back. “I expect that suit dry cleaned and returned to my
closet by Monday morning.”
He said nothing, his anger evident in the clenched fists
at his sides as he exited the room, slamming the door behind him. I sat back in
my chair, wondering when I’d become my father. My goal was to give Jax a
reality check. He needed to know that he couldn’t just stroll in and expect
people to respect him because of his name. He needed to work for it, just as
Lawrence and I had. That work was the reason we were able to step out from our
father’s shadow early in business. We worked hard to make the right connections
and earn the respect of the right people. Because of that, we were able to join
forces and open our own company where we oversaw multiple ventures in different
areas executed.
Like Julia, Jax only needed time to realize that without
a job, he’d have nothing. I only wanted to help ensure they were on track for
success. It wasn’t just for them, though. I wanted Oliver to be surrounded by a
strong working family—role models worth looking up to.
I took one more peek at my calendar to confirm Jax was my
last meeting of the day. Since it was still early, I knew there was enough time
to make one stop before picking up Oliver.