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“I know. I experienced the same thing with my mother. It’s hard and probably something we shouldn’t do, but it’s too late to change now.” Not that he would but he could tell it was something she needed to hear.
Fear had him pulling her into him. The day he slipped his ring on her finger, he never wanted to see it come back off. He’d do anything under the sun to make damn sure it stayed there.
That realization hit him in the face like a bucket of freezing water.
When had he fallen in love? Would she believe him if he told her? Probably not. Could he risk her pulling away from him? Definitely not.
His family and the company depended on him and he gambled every day, but not like this. To gamble meant there were odds to calculate. With Juniper, there were no odds. If she felt used or humiliated, she would walk.
She stepped back a bit. “Why me, Marshall? I’m just a girl from California with a penchant for pretty things and a knack for planning. You’re…well, you.”
He let out a harsh breath and leaned against the gazebo’s railing. “Why not you?” he countered.
“You know what I mean. Why are you even in this predicament to begin with? You have the pick of the town, heck the state and maybe even the country at your fingertips. I’m half a country away. How are we going to run our business while we play this charade?”
Worry marred her pretty features and he hated to see even the slightest bit of stress ink into her expression. “A few years back, five to be exact, Sam nearly died in a car accident while driving drunk. He didn’t hit anyone, thank God, but the what-if of that scenario still haunts me. Him too, I imagine.”
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked about this but once the words came, he let them if it would help her see and understand.
“That night I was out with a girl at the time and didn’t want to break away yet again. He had a habit of always calling me to bail him out of something. This time I thought I would teach him a lesson. Teach him to grow up and handle his own problems. I hadn’t known he’d been drinking.” Marshall paused. “He’d been invited to a party our father had not given permission for and wanted me to cover for him. At the time it seemed harmless so I did and that lie nearly killed him.”
“This was during your bad boy days, as you put it?”
He nodded. Just thinking about that night made a physical pain clamp around his chest.
“It was the night before my birthday. My brother had needed me, and I shrugged him off for a girl I knew wouldn’t last into something substantial. She liked the idea of a Blackwood to show off. I knew it and so did my entire family, but I didn’t care. Not then.”
Juniper stepped into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She held him, and he took comfort in the warmth of her touch. The way her fingers curled into his hair.
“And that’s why you don’t like the summertime much, or your birthday. It reminds you of that time?”
He gave a stiff nod. “Now with Pop gone it’s just another reason to bury my head in business and wait until summer blows over and everyone is back from the barbecues, beach parties and boating for another year. My lack of consideration for my family almost lost us a brother and my parents a son. Now I don’t take that for granted. I’ll do anything to protect them. Some things are more of a hardship than others though.”
Juniper stayed quiet, but he could see her mind turning his words over.
“After that night as I stood over my brother’s hospital bed battered and fighting for his life, I prayed, swore and pleaded that if my brother made it through, I would keep my focus and protect my family no matter what.”
“And you lost interest in dating, I presume?”
“And why my father saw fit to step in. Or at least that’s the only thing I can come up with. I’d sure like a chance to ask him a couple of questions about that, but I’ll just have to make due knowing the family will be okay.”
She stepped out of his arms.
“Did you ever think he had something else in mind completely?”
That made him real around. “Like what?”
She joined him by the rail.
“How close to when he passed away did he change his will?”
“Three weeks from the date the lawyer gave me.”
“I think he knew he didn’t have long.” She softly touched his arm and lowered her voice. Her enticing scent filled him with calmness. She held his gaze and gathered her thoughts.
“Marshall, what if your father’s actions were to help you heal? Help you find peace and happiness? And I think he wanted to give you something to smile about on your birthday. He wanted to give back something to his oldest son the only way he knew how. I’m not saying it was right, or that he knew best, but his heart was in it for you.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. His chest tightened, and it suddenly became very hard to breathe.
