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“It’s okay, Mom. You can tell me.” I knew what was coming. The unspoken truth about my father’s illness. Jackson told me his numbers were high the last time they checked, but all of us thought they were manageable. Searching the depths of her bright blue eyes for hope, I glanced away when I saw none. I sat silent, allowing her to gather her scattered thoughts. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Your father doesn’t know I’m asking this, or he wouldn’t approve.” My eyebrows furrowed. My parents didn’t have secrets from one another. Sensing my apprehension, she continued. “It’s not like that. You know we are very proud of you, Courtland, and the life you’ve built for yourself. We’ve never allowed ourselves to take advantage of your connections.” Her voice broke off, and I could tell she was agonizing over whatever she wanted to say. “It’s just the doctors here aren’t giving us much hope, and we don’t want to miss anything. They mentioned an experimental treatment that’s being studied in Peru.”
“Mom.” I held her hands in mine and cut her off before she could ask. “Do the doctors think this treatment will work? What are the odds?”
She offered a weak smile. “They say they think it will work. They have several patients with the same type of cancer as your dad’s, and all of them are now in remission.”
“Well, it looks like we’re going to Peru. End of.”
The rush of breath my sweet mother released could have floated ten hot air balloons. Relief was pouring off her like water over a rock. “Let’s go tell your dad.” She couldn’t hide her elation as she pulled me along behind her like a struggling toddler.
When I laid eyes on my father’s feeble frame, he was sitting with his back to the door, wearing a black shirt and khaki shorts. The clothes hung on his body, making him appear smaller than he actually was. I swallowed the fear that made an unwelcome entrance and took the seat next to him. “Hey, Dad, I was thinking about those papers you wanted me to look at. How about we wait on that and talk about this new treatment Mom mentioned?”
He shot her a warning glance, but when he saw she wasn’t backing down, he shook his head and gave her a smile and a wink. They would be fine.
“Dad, I know you don’t like it when I offer money to you, but this is important. Probably the most important thing you’ll ever do. Let me do this for you. Please.” After a little back and forth, he reluctantly agreed. Until everything was set, the family would only be told they were taking a much-deserved vacation out of the country. We got all three of my brothers on a video call. Jackson and Ben balked at first, sensing we were keeping something from them, Knight was too distracted with the music store and some out-of-town deal he was working to complain too much.
The rest of the afternoon was chaos as I planned for my parents to fly to Peru while taking a business call regarding a new charity I was funding. It was six forty-five, and I was on my way out the door to collect Molly when my phone rang. Putting the call on speaker, I answered. “Hey, Nick, I only have a minute. What’s up?”
“Sorry, man, I know you hate to be disturbed unless it’s an emergency.”
Getting into my rental, I went on. “You’re correct. So what is the emergency?”
“That jackass Lucas Morgan just filed a motion for a permanent injunction regarding King Enterprises.”
“I’m not surprised. In fact, I expected no less from the smug son of a bitch. Listen, I’ll be back in town the day after tomorrow, and we can hash things out then. Get in touch with the team and have Melinda set up a meeting that night. Let me know if he makes any other moves. See you soon.” I ended the call just as I pulled up to the Bluebird.
As I was about to exit the car, I saw her coming out the door. The smile on her face could light up the town square at midnight, and she gave a flirty little wave as she approached the passenger side. Jumping out and racing around to open the door for her, I was stopped in my tracks by her appearance. She was sex on heels in a tight black knit dress that accentuated every curve and then some. The neckline was high, but it complemented her exquisite breasts and tiny waist. Red stilettos and matching clutch completed her wardrobe, and her blond tresses hung in waves over her shoulders. I wanted to sink my fingers into the silky locks while devouring her luscious mouth.
“Courtland, are you okay?” She was staring at me like I was a madman. Well, where she is concerned, I was happy to consider myself mad.
“Sorry Buttercup, you just left me speechless. Wow, just wow.” She laughed as I opened the door and climbed inside, allowing me a peek at the soft skin underneath the hem of her very short dress. I mumbled to myself as I rounded the car. “Oh, Buttercup, you might get me arrested tonight. If anyone gives you a second look, it’s on.”
Dinner was perfect. Ben kept his word and made sure there were no interruptions while we dined. Soft music was piped into the room from the lounge, and the makeshift bar was well stocked with Dom. We talked about our day. I told her about the treatments my dad would receive in Peru and reminded her I’d be leaving in two days to fly back to New York. My two weeks would be done, and I needed to tend to any complications regarding my newest acquisition.
She said she finished all the inventory and had a few customers while she was there. She also insisted I come back for the Memorial Day extravaganza Stone Creek held every year. That was four weeks away, and I definitely wanted to be here.
After we finished our shared crème brûlée, the mood turned serious. We needed to have this talk before I left town. Tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear, I leaned in, whispering, “Molly, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
She looked at me with those big doe eyes, and my heart melted. God, give me strength. How can I hurt this woman who has come to mean so much to me? “Courtland, what’s wrong?”
Her beautiful innocence captured my heart weeks ago, and there’s no way I could let her go. Letting my head fall back, I blew out a breath and then met her gaze. “Molly, baby. I don’t know how to say this.” Her face went pale, and her lip trembled as she searched for words.
“You’re frightening me, Courtland.” Tears formed in her emerald eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her, but the coward in me didn‘t know how to do this. I closed multimillion-dollar deals daily and crushed my opponent whenever the mood suited me. Nothing scared me. Nothing except the look on my beautiful girl’s face and how I was responsible for putting it there. I didn’t want to do this here. “Can we go to your place? Please.” She nodded, and we left without a word.
Silence filled the car as we made our way to the Bluebird. It was only a two minute drive, but it felt like hours. My mind was racing as I concentrated on what I wanted to say to her. By the time we pulled up, all coherent thoughts betrayed me.
We entered through the back and climbed the stairs together in silence. She unlocked the door, and after placing her bag and keys on the table, took a seat on the velvet sofa I had come to admire. Instead of joining her, I walked to the coffee table and positioned myself in front of her, gently taking her hands in mine. I kept my eyes focused on the floor while she waited for me to begin.
“Whenever you’re ready. I’m here.” Her comforting voice broke me. This was going to be harder than I thought. At that moment, I lifted my eyes with tears rimming them and said the words I never thought I would utter aloud.
“Molly, Buttercup. This is so hard.” When I looked into her eyes, tears were leaking from the corners and spilling out over her cheeks, and I hadn’t even said a word.
“I know about Michael.” My voice was barely audible.
She cocked her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I know you had a twin brother and that he drowned twenty years ago.”
