Page 79 of Make it a Double

BECKETT

Date: Thursday, April 1st

(31 Weeks)

Sawyer’s Cravings:

- Grilled cheese with pickles

- Tacos

- Corndogs and mustard

I pinched the bridge of my nose, letting my eyes slip closed as I listened to my father’s grating voice. He’d called me nearly every day since I left Richard’s office for a status update. And every day I’d told him that I didn’t have one. It wasn’t my fault that things didn’t move as fast in rural Tennessee as they did in New York City.

“Watch your smart ass mouth, boy,” my father snarled from the other line. “You should be wrapping this shit up by now. What is taking so long?”

“Why don’t you ask Richard?” I said through clenched teeth. “After all, I’m waiting on him.”

Richard and I hadn’t spoken much about the project since our meeting, but he had texted me a link to a forum that he said had a lot of good information for expecting parents. It was surprisingly thoughtful. Something I hadn’t been sure the man was capable of.

“He denied their proposal, but he hasn’t heard from them. I already checked,” he snapped. “You’re supposed to be the middleman between the two, putting the pressure on the Bennetts to sell me what I want. So, where the fuck is my update?”

“Olivia is stubborn. You know that. The harder I push, the more she digs in her heels. We haven’t reached a breaking point yet.” And we never would. Not if I had anything to say about it.

When we had dinner at Duke and Olivia’s house, I’d pulled her aside and asked her why my father was so set on that real estate. She said that men like my father wanted what they couldn’t have. It’d become nothing more than a game to him.

She also said it might have something to do with Duke consistently calling him the wrong name when they met, wounding his pride more than the word ‘no’ ever could.

Knowing my father as well as I did, I told her she was probably right.

“If you aren’t capable of getting this done, boy, tell me now. I can have new boots on the ground before you have a chance to pack up your shit.”

“I can do it,” I seethed. “But you have to realize this is a goddamn marathon and not a sprint. Which you should know, seeing as you’ve been going toe-to-toe with her for nearly two years now.”

The irony of that wasn’t lost on me. My father could be one of the most charming men I’d ever met when he wanted something. If Olivia didn’t fall for his honeyed words, there was no way in hell she was going to give it up when they dripped with vinegar.

I felt his anger in the silence that followed. It should’ve been comforting not to hear the crash of shattering glass, but it left me feeling uneasy. His violence was nothing new. I’d dodged my fair share of crystal tumblers over the years. But the deafening quiet on the other line was something I’d only heard a handful of times in my life, and nothing good ever followed.

“Give me a month,” I said on an exhale. “Richard may be in your pocket, but he still has procedures to follow. You know as well as I do that if things aren’t done as close to the book as possible, Olivia has the means and connections to turn all this shit around on us. We have to be smart about this.” I hoped using logic to reason with him would be enough, but I wasn’t so sure anymore. Especially when he stayed quiet.

When he finally spoke, I knew I was running out of time. “If there isn’t a deal memo on my fucking desk by the end of April, you can consider our little deal off. I’m getting impatient, Beckett.”

I don’t know how long I stared at the wall after the call went dead, drowning in the silence as my coffee went cold. Most of the time, I was able to brush off my father’s threats, but I had so much more at stake now.

My father couldn’t show up in Pinecrest. Not yet. Not until I was able to get out from under his control for good. I didn’t trust the man as far as I could throw him. The thought of him finding out about Sawyer and the baby was terrifying. They would be the perfect leverage to keep me right where I was. His perfect fucking soldier, a lackey who did all the dirty work on his behalf.

I’d felt the crushing weight of his disappointment since I was a kid. For so long, I wondered what I’d done wrong to earn his ire rather than his love. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized it was just who he was. The man was miserable. He hated everyone and everything that didn’t serve him. The fact that I didn’t cower at his rage only made him hate me more, but he kept me close because I was his only heir. The need for a legacy that would outlive him was greater than anything he felt for me.

What scared me now was the fact that I was no longer the only male Montgomery in his line of succession. I wouldn’t put it past him to make all of Sawyer’s fears come true, either. A grandson granted him the opportunity of a do-over. He wouldn’t hesitate to slander my girl in front of a judge, and he’d feel no remorse when her parental rights were stripped away with the resounding thud of a gavel.

I blew out a breath, running my hand through my hair. My curls had grown out since I’d been here. I was in desperate need of a cut. Maybe I could ask one of the guys where they went. That was what friends did, right?

It caught me off guard thinking of them in that way, but I did. Duke, Grady, and Lukas were better to me than most of the guys I’d known since I was a kid. They welcomed me with open arms, even if I’d been a harder sell for Duke. His distrust of me came from a place of love and concern for Sawyer, so I couldn’t begrudge him for it. I liked that he kept a watchful eye on her. Made me feel better about her working so long in a rowdy bar.

I grabbed my now-cold coffee and made my way into the kitchen. I’d need to make another cup if I had any hope of figuring out how the fuck to get out of this mess. Draining the mug, I grabbed a pod and placed it into the machine, leaning against the counter as I waited.

The sound of tires crunching against gravel drew my attention toward the front of the cabin. I checked the time on my watch. It was too early for Sawyer to be off work, and anyone else I knew in this town had no reason to make a house call.