Page 90 of Changing Lanes

“I love you.” He hangs up with that.

I have about two hours before I need to get Andi, so I text Lea to see if she’s back from her appointment and if she’s busy.

Hey. You busy?

Nope. Come by the house. Lea texts back.

Be there in ten.

I put directions to Lea’s in my GPS then I’m on my way. Pulling into their drive, I’m surprised. Their home is beautiful, it’s a simple beach cottage. I thought they would have a massive home. Lea’s worth more than my father.

“Hi. Come on in.” Lea waves from the door.

“Hi, thanks for letting me crash. I have to pick Andi up in two hours or so,” I explain.

“Yeah, Brannon told us. He sent One a text about Charleston, One decided to go with him.” She shrugs. “He picked him up on the corner near the doctor’s office since this was Brannon’s first emergency. He’ll let him go alone next time.”

“Oh, I forgot you had an appointment. How’d it go?” I ask as I look for the twins.

“We were just getting out when his text came through. I’m good, a few more months,” she says patting her little round belly.

“Are the twins here?” I decide to ask instead of looking around.

“They’ll be here in a few, my daughter-in-law has them. It takes a village around here.” She laughs as she sits down, propping her feet up. ‘So, how have you been?”

“Good.” I nod with a sigh. She watches me, then waves her hand, prompting me to go on. “I’m scared.”

“About? There’s so much going on, I couldn’t begin to guess.” Lea’s off the cuff.

“Everything. I don’t want to lose Brannon and Andi, but I also don’t want to lose my father’s company,” I reply.

“I thought you were going to fly back and forth?” she counters.

“I am but…what if it’s not enough. First, my father is going to cause problems for us. It’ll not matter if he’s running the company or not. Second, I will not allow Brannon to get hurt again. Third, the time and travel will kill us,” I huff.

“All great points. Still, there’s more,” Lea pushes.

“I’m not sure what you mean.” I evade her question at all costs because once I say it, it’ll become real. I’m not afraid of what my heart knows, I’ve just planned my entire life around running my family’s company.

“Torrie, you need to be honest with yourself,” Lea replies. I do, I know I do.

“Here’s the thing, I’ve worked all my life to get my father’s approval and this company. Here I am, months away from something I’ve busted my ass for, that I deserve!” I exclaim.

“And?” Lea makes me work for it.

“Ughhh, I don’t care about it anymore.” I throw my hands in the air and fall back in the chair.

“Don’t care about what?” One was right, Lea’s amazing. Pushy but amazing.

“I don’t care about the company. Don’t get me wrong, I want it, but it’s not my main priority anymore.” I chew my lip for a minute. “When Brannon left today, all I could think about was, ‘what if I wasn’t here to get Andi? What if he left and I wasn’t here to say ‘be careful’ and he got into an accident?’ Besides, Lea, it doesn’t mean enough to me to lose Brannon again. Not saying I would, but my father is a factor, always will be,” I add.

“Do you think Brannon would be okay with you giving it up?” she asks.

“Why wouldn’t he be? It allows me to stay here. It will keep me away from my father also.” Lea cocks her brow at me. Oh. “He would never want to come between me and my father.”

“He lost his, I honestly think that’s why he left the first time. He didn’t want to cause you and your father problems, so he left. If you come to him, it’s a different story,” Lea explains.

“So, if I don’t go back, I need to come clean as to why I don’t want to, or I need to wait for my father to give me the company, which could take years. He’s vindictive, and it’s his company. If he wants to keep it dangled on a string in front of me until his death, he can.” So, what am I supposed to do?