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“I’m glad to hear that. She doesn’t have many places to go, Carson. Georgia never really had a home or a family. I’m just her social worker, but I’m the only person she has. Except for you. Does she still have you?”
“Yes, she absolutely still has me. I don’t want her to ever feel like she has to run away. I want her to run to me from here on out.”
“You sound very confident, Carson, but Georgia is very hurt. You crossed a line with her. She’s not the kind that trusts easily to begin with, so it’s going to take a lot more than a smile and a casual ‘I’m sorry’ to earn her trust back.”
“I know that. She deserves far more than that,” Carson answered. “She deserves a man she can trust. One who makes her feel safe and loved, and I want to be that man. I love her and I feel like a fool for letting my past issues color the situation. I—”
“Honey, save it for her,” Sheila interrupted. “How soon can you get to Detroit?”
Carson looked down at his watch. It wasn’t a long flight, but the logistics of the airport, even with a private flight, would take time. “By dinnertime.”
“Good. I’ll keep her distracted and at the house until you get here. She was talking about going out to eat, but I’m going to insist on cooking something special that she can’t refuse. You’ve got my address on Mayflower?”
The slip of paper showed the right address. “I do. I’ll have a car take me straight there from the airport.”
“Good. I look forward to meeting you, Carson.”
He hung up the phone, feeling a triumphant surge of adrenaline running through his veins. “Rebecca, book me the next available flight to Detroit!” he shouted and started gathering up everything he needed to leave.
When he looked up a few minutes later, Brooks was standing in the doorway with a frown on his face. His large frame filled the space; he was like an angry Viking. Carson was about to get it, he was certain. With Georgia absorbing his every thought, he’d forgotten that he’d left his brothers in the lion’s den that morning.
“What the hell was all that about back at Sutton’s? You walked out of a huge meeting. You left Graham and me dangling after the paternity test bombshell.”
“I’m sorry,” Carson said. He hadn’t really considered that his brothers were probably upset about the news that their father was still a mystery. Graham had barely blinked, launching into an argument that would just secure a larger piece of
the pie for Carson. “How did it go?”
Brooks shrugged. “A stalemate. With him dying, we don’t have much time. And of course, there’s still the matter of tracking down our father. How could you leave in the middle of all that? It was a crucial turning point for our plan.”
Carson knew that, but in the moment, it simply hadn’t mattered. “I just had to go. This was more important.”
He didn’t think it was possible, but Brooks’s frown deepened. “She’s just a woman, Carson. They come and go. We’re talking about getting revenge for our mother. Making Sutton pay for how he treated her and abandoned you. How can some lady you’re dating possibly be more important?”
Carson took a deep breath and sighed. Nothing he said would diffuse his brother’s anger. It had taken Carson a while to get to this point, too. “Nothing we do to Sutton is going to change what happened to Mom. We can’t change the past. We can’t right the wrongs of thirty years ago. I’ve decided the future—my future with Georgia—is more important.” He stood up and grabbed the baby blue bag from his desktop. “And she’s not just a lady I’m dating, Brooks. At least, not for much longer.”
“Is that what I think it is?” Brooks asked, his aqua eyes wide with surprise.
“Yep. The future starts today.”
* * *
Georgia was helping put together a salad when a knock sounded at the front door. Sheila had dismissed her offer of a nice dinner out as a thank-you for taking her in, so she insisted on at least helping to cook.
“I’m in the middle of finishing up the pasta,” Sheila said. “Can you get the door? It’s probably just a package. I’m addicted to Amazon Prime.”
“Sure thing.” Georgia wiped her hands on a dish towel and trotted over to the front door. She flung it open, and stood frozen in shock when she found Carson on the doorstep instead of the delivery man.
“Hello, Georgia.” He was wearing one of his best Armani suits and holding a bundle of bright pinkish-red roses in his hands.
How had he found her here? Georgia’s gaze narrowed in suspicion as she glanced over her shoulder. The kitchen was miraculously empty, confirming what she thought to be true. Sheila had conspired against her and brought him here. She’d given Georgia no warning at all. She could’ve at least told her to change. Her hair was in a ponytail. She was wearing a pair of capri jeans and an oversized Detroit Lions T-shirt she’d bought at Walmart because she hadn’t brought any clothes with her. She self-consciously ran her hand over her hair to smooth the flyaways.
“Are you going to say something?” he asked. His green eyes were pleading with her.
She wasn’t going to give in that easily. She wanted to. Seeing him in that suit with those sad green eyes made her want to melt to the floor, but she wouldn’t. Carson had a lot of groveling to do before she was going to forgive him for how he’d treated her. “I would, but it seems that everything I say or do is twisted and used against me somehow. It’s probably better that I just let you do all the talking.”
Carson nodded, his gaze dropping to the flowers in his hands. “That’s fair. I deserve that. You’re absolutely right. I took your well-intended advice and hard work for the company and turned them into something licentious. I should’ve trusted you the way you asked me to, and I didn’t. I am very sorry for that. I realize now that I colored everything with my own hang-ups, and they had nothing to do with you. You didn’t deserve any of the horrible things I said to you that night.”
Georgia listened to him as he spilled his guts. He seemed genuine in his apology. But that wasn’t nearly enough to heal what he’d broken.
