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I had to do everything I could to resist . . . everything I could to stay true to my heart.
Chapter Twelve
Easton
Thwack.Thwack. Thwack.
The feel of the hammer hitting the nail as I drove it into the wooden plank was satisfying. The middle step on Grandma Carter’s front porch had split, and I’d been all too eager to get out of the house and fix it. Christmas Day had had a heavy cloud hanging over it in my brother’s absence. We’d all missed him, especially Mama, and it was either take out my frustration with the hammer or call Drew to say some things I couldn’t take back. But I couldn’t entirely blame my mood on him. Repairing this step had proved to only be a minor distraction before my mind was quickly consumed with Mulaney again.
She’ll come around.
Those were the last words my mother had spoken to me the previous night before I went to bed and the first thoughts when I woke up this morning.
That was the problem. I’d been playing the waiting game for seven months. Years really, because I’d known Mulaney practically my whole life. Her reaction was impossible to predict, and this was too important to foul up by being hasty.
She was the only person I’d ever let continuously punch me in the face without fighting back. I hoped she’d eventually grow tired and realize I wasn’t the enemy. The scars she left behind would end up as reminders of how it was worth every single jab.
A small part of me wanted to let things go, give her what she wanted, and move on. But the bigger part didn’t want to do that at all. She was wrong. She’d done me wrong, but I wasn’t beyond forgiving, because I saw all that bark for what it was.
Mulaney was scared.
When she’d become interim CEO, my intentions had been derailed. It had happened unexpectedly and fast, and to pressure her then would’ve made things worse. So I’d waited. She didn’t have to be afraid of me. By now she should have known she could count on me. We’d made an agreement that was best for both of us, yet she wouldn’t stand by her end of the deal.
I wantedherto decide to make things right. While my father had backed me into one corner, she’d trapped me in her cage. Heartbreaker had better get ready. I was busting out when she least expected it.
My phone buzzed as I secured the other side of the plank.
“You’re missing out on the fun stuff,” I answered after glancing at the number. “If you hurry, you can get here in time to paint the steps.”
“Isn’t it too cold to be painting?” Drew asked.
“Probably, but I don’t have any other time to do it, and I can’t leave one step undone.” My grandfather would roll over in his grave if I left something unfinished.
“I wondered why you hadn’t called me back.”
I set the hammer down and moved into the yard. “Did I have a reason to?”
“I emailed you fifteen minutes ago. That was more than enough time for you to get back to me.” He sounded both excited and annoyed.
“That long, huh?”
“You’re fixing steps on Christmas Day. Don’t act like working is out of the realm of possibility,” he said moodily.
I lowered the tailgate on my grandma’s old truck and sat. “I was beginning to think you couldn’t get me the info I need.”
“I can do anything,” he boasted. Somehow, I didn’t doubt that. “These things can take time. You can’t just barge into the system. It’s like a foreign invasion and everything will shut down.”
“Did you figure out what happened with EXODUS? Why isn’t it updating?”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m still working on that.”
“Then what did you find?”
“There’s plenty of money in the operations and investment accounts.”
I switched ears uncertain I’d heard him correctly. “Come again?”
“It’s less than it was when Dad first started talking about this merger nonsense, but not by much. Only a couple hundred grand. You’re the money man, but looks to me like our intake was up this month.”
