AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dad has been cutting back his hours at the office in a major way, but when we checked his schedule after coming into work this morning, we saw he was going to be in this afternoon. I forced myself not to think about it all day because I figured it would be better, but now, with the three of us standing in front of his door, I’m a nervous wreck.
Lachlan steps up—no surprise there—and knocks on dad’s office door. When we hear him shout, “Come in,” I make sure I’m at the back as we enter the room.
It’s not uncommon for us to stop by and see him when he’s in. As we’ve been transitioning into leading the business, we always keep him up to date on what is going on and he’s more than willing to answer any questions we have.
We haven’t had the need to ask a lot of questions lately and as he’s been coming in even less. I can only hope he’s enjoying the time he’s spending with Abigail, and they have all the details about their first trip planned. He deserves it; they both do.
The room is quiet as we sit down in dad’s office. I’m not even a little bit ashamed to admit I choose to sit on the small loveseat and let my older brothers take center stage across from his desk. It’s how we usually sit anyway considering they both have key leadership roles for both divisions of the office. Is that what I’m going to use as an excuse and not my nervousness? You better fucking believe it.
Dad leans back in his chair, his smile dimming slightly by whatever he sees on our faces. His voice is curious and a little worried, “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine, Dad,” Lachlan reassures him quickly. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly before going on. “We wanted to talk to you about Lennon.”
Well, shit. He’s going to dive right in and not try to soften the conversation by starting with a report on how the business is doing. Okay then.
Dad sounds concerned, “What about Lennon? I’ve been checking up on her and from what I can tell she’s doing a great job.”
Lachlan holds up his hands to placate our dad who seems to be working himself up more with every word he says. “It’s nothing like that,” he assures dad. “She’s doing a great job. From what I’ve heard, everyone likes her, and she’s taken to everything quickly. She’s been spending this week getting to know the staff. I’m sure she’ll have some insight into how we can better utilize our people and our time.”
“Good, good,” the relief is fucking palpable in Dad’s voice before his eyebrows furrow together in confusion. “If she’s adjusting well then what do you want to talk to me about?”
“We need to speak to you about us and Lennon, Dad,” Kemp’s voice is even and strong. I have no idea how he’s doing it because it feels like my whole body is in knots right now.
I’ve always gone out of my way to make dad proud of me. If this disappoints him, it won’t stop us, but it’ll be a blow for sure.
My brothers have always had his approval in the same way I have. I know it’ll be hard for them as well if he’s not understanding about our feelings for Lennon.
I swear I see a damn twinkle in his eyes as he looks between the three of us, but I’m probably imagining it. He couldn’t possibly know what we want to talk to him about. Right?
“Oh?” He sounds far too fucking innocent, but the blood is rushing through my veins and making it hard to hear anything other than the pounding of my heart.
“Yes,” Lachlan intones. “I don’t know how to say this other than to come right out with it.” He looks at Kemp and then me before he turns back to Dad. “The first time we saw her picture, we all knew. She’s ours. At first, we didn’t know how to process it or what it meant, but we talked it out.”
“Jordan was the one to suggest, since we all felt the same way, there was only one solution—to share her,” Kemp helpfully interjects.
I run a hand over my face while wanting to scream at my brothers. It’s hard not to feel like they’re throwing me under the fucking bus with that one.
Dad looks at me, curiosity in his gaze when I meet it. “Is that true?”
“It is,” I admit. “We’ve never once fought over a woman. I could see my brothers felt just as strongly as I did when all we saw was her picture. We talked about it a lot. It’s not like I forced them into agreeing with me.”
Dad nods slowly, his eyes bouncing between the three of us. “I’m not sure what you want me to say here?”
“We don’t know either, Dad. We just wanted you to know our intentions. This isn’t some passing fancy. Lennon is it for us,” Lachlan states in no uncertain terms.
“How does she feel about it?” I almost smile at the concern in Dad’s voice as he asks about Lennon. I’m glad he cares about her and is in her corner. She didn’t grow up with a dad and she deserves to be loved by ours. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“We needed to meet her to know for sure. We weren’t wrong,” Kemp admits. “She’s everything we want in a woman. The only future we can picture is one with her as our center.”
“Lennon was unsure, but we’ve been moving slowly at first. She’s come around to the idea, but she has concerns which mostly center around the business,” Lachlan’s words are measured.
“Not what other people think about her?” Dad arches an eyebrow in challenge as he looks at his oldest son.
Lachlan shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”
“But you don’t actually know?” Count on dad to hear what our brother isn’t saying. He narrows his eyes. “Does she know you’re having this conversation with me?”
“No,” Lachlan’s shoulders slump slightly with his admittance. “I talked Kemp and Jordan into coming to speak to you. I didn’t want to hide anything from you and felt you needed to know.”
