Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
ASLAN
K eaton falls asleep on our way back to San Francisco.
I put my arm around her shoulder and hold her as she rests.
The tension she carried from earlier is gone.
Later today, we have to discuss her situation and make sure that at least the financial piece is taken care of.
The next step is to figure out how to help her mother.
I only caught a few pieces of the conversation Keaton had with the nurses.
She’s had two strokes. The doctors believe it’s part of the illness she’s had since Keaton can remember. There has to be more to it, but I didn’t dare ask. I’ll do it later. Maybe Heath can help me. One of his mentors is a neurosurgeon. Will he know about it?
This must be devastating for Keat, why couldn’t she come to me? How is she handling it by herself? Knowing her, she’s been taking care of her sister. That’s what she does. She looks after those around her. I admire her more than I did before.
When Dad died, Gatsby, Lysander, and I were in charge of everything. The house, our siblings, even my mother.
We had to reassure the young ones that everything would be fine.
It was hard for them to believe us when Mom was in an almost catatonic state.
They feared she’d die too. Then, there was the vineyard, which was almost in ruins.
We barely convinced them that we knew how to fix everything, even though we had no idea.
Helping Dad over the summer with some of the winery duties wasn’t anywhere near knowing how to run the entire operation.
Same with Spearman LP, where I worked during my senior year.
No one in the family had any interest in that company except Fern, who liked to work for Dad during the summers, but she was still too young to take over the company when he died.
It was up to the three of us to learn how to be our parents.
We grew up fast. We started by dropping out of college.
I was an art major who didn’t know what he would do with the rest of his life.
Gatsby was a computer geek who could only communicate in C+ language.
Well, that was how we teased him back then.
Lysander was studying chemistry. The three of us had to quit and be Mom and Dad for a while.
We prepared meals, took online business classes, and even cleaned the field while figuring out how to move forward.
It was emotionally exhausting to feign that everything was going to be alright.
Sometimes Fern took on the role of surrogate mother for the younger ones.
Other times, she fell back into being a little sister who needed her big brothers.
My uncles helped with Spearman LP. Jackson, my oldest cousin, taught me much of what I know.
They were hard times. Every day we ended up physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.
Despite everything, Lysander, Gatsby, and I had each other to lean on.
We survived because we had a support system.
There’s something about our relationship that makes everything bearable.
I can’t imagine being in this life without them.
I should be that for Keaton while she’s going through this rough patch. I’ll talk to human resources about her mother’s situation. There has to be a way to include it in Keat’s health insurance. I’ll be everything she needs until her mother recovers.
Can her mom recover if she has dementia?
We’re only a few blocks from my apartment building when Keaton’s phone buzzes. She opens her eyes, and her entire body tenses. She almost dives into her purse, searching for her phone.
“Are you okay?” she asks whoever is on the other side of the line. After a couple of seconds, she relaxes. “Yes, she’s alright. I’ll give you all the details when I get home.”
She nods a couple of times and exhales harshly. “She’ll be fine, I promise.It’s fixed, isn’t it?”
The car stops right by the entrance of my apartment. Keaton gives me a strange look. “I should be home soon, Savannah. Call me if you need me, okay?”
Tim opens the door for her. When I join her, I ask, “Is Savannah okay?”
She nods once. Tim hands me her purse. As we make our way inside and toward the elevator, she finally answers my question.
“She’s worried about Mom and our future.
A lot is happening, and she can’t do much to help me.
I know that sometimes I complain about her by saying she’s selfish, but she’s not.
She’s gone through a lot since she was little. She can’t catch a break.”
“How about you?”
She waves a hand as if life hasn’t been hard for her.
I understand where she’s coming from. I never stopped to think that my father’s death affected me too.
I didn’t take time to grieve. Six other people depended on me.
I couldn’t just stop to assess the damage to my soul.
I had to continue. Someone had to be the one taking charge of everything.
Is that what happened to Keaton?
“Thank you for helping me with Mom,” she says, changing the subject.
I could tell her that she has to stop thanking me because it’s not a big deal, but I guess it is to her.
“I’m glad I was able to do something. We make our way toward the main entrance and once we’re inside, waiting for the elevator, I suggest, “Why don’t we get something to eat?
It’s almost five o’clock, and other than the protein bar we shared a couple of hours ago, we haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.”
“It’s been a long day,” she mumbles, stepping into the elevator.
The ride up to the seventh floor is quiet. When the doors open into the foyer of my penthouse, I notice she’s sucking on her bottom lip. Something is troubling her. Is there something that she forgot to tell me?
Before I can ask, she says, “I’ll do it.”
Was she debating dinner? Staying?
We have to discuss her shyness, but that’s a conversation for another day.
“I’m glad you’re willing to eat. I’m hungry too.”
She takes off her shoes, sets them up on the rack, and pulls out a pair of slippers from the box. She’s the only person who refuses to go barefoot in my house. I had to order her house shoes in case she visited me again.
I pull out the phone to open the food ordering app. “What are you in the mood for? We can order Italian, sushi, Greek…”
“Oh, I meant being your girlfriend for a week or whatever length you need it. Though, I could use a juicy burger.”
My eyes open wide, my heart beats fast. This is the solution to all my problems. Well, at least to get rid of my mother’s nagging, but…is she in the right state of mind to even do it?
“Are you sure? I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
She shakes her head. “The best would be if you set some boundaries between you and your mom, which I doubt you’ll do.”
I almost chuckle. “That’ll require family therapy or a miracle.”
She laughs. “Well, she needs to learn that you’re happy with the way you live your life.”
Keaton stares at me, narrowing her gaze.
“Unless you aren’t—then, you might want to look into that too.
However, I doubt you’ll have a change of heart this soon.
There’s also the part where your family already thinks we’re together.
I owe you a lot. It’s the least I can do to start repaying my debt. ”
“You don’t need to do that because I’m helping you.”
She smiles. “Of course, you’d say that. If I tell you that I’m willing to pretend to be your girl for five million dollars, you’d jump at the opportunity.”
“I would.”
“Why not do it to help each other? I’ll feel a lot better if I know we’re doing something nice for one another. I can make a sacrifice and spend a week in Hawaii, next to the ocean drinking unlimited amounts of alcohol and forgetting that my life sucks.”
Though everything she says is important, I’m smiling like a fool thinking about Keaton, a skimpy bikini, and the beach. One week looking at her hot body could be exactly what I need to relax.
“We’ll have lots of fun during our vacation.”
She makes her way toward the kitchen. Well, the wine fridge, to be precise. “Please, keep in mind that we have to work too. Monti Media is important. We can’t just forget our main goal.”
I don’t want to burst her bubble. It’s obvious that Keaton hasn’t dealt with my family outside the conference room.
They can be loud, overbearing, and… “Are you sure you want to do it? Go to Hawaii? We can make a plan to avoid the trip. My family can be intimidating. You’re talking about having almost a hundred Spearmans in one place.
I don’t want you to do something you’re uncomfortable with. ”
She flicks her palm a couple of times, dismissing my warning. “It’s fine, though…Are you sure Savannah can join us? I know she’s eighteen—an adult. I just don’t want to leave her alone. Plus, it doesn’t seem fair to go to Hawaii while she hasn’t been on a vacation since…well, ever.”
More than ever, I think that Savannah should come with us. She needs not only a vacation but probably a family. We Spearmans are famous for welcoming and embracing new people and making them part of us.
“She’ll be an honorary Spearman before the vacation is over, I promise.”
“I can share a room with her,” she says, fidgeting with the label of the wine bottle she pulled out of the fridge. “I’ll pay you back as soon as?—”
“Hey, don’t worry about the expenses,” I say, walking toward her.
I grab the bottle and search for the corkscrew.
“My cousins are absorbing most of them since it was their idea. Jeannette owns the resort, along with her wife. If this becomes an annual thing, the next time it’ll be our turn to host and pay for the ordeal. ”
“Ordeal?” She rolls her eyes. “I wish I had a close family that I could visit or spend holidays with. I wouldn’t mind a reunion once in a while.”
This seems like the best opening to learn more about her and possibly help her. “So, where’s your family?”
She shrugs. “I can share a room with Savannah.”
Why does she keep dodging the question?
I don’t press. She’ll keep changing the subject. If there’s someone who is more determined to avoid a topic than me, that’ll be Keaton Nealy.
It’s safer to focus on Hawaii. “Do you think my family is going to buy this if I tell them we’re sleeping in separate rooms?”
“It’ll be weird to share a room with you.”
“Hey, I’m a good roommate,” I say as I cross my heart and serve her with an innocent look. “You can ask Gatz and Lysander. We’ve shared a room since before we were born and until we went to college.”
Is there a difference between rooming with my brothers and a beautiful, sexy woman? Yep, but I’m going to try my hardest to ignore how much she turns me on. I finally open the bottle of wine, hand her the cork, and grab a couple of wine glasses.
“Fine, but don’t make me regret this.”
I pour wine into a glass and hand it to her. “I’ll make it worth your while. Unlimited fruity drinks, the beach, and…” I wink, knowing that if I add sex, she might shut me down and send me packing to Hawaii on my own.
She lifts her glass, waiting for me to finish pouring mine. Once we click them she says, “Let’s hope this agreement works for the best.”
“It’ll be the best vacation you’ll ever have,” I promise.
Can I deliver?
There are a lot of things I want to deliver to her, but would it be possible?