Chapter 11
I’m standing by my desk at the offices of the Bennett-Taylor Real Estate, peering down at a set of blueprints. My office is at the front of the building, and light pours in through a large picture window. From here, I have a decent view of Cape Simon’s quaint downtown strip. Beyond that is the sandy strip of seashore. But I can’t really see that unless I press my face against the window just so.
Trust me, I’ve tried.
Leaning over to the intercom on my desk, I press the discreetly-placed button. “Hey Wesley? Could you bring in the remaining proposals for the Jackson land?”
I hear my assistant rummaging about in the other room. Then he taps the intercom. “Yep!”
Wesley comes in with an armful of rolled up blueprints. He is dressed to the nines in dark slacks, a yellow silk button-up shirt, and stylish black suspenders. He’s dark skinned. He keeps his head shaved smooth on the sides, and gathers the neat dreads along his crown into a topknot. Today, he sports a gold chain around one wrist and a matching gold pinky ring on the other hand.
My part-time assistant is always the peak of style.
He lays the blueprints down on my desk and purses his lips. He starts tidying the stack of blueprints that are on the desk, then glances at my drafting table. I’m not an architect, but having a drafting table does make it easier to make notes on the actual blueprints themselves. On the table, several file folders are open, and dozens of loose contracts lay there in disarray.
“What have you been doing in here?” Wesley asks. His voice chides me as he walks over to the table. Wesley is the only one that gets to talk to me like I’m a kid.
I sigh and throw up my hands. “I haven’t seen a single proposal for the Jackson property that I like. When I met with these contractors, I described exactly the style of resort that I’m looking for, and exactly how big it needs to be. I even gave the businesses a rough sketch of the property.” I pick up a blueprint, frowning. “But most of them completely ignored my ideas. They just sent me blueprints for buildings that are on flat land. I guess they expect me to bulldoze the land.”
Wesley stacks all the contracts and jogs them. “Maybe you can pick and choose from a few of the proposals. Maybe one has a great main lodge. Another has a great overall layout. Like that.”
Squinting, I rub my eyes. “I feel like I’ve been staring at them forever,” I sigh. I stretch my arms up over my head and walk toward the front window. I lean one arm against the glass and let my head hit it with a thunk. “You’re probably right. At the very least, I’ll have to go back to all the contractors and have them deliver a second draft.”
Wesley places the contracts in a neat stack on my drafting table. Then he turns and glances at me. “I’m supposed to leave in an hour to lead a class on personal expression at the community center. But I can be a little late if you think you’ll need me.”
“You’ve done plenty.” I pull a face. “Go ahead and get out of here a little early. Nothing groundbreaking is going to happen today.”
He flashes me a quick smile. “Peace. I’ll be in tomorrow.”
Groaning, I turn back to the window. Two older women, decked out in expensive yoga gear, walk down the street toward Tranquility Yoga. Maybe I should go get Zen with them.
Or I could finally fuck my beautiful fake fiancée. That would go a long way toward relieving some of my stress. My lips turn up at the corners as I ponder the possibilities.
“Yo! River!” My brother Rex calls to me from the front office.
I’m not expecting to see him today. This is an unexpected, but not unwelcome, visit.
I walk out into the lush, couch-lined waiting area. Wesley’s desk sits to my right with the chair pushed in, the PC turned off, and the desktop as neat as a pin.
Rex and Cole are just sitting down on the plush leather couches. Rex is dressed in a dark Atlanta Kings hoodie and black track pants. Cole is wearing jeans and a white button-down.
“I didn’t expect to see y’all until the Kings game next weekend!” I say. I grab a seat in the matching leather chair. “Rex, you look like you’re slumming it, as usual. Cole, I’m surprised to see you in jeans.”
Cole cuts me a droll look. “Savannah won’t come into the office unless I wear jeans to work. It’s a whole thing, that I can’t really get into.”
“Sounds like you let your woman run your whole life.” I reach out, grinning, and tap his knee. “I’m kidding. I like Savannah.”
“You’re such a little kid.” He shakes his head at me.
“Which is why I was so surprised to hear the news,” Rex cuts in with a sneaky smile. “Dude, you picked a very splashy way to announce that you have a girlfriend.”
“Ah.” I’m not going to pretend that lying to my brothers doesn’t feel a little weird. I shift in my seat and wrinkle my brow. “Y’all heard about that, huh?”
“Uh, yeah. We heard. Not only is your relationship the only gossip the whole town”s talking about,” Cole smirks and pulls out his phone, showing me the screen, “but your little public announcement is up on Cape Simon Around Town. It already has three thousand likes.”
I snatch the phone from his hand and hit play. It’s a shaky video, but Pearl and I are in front of a crowd of people. I’m talking to her. She looks like she’s about to shit a brick. Which is not exactly my memory of how it went down.
“Fuuuck,” I sigh. “Everybody knows, huh?”
I make it sound like I’m against it, even though it was my plan all along.
“Oh yeah. You two are all anyone is talking about. Savannah is driving me up the wall, demanding to know if I knew you were a couple.” Cole cocks a brow. “I was under the impression that you were staunchly opposed to being monogamous. You were a total prick about the whole ‘marriage’ thing when I got engaged to Savannah.”
Wincing, I nod. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I have no defense. Pearl’s the one that changed my mind.”
“Two years into your secret relationship?” Rex asks, his tone skeptical. “Yeah right. What are you getting out of this?”
I lick my teeth. “Nothing,” I insist. “I’m just taking the next step. Right? Isn’t that what y’all keep parroting back to me? First you find a girl. Then you ask her to marry you. Then you have a baby. Those are the steps.”
I really need to convince Rex and Cole. Together with Rhett, they are the three brothers that the rest of the family follows. Once I get them on board, my parents will be much easier to ensnare.
“Whoa. First you introduce this girl out of nowhere. Now you’re talking about marriage? You are moving with lightning speed, little brother.”
“Mom says that when you know, you know,” I say. Yeah, I feel a twinge in my chest for misleading my brothers. But they will understand. I think when I explain that I faked my engagement for money, they will roll their eyes and mutter about how that is something I would do.
“I love her,” I say, finishing strong.
The words feel strange in my mouth. But I try to tell myself that my brothers would do the same thing in my position. At least Rex would; I have no doubt that in my shoes, my brothers would do the same thing. It’s just Cole that is too truthful for his own good.
Rex slaps his knees. “Can we continue this argument over lunch? I’m starving.”
Saved by the bell. Or Rex’s rumbling stomach, I guess.
I spring to my feet, eager to change the subject. “Where should we eat? Mari Macs? The Cape Bistro?”
Cole rises and looks at Rex. “You’re the one on a strict diet.”
“Can we hit the salad bar at the Cape Market? I love to load up on a big salad and a grilled chicken breast.”
“That sounds good,” I agree. “I’ll race you to the Market.”
Rex is off like a shot, elbowing us in his fight to get out of the door the fastest. Cole is right on his tail, giving him zero slack. I have to lock the office up so I trail behind by almost a minute.
The Cape Market shares a patio with the Cape Bistro and Winery. We grab trays and load them up with our salads. I opt for a huge turkey and brie sandwich, a salad, and I snag a pack of Sandy’s Sweets Salted Butter Pecan Shortbread Cookies. Paired with a cold hibiscus iced tea, it’s a balanced meal.
Paying on the way out, I find my brothers already on the patio. They are settled in at the corner table, overlooking the ocean.
I put my tray down on the wrought-iron table and sit in a lightweight aluminum chair. Rex stabs his fork into his huge green salad. He’s also got three grilled chicken breasts on a side plate. Cole sips a plastic cup of hibiscus iced tea with a contented look on his face. He has a salad and a side of cheesy baked mac.
“Oooh, I didn’t see that,” I say, pointing at the macaroni.
“Too bad. You know I don’t share,” Cole says.
“No? Not even for a trade?”
I crinkle the pack of cookies to open them and then set them on the table before my tray. Helping himself to a crumbly shortbread, Cole sits back.
“I’m going to eat this cookie. But it doesn’t excuse your sneaking around with Pearl for two years,” he says. “And I’m still not sharing my food.”
Rex snorts and raises his fork, pointing it at me. “Seriously. Explain yourself. Why did you spring this relationship on the family? You know that you gave Sarah and Dad an absolute melt down.”
I wince. My mom probably did blow a gasket.
“I don’t know what more there is to say.” Ignoring the look of disgust that Rex aim at me, I dump a whole packet of ranch dressing on top of my salad. “Pearl is the hottest, sweetest girl I’ve ever met. I like her. She likes me. She wants a baby, so…” I shrug. “The timing just makes sense.”
Cole chokes on a bite of his salad. “A baby???!” he manages. “You got her pregnant?”
I flush and scowl. “No. I said she wanted to have a baby. Not that we are having a baby. Get your ears checked.”
“Jesus,” Rex wheezes. “Don’t scare me like that. I can’t think of anyone less suited to have a baby than you.”
“Okay, slow down.” Cole looks at Rex, chuckling. “I could think of a few candidates. You, for example.”
Rex punches Cole on the arm. “Asshole.”
“Dick.” Cole hits him back.
Between the two, there isn’t really a safe side to pick. Rex is a superstar athlete; everyone in our family and the entire town worships the ground he walks on. He can’t be wrong, no matter how ridiculous and loud his boasts might be.
Cole, on the other hand, is measured and calm. Always calculating, never cutting loose. That’s why he is Sam’s go-to guy whenever he needs any business dealt with.
I lack their unique skillsets. At times, it makes me feel a bit like a boat in the middle of a storm, with the sea tossing me this way and that.
I guess my first line of defense is humor. “Y’all are so helpful,” I mutter.
“I just never saw you being in a relationship. Or if you did, you’d be one of those horny eighty-year-olds who gets engaged a nubile young lady with huge…” Rex looks around the patio, then changes what he was going to say. “Potential.”
Cole smirks at me. “I don’t know. Now that I think about it, a hot woman steamrolling River into a big wedding, and a baby sounds, about right. He thinks he’s so special. But really he’s every bit as susceptible to a gorgeous woman as the rest of us.”
“Speak for yourself,” Rex grouses. “I’m never getting married. Too much commitment, you know?”
“See, that’s what I thought.” I take a big bite of my sandwich.
“But your mind changed?” Rex asks.
I shrug, chewing and swallowing. “I always thought that if I settled down, it would be with someone cosmopolitan. Someone from Atlanta, a girl who’s on an upward trajectory in her life.” In twenty years from now, when I’m ready to settle down, I add for my own benefit. This is, in fact, still what I believe in the core of my being. My brothers don”t need to know that, though.
“Pearl doesn’t really have any aspirations other than working at the diner, right?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.” I cross my arms and shoot him an imperious gaze. “When I met Pearl, I realized what I thought I wanted, and what I really need, are two different things.”
The thing is… love is fine, but this situation with Pearl is not love. It’s a fully fake engagement for a marriage that neither of us wants. With a side of hot sex. Plus, she gets a baby in the bargain. Everyone wins. What more could I possibly want?
“Look who it is!”
I tense and my hands form fists even as I turn toward Bishop. I glower at him as he swaggers over to my table.
“What? Are you following me now?” I spit.
The smug look on Bishop’s face always makes me want to clean his clock. And without Pearl here to keep me from trouncing him, it might finally happen today. I crack my knuckles.
“I’m just here getting some lunch with Anitta.” He gestures behind himself, though she isn’t anywhere to be seen. “Where’s my sloppy seconds? She sniffing around here, trying to pick up her next rich White dude?”
It takes a mere moment for the cruelty of his words to sink in. I’m up in a flash, seeing red. “What the fuck did you call my girlfriend?” I hiss.
Bishop’s face splits wide in a grin. He gestures to me. “I know that you two started fucking before we were even broken up. I counted your timeline. The math ain’t mathin.”
“You can’t trust a man so concerned about another man’s girl.” I lick my lips and edge toward him. “Why aren’t you worried about your own woman?”
“Pearl is nothing more than a whore.” He spits on the ground. “She’s not worth the ground I walk on.”
Rex stands up, putting his hand on me before I can lunge at Bishop. “You do not want to fuck with River,” he growls at Bishop. “He’s fast, he fights dirty, and right now… he’s rolling three deep.”
Cole springs to his feet, cracking his knuckles. I happen to know that Cole hasn’t been in a fight since junior high. But he manages to sell it.
Maxine Parker, the Cape Market’s owner who is a hundred years old if she’s a day, hobbles out onto the patio. “Rex Bennett! Are these men bothering you?”
Rex jumps like he’s seen a ghost. “No ma’am. Sorry. This gentleman was just leaving.”
Bishop starts to snap back, but Maxine steps in front of him and starts herding him off the patio.
“G’won. G’won, get!” she says. “Messing with my customers. You aren’t even pretending to carry a tray around. I know all about you, Bishop Jones.”
“All right,” Bishop says with a sneer on his lips. He points at me. “I’ma see you later. Count on it.”
“Fucking asshole,” I retort.
“I heard that!” Maxine turns her head back, expression pinched. “Rex, make your brother sit his ass down and cool off.”
She and Bishop disappear inside the shop. Rex cracks his knuckles. Cole rubs the back of his neck and turns to me. “I get it now.”
I sit down, my eyes still trained on the door where Bishop just disappears.
“Get what?” I ask. Honestly, I’m only half listening.
Cole sits and bumps my knee with his knuckles. “Pearl. I get why you’re devoted to her.”
Blowing out a long breath, I give him a long look. “What are you talking about?”
“I just put together why you’re rubbing your relationship with Pearl in Bishop’s face. You only have to meet the guy for half a second to realize that he’s a bully.”
Rex snorts. “You got that right. He probably only had to tease Pearl one time in front of River for him to lose his shit.”
I fold my arms across my chest and lift my chin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Mannnn.” Rex rolls his eyes over to Cole. “Remember that kid that River had beef with when he was in middle school? What was his name…? Marbles…? Marxist…?”
Cole raises a finger, his lips twitching. “Marburg.”
“That’s right.” Rex pounds his fist on the table at me. “You beat the crap out of him for bullying Brooks. You were almost kicked out of Bay Sands Private for that.”
“Dad had to build and furnish a school computer room, I think,” Cole adds.
I splay my hands. “What, I was supposed to just let Brooks get his ass kicked? I don’t think so.”
Cole laughs. “What about Mr. Lassiter? That college professor you almost had a fistfight with?”
“And of course, we can’t forget when that lady. What was her name? She worked for your first law firm out of school?” Rex is barely able to contain his laughter. “You walked out of work and managed to take a few poor, stupid souls with you.”
I glare at them both. “Her name was Mrs. Klebbe. And she held every first and second year in fear of their jobs. Now she was a bully.”
“You see?” Cole kicks back and grabs his iced tea. “You have a thing about bullies.”
“That has nothing to do with my relationship with Pearl.” I wave the thought away.
“Uh huh.” Rex elbows Cole. “Hey, everybody has a kink. You happen to get massive justice boners.”
Cole looks gleeful. “He really does.”
“Fuck off, both of you. Now either we change the subject or I get a to-go container and head back to the office.”
“So touchy!” Rex jests. He rolls his neck. “In other news, have y’all seen Sarah’s new car? It’s got a driverless mode. And she is freaking out.”
As the conversation shifts away from me and my possible kinks, I am left with one thought. Is it possible that I revealed just a little more of my feelings about Pearl than I meant to?