Chapter 3
CHAPTER
THREE
LIAM
“What do you mean she wouldn’t tell you?” I frown as I hold the phone to my ear. On the other side of the boardroom table my brother lifts a brow. He has this sardonic way of looking at you. It’s annoying actually.
It makes me feel like I’m ten years old again.
“She doesn’t want you to know,” my assistant, Sam, tells me. “Said to call her if you had a problem with that.” Sam sounds way too happy about this whole situation. “I like her.”
“I bet you do.”
Sam’s been my assistant for the last ten years. She’s absolutely worth her weight in gold. She also doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Including me.
I went straight onto Wall Street after leaving college, working in corporate finance for a large group of investors before striking out on my own.
Now I run Salinger Enterprises – a small to medium venture capital company.
I raise money through my clients – a group of extremely rich investors, then use it to finance start-up companies or, more often, turn around failing companies that I can see have a future if they were run right.
Myles, on the other hand, after dabbling in finance for a little while, became an editor at a New York publishing house. But since he met Ava and has moved permanently to Charleston, he’s been working for me, looking for new investment opportunities here in West Virginia.
“I think it’s the first time a woman hasn’t come running when you clicked your fingers,” she says, her voice full of amusement.
I roll my eyes because I have this unfair reputation as a playboy.
I can’t remember the last time I got to play with anything.
I’m too damn busy for that. “Sophie’s not a woman,” I tell her.
“She’s a…” I narrow my eyes to think of the right word.
And ignore the way Myles is staring at me now that he knows who I’m talking about. “She’s a devil woman.”
Sam chuckles. “I looked her up. She’s the nicest woman in weather according to one of her fan pages.”
“She has fan pages?” I frown. Why did I not know this?
“So many,” Sam tells me. “A couple of them are quite disturbing.”
“Oh Jesus.” I wince. I can only imagine what they’re like. “Anyway, back to the gift.” Myles lifts his other eyebrow. He looks permanently annoyed now. “Any ideas?”
“Nope.” She pops her ‘p’ just for the sheer hell of it. “A bottle of champagne?”
“Too lame.”
“Something silver. Engraved. That he can keep.”
“Do you think Sophie’s buying something silver?”
Sam snorts. “I have no idea, Liam. Can’t you just buy whatever you want?”
“If I buy the same thing as her she’ll kill me.” I still haven’t forgotten the Mariachi incident. Just a damn coincidence, I swear, but it was like I’d arranged for a stripper at a board meeting. “Don’t worry,” I say. “I’ll sort it out myself.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Sam says encouragingly. “You’ll do great.”
“Mmhmm.”
“And if she gets angry, just show her some of the old Salinger charm. It works every time,” she tells me encouragingly, even though she knows this isn’t true. “Is there anything else or can I go now?”
“You can go. Have a good weekend. And Sam?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for trying. I appreciate it.” She’s a good worker with a unique set of skills that helps the business a lot. She’s also a single mom who never gets enough time for herself. I make a mental note to send her a gift card for a spa and a babysitter. She deserves it.
“Anytime, Liam. And good luck with the gift shopping.”
When I put my cellphone on the table, Myles is still staring at me. I tip my head to the side and stare back. He’s my eldest brother, but only by just over a year. But sometimes he feels about fifty years my senior.
We grew up as four brothers. Myles and I, followed by our brothers Eli and Holden.
Like me, Holden lives in New York, and Eli plays hockey for the Razors, so he’s currently in New England.
Then when our dad married a third time he had two more sons – Lincoln and Brooks, who are a little younger than the rest of us.
Our final sibling is Francy. Francine if you want the full name. She’s my dad’s daughter with his current wife, Julia, and is not that much older than Charlie.
We have an eclectic family. Which brings me back to my older brother, Myles.
It galls him a little to be my employee, if only technically. But I kind of like it. It evens things up between us.
Not that he looks like my employee at the moment. His gaze has a touch of psychopath to it.
“What did I ask you?” he says, his teeth gritted.
I look at him carefully. “When?”
“Every time you and Sophie butt heads. What do I say to you?”
“Keep away from her?” I suggest helpfully. “Well I am. I’m just trying to find out what she’s buying Charlie.”
Myles rolls his eyes. “And what’s with talking about my kid’s gift in front of me? Isn’t it supposed to be a surprise?”
“It will be a surprise,” I tell him. Not least to me because I have no idea what to buy. “What’s got you all grouchy, anyway?”
Fun fact, Myles is the grumpy one of the family. He can kill a human with a single stare. He has a bad case of resting asshole face which always makes people give him a wide berth.
Maybe that’s why I’ve always been the easy going one. Trying to make up for Myles. He barks orders and walks away and I say please on his behalf.
It’s how we’ve worked for the past forty years. It doesn’t look like anything’s changing, even though he’s now married to the love of his life. And they’ve had a baby together.
“I’m not getting much sleep,” Myles admits.
“That’s usually a good thing,” I tell him.
“So says the perpetual bachelor.” Myles shakes his head. “I’m not getting much sleep because Charlie has colic and I’m trying to give Ava a break.”
“That’s too bad.” I look at him carefully, wondering whether he’s actually asking for help. “Do you want me to—”
“No!” He shakes his head quickly.
“You don’t know what I was going to say,” I point out.
“You were going to offer to babysit. And no thank you, I’m quite fond of my son.”
“What do you think is going to happen if I’m in charge?” I smile. “I wasn’t planning on taking him out on the town.”
“I wouldn’t put it past you,” Myles mutters. I feel slightly offended, but I decide to not pursue it. He really does look tired.
“Shall we get back to business?” I suggest. That’s the reason we’re both here, after all.
Myles has actually managed to find some promising companies.
The opportunities here are potentially very profitable – more so than New York where everybody is fighting for the same businesses.
So it looks like I’ll be spending a lot more time in Charleston, which means I’ll be spending more time with my nephew and Godson. Something that makes me happy.
“This one looks interesting,” I tell him, pulling the piece of paper up to look at the numbers he’s run, thankful to be able to talk business with my brother rather than about his wife’s best friend who for some reason hates my guts.
Okay, I know the reason. I just don’t want to think about it. Especially when I’m sitting in front of my brother.
“Yeah it does,” he says nodding. “Let me talk you through it.”
SOPHIE
I stop at my dad’s house on my way home from work, carrying a brown bag full of fruit and vegetables because he always forgets to add them to his weekly grocery order.
When he opens the front door and sees me standing on the step, his face bursts into a wide grin.
He has flour on his cheeks and is wearing an old pink frilly apron.
“Come in, come in,” he says, beckoning me inside. “I have some cakes in the oven.”
“What are you cooking today?” I follow him to the kitchen which is filled with the aroma of baking and sugar. My stomach rumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten since this morning.
“Coffee and walnut cake, and some mini banana loaves.” He glances at the brown bag I’m carrying. “What’s in there?” he asks suspiciously.
“Things that won’t make your teeth rot out of your mouth.” I pull out the bananas and apples, along with the carrots and broccoli I bought from a vendor outside work.
“Hmm, these would be good in a cake,” he says, lifting the carrots and turning them over. “Not sure about the broccoli, though.”
“Maybe you could eat them without sugar,” I suggest. “Like with a meal or something.”
He shakes his head. “Where’s the fun in that?”
The oven timer goes off and he grabs a pair of thick gloves, pulling the cake tins out and putting them on the side.
This baking obsession is a fairly new thing.
About two years old. He took it up as a way to keep busy after Mom died, but it kept growing.
Now he bakes all week and runs a stall at the local farmer’s market every Saturday.
They call him the Sugar King. It’s a pretty good name actually.
“I saw you on the lunchtime news,” he tells me, as he slowly loosens the first cake from the tin. “Shame about the weather for Dan’s daughter’s wedding.”
“Yeah,” I say. “I felt bad about that.”
“Well your mom always said it was better to tell a hard truth than an easy lie.” He turns the cake out and puts it on the cooling rack. “You did the right thing.”
I give him a smile. “Thanks.”
He nods. “Now tell me, how’s your love life?”
He always asks me this, as though he’s hoping the answer will change. It doesn’t.
“I don’t have time for one.” I roll my eyes. “How’s yours?”
“What makes you ask that? Your mom only died two years ago.”
My heart does a little clench. We both miss her a lot. “I know, but she wouldn’t have wanted you to be lonely.”
He shifts his feet. “No need to worry about me.”
“Well don’t worry about me either,” I tell him. We’re completely understaffed at work. There’s no money for more employees but there’s also no way Michael and I – and Madison now – can provide a good weather service on our own without putting in the overtime.
“But you should still date. You’re not getting any younger, honey.”
Ouch. That’s my dad, lacing the sweet with the sharp stabs.
“Mmhmm,” I say noncommittally because I’m done with dating right now.
It goes in phases. I’ll download an app, decide to throw myself into finding Mr. Right, then realize that the dating pool is actually a cesspit.
So I’ll take a break, forget about the pain, and do it all over again.
It was easy for Dad. He and mom met at a Carpenters concert. He was eighteen and she was seventeen and they’d kissed when “Close to You” came on. They were inseparable ever since.
When I was a kid I’d thought that would happen to me, too.
That it was how life was supposed to go.
You’d meet your soulmate in your teens, build up your career in your twenties, then start a family together.
It had even started happening when I went to college.
I met the guy I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with.
But it turned out he had different ideas.
I push that thought to the back of my mind.
“Anyway,” I say, passing dad an apple. “All the good ones are married now.” The bad ones, too.
I’ve had my fair share of being hit on by married men.
Like when I was on vacation with Ava, Myles, Lauren, and Liam.
One guy tried to buy me a drink and his wife called the bar to check on him.
I was mortified. Liam, on the other hand, thought it was hilarious.
I wrinkle my nose at the memory.
“There’s this fella at the market,” Dad tells me. “Says he’s thinking about getting divorced. You should come meet him on Saturday.”
A shudder works through me. “It’s okay, Lauren and I are taking Ava out for a spa day on Saturday before the christening on Sunday.”
His face softens at the mention of Ava. “How is she? Did I tell you she brought her baby over to meet me?”
“You did. And she said you were amazing with him.”
He beams. “Just practicing for when you give me grandchildren.” He glances at Mom’s picture again. “We both always wanted that.”
I nod, trying not to feel guilty that I couldn’t give her that before we lost her. “I know. Anyway, I should go. I have to be up at four tomorrow.” Ready for the five a.m. newscast.
Dad kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll see you on Sunday.” Ava invited him to the christening. It’s really sweet of her.
“Are you okay to get there on your own?” I ask him.
“Absolutely. I know you have to be there early.”
“Okay then. I’ll see you at the church.” I give him what I hope is a severe look. “And try to eat something other than cake tonight.”
He winks. “I’ll try.”
I wave goodbye and climb into my car, starting the engine. And when I get home to my apartment, about twenty minutes from my dad, I kick off my shoes, drop my behind into the comfy sofa that’s followed me around since I spent way too much on it eight years ago, and let my head fall back.
I don’t dare check my social media because people have been complaining about my forecast for Dan’s daughter’s wedding all day.
It’s amazing how invested they can get in an event they’re not invited to.
I also don’t want to check my emails because I saw one flash up while I was at Dad’s from Michael, my boss.
I still hate that word. We used to be co-workers until our old manager, left to go back to academia. I loved working for her – she was a true trailblazer for women meteorologists.
When she left she encouraged me to apply for her position. I was going to do it, too, but then I learned Michael had already put his resume in. And the thought of going up against him, but losing made me panic and not put my own application in at all.
I wish I hadn’t been so scared. Especially since the changes he’s made are crap.
Ugh.
I’m already bored of feeling sorry for myself, because actually I have a pretty good life. And although Michael aggravates me I mostly know how to handle him.
So I get up and shower then I make myself a quick dinner, before opening up my laptop to do the work I didn’t have a chance to finish today, aware that all work and no play is definitely making Sophie a dull girl.
And my dad thinks I should be dating more. Ha. No chance.