Chapter 5
Clayton
“Where the hell are you?” my brother asked as soon as I connected his call.
Opening my mouth, I shut it quickly when I heard another voice in the background. This was not what I needed right now. As it was, I wasn’t even sure why I found myself driving toward Henley Falls, and listening to my brother and grandmother bicker was not high on the list.
Lie. I knew exactly what had me heading there. Or should I say who?
“Is that your brother? Put him on speaker. I have been trying to get ahold of him.” Which was accurate, but since I didn’t know what to say to her, I’d avoided responding at all costs.
A second later, Grandmother’s now clear voice came through the car speakers, as demanding as ever. “Clayton. Where are you?”
Lachlain’s sigh was clear through the speakers. “I already asked him that, Grandmother.”
To be honest, it wasn’t a question I was interested in answering, no matter which one of them asked it.
“And he didn’t answer you.”
“You didn’t give him a chance.”
I listened to the interplay I couldn’t see as I drove past mountains rising on either side of me.
To say this was a spur-of-the-moment trip would have been an understatement.
I’d had the most restless sleeps of my life this past week.
Reese Henley’s voice filtered through my head each night, saying decidedly unbusinesslike things.
Under penalty of death, I wouldn’t admit to the number of times I’d looked at her picture, at the dreams it incited.
Of course, it was practically the only time I’d actually heard her voice since she’d become adept at dodging my calls.
On the rare instance she answered, discussing business took a distant backseat to her sass and sarcasm.
Consequently, I’d commandeered the company jet to fly me to Virginia first thing this morning, got a car, and started the drive to Henley Falls.
I told myself it was to discuss business. That meeting in-person was the only way to get this deal done.
Sure, that was the reason.
Right now, it was the only one I was willing to consider.
Silence descended as my brother and grandmother stopped bickering.
“Are you two done?” I waited for their “yes” before continuing. “I’m in Virginia.”
“What the hell for?” Sometimes I wondered if Lachlain paid any attention to what was going on in the company. Considering he was VP of Finance, that worried me more than a little.
“Lachlain, do you even pay attention?” I bit back a laugh at Grandmother mirroring my thoughts. “That’s where Henley Falls is. Are you going to visit that family? You can’t just show up out of the blue without talking with them first.”
“Oh, I’ve talked to them, Grandmother. To say it was interesting was an understatement.”
“When?” The word was more command than question, and I knew better than to ignore her directive right now.
“A couple of times, actually. The first being right before you barged into my office a week ago.” Hitting the blinker, I switched lanes to pass the slow-moving car in front of me.
The highway was more heavily populated than I expected, though given the fact I was heading toward a national park, it was probably normal.
“And you said nothing to us?”
“You were preoccupied with my deal with Reginald.” I crossed back into the right lane, noting the exit signs so I wouldn’t miss the one I needed.
“How did it go? I’ve done some additional social media research. As I thought, it doesn’t appear as if they want to sell. I printed out some things for you, but I guess you won’t have them now.”
“Grandmother, you can send him links for God’s sake. Why do you insist on printing everything out?”
I could almost see her rounding on my brother, an “excuse me” glare in her eyes. She was the only person I knew who still printed off pages from the internet. I think in a way it was comforting for her to hold the information in her hands, knowing it was tangible.
“Thank you for thinking of me, Grandmother, but I’ve done research.
” My team pulled together some financials and general information, but I’d done the internet research myself.
I likely should not have, but I couldn’t seem to stay away.
“To answer your question, it did not go well. The woman hung up on me.”
“Well, your personality could explain that,” my brother offered helpfully.
I flipped him off even though he couldn’t see it.
“Why? Were you mean to her? Insulting?”
“Grandmother, I was not any of those things. I’d barely asked to speak with Reese before she snidely insulted me and hung up.” I paused before adding, “The first time.”
“You must have said something to upset her.”
“I may have assumed Reese was a man, and she didn’t take all that kindly to the assumption. It also didn’t help my cause that Fitzgerald had already reached out. I’m sure they came in like a steamroller, as usual.”
“Language, Clayton.”
“Sorry, Grandmother.”
This conversation was doing its damnedest to distract me, but somehow a sense of calmness settled over me.
Maybe it was because nature surrounded me and I got so little of that in my normal environment of steel and glass.
Or it could be that I finally had half of what should have already been mine in sight.
I didn’t trust Reginald as far as I could throw him, but we’d signed a contract, and he’d have a tough time getting out of it.
So would I.
The thought hit me hard. I was too close to getting what I wanted for one woman who hung up on me to ruin it all.
I needed this family to agree to allowing Montgomery to make their wishes come true, because then mine did too.
I refused to lose Montgomery when it was so close.
Though I had no intention of stopping trying to find something else, anything else, I could use against him.
I’d been at it for a while, and though I believed something suspicious was going on, I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“That was very sexist of you. Reese is a very attractive woman from what I’ve seen. Your sister would not have liked the assumption.”
Sofia could be a pitbull when it came to women in charge and Grandmother was right there with her
“In my defense, I assumed the name was masculine.” I quickly explained the situation with the transcript, before she could harass me more.
“I guess that’s fine then.” She sighed, clearly not entirely pleased with me. “So you’ve seen her?”
“Yes.” Don’t say more.
“She’s very attractive, Clayton.”
Don’t react. “She’s fucking hot, bro.”
And there it went.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Anger hit me hard at Lachlain’s words. I didn’t like the thought of him looking at Reese.
“Both of you boys need to watch your language.” Grandmother could preach until she was blue in the face, and it still wouldn’t stop us.
“What? She is. I know your seduction game isn’t up to my level, but it may be a way to convince her to work with you. If you need any tips, I could help.”
I gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying to rein my emotions in.
“I don’t need any help, Lachlain.” I’m not going to deny it; the thought had crossed my mind.
God knew she turned me on. I’d never considered capitalizing on an attraction before in business, but this was different.
Everything was on the line here. I could already hear Grandmother lamenting my actions, but I had to do what I had to do to get Montgomery.
Taking a deep breath, I let it out just as the highway sign for Henley Falls appeared.
Putting my indicator on, I slowed and got onto the ramp leading off the highway.
A stop sign met me at the end of the ramp, along with a sign indicating Henley Falls to the left and Rockford to the right.
Making the turn, I traveled a couple of miles until I hit what could only be the town of Henley Falls.
Holy small town.
“Clayton, are you still there?”
“Yes, Grandmother. Apologies, I was getting off the highway and into the town.”
“Oh, do tell. What’s it like?”
“Well, it’s small.”
Stopped at a light at the beginning of what I could only assume was the main street, I could see clear to the end of the four blocks that made Henley Falls.
Brick and stone buildings lined the road, the sidewalks out front boasting folding signs welcoming customers and a smattering of benches.
As the light changed, I rolled down the street slowly, wanting to take everything in.
If nothing else, this would give me a lay of the land, so to speak, and I could satisfy Grandmother’s curiosity as I kept up a steady stream of describing the area.
A handful of tables and chairs took up space in front of Millie’s Cafe. The Henley Falls House of Beauty sat a little farther down on the opposite side of the street.
I hit the brakes when something caught my eye. Luckily, there was no one behind me as I stared for a few moments.
“Are you kidding?”
“What?” My grandmother sounded like a kid in a candy store, positively giddy over everything.
“There’s a legitimate art gallery in the middle of town.” Not exactly what I expected to find in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
“Oh, I hadn’t read about that. I’ll do some Internet sleuthing for you.”
“Grandmother, Clay is there. You don’t need to sleuth. He can simply visit or ask about it.”
I would, but I also wouldn’t stop her. With both of my parents gone, she was no longer as connected to the company as she’d once been.
While she married into the family, she was a Conti through and through, taking pride in the corporation she’d helped my grandfather grow.
If doing research into Henley Falls gave her some excitement, who was I to deny her?
Besides, she’d do it regardless of my wishes, in between commanding the New York social scene.
“We’ll compare notes,” I told her.