Chapter 34
Clayton
Reese had been quiet most of the ride home from the restaurant.
Grandmother tried to engage her in conversation, but it wasn’t as free and flowing as it had been earlier.
Before Reginald arrived. Before Reese made me question my decision to keep things from her.
Now, opening the door to the apartment, the lights of New York beckoning in the distance out the windows, all I could see was Reese.
All I could feel was her anticipation about whether I would answer her.
She preceded me through the door, kicking off her shoes as she neared the couch, and wiggling her toes in the plush rug.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, but the light in her eyes was dimmed. It reminded me of when her father had shown up amidst the vines. She thought something bad was going to happen, and this time I’d be the cause. “I love heels, but man, I’m not used to walking on city streets in them.”
I loved her heels too. Preferably propped on my shoulders. Enough. I had other things to think about right now.
Running her hand over the back of the couch, she crossed to the windows and stared out.
Her silence was killing me. With any other woman, I would have assumed it was a test, to see if I would talk, but I’d learned something about Reese over these past days.
When she grew unsure, of herself or someone else, she turned inward.
She wouldn’t ask, considering that to be “too much” as she put it.
So, I had to make the first move. I had to give her a part of me. Something I was confident of doing in the boardroom, but worried I’d fuck everything up in the living room.
Slipping out of my jacket and shoes, I padded across the space until I stood next to her. The view we stared at was identical, but I wondered if we were seeing two totally different things. Minutes ticked by as I gathered the courage I needed.
“Mother was diagnosed with cancer when I was in college.”
Reese sucked in a breath, but didn’t say a word. This wasn’t the path I’d meant to go down, but suddenly it felt like I needed to.
“Treatment and remission followed, then another diagnosis came.” Looking back now, I remembered hating those years.
Hating the worry of losing my only parent.
Even being in my twenties, I hadn’t known how to deal with it.
“Then again. Every time, we thought she’d be okay.
That’s sort of easy to do when we have the amount of money we do.
How can we not buy our way out of any situation? ” I asked on a derisive laugh.
“Because life doesn’t work like that. I thought love and family would save Grams and then Gramps, but it didn’t. It usually can’t.”
I glanced down to my left and watched as Reese swiped away a tear, still staring straight ahead.
In some ways, it made it easier to talk.
“Mother had redone her will when she married Reginald, giving him control of the company if something happened to her. At the time, I was only sixteen. It made sense to everyone.” I could feel the bitterness creeping into my voice and was helpless to hold it back.
“What didn’t make sense was that she refused to change it when I was older. ”
“How come? She had to have seen the type of man, of businessman, you were becoming.”
It was something I’d asked myself all too often at the beginning, never giving myself an answer that put Mother in a good light.
Now, I had to wonder if it was strictly pure manipulation on Reginald’s part.
I had no idea what he’d been telling her or showing her about me when she was no longer well enough to go into the office.
Everything had gone through him, so maybe she really didn’t know.
Having Reese’s confidence was a balm to the soul of the young man I’d been.
“I don’t know if that’s a question I’ll ever have an answer to, but now I think maybe I had parts of it wrong.
” With a shake of my head, I continued, “In the end, the only thing that matters is that Reginald has what should be mine. It’s what I’ve focused all my energy on. The thing I’ve wanted most in my life.”
Except now, I wanted Reese just as badly. Could I have both? Was it possible to have my company and the woman next to me by my side for more than a few days?
Reese reached over, taking my hand in hers, lacing our fingers together.
“I can’t begin to understand business on your level, but I do understand family.
” Her fingers tightened for a millisecond.
“I understand when it appears like they don’t trust you.
” A derisive chuckle escaped her lips. “You’ve met my Uncle Randy.
He definitely doesn’t believe I can handle any of what I’m doing. ”
The conversations I’ve had with her uncle would shock Reese, because her uncle actually thought Reese was the only person in the family capable of doing any of this. The man simply did not like change. I didn’t know if she would believe me or not.
Reese turned toward me and looked up, aggravation clear on her face. “Clay, don’t treat me like an idiot.”
“I don’t.” My denial was vehement and truthful. Nothing could be further from the truth.
She shrugged, but pinned me with her gaze.
“It sort of feels like it. Something is obviously going on, considering how quickly you needed to come back to New York, and from the looks of it, your stepfather is front and center. Ever wasn’t shooting in the dark when she reached out to you.
I’d found Montgomery, and even though it appears as if there haven’t been new properties lately, it spoke to me. ”
I smiled, unsurprised she’d done her homework. “We haven’t opened anything since Father. They don’t really fit in with Reginald’s world view. The only reason he didn’t try to sell them off was the way the company is structured. Everything is tied too tightly together.”
She nodded, her face furrowed in contemplation before she looked back up at me. “Does any of it have to do with you helping us? Will a deal with us make it easier to get your company?”
A knot formed in my stomach at her question. “It will.”
Tell her everything jackass. Don’t leave it hanging.
God, I wanted to, but I didn’t want to ruin this moment with her. Couldn’t ruin it.
A smile lit up her face. “Well then, I hope it works out. Then you can have your company, and I can have my dream.” A shadow crossed her face but was gone in an instant.
Did she think about going back to Henley Falls and leaving me?
I knew in that instant, I didn’t want her to leave.
I liked having her in my space. She brought a breath of fresh air, making it come alive. Making it feel more like a home.
It’s not the apartment, son. Home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling. It’s a family. It’s love.
Father had an uncanny way of speaking to me ever since Reese came into my life, but his words rang true.
It wasn’t the space I didn’t want her to leave, it was me.
Whether it was New York or Henley Falls, I wanted to be her home.
“Thank you for sharing.” She stood on her tiptoes and snaked her hand behind my head, dragging my lips to hers.
The kiss was quick, but no less powerful.
“Come on, let’s go outside.” She slid open the door and stepped onto the balcony.
The view more than anything was what had sold me on the apartment, but I rarely spent any time out here.
Hell, I rarely spent time in the place itself.
Between traveling and being in the office, it was a space to sleep, shower, and dress.
On a rare occasion, Lachlain and Gage came over and we’d share a drink out here, but that was it.
As I leaned against the wall, arms crossed across my chest and legs at the ankles, I realized the view had just improved a million-fold with Reese present.
“The view is amazing, but I miss the stars,” Reese’s voice floated over to me as she spun in a circle, her head tilted back. “I can barely see any.”
“The perils of city living,” I teased. “Our stars can be found on Broadway or movie sets.” The tension of earlier had seeped away from both of us, even if the thought of telling her everything lingered in my brain. “Did you enjoy dinner?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know I did,” she exclaimed gleefully, pirouetting around enough that her skirt flared out, giving a tantalizing glimpse of creamy thigh.
“Your grandmother is amazing. She’s going to love the Falls if she eventually visits, and Aunt Martha is going to adore her.
” Her lips pursed as if she were considering something.
“I may need to keep her away from the Shenanigan sisters though; otherwise, God knows what may happen.” With a laugh, she did another twirl.
How could one person have so much personality and spirit?
“Now Lachlain—he’s quite a character and nothing like you at all. ”
“I wouldn’t say ‘nothing’ like me.”
“Oh, please, Clay. From a mile away, I can tell he’s a bit of a troublemaker and most definitely a ladies’ man.”
I straightened away from the wall, ready to find and beat my brother. “Did he try to hit on you?”
Her laughter rang through the night.
“He did not. I mean no more than what you saw. I think flirting comes as naturally to him as breathing. He doesn’t always mean it, but it’s there.”
Shaking my head, I settled back, because her words were spot on. “Sometimes I think he’s more twelve-year-old boy than a grown-ass man.”
“Some people are just kids at heart, but I don’t think that says anything bad about him.
Then there’s the opposite. We always said my cousin Ava was old before her time.
She acted like an adult when she was ten, and now she struggles to relax.
” After another spin, she added, “I’d love for her to be a little more kid-like sometimes, but I know that’s not her. ”