3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Leo
B y the time midnight hits, I’m still in the study looking over paperwork.
I drag my fingers through my hair as I flip through documents for the family business, looking over profit and loss statements, receipts, payroll records, and all the other papers tucked away in dozens of manila folders.
The numbers are starting to blur together at this point, but the truth is clear.
Galloway Logging is suffering financially. The business has steadily gone downhill over the past few years, and I can only assume that correlates with the progression of my father’s illness.
If things aren’t turned around soon, the company could go under. My father could lose everything, including the estate .
So much time, energy, and money are going to have to be dedicated to turning things around, and I don’t think that I’m the person for the job. I don’t want to be.
I’ve spent years building up my company. I poured my whole life into it, and I’m more successful now than my father has ever been. Despite him trying to tear me down, I rose higher.
Why would I let my baby suffer to take care of someone else’s mess?
With a tired sigh, I push away the documents in front of me and rise to my feet, my vision slightly blurring from tiredness. I walk out of the study and through the second floor hallways, quieting my steps when I pass my father’s bedroom. He fell asleep a while ago.
I’m not ready for tomorrow or the next day. I’m not ready for the next fight we’re going to have.
And I’m sure as hell not ready for him to die.
Every step feels weighed down as I continue down the hallway, automatic plug-in night lights illuminating my path. Honestly, I could probably still roam this entire house with a blindfold on .
How many times have I snuck around this house and the nearby forest with Juliet? When my father was gone at work and her mother was cleaning another floor, we’d sneak to a quiet spot and steal a kiss or two. A quiet laugh. A lingering embrace.
Shit. I didn’t even ask Juliet about Ms. Mitchell and how she’s doing. I assume that she’s retired by now after working for my family for years.
She deserves a long, relaxing retirement somewhere warm with a beach.
And her daughter deserves something bigger and better than staying in this little town and taking care of my dad. Juliet was supposed to leave this town with me. We planned for an incredible life together, and everything fell apart.
I pause at the floor to ceiling window at the end of the hallway. I can see the forest through the glass, silvery moonlight falling onto the canopy of leaves.
Being together in the house was so risky that we often snuck into the forest to get away from prying eyes. Even now, I can still feel her fingers tangled with mine every time we slipped into the trees together. It was our little slice of paradise, but reality always overtakes fantasy.
~*~
Dry leaves and twigs crunch under our shoes as I lead Juliet by the hand through the towering trees behind the estate.
“Just a little farther,” I say, checking over my shoulder to make sure that the house is out of view.
If I can’t see the house, no one inside can see us. Not the private chef whipping up dinner for tonight. Not the landscaper trimming back the bushes along the fence. Not Juliet’s mom as she tidies up the bedrooms.
Juliet laughs as she hurries after me, coaxing a smile onto my face. I love her laugh. I love everything about her.
“I don’t want to wait any longer!”
I take her behind a tree, and her arms are looped around my neck the next second.
She lifts up on her toes and crashes her lips against mine, our muffled laughter lingering as I stumble back against the tree. Sunlight breaks through the leaves above us, bathing us in warm light.
I cup her face, tilting my head down so that she can stand normally. She tastes like the cinnamon gum that she always carries around in her backpack.
Juliet grips the sides of my white t-shirt, pulling me closer so that our chests touch. She slightly parts her lips against mine, slow and shy.
I slide my fingers into her long hair as our tongues brush. Gently. Patiently. We have all the time in the world to be together.
She’s it for me. I knew that the second we first kissed in this forest months ago.
She kisses me deeper, her confidence ramping up by the minute as we lose ourselves in each other. Nothing else matters. Not the argument Dad and I had at breakfast. Not the pressure of our upcoming exams. Not all the hours I’ll have to work at the sawmill at my family’s logging facility.
None of it.
Just her. Just this moment we stole away for ourselves.
Juliet breaks away when she needs a breath, her cheeks flushed. “I can’t wait until we don’t have to hide anymore.”
“Me too,” I tell her as I drop my hands to her waist, hearing the exhaustion in her voice.
Sure, sneaking around can be fun and exciting, but I want to be able to hold her hand at school. I want to take her on an actual date at a nice restaurant. I want to kiss her on the cheek in front of my family and not get in trouble.
My father wouldn’t accept me dating the daughter of our housekeeper. He has already urged me to get to know the mayor’s daughter. In his eyes, who I date affects the reputation of the company.
It’s so messed up.
“One day,” Juliet says with a smile before pecking me on the nose. “And we’ll be happy. We’ll move somewhere else and live our own lives. Nobody gets to tell us we can’t love each other.”
The hope in her voice pushes the weight on my shoulders away. She’s the only one who can make me feel light.
“I can’t wait,” I tell her. “Dad is drowning me in all this work. He’s preparing me to take over after graduation.”
Anyone else would be eager to take over their family’s million-dollar local business, but no one else has Frank Galloway as their father. I’m afraid that I’ll stumble trying to follow in his massive footsteps.
And fall flat on my face.
Her expression softens, sympathy pooling in her gorgeous eyes. “I know it’s a lot. Too much. But I’m here for you. We’re going to make it through this.”
I rest my forehead against hers and take a breath, focusing on the end goal. Me and her. Somewhere else. Building a life of our own.
It’s not like I want to abandon my family and all the hard work they’ve poured into the company, but I can’t handle all the pressure Dad is putting on me.
I feel like I’m going to break apart into a million pieces, and he’s going to expect me to piece myself together and get back to it.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Juju.”
Her smile brightens. “Well, you won’t ever have to find out. You’re stuck with me,” she teases.
With everything that I have, I hope that’s true .
I check the time on my phone before pocketing it. “I think we’ve got ten more minutes before anyone notices that we’re not studying for Chemistry in the library.”
She brushes her fingers through my hair, a sly look forming on her face. “Well, we should make the most of every minute, right?”
Like always, we’re on the same exact wavelength.
I reach down and grab the back of her thighs, lifting her into the air. Her surprised laugh echoes through the trees, and it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. Better than the songs the birds sing. Better than the rustle of the leaves in the wind.
Juliet wraps her arms and legs around me, our bodies getting as close as possible. She gazes down into my eyes, warm, comfortable silence passing between us. Sometimes, we don’t stop talking for even a few seconds. Other times, we don’t have to say a word.
I can see the glimmer of love in her eyes, and that speaks louder than any words she could say. The look in someone’s eyes is always the truth. It’s impossible to fake or hide.
Her lips meet mine, and I do as planned. I make the most of every moment, believing we have countless ones ahead of us.