Chapter 2
Scanning the room, Cade noticed that his father had left.
"Dad gave you the unpleasant task of picking my brain?"
"Something like that." Kevin took his own drink and sat on the side of the well-polished oak desk. As like everything inside the room, the furniture was old and antiquated. The house had gone through dozens of Tyrell's ancestors with only a few moderate changes. "I envied you, you know."
Cade shot him a startled look. "Why? You're top of the chain in the business; you have a wonderful woman who refused to run away with me when I begged her to."
His brother only smiled at that. "And I had an unholy fear that if you'd really meant it, the love of my life would have hightailed it out of town when you crook your little finger," he shook his head at the look on Cade's face.
"Perhaps not, Sarah-Jane is a smart girl and she loves me.
But I envied your ability to just do as you damn well pleased.
You decided you wanted to model and hell, you did it.
Acting, joining in a band and you'd gone like a shot.
You never allowed anything to shackle you. "
Cade tossed back his drink and felt the bitterness corroding his very soul. "Look where it got me."
"It wasn't your fault."
"Y'all keep saying that." He flexed his hands before fisting them. "I knew she was falling in love with me and my damn ego wouldn't let me recognize how deep she was going under. I strung her along, was careless with her feelings and she almost paid with her life."
Kevin's heart twisted at the agonized look on his face. "You told her the rules. If I know you and I think I do, you would have laid things out for her. No attachments."
"That makes me an asshole." His mind flashed back to an innocent young girl he had met at a party some five years ago.
She had fallen under his spell as well and he had found himself drowning under hers.
For the first time. Because of that, he had ignored her calls and went onto the next target.
He could look back on his life and just curl up in shame.
"It makes you human." His brother corrected. "You and Kat are – well you're who you are. With your incredibly good looks, you sometimes tend to be careless about other people's feelings. But you're never heartless."
"Your effort to make me feel better is failing miserably."
"I'm just stating facts."
"Let me ask you this." Strolling towards the cabinet, Cade poured another finger of whiskey. "Do you think I can manage the job?" he turned to stare at his brother. "And don't damn lie, I can tell if you are."
Kevin hesitated, torn between being honest and trying to spare his brother's feelings. "I think you can pretty well do anything you set your mind to. That's another thing I admire about you—the ability to dig your heels in and accomplish anything you set out to do."
"Thanks."
"But—"
"Jesus!" Cade muttered.
"But," Kevin pushed on mildly, "the task you've assigned yourself is daunting. We have more or less given up on that house. It's going to take a hell of a lot to try and revive it."
"That's what I need right now. Something to sink my teeth into – to take my complete focus."
Kevin rolled the glass between his palm and studied his brother thoughtfully.
The younger man's face was ridiculously beautiful and just saved from being downright perfect by the slight bump on the bridge of his nose where he had fallen on a patch of ice while skating in Maine.
Instead of detracting from his looks, it only added character.
Women swarmed him like bees to honey, and Kevin couldn't say he blamed him for taking what was so freely offered. "What? No more female companionship?"
He grimaced at that. "Staying away for the moment. I've had more than my fair share."
"Along with mine and a dozen other men," Kevin muttered.
"You were always a geek," Cade reminded him with a grin.
"And happy for it." Tossing back his drink, he strolled over to clap his brother on the back. "Welcome home. We've missed your ugly mug around here."
"I figured you were happy to get rid of me. Sarah-Jane was starting to weaken." He winced when fingers dug into his shoulder blades.
"Stay away from what's mine. I'd hate to mess up that pretty face of yours." He brought him in for a hug. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to give me a shout."
"Oh, count on it." Cade finished the drink and put away the glass. "Now I'm turning in. See you in the morning."
"Board meeting at 0800."
Cade winced and nodded. "Got it."
Kevin watched him leave the room and closed the door.
Sitting on the edge of the desk, he stared at the closed door in contemplative silence.
He missed his devil may care brother but was happy that something had woken him up before it was too late.
It had been too late, hadn't it? He looked up as the doors slid open again, his face splitting in a wide and welcoming smile.
"Just the face I was hoping to see." He opened his arms and his wife walked right in.
"How is he?" Sara-Jane asked quietly as she nuzzled his throat.
"Suffering." Kevin rubbed her back gently. "Reflective and regretting his part in it."
"Did he have a part in it?" She lifted her head to meet his steady eyes. "The young lady would have known his reputation."
Her husband shrugged. "Doesn't mean she could be sensible and practical about it." His hazel eyes held hers. "I have to ask you something."
"All right."
He shifted his gaze to somewhere over her left shoulder, hesitating. "Were you ever in love with him?"
Sara-Jane's finely arched blonde brows lifted. "I had an enormous crush on him when we were in high school."
"Oh."
Wrapping her hands around his neck she kissed his lips gently. "Then I saw this confused looking geek from science club and felt myself falling. You ignored me in high school. I went away to college and was determined to make you notice me."
His expression was one of indulgent amusement. "I noticed you then but did not believe I ever stood a chance with you. I was quite intimidated."
"We wasted so much time." She leaned into him. "Thank God I took matters into my own hands."
His eyes crinkled. "Thank God, you did."
"Ready for bed?" Her look was very suggestive and had his blood stirring.
"Absolutely."
*****
He sat at the desk in the sitting room he had converted into an office.
He had a top-of-the-line system. He knew his software, could finesse a program and have it running in minutes.
He had always been smart. Never had to study.
He knew four languages fluently and had a smattering knowledge of three others.
He had a brain like a sponge and was very good with numbers.
He was also well read. He preferred the classics because they fascinated him.
During his travels, he had stayed six months in Paris, where he had lived off and on with a pastry chef.
He had learned a lot from her. He could whip up a sumptuous seven course meal and make a pastry that melts on the tongue.
Surely, with all of that under his belt, he could turn a flagging publishing house around. His father had always reprimanded him for not using his brain. Well, he was going to start doing so now.
And hopefully with time and effort, he would be able to forget. He was raw inside. It made no sense trying to explain to his family how deep his grief ran. He had been frivolous and carefree because he hated restrictions and thought deep inside he was doing no harm.
Most of the women he had taken to bed had enjoyed what he did to them.
He was always careful not to make promises he had no intention of keeping and always, always protected himself.
He was responsible enough to realize that someone would want to use a child to trap him into proposing.
He had never been in love. Yes, there had been times when he had come close.
That night five years ago when he had taken that young girl's innocence had given him a bad scare.
There was an instant when he was in college.
Sherry Gayle had captured his interest, but that had faded after a few weeks.
Now he was taking it easy and going solo. It would be a first for him, but he had to heal before thinking of being with someone. And he had to make this work. His sanity depended on it.
With that in mind, he booted up his computer and went to put on a pot of coffee. It was going to be a long night.
*****
Two days passed before Abigail started to relax.
Her brother was right; she was obsessing over nothing.
There was nothing to worry about. Besides, she had lots to do.
She had taken on a lot over the years. In order to prove to her parents that she deserved to run the company, she had gone all out and made changes.
Books & Toys was one of the most successful bookstores in the country and she liked to think that it was because she had taken them into the twenty-first century.
She had implemented several ideas. Book readings and signings.
She had invited several local artistes to highlight their works – a move that had been wildly successful.
They not only carried toys manufactured in China but leaned towards those made locally.
Once a month, a book – a classic of course, would be chosen by the customers in a voting system and performed by children from the local schools.
It brought parents out and encouraged them to shop at the same time.
For the month of November, they had baskets and giveaways for the needy. There were also competitions, reading and spelling quizzes with prizes awarded. Abigail was in charge of all of it and she would travel from store to store to meet with managers and staff to help with the setting up.