Chapter 4
Chapter Four
E lias lifted an eyebrow at her demand for juicy family secrets and shook his head. “We’re all pretty boring.”
“Ha! I know better than that. Every family has secrets and things they’d rather not have bandied about.”
“And if we do, why would I share them?”
“Because it’s a long drive, and I love Ana, and if any of you hurt her, I’ll be forced do something about it.”
He focused on driving but restated her words. “You love her but left her to tell your fiancé you were dumping him?”
Elias heard the crinkling of the cookie wrapper before she shoved the remaining piece into her mouth, the sight making him think of a chipmunk hoarding nuts.
“I’m not judging,” he said.
“Sure sounds like it,” she said, the words muffled.
He tried a different tactic. “Fine, I’ll put myself in your place, even though I’d never be in that situation. If I were the one walking away, I can’t imagine leaving one of my brothers behind to inform my intended.”
She chewed and swallowed and then released a gusty exhale. “It wasn’t my best moment, okay? I see that now. Your brothers would probably strangle you if you did that to one of them, which is exactly why I can’t go to Ana’s right now. But at the time, I had to get out of there, and it seemed like the thing to do. And I didn’t want Ana to worry about me, so I had to leave her a note. I just sort of combined the two into one. Who’s your favorite brother?”
A low sound left him at her obvious attempt to change the subject, but he let it slide, frowning when he saw her digging into the bag for more junk food. “I’m a twin, so it has to be Finn.”
“What’s it like having a twin?” She chose a bag of chips and pulled them open next. “Want some?”
“No, thanks. And again, those are bad for you. Though I sense you don’t care at the moment.”
“Not one freaking bit,” she said as she placed a chip inside her mouth and crunched to make her point. “Salty and sweet, you know?”
Sensing that she wasn’t going to drop her questions about his brothers, Elias settled in for the duration. “It’s odd having a twin,” he stated. “We’re identical and yet as opposite as night and day.”
“That would be weird.” She shifted in the seat until she was angled toward him and curled one long leg on the seat. “Any funny stories from when you were kids? Twin swaps? Girlfriend stuff?”
Girlfriend stuff? Elias tightened his hand on the steering wheel until his knuckles hurt. He wasn’t boyfriend material. Especially not back then when he was so sick. “No.”
“Oh, come on, there has to be something . You do not strike me as the angelic type, and with that many boys under one roof, I bet things got pretty wild.”
He inhaled and reminded himself that Quinley’s goal was to take the focus off of herself. “The house was loud and chaotic, louder if we woke up Isla.”
“Oh, that’s right. The famous ninth. I can’t imagine growing up with eight older brothers. Talk about a dating disaster. Then again, I can’t imagine growing up with any sibling, brother or otherwise.”
“Only child, huh?” He didn’t like thinking of Isla dating and was glad she spent a lot of time nannying. He knew it was wishful thinking to believe she wouldn’t date, but…
“Yeah, though not technically.”
He glanced over at her in time to see her make a face.
“My mom miscarried my baby brother after having me. He was stillborn.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks. It definitely changed things. I mean, I was a Daddy’s girl up until then, but even as young as I was, I saw how much my father wanted a son. My mom wasn’t able to get pregnant again, and to her horror, I went through a total tomboy stage after that trying to be a boy so my father would… Well, I wanted him to want me as much as he wanted a son.” An awkward laugh left her. “Nothing to psychoanalyze in that, is there?”
“We could all probably use some time with a good counselor. But to answer your question, siblings can be the best and worst.”
“Tell me about them. From your perspective, I mean. What are they like?”
He took another deep breath, his thoughts shifting to his very large family. He supposed there was no harm in giving her his thoughts of them. “Alec is take-charge. As the oldest he was always the big brother, but he’d just turned eighteen when…when our parents died and children’s services were right there ready to split us up.”
The organization did good things, of that he had no doubt. But he’d never forget the fear they’d caused, or the pain. Especially for a kid like him. “Our aunt moved in to help, but she was single with no kids and no experience. Between her and Alec, they set the bar and made it clear we’d do whatever it took to stay under one roof.”
“That’s incredibly brave. And a major undertaking.”
Elias nodded, preferring not to remember those days at all. At thirteen, the thought of losing his brothers and baby sister on top of his parents had been too much. Way too much.
“After Alec comes…?”
“Brooks is the goof,” he said, mentally stuffing the thirteen-year-old version of himself in a box for safekeeping. “He’s got a heart of gold but can be pretty oblivious at times. I think his wife would definitely agree.”
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot about the ABC name thing. Cole’s next,” she said, smiling as she stared across the cab at him and chomped another chip.
“Cole is ex-military as you know. He’s all about honor and duty and protecting those he loves. Cole, Brooks, and Alec, Dawson too,” he quickly added, “stepped up the most when we lost our parents. As the oldest, they took on the running of the gas station and eventually expanded the convenience store. Dawson couldn’t get a work license back then, so he mowed lawns and carried trash, pretty much did whatever he could to earn cash. They were also the ones keeping the rest of us in line while my aunt focused on the younger ones.”
“Dawson is now the business guy. I mean, you’re all in various businesses,” she clarified, “but he’s taken over for Barbara Lancaster, right? I’ve seen him featured in news articles and business publications we target at work.”
“Yeah. Dawson’s got the Midas touch, and he and Sophia are now handling all of Barbara’s businesses. Dawson has the profit side and Sophia the nonprofit side.” Dawson had never been the blue-collar type, so it wasn’t surprising when he’d made college a go and been a huge success in corporate America.
“Which brings us to you and your twin,” Quinley said, sounding gleeful. “Come on, gimme something juicy.”
Elias stared at the road ahead of them and shrugged. “I’m four minutes older than Finn, and I own and operate a gym and the smoothie shop next door. Finn is all about his gentleman’s farm.”
“A gentleman’s farm?”
“He’s into horses and organic gardening, and he pulls in some nice cash with horseback riding, a small petting zoo and hosting special events like weddings and birthday parties in a huge barn. He also has a roadside stand and does the Carolina Cove farmers market in the summer by the lake. The farm is over the bridge, not far from Ana’s house.”
“Farmer Finn,” she said, a smile in her voice. “Are you close? Do you share twinsie vibes and all that?”
His grip tightened once more, and he shook his head. “Not really. Even as a kid Finn was all about the outdoors and animals, and…that wasn’t my thing.”
That was easier to say than admitting to always being so sick and allergic to literally everything that going outside wasn’t worth the effort. And animals? No way. He liked them; he just couldn’t breathe around them unless medicated.
“So those are gym muscles, huh?” She held up her hands and donned a look of pure innocence. “Not judging. It’s just that you look like the outdoorsy type, so it’s surprising.”
He let the comment slide. “Allergy meds do wonders,” he said before he continued on in order to get the focus off him. “As to Gage, he’s the king of side hustles. He and Cole are majority partners in the rentals business, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg with Gage. He’s got his hand in a lot of things all over the area.”
Elias believed Gage’s obsession with income streams came from knowing what it was like to struggle as a kid. To not be able to play sports or go to summer camp or surf camp and do all the things his friends did growing up because they’d lived that close to the edge with a lot of month left after the paychecks came in.
With so many mouths to feed, no parents, and barely eleven at the time of the accident, Gage had seen and heard a lot that had probably left him with some deep-seated issues where money was concerned. His brother’s philosophy in life was the more money streams, the better because if one dried up, he could rely on all the others, which meant coming up with new things all the time. Gage’s endeavors were both admirable and exhausting.
“Who’s next?”
Quinley’s question pulled Elias away from the dark path his mind had taken. Undoubtedly they all carried some kind of trauma from losing their parents at such young ages, but as one of the younger kids, the thought of getting taken away and separated from their family had hit harder for him—for them—than the older ones.
How could it not when the younger ones were the ones CPS continually threatened to remove from their home because they’d be easier to place in the system?
Elias cleared his throat and shifted in the seat. “Hudson and then Isla. Hud graduates college in May and is still trying to figure things out. He wants to own a business like the rest of us but isn’t sure what direction he wants to go, so until he figures it out, he’s working around school at the station and for Gage.”
“And Isla?”
The mention of his kid sister brought out a rare smile. Man, he was proud of her. He was proud of all of his siblings, but Isla was a spitfire with a heart of gold, and she reminded him of their mother most of all. “She landed herself a great job as a nanny. Do you know Isabel Shipley—or rather, Isabel Shipley-Drake?”
“Yeah, actually I do. Her husband and my fiancé, uh, ex-fiancé, ran in some of the same circles. That’s who Isla is working for?”
“Yeah, she tried college but quickly figured out it wasn’t for her. She’s always babysat and loved doing it, and when the nanny job came up, she jumped at it. I see her being a professional nanny for life, or one day opening a daycare or nanny company or something. She’s great at it. They call her the baby whisperer. She says the Drakes’ rich friends keep trying to hire her away from them. She’s turned down some incredible offers to stay in town and be close.”
“You guys are seriously impressive,” Quinley said, finishing off the small bag of chips and shoving the trash into the bag at her feet. “But you didn’t reveal any deep, dark secrets.”
“We’re too busy to have deep, dark secrets. We work hard and are very aware of the fact that life can change quickly.”
She made a soft sound of empathy. “I suppose that’s normal considering your losses. Needless to say, I’m sure your parents would be so proud of you, all of you.”
The words were kind and soft-spoken, filled with empathy, but he wondered if they matched her true personality. He didn’t know Quinley except what he’d learned about her in the time they’d now spent together, but he had to wonder where that empathy was when it came to leaving her fiancé at the altar.
The act was…cold and unfeeling, and while he knew it wasn’t something she’d planned, he still found it off-putting and something he definitely didn’t like about her.
But Cole’s Ana didn’t seem the type of woman to hang around with shallow friends, and he knew from conversation that the two women had actually been friends since they were college freshman roommates. That said something. But what Quinley did today? Leaving her fiancé to face the mass of guests and reporters alone? Leaving her best friend a note to inform Lachlan?
Then again, he supposed he was the last one to know how a woman’s mind worked since he’d made it a rule to keep things with the fairer sex casual. To keep emotions from coming into play and making things messy. “Your turn,” he said before she could ask more questions. “Tell me about tomboy Quinley.”
Throaty laughter filled the cab of the truck and drew a reluctant glance from him. He supposed he liked that, despite the upset and trials of the day, she was still able to laugh, even if it was at herself.
“Well, I was awful. I would only answer to Quin , I refused to wear anything but boys’ clothes, I tried out for the boys’ summer league baseball team and wore my hat backwards because all the other boys did it. I even tormented my mother by spitting randomly because I’d seen some of the older boys doing it.”
A rough sound left his chest, surprising him. But the image? Yeah, he couldn’t see her doing any of that. Not when her face was still regally painted, and her hair, while out of its pins, framed her face, neck and shoulders in near-perfect waves. She looked the part of rich, spoiled princess. “Did your parents understand the reason behind your change in personality?”
Surely they’d been smart enough to catch on to her behavior and its cause?
“Honestly? I don’t think they noticed. Not at first. They were too busy grieving and…doing their own thing. They shipped me off to summer camp a few weeks after it happened and they blamed camp once I got back. When it was time to start school, my mother had the maid remove everything boy-like from my room when my father raged that I was embarrassing them and to make it stop. He…lectured us both for what seemed like hours even though it was probably only minutes and— My mother cried so much I didn’t argue.”
She said the words toward the window beside her, her breath fogging the glass. But what he could see of her expression made his fingers twitch, hand closing around the wheel like a fist.
Maybe because he identified with being the lost kid. She might have been an only child and he one of nine, but they’d both found themselves struggling to find their place, their identity. “Looks like you came out of it well enough since you work for him. I saw the ad campaign you put together for the limo business. It was impressive.”
“Thanks. My father says my campaigns are too emotional and female oriented, but when women are the majority when it comes to purchasing power, I try take it as a compliment because my campaigns tend to do better than the ones the boys club comes up with.”
He set the cruise control on the Gladiator in order to shift and loosen the tense muscles in his leg. “Do you like working for your father?”
Had his parents lived, he’d have worked for his father at some point at the gas station. He’d always wondered what that would’ve been like. And hated that he hadn’t had his turn like his older brothers. Like a rite of passage and bonding combined. Though that assumed a lot since he’d been sick so much of the time while they were alive. Would he have been allowed to work there? Or seen as a liability? His parents had done their best to keep him well, but nothing had worked back then.
“I’m… That’s a good question,” she murmured. “I’m still not the son he wanted, and he makes that clear on a pretty regular basis. Maybe I should ask if you or one of your brothers want to be adopted. I seriously doubt my inheritance now, so the company is probably up for grabs.”
She said it with a derisive tone that couldn’t hide the hurt from her voice. “If that’s the case, why not open up one of your own? Do your own thing?”
“Ah, ever the entrepreneur,” she drawled in a low voice.
She inhaled, her chest expanding with the breath. Not that he noticed. Much.
“I’ve thought about it. A lot, actually. Dad and I don’t often see eye to eye on anything, and I get tired of having to fight a thousand times harder to be heard because I’m not a man. The happiest my father has ever been with me was when I met Rhys at an event and the day we got engaged. My father was so pleased.”
He heard it in her voice. Her tone. The pain she couldn’t disguise for a father withholding his love and affection not only because of her gender but as a believer in the boys’-club way of doing things where a daughter was little more than a pawn to be used to empower familial connections. And she’d almost done it. Almost married to please him.
Was that why it seemed so easy for her to leave her intended? Had she ever actually loved the guy, or were her feelings based on that twisted relationship she had with her father, in wanting to please him? Gain his approval?
“I’m not sure I could do it, though. Open my own agency. I don’t want to be seen as competition,” Quinley continued, “so I haven’t let myself even think about my own agency too much. But I guess I need to make that the priority of this little escape plan. Figure out what I want to do now. Decide whether to stay in advertising or…maybe try something new. Especially since I’ve blown up my life to such epic proportions that I doubt I’ll even have a job at my father’s agency after this.”
Elias frowned at her words. “I understand that your father might be upset with your decision, but are you saying he’d fire you and disinherit you for doing something you felt was better for your life?”
She leaned her head against the seat and blinked over at him. His stomach tightened at her beauty, lit by the lights of the dash. She looked fragile. And resigned once more.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. I mean, I’ve embarrassed him. And this isn’t something as small as dressing like a boy. I’ve embarrassed myself and Rhys and his family. My father will never forgive me for today. The Lachlans are powerful, influential people, and even if they don’t say a single, negative word about what happened, my father will say plenty. And even though I was driven by panic and choosing what was right for me— No, he’ll never forgive me. I’d bet my life on it.”
He heard the truth and sadness in her words and hated knowing that the people who should support her wouldn’t. “Once things calm down and something else takes the news by storm, this will all blow over. Maybe with time, he will.”
She murmured something that sounded like wishful thinking, but he wasn’t sure. “Start brainstorming ideas. Come on, it’s what you do, right? Let me hear them.”
She glanced at him, surprise etched on her beautiful face. “You don’t think not dumping me by the side of the road isn’t helping me enough already?”
It wasn’t, not when she looked like a sad, kicked puppy about to be put down.
He didn’t consider himself to be an overly emotional guy. He’d learned a long time ago to control his emotions because when they got the best of him, he suffered for it. But he wasn’t heartless. “Best case scenario is that it blows over and all works out well, maybe you even get more work because of how things shake out because choosing to break it off before the wedding made you seem more…human.”
“You are really grasping for the silver lining there.”
“Fine,” he said, ignoring her words. “It goes south like you believe, and you have to regroup and start over. What are your options?”
“You’re assuming I have some.”
“You do. You’re a beautiful, well-educated woman with connections, so think about how you can use them.”
“Connections that may no longer be friendly,” she corrected, “or willing and receptive to associating with me.”
“Pretend they are. What will you do next?”
Silence followed his query before she sighed. “I’m not sure. It’s not a cop-out. I’m…not. The questions require a lot of thought on something I don’t really have the brainpower to ponder right now.”
He supposed he was pushing her at a time when she probably did want to curl up and bury her head in the sand. “Fine, you get twenty-four hours to hide under the covers, but tuck those questions into the back of your mind for when you’re settled in at your parents’ house.”
Silence stretched after that, and he glanced over again to see she’d lifted one foot atop her other leg and distractedly rubbed.
Given the ridiculously high heels she’d been wearing, no wonder her feet hurt. “You can sleep if you want. We’ve got hours to go.”
She inhaled deeply and sighed.
“I’m not sleepy. I suppose I should be, but my mind is spinning. It’s flashing between Rhys and my parents and the press and— I keep thinking of Ana, wondering if she’ll ever forgive me.”
At the mention of his future sister-in-law, he nodded. “She will. Analise might be upset for now, but you’ll work it out.”
“I hope so. I wouldn’t hurt her for anything. She’s the sister I never had.”
“More proof that you’ll work it out eventually. Just give it time.” He wasn’t sure where the comforting words were coming from considering he’d be royally angry if he were in Ana’s shoes, but they seemed to do the trick with Quinley.
She switched feet, and once she’d rubbed the delicate arch of that one for long minutes, she helped herself to the hand sanitizer he kept in his truck due to dealing with people and gym equipment on a daily basis.
“What’s your goal for this trip?” she asked. “Is this your normal vacation?”
He supposed road-trip conversation was a good thing when it flowed naturally, but between the two of them, they both had things they’d rather not discuss. “Just getting away for a few days.”
“I’m surprised one of your brothers didn’t come with you. Or…are you meeting someone there?”
The casually posed question held mild curiosity which he supposed was normal, but the reality of his trip and lack of companion—whether brother or…friend—left him shrugging. “Just me. I haven’t taken any time off since I took over the gym.”
“How long have you owned it?”
“About eight years.”
“You haven’t had a vacation in eight years?”
“We live at the beach. It’s not like we’re stuck in some horrible place without fresh air and sunshine.”
“True,” she said. “But it’s still a long time to stay in one area without ever leaving, don’t you think?”
“I think if people are happy where they live, it’s not a hardship.”
“Ahh,” she drawled softly. “Love where you live does mean something. I just think it’s fun to travel and explore. I love where we live, too, but it’s one teeny-tiny place in a world filled with beautiful places.”
He inwardly shuddered at the thought of traveling, not because of the logistics or crowds but because of maintaining his regimented diet. That alone made travel extremely difficult. No, not difficult, nearly impossible.
They fell into silence after that last bit of conversation, and despite her words to the contrary, Quinley shut her eyes and seemed to doze.
He gently pushed the button to increase the radio’s volume one press at a time to keep it low enough not to wake her but high enough to hear. He channel surfed for a bit, landing on a station where country music played for about twenty minutes straight before the female DJ came back on the air.
“Unless you’re living under a rock, I’m sure you listeners have heard the news about billionaire-heir Rhys Lachlan getting dumped at the altar. A Lachlan family spokesman says the missing bride has yet to make an appearance or a statement, but efforts are being made to find her out of concern that she might have been coerced into leaving. Ms. Anders’s family and friends have gone into isolation and are refusing comment, and the Lachlans are asking for privacy at this time. All I can say is, when you’re the equivalent of American royalty, you can’t expect privacy, dude. So what do you think? Did someone blackmail her into leaving, or is she the runaway bride like the videos show? Call me,” the DJ urged in a throaty voice, giving the number. “I’ve got my own opinions, but from what I’ve seen of the bodyguards and the hassle, maybe marrying a billionaire isn’t a fairy tale after all.”
Elias frowned and changed the channel when the DJ went on to accept a caller.
Regardless of Quinley’s reasons, Elias never wanted to go through something like what Rhys Lachlan had today. Just the thought of it made his entire body tense to the point of pain and his blood to heat with anger and embarrassment on the guy’s behalf. He couldn’t imagine being mocked the world over, and while pride was a sin, no one wanted to be the butt end of that many jokes.
He couldn’t blame Quinley for choosing to end it when the marriage obviously wouldn’t have survived, but the way she’d done it? To wait until the day of? Not cool.
There was a reason he didn’t date for relationships, a reason he kept women at arm’s length. He would never intentionally hurt or abuse a woman, and he made sure they knew the score before he ever touched them, but this—today—was proof why he kept to his rules.
He was content with his life, with work and his routine. His family. He didn’t need someone pretending to care for him only to mess with his head and leave.
If Lachlan loved Quinley, really loved her, she’d destroyed him today. And that wasn’t something Elias ever wanted to risk.
He would get Quinley to where she wanted to go so that he knew she was safe, but once there— He couldn’t wait to leave her behind.
The next several hours went by with Quinley dozing—or pretending to—or else staring out the window while he drove.
Elias went back to channel surfing and turning the radio down whenever the radio hosts would reappear, only listening to the music portions. Conversation between them picked up sporadically, usually centered around favorite bands, favorite beaches or general topics.
As they wound higher into the mountains, she sat up straighter and started pointing out familiar places, listing a few restaurants that were popular and a place she and Ana had gone kayaking once.
“The turnoff is just up ahead at the stop sign, and then it’s the first house on the right,” she said. “It’s down a ways, and the gate will be closed, but if you drive by it just a bit, I know a spot in the side wall just big enough to slip through. I may have made use of it as a teenager when I snuck out to meet friends.”
“Good way to run into a snake. They’re starting to emerge, you know.”
“Like that’s what you need to tell me before I do this,” she said, shooting a glare in his direction. “Don’t they go to bed at night?”
A laugh caught him by surprise, and he quickly squelched it. “If you mean do they go to ground, maybe, but land snakes sleep wherever they find shelter from the elements which means under brush and rocks or near anything that might soak up the heat of the day.”
She gulped audibly. “Well, thanks for that terrifying visual.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine. Just pay attention and use your phone light to— Right,” he quickly corrected. “Look in the glove box. I keep a small flashlight in there.”
She leaned forward to find it and clicked it, nearly blinding him in the process.
“Sorry about that,” she said, covering the lens with her hand and clicking it off.
He slowed down until the spots in front of his eyes faded and made the turns as she’d directed. An ornate and lavish black metal fence appeared, the size and scope reeking of money and privilege.
“That’s it,” she murmured. “The gate is just up ahead and— No . No, no, no, no, no,” she said, drawing out the word with all the horror that could come in two letters.
That’s when he saw it. Or rather them. A few vans with logos on the side.
Quinley turned liquid and twisted on the seat, simultaneously unbuckling her belt and sliding into the floorboard at the same time.
“News crews?” he asked, ducking his head as he drove by without slowing.
“My parents must have come here . To get away from the press. I guess they flew here and— Oh, what am I going to do? I can’t stay there now.”
He barely bit back the groan of irritation that formed. It was late—or rather early in the morning. And seeing as how her face was plastered all over every news channel and online, she couldn’t go to a hotel and book herself a room. He could get one for her, but she’d still be seen by guests or cameras or the staff.
His hands fisted on the wheel when he thought of his nice, relaxing vacation turning into him playing host to the runaway bride and her drama.
The good guy in him couldn’t walk away, though, and leave her somewhere alone and unprotected from the mess of media and attention.
Gritting his teeth and biting back his frustration, he said, “You can stay with me tonight. We’ll figure something out in the morning, or I’ll drive you back to Carolina Cove tomorrow.”