“Are you ready to tell her that?” Austin asked.
Ruminating fear made Trev cautious. If he let himself fully love Leah, she might slip under the water, too. A clammy sweat covered him. “No. Not quite yet.” Trev ran his hands through his hair. “I need to think this through for a few days.”
Austin seemed to read the unease in Trev’s voice. “There’s no need to hurry. It sounds as if she’s going to be around for a while. Best take your time.”
Trev relaxed into Austin’s words. “Yeah. We just need to spend some time together.” But even as Trev uttered that plan, he knew time with Leah would only deepen his love for her.
“It’ll be good to learn as much as you can about each other,” Austin said.
Trev smiled. They’d already shared so many secrets, but none of that was for Austin to hear.
Austin changed the subject. “How are Mom and Dad doing?”
Relief worked its way through Trev. He didn’t worry about his folks anymore. “Fine. Better, in fact. Dad hardly uses his walker around the house anymore. Leah’s helped both of them become more fit. They walk the garden every morning. Leah also has them walking the stairs. Mom’s up to eight flights, and Dad can do five without his walker, but he uses the handrail. They’re starting to get restless and wanting to leave the house.”
“Dad is walking the stairs?” Austin asked.
Trev warmed to the conversation. “Yeah. He hardly uses the elevator anymore. By the end of the summer, I think they’ll both be almost fully recovered.” Reverence filtered into his tone. “Leah is a miracle worker.”
“It sounds like it. And how about Allison?”
Trev’s mood clamped down with frustrated helplessness. “Allison is another story.”
“She needs to go to school,” Austin replied.
Trev’s frustrated annoyance surfaced. “She won’t go. She seems to think she’s going to make a million with this vlogging business, and no one can tell her any different.” He blew out a pent-up breath. “But the thing that bothers me is how disrespectful she is to Mom and Dad. She barely acknowledges them.” His voice held contempt. “That is, when she comes out of her room, which is hardly ever. She even eats up there most of the time.” Trev pursed his lips. He didn’t tell his brother that he preferred Allison’s reclusive ways. It meant he didn’t have to deal with her rude defiance.
“Does she get along with Leah?”
Trev’s irritation expanded into concern as he recalled his earlier conversation with Leah and how Allison had searched out her and her family online. “I haven’t seen the two of them together, but I don’t think so. Leah made mention of a conversation she and Allison had today, and it didn’t sound friendly.”
“Maybe it’s time to draw the line with her. Allison, I mean. Tell her she’s got to apply to school for the next round of acceptance or she’ll be cut off.”
Trev mulled over the idea with hesitation. “No. I’m not comfortable with that. She took Desiree’s death hard. She considered Desiree the sister she never had, and she’s mad at everybody because she’s gone.” Trev softened, stopping short of explaining Allison’s feelings of guilt.
“Look, I know it’s easy for me to armchair this thing from London, so I won’t say anything more, but she needs to get out of Eureka Springs for her own good.”
“If you come up with any brilliant thoughts as to how to make that happen, let me know. I’m fresh out of options.”
“Yeah. Okay. I’ll run it by Sarah. She might have some ideas.”
Trev pictured Austin’s cherubic wife, slightly plump after delivering two children, each of them with her curly mop of blond hair. She wasn’t the usual billionaire fare, but she and Austin were deeply in love, and Trev held her opinion in high esteem. “Tell her I said hello, will you?”
“Sure thing. She’d blow a kiss to you from England if she knew we were talking.”
Trev smiled as the earlier tiredness settled into him. He yawned. “I gotta get to bed. Tomorrow’s another day. I hope your day goes well.”
“I just arrived at work. Thanks for keeping me company,” Austin replied.
The brothers hung up. Stripping off his shorts and T-shirt, Trev put on his favorite cotton pajamas and slid in between his sheets. Thoughts of his phone call with Austin spun in his head, becoming disjointed as sleep began to overtake him. He wondered if Austin and Leah would get along. Probably. Did Trev love Leah? Yes. He did. The earlier grip of fear clenched his chest tight, and he sat up, turning on the light as a thousand questions needled him. Did she love him back? Would she want more time to sort out her feelings? What if his love caused her pain, as it had Desiree?
Trev closed his eyes, leaning against the headboard. There it stood—the question that poked at him until his soul bled. His growing fear loomed larger than his capacity to handle it, robbing him of every other emotion. His love for Leah retreated. If he and Desiree hadn’t been in love, she wouldn’t have followed him to Arkansas, where she’d languished for an unhappy year before her life had ended in the lake.
Love was an uncertain mistress, and she extracted a price. Or did she?
A new thought provoked Trev. Maybe he had it all wrong. Perhaps the only price love asked of him was to cast off his fear. Fear, the keeper of all secrets.
A slow smile came to Trev’s lips as his body loosened into the warmth of his newfound truth. He didn’t have to hide anything from Leah. Yes, he loved her. And he needed to share it, because he never wanted to keep another secret from her.
Chapter 18
Trev crammed himself into the passenger’s seat of the VW as Leah pulled out of The Cove and onto the main road. “Did you see the way Elton looked at us?” Trev’s voice held disbelief.
“Uh-huh. He’s not the nicest guy on the block,” Leah said. “Every morning, he asks my name and makes me wait while he checks his clipboard. It’s infuriating.”
Trev fumed. “I’ll have a talk with him.” He tried to settle in his seat, but the cramped space of the old Volkswagen placed his knees up against the glove compartment. “I could’ve driven, you know,” he said for the fourth time.
“Thanks, but no. I can see it now: my sister’s and her family’s noses pressed against the window when we pull up in your electric-blue hundred-thousand-dollar Beamer. Let’s keep this simple for now.”
He laughed and shot her a look. “Are you embarrassed of my money?”
Leah glanced at him. “No. I just want you to ease into my family, and for them to ease into you.”
“Have you told your parents about me?” Trev asked.
“No. We’re easing into this, remember?”
Trev heard the impatience lacing Leah’s words. It mingled with an emotion he couldn’t quite name. He prodded. “My parents know about you.”
“Yeah, because you hired me to take care of them. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have met,” Leah countered.
Trev shrugged with his hands upturned. “You’ve got me there. How long did you date Justin before you told your folks?”
Leah pursed her lips together for a long minute. “I never told my parents about Justin, which turned out to be the best decision I ever made about that relationship.” She gave him a dark glance. “I don’t want to talk about Justin.”
Trev held his hands up in surrender. “Fair enough.” Boy, she was edgy. He looked out the side window of the VW at the passing greenery. The woods were in full regalia of summer as July thrummed into August. The heat shimmered on the road. Trev wiped his brow. Sweat collected in the creases of his pants and shirt while the VW’s air conditioner rattled at full speed.
He risked another glance at Leah. Her jaw was clenched, her eyes staring straight ahead. She ignored a sheen of sweat on her brow. Wasn’t this supposed to be fun? He was going to meet her sister and her sister’s husband and two little boys. He played through several conversation starters in his head but tossed each one before giving up. This whole dinner idea was bothering her, and he’d probably
be doing both of them a favor if he just kept quiet.
Within twenty minutes, they were meandering through the leafy twisting roads of Eureka Springs. They came to a small white cottage perched on a hill not far from the Crescent Hotel. An ancient red Ford Focus was parked in the drive. In spite of the car’s age, it was clean and shiny.
Leah braked hard, slamming Trev’s knees into the glove compartment. He was about to complain when Leah let out a short hiss. “My parents. Paige said she wouldn’t tell them.” She pushed on the gas as if to keep driving past her sister’s house.
“What are you doing?” Trev asked in disbelief. “Aren’t we staying?”
“I’m not ready for this. I can’t believe Paige told Mom and Dad.”
“You can’t just drive off,” Trev’s voice rose with his astonished surprise. “There’s someone looking out the window at us. They know we’re here.”
Leah leaned over him to look at the house before she sat back in her seat.
Someone from behind honked, startling both of them.
“Look,” Trev began to reason. “I don’t know what happened with Paige and your folks, but let’s just do this thing.”
Leah clenched the steering wheel as she pulled into Paige’s driveway behind the Ford. “Not a word about the ring,” she spit out. “Or about the fact that you live in The Cove. And don’t mention Desiree, either.” She paused. “In fact, just let me do the talking.” She pushed the gear shift in first and set the brake with force.
Trev raised his hands again. “Whatever you say. But what do you want me to do if they ask me questions?”
“Give just enough of an answer to satisfy them. Mostly, it’s my dad.”
Curiosity got the better of Trev. “What does he have against me? He doesn’t even know me.”
Leah slumped over her steering wheel. “It’s not you, so don’t take it personally. He’s determined to have a doctor in the family, and he doesn’t like anything that will distract me from my studies.” She turned to Trev. “And you will be considered a huge distraction.”
Trev shrugged. “Hey, I’m all for a doctor in the family.”
Their conversation was interrupted by twin boys running from the house. Trev heard their happy laughter before they reached the car.
“Aunt Leah! Aunt Leah!”
Trev watched Leah’s angst melt as she opened the door of the VW. “My two big boys!” She got down on her knees and scooped the twins into her arms. Both of them were hugging her neck and babbling at the same time.
The scene unfolded in front of Trev, softening his heart as he recalled his earlier thoughts about Leah and children. She obviously loved her nephews, and they adored her. What would it be like to have a family with Leah? Maybe his fondest dreams of having kids still lived within his grasp. He gave into the bliss that came with the reunion that played out before him. He was so busy watching Leah interact with the boys that he didn’t see the woman who came out of the house until she was standing in front of him.
Leah rose, and with the boys hanging on her legs and hands, she reached over and kissed her sister. “Paige.”
“It’s not my fault,” Paige started. “They showed up about two minutes before you did. I couldn’t even send a text. I’m so sorry.”
Leah gave her a stiff nod. “Well, it’s done now.” She moved aside.
Trev stepped forward as Leah made the introductions. He studied Paige. Short strawberry blond hair framed her pixie face with blue eyes and a pert nose. He could see a resemblance in the two women. She offered her hand and tried to smile, but Trev could see the tension written all over her.
“C’mon.” Paige picked up one of the boys. “I made spaghetti, so there’s enough for everyone.”
When Trev looked up to the picture window, he saw an older man, lean with gray hair. He must be Leah’s father. The older man’s watchful frown made Trev uneasy. He did his best to shrug it off. It didn’t matter if Leah’s father didn’t like him. After all, he’d survived Desiree’s parents, and it couldn’t be any worse. His hands, stuffed in his pockets, grew clammy as he walked the stairs with Leah and her sister. He wanted to touch Leah, to somehow anchor himself in her love, but with the twins and Paige hanging around, there wasn’t any way to reach her. He tagged along, the last one in the door.
The cottage was small but cute with a large rug covering the light hardwood floors. A gray-painted brick fireplace stood against one wall, flanked by two windows that looked out over the side yard. Toys and books were strewn on the rug. A large white wooden box hugged one wall, the lid up as if it had burped out all the toys in the room.
The noise level increased tenfold as pandemonium broke loose in the small space. The boys left Leah’s side and began playing with a toy that consisted of loud sirens and whistles. Paige and Leah were talking, and even though their voices rose above the din of the boys’ play, Trev had no idea what they were saying. His head began to spin. He wasn’t used to such busyness or disorder.
“I’m Leah’s father.” The male voice was low and soft, but it drowned out all other chaos in Trev’s brain. He turned toward the owner of that voice to find a man shorter than himself, but full of intensity. “She’s told me nothing about you.”
Leah came to Trev’s side. Her smile toward the older man didn’t reach her eyes. “Dad, this is Trev. We’ve been dating about six weeks. We met when I started work for his family.”
The man’s gray eyes, so like Leah’s, glowered as he turned toward his daughter. “We’ve barely heard a word from you all summer.”
Leah’s face pinched up. “I’ve been busy.”
Maybe Trev could smooth this over. He held out his hand, but Leah’s father didn’t take the offer. Instead, he scanned Trev from head to toe. Trev returned his searching gaze with one of his own. The man before him wasn’t large, but he carried a composed presence. His thinning gray hair had once been blond, and his steely glare bored into Trev like a drill into wood. His hands were strong, and his fingernails were stained with grease and dirt. Trev kept his gaze steady. He refused to be cowed.
“Daddy,” Leah said under her breath.
Leah’s father turned toward her. “I thought we had an agreement.”
“Dad.” Paige stepped in. Another man stood beside Leah’s sister with his hand on her shoulder. Trev guessed he was Jonathan.
The air between the father, his two children, and the men who stood by their side crackled with tension. Trev’s frustration added to the strain. The twins went silent, as did their toy.
An older woman, thin and with the same blue eyes as Leah’s sister, came from the kitchen and took in the scene, her glance darting from father to daughters. Trev met her glimpse. She flashed him a quick smile helping Trev breathe a little easier.
The woman hurried toward the two boys. “Come,” she said, gathering them in her arms. “Show me what toys you still have in your room.”
Leah’s father ignored Paige, focusing his full attention on Leah. “No men. No dating, and no distractions.”
Trev’s nostrils flared. This man didn’t even know him, and he was already pegging Trev as nothing more than a distraction. Leah had warned him, but hearing it was still shocking. “Now, wait just a minute. I’m sure we can—”
Leah put her hand up for Trev to be silent. He took his cue from her.
Leah’s eyes narrowed in a scowl Trev had never seen before as she leveled her gaze at her father. “Trev offered his hand, Dad, and you refuse him? We have one understanding: I will become a doctor. How I get there, when I get there, and with whom I get there is my concern. Not yours.”
Her father’s eyes turned to cold flint. “Your mother and I have worked too hard to see you fritter away your grades because you want to date.” His lip curled in Trev’s direction.
Trev watched the vein in the older man’s forehead throb with anger. Concern for Leah’s father laced his earlier shock. That couldn’t be good for him.
Paige stepped in. “She’s twenty-
one, Dad. You can’t tell her what to do any more. She’s met a nice man, and she has every right to see who she wants and do what she wants.”
The man’s voice thundered. “She wants to become a doctor.”
Next to Trev, Leah’s body tensed. “I want to become a doctor and have a family. I’m not you, and I’ll never make the same mistakes you made. You think I want to live hand-to-mouth for the rest of my life, relying on the government to get my teeth cleaned or see the doctor?”
Trev’s mouth fell open. How could Leah speak to her father with such disdain?
The house turned as silent as a tomb as Leah’s father’s face turned color of ash.
Trev held his breath. What had just happened? Even though Trev knew very little history, the tension in the room told him that a corner had been turned and there might not be any way back.
“Dad? What is she talking about? What mistakes?” Paige asked.
“Not now, Paige,” her father replied.
Leah let out a pent-up breath. “Let’s start again, shall we? Trev gave up hope of having this go well. The look on the older man’s face made it clear the introduction was finished.
Leah continued, “Dad, I would like you to meet Trev Michaels. Trev, I’d like for you to meet my father.”
Leah’s father turned to Trev. The air between them snapped and cracked like a live whip as Leah’s father’s stony gaze turned to ice before he turned and walked away and into the kitchen.
Her father dropped from Trev’s mind; only Leah mattered. Her eyes were the color of a charcoal storm, and her face was white. He put his arm around her and pulled her cold, shaking body toward him. He wished to infuse warmth into her trembling emotions.
Her sister Paige joined them in the hug, whispering in Leah’s ear. “Leah, please tell me what you’re talking about.”
The Billionaire's Family Secret (Billionaire Bachelor Mountain Cove Book 15) Page 14
