by Parker, Ali
I pushed the button to call Patrick. He answered it on the third ring. “She’s going to call the police,” I blurted out.
“What?”
“Mom. She just called me. She said she’s calling the police. She wants Hayden back. Should I run? I could get a hotel for the night. Maybe I should drive to the Midwest and hide. What do I do?”
I was panicking. I was absolutely freaking out. We had been through this before, but now that I had spent more time with Hayden, I understood just how bad the situation had been. I couldn’t let her go back. I would risk going to jail if it came to that. I would sell everything I had to pay for a lawyer.
“Relax, don’t do anything just yet,” he said.
“Patrick, she was serious, and she sounded sober! You know how mean she can get. You know she knows her shit when she can think straight. You take her and I’ll stay and answer to the police.”
“Mae, we aren’t taking her anywhere. I’ll call Dad right now and get us a reprieve for a few days. You know she’ll be high again soon and she will forget all about Hayden.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. This time was different.”
“I’ll handle it. Don’t do anything crazy. I’ve got a business meeting tomorrow. I’ll call you when I’m done, and we’ll figure out what to do next.”
“But what if she calls the cops today?” I asked, unable to hide my panic.
“I said I’ll handle it.”
I nodded and took a deep breath. He did have more sway with them than I did. “Okay. Call me if anything changes. I’m serious, Patrick. I will cut and run.”
“I know you will. Don’t. If it looks like shit is going to hit the fan, I’ll give you a heads-up.”
“Thanks. I better get going. I’m so late for a meeting.”
We ended the call. I took a few moments to regain my composure before I started the car and headed for the meeting.
Chapter 22
Tyson
I walked into the restaurant, my eyes scanning the seated diners as I looked for the face of my old friend. I was assuming I would be able to recognize him, but maybe not. Mae hadn’t recognized me right away. I would have known it was her from a hundred feet away.
“Are you looking for someone?” a young woman asked.
I smiled. “Kendell.”
She checked her tablet and then looked at me again. “Right this way.”
I followed her to a table on the far side of the room. Patrick looked up from his phone and smiled as he got to his feet. “Tyson,” he said and shook my hand before pulling me in for a bearhug.
“Damn, you haven’t aged a bit,” I told him.
He chuckled. “You’re full of shit.”
“Can I get you something to drink?” the hostess asked.
“A Coke please.”
She smiled and drifted away. I noticed Patrick watching her and shook my head. Some things never did change. He caught me looking and grinned. “She’s cute,” he reasoned.
I shrugged. “I suppose.”
“So, how have you been? I have to say I was shocked to find out you are the man behind the curtain.”
I chuckled. “I’ve been good. I like to stay behind the curtain as you say. Alec, the guy you spoke with, he’s more of the people person. He does all the public stuff.”
“You never were much of a social butterfly.”
“I think I have only become more reclusive.”
“Are you married? Divorced? Kids?”
I shook my head. “Nope. You?”
“Hell no. I don’t have the time, which is why I reached out to Alec. I don’t want to be a one-man show anymore. I’m hoping to have a bigger team to help manage inventory and do a little advertising.”
I debated how to move forward with the conversation. Did I tell him me and Mae had talked extensively about the business? Last night, Mae said she had yet to tell him about our trip, but he did know we had talked. I decided to wade into the matter very slowly.
“One-man show?” I questioned. “What about Mae? She told me she handled a lot of the PR stuff and handled some of the inventory.”
Patrick nodded. “She does, but again, it’s just the two of us. After talking with you, she has some big plans to increase business. I don’t want to increase it if it is just the two of us.”
“Does she know you want a merger?”
“No!” he said too quickly. “Mae is a little old school. She likes the idea of a family business. I thought I did too, but I’m getting older. I want a life. I’ve spent the bulk of my life surrounded by dirt and dust. I want to live.”
“Do you do a lot of traveling?” I questioned.
He shrugged. “I do, but honestly, it isn’t my thing. I would love to have a house and a boat and spend my days fishing or on the golf course. I know I’m a long way from retirement, but shit, I’ve been putting in eighty-hour weeks for too damn long.”
His confession put me in a better position to buy, but buying would not be what Mae would want. “I understand. Life should be enjoyed.”
He waved a hand. “Let’s talk business in a minute. I want to catch up with you. It’s been a long time. Are you living in Philadelphia?”
“I am,” I answered. “I have a house in the area.”
“I’ve done some research on your company,” he said. “That was before I realized it was you at the helm. You’ve done very well for yourself. I thought you were going to go off and play pro football or something.”
I laughed. “Fuck no. I don’t appreciate getting my head bashed in on a daily basis. I used to tell the girls that because that’s what they wanted to hear, but no. I had a scholarship to Penn State, but it wasn’t for football.”
“You got a scholarship?”
“I did. Got a business degree and an archeological sciences degree. I wasn’t sure I was going to come back to Philly, but I couldn’t stay away. I bought a few antiques and turned around and sold them. I did that until I had amassed a small fortune. I opened the first museum and it just kind of snowballed.”
“I know what you mean about not being able to stay away. There is something about our fair city that keeps you here. I never left, so I can’t say I ever really got the chance to miss the place, but I thought about it. Mae got out for a bit but she’s right back here.”
“You don’t sound happy that she’s in Philly.”
“I wanted her to escape. I hoped she would go out and make a life for herself far away from our parents.”
I nodded with understanding. “She didn’t want to leave the family or the business.”
He scoffed, a disgusted look on his face. “She’s going to be a spinster if I don’t get her out of that dusty old business. I hate that she is wasting her life away. She should be married and have a family of her own.”
I smiled. “You spent the better part of your life keeping guys away from your sister and now you are upset she’s single? Do you remember how many guys you threatened and beat the hell out of for looking at her?”
He shrugged. “That was then. She needs a man. She needs someone to look out for her. She’s not the same naïve little girl she was back then. Guys are dicks. You know that. They look at her and think of only one thing.”
I had been one of those guys and now I was that man. I thought of more than one thing, but it was the one thing he was speaking of that dominated my thoughts. The way he was talking concerned me. “You sound like you are getting ready to set sail?” I questioned. “Are you planning on leaving?”
He blew out a breath and shook his head. “I don’t know if I’m going anywhere but I’m tired. I want to be free and that means I need Mae and Hayden taken care of.”
I grimaced. “Mae told me about Hayden. That’s a shitty deal but that kid is lucky she has you and Mae in her life.”
“It’s ugly. Really ugly and it’s about to get uglier. We need to be in a better position to fight for custody. I’m not fit to raise a teenager. Mae is, but she works a lot. I
want to make sure she can take a step back and prove to the courts she is the better choice.”
I wanted to ask what happened, but I didn’t want to appear too interested. I was being a little deceptive. “I see.”
A waitress appeared at the table, thankfully stopping the trajectory of the conversation. It was getting a little too personal. I wanted to keep things at arm’s length until we got the business settled.
“Have you had a chance to review the information I sent to Alec about our business?” he asked.
“I have reviewed it.”
He put down his drink and looked me in the eye. “I know that look. You don’t like it.”
I let out a long breath. “I think you have plenty of inventory and I could absorb it into the company, but I’m not particularly interested in a merger. I don’t really do that.”
“What are you interested in?”
“I would be willing to offer you a sizeable sum to buy the business and all your inventory.”
He leaned back in his chair. I could see I had put him off a bit. That wasn’t my intention. I was prepared to explain it from a business side of things. I knew I could make him understand why a buyout was better than a merger. It would be a lot less paperwork and there wouldn’t be the chance of stepping on toes and trying to merge books.
“You want to buy the family business?” he asked. “I would have nothing more to do with it. It would be all yours?”
“Yes. I would pay enough money that would allow you and Mae a comfortable lifestyle. You will not need to work for the rest of your lives. You could buy that boat and fish all day, every day if you so choose.”
The look on his face was not promising. “Mae would be pissed if I did that. She’s going to be pissed when she finds out I reached out about a merger. I didn’t think about selling. I was more interested in a merger that would allow Mae to keep her job if she wanted it.”
“Wouldn’t she see it as a way to move on with her life? She could take care of Hayden and have enough money to send her to school. She could get a job at a firm or working for a large corporation.” I remembered what she had said about the job she’d passed up to go to work for the family business. I wanted her to be happy.
Patrick shook his head. “She wouldn’t see it like that. Money doesn’t really matter a whole hell of a lot to her. She’s loyal to our parents for whatever stupid reason. She is loyal to the business. She would spend the rest of her days in that hole if I let her.”
“Are you looking out for you or are you looking out for the best interest of your family?” I questioned.
“Both. We work too much. With this Hayden thing, it’s important we stick together and make decisions that will help our situation instead of hurt it.”
“Would she be more comfortable if she knew the business would be going to me? We have spent some time together and she knows how much I care about my own business.”
He laughed. “Beats the hell out of me.”
“I would be more than happy to talk to her about it and ease her mind,” I offered.
He shook his head. “That’s not a good idea. This is on me. Ultimately, this is my decision. My name is on the deed.”
I inwardly winced. I knew how she felt about that. “Mae isn’t exactly a shrinking violet. If she wants to keep this business, she’s going to put up a fight.”
“Yes, but then again, it’s my business.”
I thought about withdrawing my offer. It would save my relationship with Mae. Saving my relationship with Mae would only end up with Patrick moving on to the next willing buyer. No one else would pay as much as I would. She would lose her precious business and would be furious with her brother without the benefit of having enough money to support herself.
I reached into my inside pocket and pulled out a pen. I grabbed a napkin and wrote down a number before sliding it across the table. He picked it up and looked at it. He kept his poker face, not revealing if he was thrilled or insulted. There was no way he could be insulted. The business wasn’t worth anywhere near what I was offering. He would be a fool to turn it down, but sometimes, a man’s principles made him do foolish things.
I was quiet as I waited for his answer. I could see him warring with his decision and I was not confident he was going to agree to my terms.
Chapter 23
Mae
I was freaking out. I was a nervous wreck. I considered keeping Hayden home from school out of fear the police would pick her up when she least expected it. I chose not to tell her about our mother’s phone call. There was no reason to stress her out. Patrick sounded convincing and I was trusting him to do whatever it was he did to make it better.
It wasn’t until two hours ago he told me he was meeting Tyson for lunch. That only added to my anxiety. I wasn’t sure how much Tyson was going to tell my big, way overprotective brother. I was a little pissed Tyson didn’t mention the lunch date but that was a matter to deal with later. For now, I was pacing a hole in my throw rug.
I thought about texting Patrick to see how it was going. Then I thought about texting Tyson. I reminded myself we weren’t in the dark ages. My brother didn’t get to sell me for a goat. I was a woman perfectly capable of deciding who I wanted to date whether they were his friend or not.
Just when I thought I would absolutely lose my mind, I heard the knock on my front door. I practically jumped over my couch in my rush to answer it. “Finally!” I exclaimed when I saw Patrick on the other side of the door. “What the hell? Why do I have to wait until after you eat lunch with Tyson before you can tell me what we are going to do about Mom and Dad?”
He smiled. “Nice to see you too. How have you been while I’ve been out of town for two weeks?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you talk to them?”
I closed the door behind him and followed him into the living room. He sat down, crossing his leg to rest his ankle on his knee. His arms stretched out across the back of the sofa. He was acting like everything was fine. He was way too calm and comfortable for my tastes.
“Talk to who?” he asked.
I threw one of my pretty throw pillows at him. He caught it and laughed.
“You know who! Mom and Dad. Are they going to call the police? Did they already call them? Do I need a lawyer?”
“Sit down. You’re making me uncomfortable.”
I flopped down in my chair and glared at him. “This isn’t funny, and if you don’t start talking very soon, I’m going to make you very uncomfortable.”
“You’re violent when you’re stressed,” he teased.
I hopped up from my chair. “That’s it. I’m getting my butcher knife.”
He laughed, which only served to piss me off more. “Sit down, you freak. There is nothing to worry about.”
I turned around, a hand on my hip as I shot him with my deadliest death glare. “Nothing to worry about? Seriously? I kidnapped a child, Patrick. I could go to jail. You better believe I will throw you under the bus. I will tell them you put me up to it. I will not go down alone.”
“No one is going down. You don’t have to worry about Mom bothering you anymore.”
I closed my eyes, praying for patience before taking a seat in my chair again. I felt moderately better, but I still needed details. “You explained to her she could be the one to go to jail? I looked up the child-endangerment laws. We could so get them both for that.”
“You’re right. We could. She knows that. She’s not going to be bothering you.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I don’t think I slept at all last night.”
“You’re welcome. I won’t let her get her hands on Hayden again. Never again.”
I nodded, and now with the most pressing matter resolved, I could freak out about the other situation. “Did you and Tyson have a nice lunch?” I asked.
“We did. You didn’t tell me you went to fucking Israel with him. You guys certainly got friendly in a hurry.”
I winced at the comment. I wa
s pretty sure Tyson didn’t tell him about us. If he had, Patrick would not be handling it this well. I would play along with the friends things. “It was a great opportunity to learn from someone who knows what he is doing. And I got to leave the country for the first time in my life. I think I might want to do a lot more traveling. Although I don’t think I can afford a private jet, and after flying in one, I don’t know if I could ever do commercial again.”
He released a nervous laugh. “I’m glad you got to go. You deserve to get away.”
“Thank you. What else did you guys talk about?”
He shrugged. “We caught up a little. It was nice. Can you believe he’s a fucking billionaire?”
“Billionaire?” I asked with genuine shock. “I had no idea.”
He nodded. “Yep. I wished I would have followed his lead and gone to school. I truly never thought he would be the guy that would be the most successful out of all of us.”
“He did very well for himself and he is still nice. And humble. I didn’t know he was that rich. He doesn’t act like it. Do you think you will remain friends now that you have reconnected?”
“I think so.”
“Good.”
He dropped his arm and leaned forward. “Tyson didn’t just stumble upon me,” he started.
“No?”
He slowly shook his head. “No. I called him. Well, I called his company and talked with someone who put me in touch with Tyson. I didn’t realize he was the owner of the company.”
“Me either.”
He looked nervous, which was a switch in our moods. “We don’t have to worry about Mom anymore.”
I nodded. “You said that.”
“We don’t have to worry about her because I made a deal with Tyson.”
I groaned. “Oh my god, you asked him for money? Patrick! Why would you do that?”
