Just after lunchtime, Dad came to see me. At that point I was a mess because Dylan was supposed to be at work, yet he wasn’t. He didn’t come in today.
Dad walked into the office with a wide smile on his face. He carried a little pink box in his hands.
“Dad, hey.” I wouldn’t have normally gotten up from my desk to give him a hug. Today I did. It was like I was a kid again and needed some kind of comfort.
“How’s my girl?” he asked, looking me over.
“I’m fine. I’m just tired.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“You should take some time off.”
That made me laugh because Dad never took time off, and when I did, he always wanted to know when I was coming back and who was going to do what. He would never normally offer such a thing so freely. And kudo points to him for making me laugh when I felt like shit.
“I’m good, Dad. I don’t need time off.” That was the last thing I needed right now. Work would be my fortress of distraction because I dreaded later and tomorrow, when more time would pass and it would hit me that last night was my last with Dylan. “Um… have you seen Dylan today?” Maybe he knew where Dylan was.
Dylan was supposed to be leaving next week for New York, so maybe his absence today was about that. Maybe.
“No, I haven’t spoken to him since Friday.”
My heart sunk. “Oh… okay.”
“Sweetie, I’m sure wherever he is, he will be fine, probably getting a head start on next week.”
“Yeah, sure.” I looked down, unable to tamp down my emotions any longer.
“Taylor.” Dad’s voice took on an edge of concern. I looked up, returning my gaze to him. “Is everything okay? Did you need Dylan for something?”
I looked at him not quite knowing what to say. All these weeks I’d been with Dylan, and I didn’t know if Dad knew. I doubted it even though I was sure at one point he’d suspected something. “No, I don’t, um…”
God, why did a tear choose that moment to stream down my cheek? I wiped it away quickly and pulled in a breath to clear my mind. Of course, Dad saw and now looked at me with concern. The last time he’d seen me cry was when Grandpa had to have surgery on his liver. That was at least ten years ago.
“Taylor. What happened?”
“Nothing it’s just… stupid.”
He cupped my face and gave me a knowing look. “Sweetheart, I don’t know what’s going on, and we normally don’t have those kinds of talks, but if it helps any, I’m pretty certain Dylan is very fond of you.” A little smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“Really? Do you think so?”
“I absolutely do. So, whatever’s happening will work itself out. In the meantime, here’s something to cheer you up.” He handed me the little box. Inside was a key with a pretty little bow attached to it.
“Thanks. You bought me a house?” I asked, smiling. “Another one, I mean?” He’d bought the house we lived in for us. Grateful as I was, I wasn’t sure why he’d bought another. Maybe he thought it was time for me to be by myself.
He chuckled. “No, my dear girl. My plans all came through last night, so I thought I’d do this sooner rather than later. I didn’t say this before because I was in two minds about it. I knew you were ready to run the company, but it dawned on me that you deserve more than working for me.”
“What are you saying, Dad? I love working for you.” My heart stilled.
“I’m saying that you deserve to be your own boss. I’m saying that I think you’d carry on the vision I wanted for this company when I started it. You’ll do that and so much more. You’ll put your own spin on things and do better than me. I want you to own the place, Taylor. That is the key to the door.”
My hands flew up to my cheeks, and I gasped, sucking in a sharp breath.
“Oh my God!” I cried. “Dad, are you serious? Me?”
He nodded. “Sweet girl, don’t be so surprised. This was kind of the reason for the consultation.” He tilted his head to the side and regarded me with adoration. “The consultation you didn’t really need, but maybe you found something else there you never expected to find.” The look he gave me told me he was talking about Dylan.
“Oh, Dad.” I rushed to his arms and hugged him. “Thank you so much. Thank you. I promise to make you proud.”
“You already have, Taylor. You deserve the best and everything you want.”
More tears came.
Owning the company was a dream I never thought I’d have. I’d never factored it in because Dad was so protective of it. Now I had it. It was everything I could possibly want. I just wished I had Dylan too.
Chapter 17
Dylan
* * *
I remembered my first day here at Patterson Inc.
Not my first day of working here, but my first day of seeing the place.
It had been a good day because we came to look at the place as a family.
I was twelve years old, and Tommy fourteen. We’d moved from San Francisco and followed Dad to realize his dreams.
Owning a business in Orange County sounded so important and like we’d made it. I guess to some extent, we had. Dad had previously worked for a marketing consultancy, and he managed to set up an online consultancy business that took off. That was how Patterson Inc. came to be. It was all online. Before it took off, we were a family who struggled to get by from one month to the next. We had a lot of debt that had built up over time, and I remembered eating what little we had some nights, which often times consisted of a bowl of rice.
Life was hard until Dad took that leap of faith to do something he wasn’t sure about. So, on that day when we moved here and got an actual office for us to visit, it felt like a celebration for all of us. The business had done so well that it needed a physical property. It was a celebration of an achievement.
When I’d started working here, I was so spoilt that I didn’t appreciate anything. Today, as I packed up my stuff to leave, I recalled that first time because being here felt like that thing I needed to change me and lead me to the place I wanted to be.
Unfortunately, that was no longer going to be here.
I’d made my choice, and I chose the girl. As to what I would do next was anyone’s guess, but I figured it wouldn’t be that hard to find something I wanted.
I couldn’t work here any longer, and I couldn’t keep up this charade that I was okay. I wasn’t.
I wasn’t okay at all. I wasn’t and hadn’t been since Tommy died. It was a constant struggle to try to be like him and fill his shoes, and it was a constant struggle to not lose myself. A person could change their bad habits, but it didn’t mean they had to lose themselves.
I’d fallen for Taylor, and to me, she was for keeps. I was serious about her, and no one was going to give me a fucking ultimatum and tell me I couldn’t be with her.
No way.
I’d been here all morning, packing.
I knew she wouldn’t know what I was doing or planning because I’d just left her. Snuck out while she was sleeping. To her, that was what it looked like. Truthfully, I’d left at the time because I didn’t want to break the magical experience we’d shared with anything that wasn’t related to us.
I’d made my choice the moment I kissed her. It was just that this part was hard because I loved my father too.
The door to my office opened, and he came in. He walked in with a worried look on his face and looked around at the boxes, shaking his head.
“What are you doing, Dylan?” He furrowed his brows.
“What does it look like, Dad?”
“No…”
“I’m leaving.” I sighed. Saying it out loud like that felt weird, but right.
“Dylan, this wasn’t what I wanted.”
“Dad, you basically told me if I wanted to keep seeing the woman I love, I had to leave.”
Shock registered on his face. Again, I’d revealed to him something I never thought I would and told him something I should have told
Taylor first.
“You love her?” he asked.
“Yes, I do, and I’m not going to allow you to push me around and make me feel like shit because I’m not Tommy. Yes, surprise, surprise, I’m not him. I’m Dylan. The other son. The one you got stuck with, and I’m done with feeling like you wish I’d died and not him.”
Dad actually looked shocked. “Son, how can you say such a thing?”
“It’s true. I’m saying it because it’s true. I see it in your eyes. You miss him, we all miss him, but to you he was everything. I made mistakes in the past, and you think it’s okay to condemn me and make me jump through every hoop known to man to win your trust. I can’t do it anymore, and definitely not when you think you can dictate to me who I should be with.”
“Dylan, no… I didn’t know you felt that way. Not any of it. I don’t want you to leave. I… said stuff I definitely shouldn’t have said when we last spoke, but I was furious.”
“I understand, and that’s my bad because I should have come to you before Saturday and told you what was happening.” I would take full responsibility for that. “But I told you, I told you straight up, and realistically, it doesn’t matter when I told you. What matters is, I told you I was serious about Taylor, and you refused to believe me. I hope you believe me now.” I hoped he did even though this wasn’t some show to get him to see things my way. I was serious. Me leaving was serious.
I sighed, picked up my box, and moved to the door. It was time to go. Time to go and be this different guy I’d become and take charge. Be responsible.
Be responsible and do the first right thing I’d done in weeks by telling Taylor how I felt. No more airy vagueness where she was left assuming what we were supposed to be. She deserved more than that, and I wanted more than that.
“Dylan, please…” Dad begged. “I need you.”
It was the desperation that echoed in his voice that stopped me.
I stopped and turned back to him. He walked toward me.
“I need you… not for the company’s sake. But you. Please don’t walk away thinking I wished it was you who died instead of Tommy. The day we got the call about the accident, I was devastated that Tommy had died. You can’t imagine what that feels like as a parent. Devastation and hopelessness, but at the same time I was grateful I didn’t lose you too.” He pressed his lips together and sighed.
Since this was the first time we’d spoken like this, he definitely got my attention. We didn’t talk about the accident. We didn’t talk about what caused it. We didn’t talk about how I felt after. And I never told anyone except Parker how I blamed myself for the whole occurrence.
It was left out in the open for all of us to deal with. Neither of my parents took the time to talk to me. Dad spoke of devastation. I was there when it happened. I saw the drunk driver. I saw him crash into us. He came for us on Tommy’s side of the car. I was the last person to be with him alive. The last person to hear his voice, to hear his scream of anguish, of death. No one would know how I felt about that because even if they asked, I wouldn’t have been able to describe it in its full context.
“Please,” Dad added, “don’t leave me like this.”
“It’s a lot, Dad. A lot at work here that has been festering. It’s been eighteen months now since Tommy died, and I changed so much. I changed big time because I realized I needed to because if I didn’t, I’d never be more than what I was. I wanted to be more, and he would have wanted me to be more too. This whole year, I wanted you to see me and not look at me as the replacement. I take full responsibility for my actions in the past, and I know you would have fired my ass a long time ago if I were a regular employee. But I hoped you would give me a chance as your son.”
“I’m sorry. I am. I truly am.” He apologized with a sincerity I hadn’t seen before. “I want you to work for me. Damn it… I want you to work with me. With me, Dylan. Not for me. Because it wasn’t Patterson Inc. Peter hired for these two-million-dollar gigs. We got all of that because of you. I’m man enough to admit that, and it’s fair, so I want you to work with me as my business partner, and not someone I’m looking to fill Tommy’s shoes. No one can fill his shoes, and no one can fill yours either.”
Dad pulled in a deep breath. “Company aside, I want you to be my son. My son. I overreacted yesterday. I absolutely did. I freaked out because the last time something bad happened, it crippled me. I thought of the opportunity Peter has given us, and I freaked when I thought of what could happen if things go to hell. I never factored in that you could be genuinely serious about Taylor. So, please, stay and work with me if you want, but if you decide to go… Don’t stop being my son. I lost Tommy, and I will never get him back. I don’t want to lose you too. Not for something as trivial as the company.”
I looked at him long and hard, contemplating his words. His eyes pleaded with me and reached into my heart.
“I won’t stop being your son, Dad. I can’t stop being that. I never planned to. It’s just this place…” I stopped and thought about it, and I realized that was exactly what I needed to do. Think about it. “I’ll think about staying. Right now, I need to see Taylor.”
I’d told him a lot more than I’d told her. It was time to fix that.
Dad nodded. “Okay, I understand. And thanks for considering staying… Know that if you decide to come back through these doors, it will be as my business partner.”
I had to admit that did have a good ring to it.
Dad put out his hand to shake mine. I took it and shook his hand.
“Thank you,” I told him. Now, it was time to find Taylor.
Chapter 18
Taylor
* * *
Dad took me for a late lunch, and we spent time talking the way we used to when I was little.
I then thought it was best to come home. I didn’t want to go back to the office and not see Dylan there. I came home, grabbed a notebook, and sat out by the pool jotting down my ideas.
Ideas I’d had forever that I’d always wanted to implement at the company.
I couldn’t believe I now had the chance. It was amazing, and I relished the fact that I was now the owner of Cartwright PR.
Cartwright PR, the billion-dollar company that did so much. It was its own empire. I owned it, and I was going to take it places. I would take it to some amazing places that would exceed everything it had ever done.
I was thinking of liaising more with the marketing company and working more with my sisters. I’d be the first to point out the roles they had weren’t like mine, and they probably liked it that way, but I knew they’d love the chance to work with me. Us together as a team could do wonders. I wanted to do more charity events. Just more.
I wrote down some good stuff. All things that kept my mind distracted.
When Abby came out to the terrace, she distracted me further. She had another pink box in her hand and a glass of lemonade.
“You’re home.” I smiled at her.
“I am. Thought you might need me,” she bubbled.
I’d messaged her this morning and told her what happened with Dylan. “Thank you for coming back.”
She laughed. “Taylor, I live here.”
“I know, but come on, you guys are never here.”
“Well, that’s about to change soon. I’ve decided I need to take a look at my life and change a few things.” She sat on the chair opposite me.
“Like what?”
“No more fun guys. I mean, I want a fun guy, just not these assholes who want to spend one night with me. I want someone for more than a night, or a week. So, I am home, and I won’t be attracting the wrong kind of attention anymore.”
This would be interesting coming from my sex-crazed, man-crazy sister. Between her and Mia, I wasn’t sure which was worse. Maybe it was Mia now, since she wasn’t here, and I doubted she’d be back tonight.
“I’m sure you will find someone worthy of you.” I nodded, although I could think of one guy who would tick the box for her
in every way. “Abby, just a thought… Please don’t get mad. Have you ever thought of maybe, just maybe, Gilly could be that guy you’re looking for?”
She widened her eyes at me and burst out laughing. “Oh my God! Gilly? Taylor, please. He’s my best friend. That equals brother.”
“But he isn’t, though. Strip away everything, and he’s just a guy. A very good-looking guy who would do anything for you.” I nodded. “Quarterback for The Centaurs too.”
She giggled. “I’m aware of who he is, Taylor, and what he is. We’re just… us. I couldn’t imagine us any other way. Besides, Jesus, you should see what the man is like when it comes to women. Like you said… good-looking guy and quarterback for The Centaurs. That’s collateral. The man dates Victoria’s Secret models. While they have nothing on me, I’m not like them. Not his type.”
While she said that, it didn’t escape me that she hadn’t said he wasn’t her type. But… I wouldn’t push. I had my own love life to worry about. Of which it was looking like there was none. It was four in the afternoon, and no phone call from Dylan, and no message.
Abby reached out to touch my hand.
“I appreciate the talk, but I came home for you. First, to give you this.” She handed me the pink box.
I opened it and smiled when I saw a beautiful pair of diamond earrings with a pink glint to it.
“Thank you so much.” I smiled, giving her a massive hug. “You are the best older sister a girl could have.”
“And you, boss lady, are the best first sister a girl could have. You are, and I’m so proud of you. Dad called us all and told us he gave you the company. I was with Mom at the time, and she cried. We’re all so happy for you, so expect major spoilage.”
“Thank you. I’m grateful and happy.” I nodded.
“Yes, you are happy about the company, but I know you’re worried about Dylan, and that’s the second reason for me coming home.”
I bit the inside of my lip. “Abby, it was so strange how we met, and then I got to know him, and then I loved him.”
One Last Time ?: Bad Boy Bachelors of Orange County BK 1 Page 13
