Snowed in with the Reluctant Tycoon

by Nina Singh

  Justin had to laugh at that. Why was he getting into all this anyway? With a woman he barely remembered. Simply because she’d watched him a few evenings when he was a child. “Maybe so. But my father didn’t exactly go out of his way to reach out me. No, he chose the son he wanted to keep with him just as much as my mother did.”

  Miranda patted his cheek. “But don’t you see?”

  “See what?”

  “From where James stood, it was the exact same thing. As far as he was concerned, you were the favored one.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Your mother chose you. And she never looked back. He was the one who was left behind.”

  With her words, Justin had to face a possibility he’d never let himself entertain before. His brother hadn’t fared any better in the aftermath of their parents’ breakup.

  All these years, he and James had lived alternate versions of the same reality. Their lives were just flip sides of the same coin.

  * * *

  Where was Justin now? She hadn’t heard from him, only knew that he’d left yesterday per Betty. Carli needed to get going too. This morning, the contractors had started reparations on the store. All that was left to do was to grab her bag and drive back to Boston. So why was she putting off the inevitable?

  She glanced at her phone for the thousandth time, trying to decide whether to call him or not. He shouldn’t have gone behind her back as he did. But throwing his lack of family in his face was clearly a low blow. Something she wasn’t exactly proud of now upon reflection.

  Carli swore out loud and threw her cell phone across her parents’ living room. Luckily, it landed on the couch.

  “Annoying spam?” A delicate voice startled her. She turned to see Janie standing in the doorway.

  Carli squeezed her eyes in frustration. “I’m trying to decide if I should call Justin. I might owe him an apology.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah... I may have said some things I shouldn’t have.”

  “Then I think you should just bite the bullet and call. He might be waiting for you,” Janie offered.

  Carli blew out a puff of air in frustration. “More likely, he never wants to talk to me again. He couldn’t wait to get out of town.”

  Janie nodded. “Yeah, Mom may have mentioned something about him leaving prematurely.”

  “Thanks to me.”

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  The question caught Carli off guard. The truth was, Janie was the first person she’d always been able to talk to. That was part of the reason this whole past year had been so hellish. She’d lost a dear confidante when things had turned icy between them. All those times Carli had thought to reach out but had been too stubborn to do so. And for what? A relationship with a man who she’d never really believed would work out anyway.

  “I made a huge mistake,” Carli admitted on a low sob, not even certain if she was still referring to Justin or the wedge that had been sitting between her and Janie for the past year.

  Janie rushed over to her. Soon they were both holding each other as the tears flowed like a sudden rain. “Me too, sis. Me too,” Janie said, then handed her a tissue from the side table and grabbed one for herself.

  “Are we okay?” Janie asked, dabbing her eyes. “Please say yes.”

  “We will be,” Carli answered, realizing she’d known that all along. “But I just wish you’d told me. When it first started between you and Warren.”

  Janie nodded. “You’re right. It was just so hard. Neither one of us wanted to hurt you. That was the only reason we kept it from you at the beginning. You have to believe that.”

  Carli gulped back a sob.

  “I’ve missed you,” Janie said, her voice a scratchy rasp from her crying.

  “I’ve missed you too.”

  If only one of them had had the courage to admit that before so much time had passed. She wouldn’t have had to do without her closest sister for all these months. Not to mention, maybe she would never have lashed out at Justin the way she had after the storm.

  She’d felt let down and betrayed when he’d called his father. Just as she’d felt betrayed by Janie and Warren. And her response at the first sign of trouble had been to put the blame squarely on Justin’s shoulders, exactly the way his parents had when he was just a mere child.

  She had to make this right.

  “I think you have a phone call to make,” Janie stated. “I’ll give you some privacy.”

  “Thanks, sis.”

  Janie gave her a tight hug and left the room.

  Carli didn’t give herself time to think. Grabbing her phone, she clicked on Justin’s number. But his phone went straight to voice mail.

  A lump formed at the base of her throat. With her luck, Justin might very well be on a plane back to Seattle.

  She was probably too late.

  * * *

  Carli rubbed her thumb absentmindedly along the corner of her mother’s granite counter where a stubborn green stain still marked it. In time it would fade. She hoped so anyway. There were a lot of things she was banking on having time fix.

  Though none of the mountains of snow had melted, the late-morning sunshine brought with it a golden touch to the vast amount of white outside. Everyone had shoveled out for the most part. Life in town was back to normal. But it felt anything but for her. She felt like the world had somehow tilted on its axis. Nothing would ever be the same.

  Her mother walked in carrying a load of freshly laundered kitchen towels. It occurred to Carli how content her mother was, how so very in tune with her existence. Louise had worked hard all her life to build a loving home and a strong family, foundations that Carli had depended on growing up.

  Alas, it appeared very unlikely that Carli would ever be able to achieve the same for herself. Not at the rate she was going when it came to men.

  Her mom did a bit of a double take when she saw her. “I thought you’d be on your way by now. I heard Justin already left.”

  “He did indeed.”

  Her mother put the towels down and studied her with concerned, motherly eyes.

  “I’m surprised you haven’t. You usually can’t wait to scram out of here and head back to the big city after a couple of days of visiting.”

  That was Louise, her mother was always straight to the point.

  “Are you trying to get rid of me, Mom?” Carli said with as much comical outrage as she could muster.

  “Of course not.” Louise came over and gave her small kiss on the top of her head. “But if you stick around, I’m very likely to put you to work. The pine needles that keep shedding off the Christmas tree and onto the floor need to be swept up. And heaven knows there’s always more shoveling and deicing to do.”

  Carli held her hands up in mock surrender. “Okay. Okay. I was just leaving.” But she didn’t make a move out of her chair. “Can I just ask you something first?”

  Louise’s eyes narrowed; whatever she saw on Carli’s face made her pull out a counter stool and sit across from her daughter.

  “Shoot.”

  “It’s about you and Dad.”

  Her mom lifted a finely shaped, dark eyebrow. “What about us?”

  “You’re just so, I don’t know, strong together.”

  “I suppose. We’ve been together for over three decades.”

  “And then there’s Tammy and Raymond. They’re just so happy together with their new house and their son.”

  “They were high school sweethearts. They’ve known each other a long time too.”

  “I know.” She sighed deeply before continuing. “And now Warren and Janie.”

  Her mother leaned over and gave her hand an affectionate pat.

  “Janie and I just had a bit of a chat,”
Carli told her. “Finally.”

  “Are you okay?”

  Surprisingly, she was. Despite the shattered mass that now sat where her heart used to be, she genuinely felt no loss over Warren. Not anymore. “We are, Mom. I’m happy for them. I really am. I realize now they fit much better than Warren and I ever could.”

  “You may not have seen it at the time, but he wasn’t right for you. You’re too independent, too driven.” She leaned closer before continuing. “He’s the type who wants to stay in Westerson and plant more roots here. Just like Janie. You have to see now that those two belong together.”

  Carli sighed. “I do see that. Now. So do Tammy and Raymond. But you and Dad especially. I’ve seen you have arguments, but they never last. And you’re both always so in tune.” She took a deep breath; she had her mother’s full attention now.

  “Trust me when I tell you that wasn’t always the case. None of you kids know this, but we almost broke off the engagement a month before the wedding.”

  Carli felt genuine surprise at that last comment. “You did? Why?”

  “I was starting to get cold feet. And your father could tell. He didn’t want to rush me into a commitment as serious as marriage if I wasn’t totally ready for it.”

  “You? You were the one who got cold feet?”

  “Believe it or not, there was a time I couldn’t decide what I wanted or what path I needed to take in life to be happy. And your father was man enough not to put any pressure on me.”

  “Huh? I never knew.”

  “It’s true. Now, every time I walk through this house, or hold my grandson—or even sit in the kitchen having a conversation with one of my girls—I know I made the right decision.”

  Carli felt the tears spring into her eyes. She was so lucky to be part of this family, to be this woman’s daughter.

  So what if her love life was in shambles. In a few years, she may even be able to get over the foolish way she’d fallen for a man who had turned and walked out of her life at the first sign of discord.

  “Tell me,” her mother began. “Do your questions have anything to do with Justin Hammond perhaps?”

  Carli wasn’t surprised by the question. Louise Tynan was very on top of things when it came to her children. It was one of the reasons she loved her parents so much.

  “As well as the way you were looking at him?” her mother added when she didn’t respond right away.

  Carli bit down on a bitter chortle. “I guess. But it’s over. Almost as soon as it began.”

  “What happened?”

  “I let my guard down. I wasn’t careful enough and didn’t see the obvious. Kind of like with Warren.” She gulped down on a low sob. “But this feels so much worse, Mom. This feels like the hurt might never end.”

  Her mother stood and gathered her in her arms. “You’ve fallen for him.”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “And he’s leaving?”

  “Probably flying out at this very moment.”

  “I see.” She rubbed Carli’s cheek. “Do you know why Dad and I mostly stayed out of the whole situation between you, Warren and your sister?”

  She sniffled. “Because you wanted us all to learn a valuable lesson on how thoroughly Carli could make a fool of herself?”

  Louise gave her an affectionate smile. “Hardly. Because we knew you would figure out what was best for you. You’ve always been good at deciding what you want and going after it.”

  “I am?”

  “Indeed.” She gave her arm a tender squeeze. “From what I can see, you’ve determined what you want. Now are you going to go after it?”

  * * *

  Justin had decided to sleep in for the first time in his life. But whoever was calling his cell phone apparently had other plans. The screen read Hammond Ent, so he picked it up without delay fully expecting Carli to be on the other end.

  Only it wasn’t Carli calling.

  A bolt of disappointment shot through him. Foolish, wishful thinking. Carli wanted nothing to do with him. He’d managed to earn her ire and scorn. Just as he’d earned his brother’s all those years ago when his antics had finally pulled the family apart.

  No, the deep baritone voice on the other end of the line belonged to his father. Looked like he had indeed blown his chance to rectify things with her. Justin sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

  “Do you have a moment, son?”

  Would he ever get used to hearing that word coming from Jackson? He glanced at the bedside clock on the bureau across his hotel room: 8:30 a.m. Much later than he usually slept, but he’d been restless and unable to fall asleep last night, reliving the events of the previous day repeatedly in his head.

  “Sure.” He just had to wake up fully first.

  “I wanted to let you know I was very impressed with the initial plans you sent over. Once the repairs to the Cape store are completed, I’d like to begin implementing your ideas.”

  Justin sighed with relief. He’d been fully prepared to take matters into his own hands if he had to. “I’m glad to hear it. I’m sure Carli will be more than anxious to get started on it all.”

  His father was silent a moment on the other end. “That’s one of the things I’d like to discuss with you, in fact. I don’t know what your plans are, but would you be able to come in later this morning to go over some of this?”

  He couldn’t mean what Justin was beginning to suspect he meant. Did he honestly have someone else besides Carli in mind to run the project? Rubbing his eyes, he answered, “I can be there within the hour.”

  “That’s great, son. I’ll see you then.”

  “Wait, Jackson.”

  “What is it?”

  “I just want to be clear. All those ideas I proposed, I had Carli firmly in mind as the project manager to carry them through. I think she’s the best qualified given how well she knows the store and the town.”

  He could hear his father’s pride in Carli when he answered. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

  Then what was this all about?

  Jackson gave him a jolt when he answered the unasked question. “I believe she may need some help. I wanted to talk to you about perhaps clearing your calendar for the next several months. Perhaps even permanently, depending on what you’re comfortable with.”

  Now he was awake. “Never mind what I said earlier. I can be there in half an hour.”

  It took only twenty minutes.

  * * *

  His father was standing in front of his office window, staring down at the traffic bottleneck along Boylston Street when Justin knocked on his door.

  Jackson motioned to the chair in front of his classic executive desk, and then waited for Justin to sit down before taking his own seat.

  “Thank you for coming in so quickly, son.”

  “I had nothing else to do. What’s this about?”

  “To put it mildly, I’d like you to come back. Back to the Boston area, the Cape specifically. Back as a Hammond working for Hammond’s Toys.”

  Mildly? Justin would not have called that mild. Bluntly sharp was more like it. “Just like that?”

  “I realize what it would mean. You have a life back in Seattle, but we can talk about relocation incentives.”

  Justin was too shocked to speak.

  “You’re a rightful heir of this company. You need to be here at the helm, along with your brother.”

  A jarring thought occurred to him. “Are you dying?”

  Jackson’s immediate response was a loud snort of laughter. “Not that I know of!”

  “Then what’s going on?”

  “I’ve been doing some thinking. About both you and James. Your brother came to me before the holidays. Started a conversation we probably should have
had years, perhaps even decades, ago.”

  Justin rubbed a hand down his face. If this was Jackson’s attempt at some sort of reconciliation after all these years, he was totally unprepared for it.

  “It made me realize how much I missed of you boys growing up. You especially.”

  Whoa. He definitely hadn’t seen that coming. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Then I’ll just do the talking for a bit.” He took a deep breath as if to steady himself. “I know I should have tried harder to contact you. But your mother was a...a difficult woman. The time to cast blame or bad-mouth anyone is long gone. But she loved to remind me how much trouble you were.”

  “I remember.”

  “Only, you really weren’t. I think you were a convenient way to prove to me that I was insufficient, that there was something I couldn’t handle. I’m convinced she took you with her that night just to drive that point home. I couldn’t handle you. So she left and took you with her.”

  Justin tried to process all he was being told. Given what he knew of his mother, it wasn’t a terribly farfetched theory. But the idea that he’d simply been a pawn in his mother’s argument stung more than he would have liked.

  “That still doesn’t explain why you chose to let her get away with it. Why you didn’t make any kind of attempt to have some sort of contact, or even a relationship.”

  “I have no excuse, I’m afraid. Except that maybe on some level, I let her convince me of it too.”

  Jackson looked away then, studied a Bruins banner he had hanging on the wall to his left. “I know I should have tried harder to track you down. But she moved around so often. Support payments went direct to her bank account. And as the years grew longer, the prospect seemed more and more futile. But I’m trying now, if it’s not too late.”

  A week ago, Justin would have told his father precisely that it was too late. But a lot had changed since then.

  He’d met Carli Tynan.

  * * *

  Justin braced himself against the cold wind as he stood outside Carli’s door on the footstep. He’d gone over various ways he might approach the conversation countless times in his head. But for the life of him, he still had no idea where he would start once she opened the door. He’d called earlier to tell her he would be stopping by. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. It had been unclear whether that was pleasant shock or the opposite. He supposed he was about to find out.