by Lexy Timms
“First off,” Christine said, pausing to lift her wine glass to her lips for a sip. “I work at the country club. And I was there when Alex showed up looking all kinds of less than happy. And secondly, I know you well enough to see when you're unhappy.” She glanced away. “Just because I ignored it before doesn't mean that I don't know.”
Jamie sighed. She hadn't heard the full story of what happened between Mark and Alex yet, only knew that Alex had come home last night in a mood and had hardly spoken to her before storming up the stairs to bed. When she'd crawled in with him later, he'd either been asleep or pretending to be, and she hadn't really been in the mood to check. If he wanted to act like the entire world was against him, that was his prerogative, but she wasn't going to indulge him in it. “Well, I'm sure you know that things haven't been the greatest lately. I mean, with Alex.”
“I know that Mark hasn't been happy lately, and that the argument with Alex seemed to really upset him, but I don't know what caused it. I also know that you've been unhappy lately, but you haven't really talked about it either, except to say that Alex was dealing with things at work.”
“Well,” Jamie said slowly, “there’s this man named Nicholas. He used to have a thing for me, actually. Kept trying to get me to go out to dinner with him when Alex and I were first dating. I went once, but I was too in love with Alex to be really into him. At the time, I thought he was a nice guy.”
Christine nodded.
“To make a long story short, he tried to help Alex by convincing the secretary who had been with him since Reid Enterprises started to authorize herself a new company card and start buying totally unapproved things with it. To show how overworked and distracted Alex was or something. Of course it ended up with Gina getting fired, and I think Nicholas is lucky he didn't end up in jail. Alex settled with him and we thought that was the end of it. Only now he's come back, and he's secretly been buying stock out from under Alex. Which means that Alex has been spending almost all of his time at work trying to deal with it, because he won't give any of the problem over to the people he hired to help him with problems.”
She couldn't keep the frustration out of her voice, and Christine's expression shifted, becoming sympathetic.
“And you're upset that he's been spending so much time at work instead of at home with you and the babies?”
That wasn't what Jamie had said, but it wasn't exactly hard to guess. She nodded. “Yeah. I guess I’m a little upset about that. I mean, he was supposed to cut back on the overtime and the crazy hours once the twins were born, and I don't know if he would have or not, but it feels like he's using the thing with Nicholas as an excuse not to do it. I get that he cares about the company, but he owns enough of the stock himself now that Nicholas can't buy it from him, and so there's no reason for him to be so worried. And I don't see why he can't give some of the workload to Zander, if there really is a reason to still be concerned, and actually spend some time at home with us.” Jamie looked down at her hand, twisting her wedding ring slowly around her finger. “It just feels like we're not as important to him as his business, and I don't like feeling that way.”
Christine reached out and laid a hand over hers, stopping Jamie's nervous motion. “I know that it really sucks to think that your husband's first priority is his job. I mean, I don't know from experience. I'm not sure Stephen had any priorities that weren't 'Do whatever I want regardless of the consequences,' and working wasn't really something he wanted to do much of, but what I'm saying is, maybe you're being a little too harsh. Alex cares about his business, yes. He built it. That's something to be proud of. But he also cares about you and Benton and Lilli. It's obvious every time anyone is in the room with you guys.”
For a moment, Jamie just stared at her sister in silence. “Okay,” she said finally, “who are you, and what have you done with Christine, because that is not something I expected you to ever say.”
One corner of Christine's mouth lifted in a slightly wobbly smile. “Well, I've been reading a lot of self-help books, and doing emotion identification exercises with my therapist. Apparently I'm not capable of understanding the ways other people feel, which I guess is an improvement.”
Jamie laughed. “I think you always knew. I just think that you didn't know how to care after being raised by someone like Mom, who never cared about anyone but herself and what she wanted.” She paused, taking a long drink from her wine glass and then setting it aside. “So what do you think I should do?”
“I think that you should try to believe that Alex doesn't care about work more than he cares about you. Give him a little time to deal with the fact that he's going to have to give up some of the control over his baby. Don't let this be something that comes between you two permanently, because you're perfect for each other. It's so obvious. And he makes you happy, Jamie. I don't want to see you lose that, you know?”
“I don't know how you suddenly became a marriage counselor,” Jamie said, shaking her head. “But I'm kind of glad you did.”
Christine smiled at Jamie over the rim of her wine glass, and then lifted it to take a sip.
The waiter approached their table, smiling, and set the tray of appetizers they'd gotten to share down in front of them. Jamie gave him a nod, and he went away again, leaving them alone.
“So,” Jamie started, picking up one of the mozzarella sticks and taking a bite. Once, she never would have eaten anything like that in front of her sister, but these days Christine never picked on her for what she ate. Or about how much she weighed. And Christine was actually eating enough food to be more than skin and bones, which made Jamie feel a lot better. It was good to see her sister healthy and happy. And speaking of happy... “Now that we've dealt with my issues, how are things going for you? I don't see you as much since you started working at Little Lake.”
There wasn't an answer right away. Christine was busy chewing. She swallowed, and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “It's been kind of busy,” she said. “I think that I'm finally getting the hang of, you know, actually working, which I guess is kind of a good thing. I'm not sure that it's the job I want to stay at forever, but for now I enjoy it, and it keeps the bills paid.”
“Are you doing anything that isn't working?”
“Well,” Christine said, ducking her head to hide a smile that Jamie was surprised to see was actually shy. “I kind of met someone.”
“You did?” Jamie leaned forward a little against the table. “Who? Tell me!”
Her sister answered with laughter, and paused to take another bite-size snack from the appetizer platter. When she'd finished eating she took a sip of wine, and Jamie wondered just how long she was going to stall for. “I met him at work,” Christine said finally. “He's a really nice guy. And totally gorgeous.”
“Rich?”
Christine shook her head. “I'm sure that he is, but that doesn't really matter to me anymore. There are more important things.”
“Like how gorgeous he is?” Jamie teased.
“Like how nice he is,” Christine answered a little stiffly, but she smiled at Jamie. “I mean, he's nothing like Stephen.” She turned her glass around between her fingers, thoughtful. “I never thought,” she continued, “that I would get over Stephen, honestly. Even when I'd started to move on and really become someone different, someone who wasn't that bitchy woman I used to be, I still clung to Stephen. He was this familiar thing. But he didn't care. And it took me way too long to figure that out. Once I did, it got a little easier, but I wasn't sure it would ever go away.”
“But it did?” Jamie asked.
“One day, honestly, I just woke up and it was gone.” Christine shrugged a little, and shook her head, like she wasn't sure how to describe it to Jamie, who was listening intently. “I could remember loving him, and being so wrapped up in him that everyone outside our little bubble seemed like an enemy if he wanted them to be. And I remembered the way it hurt once he was gone. But it didn't hurt anymore. And I wasn't too blind an
ymore to see what he'd been.” She gave Jamie a look, and laughed a short, sharp laugh. “Now, I'm actually glad he's in prison. I guess it's where he belongs.”
“I'm glad, too,” Jamie said. “The fact that you still felt like that about him was just making you miserable, and you're so much better off without him, Christine.”
Her sister smiled. “Yeah, I know that now. And, like I said, Karl is totally different from Stephen. It's not even comparable. And I think that's a really good thing, honestly. I don't want anything to remind me of him, especially not in a relationship.”
“It is a good thing,” Jamie said. She was so happy for Christine, honestly. Her sister had been through a lot in the last couple years, and she deserved something nice in her life. Someone who would take care of her and love her better than Stephen had. “Have you been on any dates yet?”
Christine shook her head. “No, but he's taking me out on Friday, actually.” She smiled. “We're going to go to dinner, and to see a show after. I'm really looking forward to it.”
“Good,” Jamie said. “You should be. And I want to hear all of the details as soon as you get back from it.”
“All of the details,” Christine said. “Sure.”
Silence fell between them. The restaurant was full of murmured conversation, but none of it was loud enough to disturb the peace of their table. Jamie ate a few more things, and while she was trying to be happy for Christine she couldn't help the way that her thoughts were drifting back to Alex and the fight that they'd had. It had been really tense between them since then, although Jamie had tried to apologize. Alex had made some excuse about being busy, and had walked away, and Jamie was a little afraid that she had made a mistake that wouldn't be able to be fixed.
After everything they'd been through together, would he give up over that?
He couldn't. Jamie wouldn't be able to take it if he did. She was just going to have to go home and make sure that he didn’t have the chance to stew any more in the leftover anger from their fight. They were stronger than one silly argument, and she was going to prove it to him.
“Thank you,” she said, looking up at Christine.
Her sister, midway to grabbing another chip from the pile in the corner of the platter, paused. She looked surprised. “What for?”
Jamie smiled. “For reminding me that no matter how tough things get I need to keep fighting for what Alex and I have.”
Chapter 11
Mark still couldn’t believe Alex had just walked away.
After all the time they had spent trying to be actual brothers again, that was just going to be it? Over something that, as far as Mark could see, really wasn't as much of an issue as Alex was making it out to be? Nicholas was bad. People did business with people they didn't like all the time. Like he'd said, he wasn't going to be scrambling to do Nicholas' bidding any time soon, and if the guy was using his country club for business meetings, then Mark was going to be able to keep an eye on him. What he'd said about keeping enemies closer he'd actually meant.
Shit, he’d worked for Alex. He knew firsthand what Nicolas was capable of.
Of course, Alex might have realized that if he'd bothered to stop and think for a moment. He would’ve known to trust Mark had he bothered to try to have a relationship with his family growing up. All Alex had was anger from the past. Alex hadn’t had it easy as a kid, but he should have just trusted Mark. They were brothers. Mark wasn't going to do anything to hurt him. Hadn't he shown that over and over again? Hadn't he tried everything to reconcile with Alex? It was their dad's dying wish, and now they were going back on everything that they'd managed to create together.
Sighing, Mark dropped his head into his hands.
He didn't know what he was going to say to Erica. The whole thing was kind of her fault, honestly. If she hadn't been so set on keeping Nicholas around because of the nice tips he gave, he would have sent the man packing as soon as he'd realized it was Nicholas. But he wasn't very good at denying people he loved, and he really wasn't very good at saying no to Erica. So now he'd managed to lose Alex again.
He shook his head. He was making excuses, but he couldn’t help himself.
As though on cue, the door opened and Erica stepped in. She was whistling cheerfully, as though she had no idea that something had gone down that afternoon between Mark and Alex. The sound frayed on Mark’s nerves. He knew that she knew. No one had heard the argument, but people had seen them go out together and saw Alex leave a few minutes later. Mark knew exactly what kind of gossip went around among the restaurant staff.
“Could you stop?” Mark asked, jaw tight. “I have a wicked headache right now.”
The whistling cut off, and then there were footsteps moving across the floor and Erica's slight weight settled down on the couch next to him. One of her arms wrapped around his shoulders.
“Hey,” she said gently. “What's wrong?”
Mark choked out a bitter laugh. “What's wrong is that my brother basically just disowned me. Again.”
“He what?”
She sounded shocked enough that she must not have heard enough of the gossip. Or maybe the rumor mill just didn't have enough raw material. He was pretty sure no one knew what he and Alex had said to each other, but the fact that Alex had decided they weren't family any longer wasn’t something to take lightly.
He lifted his head so that he could meet her eyes. “Alex,” he said, “has decided that since I'm betraying him by letting Nicholas and his buddies play here, I'm no longer family. I'll need to repay the loan he gave me to purchase the land for the country club.”
Erica made a choked, shocked sort of sound. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Mark answered, voice flat. “Alex and I have history. He had something happen to him in high school. My dad basically kicked him out and he walked away. We only started talking again not that long ago. This isn’t something to joke about. Alex is dead serious. Not only am I losing my brother again, but I’m going to lose this place as well.”
Erica pushed off the couch and stood up, pacing across the room. “That's ridiculous,” she said as she spun toward him. “It's not like you helped destroy his company, for fuck's sake. All you did was not throw out some richy-rich who spends way too much money on expensive drinks and tipping the staff. What did he expect you to do? Take a chance on losing a bunch of your best clients because his business is more important than yours? Nothing that Nicholas does here is going to have any bearing on him.”
Those were exactly the thoughts that he'd been having since the argument with Alex, but Mark shook his head. “It’s a matter of loyalty. I should’ve known better,” he said. “My first instinct was to kick him off the property, and I should have stuck with it.”
“Better than what? You didn't do anything, Mark.” Her voice was insistent. “You didn't do anything that anyone who isn't crazy would be angry about.”
“My brother,” Mark said, fingers curling against the couch, “is not crazy.”
Erica's stared at him. “Um. I'm pretty sure the way that he came in here and yelled at you for running your own business the way you want to run it and not the way that he does is nuts. What exactly would you call it?”
“I’d say he's having a problem, and instead of helping him fix it I just made it worse.”
“How are you supposed to help him fix it, exactly?”
“By not letting the person he hates most play golf at my country club?” Mark suggested, sounding more sure of himself as he said it. “Nicholas is done as of today.”
Erica threw up her hands. “You're really going to do what he says on this? After he disowned you? I'm sure that there are better ways to do your weekly good deed, if you feel like it's required.”
“He's my brother,” Mark said, standing up from the couch and moving away from Erica. “I don't know what you expect me to do. Not care about him?” He shook his head. “Nicholas really is kind of a slimy bastard.”
A growl of frustration foll
owed him as he moved toward the door, but Mark didn't turn to acknowledge it. If Erica was going to take issue with him running his business how he wanted to, then that was her problem, not his, but he wasn't going to sit around and do nothing while secretly hoping that Jamie would talk Alex out of not-so-secretly hating him all over again.
“Are you sure?” Erica asked, catching up with him despite his longer strides. “I mean, are you really sure this is the best idea?”
“It's probably not the best idea,” Mark said. “But it's what I can do, and that’ll just have to be enough.”
“Nicholas hasn't done anything to you!”
“No,” Mark agreed, “he hasn't. But he's hurt my brother, and that means something to me. Even if I apparently don't mean all that much to Alex anymore. He’s my brother. My family. I’ll do whatever it takes to get him to see that.”
“That's ridiculous,” Erica snapped. “Listen. What good is it actually going to do anyone for you to ban Nicholas from the premises? Sure, it might satisfy Alex’s petty desire for revenge, but Nicholas isn’t going to care. He’ll just find somewhere else to chat and play golf and drink wine with his buddies. And once he does that he’s out of your reach.”
Mark paused mid-step and turned to look at Erica, eyes narrowed. “Are you suggesting that I keep allowing Nicholas access so I can spy on him?”
Erica met his gaze. “I'm simply suggesting that if you actually want to help your brother deal with the underhanded businessman trying to undermine his business, you might have to be a little underhanded yourself.”
He stared at her. Erica was a golf instructor. He didn’t picture her as some sneaky little gal instructing him in corporate espionage or whatever you wanted to call spying on your brother's rival while he played golf so that you could take stories about his business meetings back to your brother.
“How am I supposed to do that?” he asked. “I can't exactly follow him around the course and hope he blurts out something that could help Alex.”
