“My mom never did come back, not even when my little brother Brandon died.” he admitted, choking on the words.
Alice bit her lip, but this time he took comfort in her expression. She was holding back her shock, reserving judgement, gathering her feelings so she could say just the right thing, and he appreciated that.
“How old was your brother when he passed?” she asked tentatively.
“Seventeen. Accidental drug overdose,” he explained before she could ask. “At least that was what they called it. I think he ended his own life.”
“My God, I’m so sorry, Billy. I’m sorry you lost your brother. And you had neither parent to comfort you. I can’t even imagine how painful that would be, or how much that could mess with someone,” she whispered, holding back her own emotion.
Billy was pretty sure that Alice could imagine that kind of pain. She had lost so much herself, and she too had to figure out how to navigate her way out of despair, and be strong for her own child at the same time.
“It wasn’t easy, but we do what we have to. I’m not sure how I got through it, but I do know that somewhere along the way I put up some awfully big walls,” he admitted quietly, as though he were just recognizing it himself.
Alice lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it gently. Billy shook his head and grinned at her, trying to lighten the mood.
“Come on, let’s get dressed and I’ll walk you back home,” he said, sitting up.
Billy and Alice walked back to the house hand in hand, respecting the silence they both needed. He was grateful that no one was waiting on the porch for them this time. Alice reached out for the door but Billy gently eased her back, pulling her into his embrace. She kissed him gently on the mouth, slow, deep, and heavy with intimacy, and even though it scared the shit out of him, he was more frightened by the thought of turning his back on that kind of passion.
“Good night,” she whispered as she pulled away from their kiss. “Thank you for tonight. I know it wasn’t easy to open up to me.”
Actually, it wasn’t that difficult, he thought, smiling warmly at her.
“Thank you for tonight, and opening up to me.” he said winking.
Alice feigned shock and chuckled then pinched his sides. He pulled back with a hearty laugh.
“Ok, don’t do that! I’m insanely ticklish,” he warned playfully.
Alice wrapped her hands around his waist, threatening to tickle him again.
“Ah, is that so? Have I uncovered your weakness, Billy?” she teased.
Billy grabbed her wrists and pulled her into another kiss, forcing her to behave.
“You’re my weakness,” he admitted, his words landing on her heart.
She cocked her head at him and smiled at him curiously, then turned around and went inside.
Billy walked down the porch steps. What he said to Alice was the truth, but what the hell was he going to do about it?
* * *
It was late, but Billy needed to talk to James. The man was a night owl so Billy had no reservations dialing his number. He sat down on his bed and kicked off his shoes, waiting for an answer on the other line.
Just before he anticipated being bumped into voicemail, the call picked up.
“Hello,” James said, his voice heavy with sleep.
Maybe it was too late to call, Billy thought.
“Hey, it’s me,” Billy said flatly. “Sorry to call so late.”
“What time is it, William?” James asked, more curious than upset.
“I dunno, maybe close to midnight,” Billy offered impatiently. “I need to ask you something.”
“Is everything ok?” James questioned, a little more alert.
“It’s fine. I just need to know something. How come we didn’t know that Alice had a daughter?” Billy asked directly, wasting no time on pleasantries.
James was silent for a moment, breathing heavily on the other end of the phone. Finally he answered.
“I did know about the child. Of course I did,” he admitted, his voice tight with arrogance. “Is she back from Oregon already?”
Billy tightened his lips, trying to control his anger. Of course, James knew, and he also knew that Amy would be away for the summer. Did he hire a private investigator?
“Why wasn’t I made aware of this? A child is something rather important to know about, wouldn’t you say? Especially given the plan we were executing?” Billy asked, as calmly as he could muster.
“Well I did consider telling you, but I thought maybe the information would interfere with what you had to do. You’re far more sentimental than I am,” James chided. “I thought you would be in and out before the child returned.”
Billy felt his temperature rising. He was pissed off, but more than that, he felt played. Fucking bastard, he thought.
“Did it even dawn on you for one second that we were manipulating a single mother? That we could be hurting an innocent kid in all of this?” Billy spat, losing his patience.
“Of course it did, which is exactly why I kept the information to myself. Now calm down, William. This doesn’t change anything. Our end goal is to purchase the land from Miss White for as little as possible, but she is still going to walk away with plenty of money in her pocket. How the hell is that going to hurt anyone? The only ones who are going to suffer are you and I, if we don’t get that ocean front. We will lose out on millions, William. Millions,” James explained, as though he were the voice of reason.
Billy rubbed his forehead with his free hand, processing James’ words. They were both quiet for a few moments, the sound of their breathing the only evidence that they were both still on the line. Finally, James spoke up.
“Just keep moving forward with the plan. There’s still more to do on the arena, you have seen to that, right? When you ask for that last installment, the big one, it will flatline her account. She won’t have the funds to complete the job and a loan will be her only option if she wants to finish. She’ll be saddled with debt and a half finished arena. It will be over,” he encouraged, then added, “Nothing has changed, has it?”
His tone was bordering on accusation.
Billy wasn’t sure how to answer him. Technically nothing had changed, if you left out one minor detail, he was falling head over heels for Alice.
“Are we good, William?” James asked.
Billy still couldn’t respond. He cleared his throat, attempting to gather his thoughts.
“William, how do you think Alice would react if she found out the truth now? About what you have been up to?” James said.
Billy sensed a threat in his partner’s words, and didn’t care for his attitude.
“What are you fucking alluding to, James?” Billy replied curtly, ready to meet him head on.
James chuckled and tried to lighten his tone.
“I’m not alluding to anything. I’m just keeping it real. The fact is, no matter what happens now, the damage has been done. Whether you decide to take the moral high ground and come clean, or whether you see this to completion, Alice will despise you for double-crossing her,” James warned. “If you see this plan to the end without her learning the truth, she will probably beg us to buy the land, but if you admit the truth, there’s no chance in hell she sells to us, and it will all be for nothing. William, nowhere in this scenario is there a fairytale ending,” he concluded, a little more pompous than Billy liked.
Billy inhaled slowly, considering James’ assessment of the situation. He wasn’t wrong. Even if he told Alice the truth now, she would never forgive him. He would be walking away from the condo development without the girl, and a huge fiscal loss as well. He would return to the vapid life he had built for himself. His feelings would never be reciprocated and everything would lead back to that one simple truth. No woman could ever love him.
“So, are we good?” James asked cautiously, after a lengthy silence.
Billy paused for another moment, before he finally responded.
“Yes, we’re g
ood. I’ll send you a report in a few days,” he offered flatly, hanging up the phone.
How the fuck did things spiral so far out of his control? William turned out the light and lay back on the bed, discontent and frustrated, considering every option, fighting like hell to extract all emotion from the equation.
Chapter 17
Alice
Alice was still on cloud nine the next morning. She had finally set aside all her fears to let Billy in and he didn’t disappoint. Their lovemaking had been intense and passionate, but more importantly, they connected on a deeply emotional level. She opened up to him, and he finally did the same. It wasn’t easy for him, but he shared his story and told her about his family. And seeing him so honest and trusting made her like him even more. She couldn’t stop smiling, and didn’t even mind when Lisa teased her about Billy earlier that morning.
Lisa had taken Amy into town for a play date. Her little one was very excited to go as she hadn’t seen her friend for more than two months. After Alice finished with her chores in the barn, she enjoyed a quick ride with Sadie. The weather was overcast, but the rain was holding off. She was grateful for that. Any delays on the construction site would slow down progress, and they couldn’t afford to push things back.
Alice was on the phone in her office, pacing behind her desk when Joe poked his head in. He wrapped his knuckles on the door frame to get her attention. She waved him in and gestured for him to sit down, then went back to her call. He took his hat off and set it down on the desk but chose not to sit down.
“Yes, yes, Andy. We are calling it the Oceanside Equine Arena. We should be completely up and running in four weeks or so. The facility? It’s a two hundred by eighty foot climate controlled indoor riding arena, with a fresh air exchange system providing clean air to both the arena and stables. It’s also humidity-controlled, keeping the arena comfortable no matter what time of the year people choose to ride,” Alice explained, her enthusiasm evident in her tone.
“The automatic sprinkler system will allow us to control the dust, and to reach the desired depths required for each individual event. It has a sound system too, available throughout the entire arena. Yes, it will be fantastic. We have already had enquiries from several organizations wanting to host their events here. Yes, of course we will be offering lessons as well. Western, dressage, jumping and various clinics too.
We will be breaking ground on the outdoor arena in the spring. That is phase two. I’ll be hiring in the very near future so if you know any good people, have them get in touch with me,” she suggested.
Alice wrapped up her conversation, promising to invite Andy to the open house once a date had been firmed up. She placed her cell phone on the desk in front of her and looked at Joe, offering him a warm smile.
“Looks like the arena is creating quite a buzz,” Joe said, opening the conversation.
Alice raised her brows and nodded.
“Hell yeah! Word is traveling faster than wild fire. I already have people calling me with inquiries about events, and lessons, and training facilities. I haven’t even updated the website yet! That reminds me, I need to work on that this week.” she said, her mind buzzing with ideas.
“Sounds like we are going to be busy,” Joe observed quietly.
“It sure looks that way, and I gotta say, I’m feeling so relieved. I had a fella call me earlier today looking for a training facility for his daughter. She’s training for the Olympics! How cool is that?” she said, her eyes wide with excitement.
“That is pretty cool,” Joe agreed. “Alice, I actually came in to talk to you about something personal. Is this a good time?” he asked, nervously.
Alice met his gaze, suddenly worried about what he might need to say to her. He never talked to her about anything personal. Was he planning on leaving her? Alice walked around to the front of her desk so she could stand closer to him. She leaned her bum against the edge, placing her hands on either side of her.
“What is it Joe? Is everything alright?” she asked warmly, her expression a worried one.
Joe nodded and cleared his throat. He looked anxious, Alice thought.
“I’m alright. I have just been doing a lot of thinking. Do you recall the conversation we had a few weeks ago? We were talking about my role around here and about you being careful with Billy?” he began.
Alice nodded. She did remember the conversation quite well. She had even pulled away from Billy for a while because of what Joe had said to her about keeping her head in the game.
“I wasn’t being completely upfront with you,” he continued, his words trailing off.
Alice knit her brows together, looking at him curiously. She wondered which part he was referring to.
“Go on, Joe. I’m listening,” she encouraged kindly, reaching out to touch him lightly on his elbow.
Joe looked down at her hand then back up at her face. He looked agitated. Alice was now completely convinced he was giving his notice or something equally dreadful.
“When I was asking you about my place here, where I fit in, I guess I was searching for some answers. I know you told me I was like family, but that was before you knew everything. I was holding back with you, Alice, because I was afraid,” he uttered, his voice so tight she could barely make out what he was saying.
Alice quickly tried to process his words to understand where he might be leading her, to what he was alluding to, and she didn’t like where she thought it was all going. She put her head down, afraid to look at him, and inhaled slowly.
“The thing is ,Alice, I love you. I guess it has always been that way,” Joe confessed.
His words caused her heart to skip a beat, but not in the way he might have hoped. Alice’s head started to spin as she considered the gravity of his words.
“I know I should have made my feelings clear to you sooner, maybe even years ago, but you know I have always been pretty timid. I guess I just took for granted that we would eventually end up together. It has always been you and me, working side by side, taking care of business. You can’t deny what a great team we are. You make me happy, Alice. Part of me figured that sooner or later you would just figure out how much I loved you, and when you did, you would take the lead,” he said, nervously shifting from one foot to another.
Alice gently shook her head, still not sure what to say to him. He continued.
“I guess I just wanted you to know. With all these changes going on, and you focusing on expanding the business and all. Maybe I was afraid of getting left behind. I thought it was probably time to step up and let you know how much I love you. I want to be your husband, Alice. I want to be Amy’s daddy. I always have.”
Alice swallowed hard, his proposal making her gut ache as though he had just delivered a sucker punch right to her abdomen. Joe reached his hand out and lifted her chin with his fingers. Her eyes were filled with tears, but not for the reason he thought. Her heart was filled with sadness, and deep regret.
She didn’t love him, at least not like that. She considered him family and couldn’t imagine him not being a part of her life, but he really was like a brother to her. How did he get that so wrong? She racked her brain trying to figure out any time when she might have mislead him, or given him mixed signals? Hell, she couldn’t even recall a time when he offered her any indication that he felt this way. At least not until Billy had arrived.
Alice tried to put her head back down, uncertain what to say to him, but Joe lifted her chin again, and looked deep into her eyes. She quickly closed them, afraid he would see the truth before she had a chance to voice it.
Suddenly, she felt his mouth on hers, the scent of stale tobacco on his lips, alerting her senses. Shock rippled through her body, and she quickly opened her eyes, as if in total disbelief. She lifted her hands and placed them on his chest to gently ease him away from her. He must have misread her gesture as approval because he placed his hands on the small of her back and passionately pulled her tighter, his mouth crushing hers.
“Joe, stop,” she said, raising her hands in front of her.
He took another step back and gaped at her painfully. Alice avoided the urge to wipe her mouth.
“I’m so confused right now,” she whispered, not certain where to begin.
Joe put his head down and stared at his boots.
“You can’t tell me you didn’t know how I felt, Alice. All these years we have been together, me staying on through thick and thin. Taking care of you? What did you think that all meant?” he asked, his words tight in his throat.
Alice shook her head. She didn’t know. She had no idea he felt that way about her. He had always been so cool with her, kept his feelings to himself. Apparently well hidden, she thought grimly. He looked back up at her and she met his stare blankly, afraid to say anything.
“I’ve always been in love with you, even when you were engaged to that asshole Jerry. When you cancelled the wedding, I thought for sure that destiny had something in store for you and me. I was secretly thrilled, but of course, I couldn’t say anything cause you were crushed. Soon after you announced you were pregnant with little Amy. I thought if I confessed my feelings for you then, you would think I was just trying to be honorable, that I really didn’t love ya.”
He paused for a minute, trying to gather his thoughts. Alice waited quietly for him, feeling disheartened and humbled.
“I was gonna wait a bit for you to get used to being a mother and then I was gonna talk to you about my feelings. I even talked to your dad about it,” he confessed, his voice soft with his memories.
Alice inhaled sharply at the mention of her dad. He had never said a word to her about Joe. Was that because he didn’t approve of the match? Why else wouldn’t he mention it?
“When I got the courage to finally talk to you about it again, I was gonna wait for Valentine’s day and surprise you with flowers and chocolates. Remember you had invited me to come by the house after dinner that night your parents were away in Sacramento? We were going to watch a DVD after I had finished up with the nightly chores?” he reminded her hopefully. “You told me no one should be alone on Valentine’s Day, remember?”
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