by Renee Carr
I gave Tanya a look, letting her know exactly how dramatic I knew she was being. “It’s not that bad. Besides, even if it is, I won’t be there long enough to deal with it. I honestly think some quiet relaxation would be good for me.”
Tanya and I both grew up in households where our parents owned very lucrative businesses. We went to private school, were introduced to the finer side of life when we were young and were used to the crowds and busyness of living just forty-five minutes outside of the nation’s capital. At the same time, though, I could remember how much fun I had in Galena as a kid visiting my grandparents. Unfortunately, my grandfather had died a few years back, but my grandmother wasn’t the kind of woman to mope around. She was a busybody, and always had been. I was pretty sure I was going to get to Galena and find out that she basically ran the town.
Glancing down at my watch, I jumped up off the bed and slipped my shoes on. “Are you sure you don’t want to go with me to lunch? My parents love you, which means it will deflect the way they obsess over me. You know how much I hate going by myself.”
Tanya shook her head. “While I love your parents, I’ve had my fill. My parents have been back from one of their business trips for over a week and they haven’t left yet. It’s been eight days. They’re always gone by now. By the time they leave again I’ll have had enough parent supervision and conversations to last me a lifetime.”
Gathering my stuff, Tanya jumped up and walked over to the door with me. I glanced back at her as I reached for the door handle. “When are you going to get your own apartment? It’s pretty much the only reason why I don’t feel like I’m being driven nuts by my family. I have my own space to go back to.”
We walked out into the hall and Tanya shoved her hands in her pockets, shrugging her shoulders as I locked up my apartment. “When my dad says it’s a good idea. It’s not like my trust fund is sitting there and I can use it however I want. He pretty much siphons the money out to me. Besides, if I can go rent-free for a little bit longer, I’m going to take it. This area is so expensive and it only gets more expensive the closer we get to town.”
Tanya walked me all the way out to my car and gave me a kiss on the cheek before hopping in her own. We may have been best friends since we were little girls, but we were complete opposites. I knew I was lucky to have the life that I had, but Tanya had come from a long line of money, and from the way that she was coddled as a little girl, she struggled to identify herself outside of what her parents had created for her. She was extremely talented when it came to art, but she knew that her father would never support her going to college to be an artist. It would be something that she would either forget about or go to school for later on down the road.
Heading into DC, as I had done a million times growing up, I found a parking garage just a block down from the restaurant and took one of the last spots at the top of the building. Climbing out of the car, I stretched my arms over my head and took in a deep breath, smelling a hint of my father’s cologne lingering in the air. I glanced around, finding that they, too, had parked on the top floor of the parking garage, but obviously had already gone into the restaurant.
The hostess recognized me as I walked in, having seated my parents for nearly ten years for our weekly Saturday reservation. As I entered the room, my father got up and put his arms out. “Sweetheart, I’m so glad to see you. I’m really going to miss these dinners with you.”
I wrapped my arms around my dad and laid my head on his shoulder. “I’m going to miss you too, but I’ll be back soon enough and I really think this will be good for Grandma. She needs my help.”
My father pulled out my chair for me and I sat down, scooting forward as he pushed. My mom leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “You’re doing exactly what I would’ve done, and I appreciate that you’re willing to go the extra mile for your grandmother. She’ll appreciate it as well.”
Pulling the napkin in my lap, I gave my mom a sweet smile. She was worried about her mother, I knew that. I also knew that my being there would ease a lot of the stress on her mind. They had tried to get her to move into a really lush senior living center not far from us, but Grandma was stubborn, and she had become accustomed to her life. She loved Galena, and she felt close to my grandfather in that house. I understood why she didn’t want to leave—her heart would break.
“Well,” my father said, putting his hands in his lap as we settled in. “The house is all taken care of. We went ahead and just purchased the one you’ll be staying in to make things simpler. We can always sell it later. The furniture was delivered yesterday, and all you’ll have to do is give it your own Lily type of touch.”
With a smile, I reached out and gripped my dad’s hand. “Thanks so much. I’m hoping Grandma has plenty to keep me busy. I figured if she didn’t, I could pick up a part-time job or something, just to have things to do.”
My father shook his head. “No way. Money won’t be an issue. I will be depositing some in your account on a weekly basis. If there is anything more you need, you know you can just call. Think of this as your job. Besides, take this time for yourself; when you get back, you start your career with Tucker Industries. You’ll be wishing for a trip back out to Galena.”
I laughed as I picked up my water and took a sip. “I’m sure I will. But I’m excited about it nonetheless. I’ve been ready since I was a kid.”
It was the truth. My life had been planned for me, but I didn’t mind. I was more than willing to join the family business and start making some waves.
Lunch went by fast, and by the time I got back to the apartment, the car was pulling up to take me to the airport. I gathered my bags and sadly said goodbye to my home, at least for the next several months.
As I closed the door, I forced a bit of excitement into my belly, giving myself a pep talk. “This is good for you, Lily. Make it an adventure.”
3
Brighton
“Big man of the company,” Christian said, standing up to greet me as I walked into our normal spot for lunch. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in about ten years.”
I hugged him tightly. “Feels about right. You two with your other lives and all.”
I turned and watched as Eric flinched, standing up out of his chair. I furrowed my brow and hugged him lightly. “And what did you do to yourself?”
Eric shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Fell in a damn ditch trying to get the perfect shot the other day. Just about broke my body on a fallen tree.”
I grimaced at the thought. “You sure are accident-prone these days. Come to think of it, you both seem to have some new battle scar every time I see you. I kind of expect it from you, Eric, but I still can’t figure out how you do it, Christian. You own a sporting goods store, how treacherous could it be?”
As I sat down, I watched as Eric and Christian exchanged a quick glance. Christian laughed and shrugged. “What can I say? It’s a hostile work environment. No, I’ve just been getting into hiking a lot more lately and my curiosity takes me into some interesting situations.”
Shaking my head, I smiled at the waitress as she brought me a beer. “I thought for sure after curiosity brought you an animal bite and near death, you’d be simmering that part of you down by now. Then again, we Holbrook boys don’t seem to ever learn our lessons.”
Christian and I chuckled as Eric puffed out his cheeks, staring down at the menu. His expression was almost sad. “No, I suppose we don’t.”
I couldn’t help watching my brothers as they went about their normal tasks. There was nothing normal about how they had been acting or appearing for a long time. They were constantly covered in scars and cuts, they shared random shifting eyes, and they always stuttered over their words when specific questions were asked about what they had been doing or what was going on in their lives. I was starting to feel like they were part of a club they weren’t allowed to talk about, rule one.
“How’s everything with the company going?” Christian asked, sitting b
ack in his chair and crossing his arms.
I shrugged, letting out a small growl. “It’s going good, I guess. You know Dad. He moves in baby steps with everything. He did say that he’s going to add one of my creations to next year’s collection, so that’s good.”
Both of my brothers looked up in surprise. Eric set down his fork, after shoveling a salad into his mouth, acting like he hadn’t eaten in years. “That’s awesome, dude. I know how picky Dad is about the furniture that goes into the collections. That’s a huge step. Look, I know what it’s like to get out of college and think that the whole world is going to be waiting for you when you get out there. You have all these dreams built up in your head of how it’s going to be… and then reality hits. Even if you weren’t working for Dad, you’d probably be in the same situation. You start from the ground up, unfortunately. At least with this, you know that your employer has your best interest at heart.”
Wrinkling my nose, I groaned. “I know. I know I have it good. I’m not trying to complain. I just get frustrated sometimes and I want things to move faster than what they are.”
Eric reached over and patted my arm. “You’re doing fine. Just keep going. One day you’ll look back and wish that you could be Dad’s tutor again instead of being in control of everything.”
Christian chuckled. “And then whoever you’re married to will want to take you out, and I don’t mean on a date, because you won’t stop talking about work and all the stress that’s behind it.”
We all laughed, but I could tell that both Christian and Eric loved their wives very much. They were best friends with them. It was easy to see why, though. Christian’s wife, Libby, was a wonderful person. She cared about everyone and she took care of everyone. And Misty, Eric’s wife, was artistic and kind. I couldn’t have imagined a better match for either one of them. Their lives were exactly how they had imagined they would turn out.
I was still working on mine, but I knew it would eventually get there. I had been motivated to be part of my family business since I was a little kid, and it was early on in my career, but my patience was so difficult to control. I was starting to think that it was maybe because I didn’t get out very often. All I did was stay at my Dad’s house and work, not like when I was away at college. I had a ton of friends there, but back home I just didn’t seem to fit in anywhere. Everyone my age was out partying, or getting married, or having babies, but none of those things fit into my goals. I wasn’t a homebody by any means, but out here, I didn’t really have much of a choice.
“Or, you can have a wife like ours,” Eric replied with a slick smirk. “They pretty much keep us stitched together one day at a time.”
Christian threw his napkin at Eric. “They’re not here. You know they can’t hear you, right?”
Eric shook his head and put up his hands. “Hey, man, I’m not taking any chances.”
And here it comes, I thought.
“What about you?” Christian asked, popping a fry into his mouth. “When are you gonna bring somebody home?”
I lifted my eyebrows at them both and shook my head. “When I’ve actually met somebody that I want to bring home, maybe? I don’t know. I don’t really go out in Galena and I always imagined myself with a girl like the ones I went to school with. Ones that understood my lifestyle. No offense to you guys, but the girls I’ve met out here in Galena all seem so country and not at all connected to the type of life that I want to lead.”
Eric and Christian glanced back and forth at each other. Eric paused for a moment, collecting what he had to say before speaking. He knew he had to be careful with his words. “My dear, sweet, little brother. I think you should open up your mind a little bit. It’s crazy the kind of woman that you will actually fall for. You’ll find she’s probably not anything like what you think you want. All you’re doing is cutting out an opportunity for real happiness.”
I slowly nodded my head. “I get it. It doesn’t matter anyway. Right now, I’m focused on my career. Once I get everything up and going with the company, and I have a regular schedule, with a regular position, then I’ll think about dating. But at this moment, what am I going to do? Bring them back to Dad’s house?”
Christian winced. “That would be miserable. You wouldn’t have a girlfriend for more than a week, tops.”
Eric started laughing. “Especially after Dad shows them those baby pictures of you.”
Christian guffawed, pointing at me. “Specifically that one where you’re running around the house at about eight or nine years old wearing nothing but a birthday hat over your junk. That one is priceless.”
I rolled my eyes. “That one will be the death of me. I can thank our mother for the fact that I can never run for president now.”
Eric pressed his lips together and patted me on the shoulder. “Brother, I can promise you that is the least of your worries if you’re running for president. And I’m going to be completely honest with you—even as your brother, I don’t think I would vote for you.”
Christian shook his head. “Sorry, me neither. That picture would be all that I would be able to think about when I saw you shaking hands with leaders of other countries. My brother, the party pervert.”
Leaning back in my chair, I smiled, just glad to have my brothers back teasing me again. Things never felt right without them, and I was determined not to let them sink back into whatever it was they were doing that took up most of their time. “What are you guys doing after this? I don’t have to go back to work.”
Christian cleared his throat and Eric kept his eyes on his plate, adjusting himself in his seat. They started to act really strange again, and I knew that there was something more to it than I was seeing. They were holding something back, but they didn’t want to tell me about it.
Christian scrambled with his words for a moment. “I’m… uh… I’ve got some stuff to do around the house before my wife lets me have it.”
Eric nodded his head, still not looking up at me. “Me too, but we’ll see you tomorrow night at Dad’s house for dinner. We promised we would be there this time.”
Eric’s lack of eye contact and Christian’s fumbling were concrete signs that they were both lying to me. But I didn’t call them out or get on them for it. I was too afraid that it would keep them from having lunch with me again. So, I put on a happy face and went on eating my lunch. When we were done, the guys paid for their food and I headed to wash my hands before going out to the car.
“See you guys tomorrow night,” I said, waving to them as I walked toward the bathroom.
Standing and staring at myself in the mirror, my face looked normal and composed. But in my mind, I was comparing it to what I had just seen in my brothers. Neither one of them looked like they had slept in forever, both of them ate like there was no tomorrow, and for some reason, they seemed bigger and more muscular than I had remembered them. I didn’t get to hang out with them a lot, but it hadn’t been that long since I’d seen them. I would say maybe it was an exercise routine, but my brothers were not the kind of guys to have exercise routines.
I shook the thoughts away and figured I was just being paranoid; it was probably like what my father had said. I felt left out from their lives and that was likely all it was. I stopped at the counter and paid for my lunch before heading out the door and turning to my car. As I put the key in the door, I glanced toward where my brother’s truck was parked, and saw both of them talking quietly and secretly together. I wanted to know what they were saying, what kind of plan they were coming up with. They looked like they were about to hatch a scheme to take over the world.
Christian got in his truck and Eric walked up to his, opening the front door. As he stepped into the car, I could’ve sworn for just a second his eyes flashed the strangest color of gold. I shook my head and did a double-take, but by the time I focused back on him, everything was normal. I rubbed my eyes and opened the car door, sliding into the front seat. I was starting to think that I was just coming unhinged, not actually
seeing something that strange in my own brother’s eyes. That had to be what it was—a trick of the light, my tired brain, or any of the other million things that were stressing me out at the time. But as both of my brothers passed me in their cars, waving at me with a smile, there was still a lingering doubt that nagged at the back of my mind.
4
Lily
I pulled a stack of books out of one of the boxes that had been delivered to my house and stacked neatly in the living room before I arrived. I glanced at the titles, realizing that when my mother had helped me pack, she had put just about every business tactic book on the market in the box. I chuckled at it, knowing she wasn’t doing it because she thought I needed the information, but more because as I was growing up, they were pretty much all I had in my hand. I didn’t really enjoy them, but I wanted to be ahead of the curve. Unfortunately, it seemed as though that backfired on me, considering my mother now thought I ate, slept, and breathed the business.
Carefully setting the books on the shelf, I slid them back, lining them up with the others. I broke down the box and tossed it in the pile of cardboard, brushing my hands off. I still had a bunch of stuff to put up there, most of which I probably wouldn’t take back to Maryland with me, but I was tired of moving. When I got there the night before, my grandmother had sent the car to take me to my house, too tired to come out herself. I was okay with that; she was a long-winded talker and I was exhausted. I called her before I went to bed, though, just checking on her. She seemed light and chirpy as always.
That morning, I had gotten up, fixed myself a bowl of cereal, and then attacked the boxes. My grandmother had several errands to run that morning, and though I was there to help her, my mother had hired a full-time driver for her years ago so she didn’t need me to drive her around. She liked to be out and about, and I needed to unpack, so it worked out perfectly. Glancing around the house, I could see that it was really starting to come together. The furniture that my parents had picked out was great, very average in design, nice-looking but not too old or antique, and made by a company that had originated in Galena. My mom liked little things like that. Little intricacies that made things special.
