The Merger

by Bernadette Marie

  “I was seriously thinking that if a corporation moved people in and out of there they’d want it to always look clean. White painted doors aren’t going to look clean after a few years or a few moves.”

  He let out a deep breath and reached for her hand. “Considering I’m the corporation moving people in there I would think you’d want what you liked best.”

  Julie lowered the T-shirt from her head.

  “Rental car,” he reminded her. “Don’t get blood on the seat.” He smiled, but her eyes were wide and staring at him.

  “You’re the corporation that’s going to use that house? Why are you doing that? I mean who are you going…”

  He gave her hand a squeeze. “The house was for us, Julie.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “After you moved to Nashville I realized I didn’t want that bachelor life anymore. My apartment wasn’t a home. I miss family waiting for you at the end of a long day.”

  “That does sound nice.”

  “I thought it would be fun if you designed it and then I could surprise you with it in a few months. But now that we have to start over…”

  He looked at her and the tears fell freely now.

  “You don’t want that house?” he asked watching her sob without a free hand to wipe away tears.

  “It’s the best house in the neighborhood.”

  Spencer nodded again. “It is, isn’t it? Right by the park.”

  The sign ahead pointed toward the hospital and Spencer turned. A few moments later he was parking and turning off the car.

  “I have another proposition for you,” he said turning toward her. “BBH would like to buy your house here. I’m going to have to make a lot of trips to Oregon and it would just be easier if I had a place to stay when I was here.”

  She nodded. “You could stay there.”

  “With you, Julie. You understand that don’t you? I want you to be part of PLL and BHH and the Hart Estates. I want to live in that perfect house—home,” he corrected, “with you by the park and fly here and live in your house when we need to.”

  She winced as she cried. “I think I need to get this looked at.”

  “C’mon.” Spencer opened his door and stepped out. He hurried to the other side and opened her door. “Maybe when the pain isn’t in the way we can have a discussion you’ll understand.”

  Four staples later, Julie was released into Spencer’s care. She’d never had a cut or an injury that needed special care before. And to think they stapled her head.

  She needed to not think about it since it made her knees weak.

  “Do you feel okay?” Spencer asked as he climbed into the car next to her.

  “I’m exhausted. Since the moment Libby Grayson walked into the trailer, I haven’t been thinking straight.”

  He took her hand in his and kissed her fingers. “I’ll second that. You should have come straight to me.”

  That made more sense now that she had a knot on her head and had given the police the report on what Carson had done.

  “I don’t think I believed it, Spencer. I wanted to prove to you that I’d never do that.”

  “Your leaving and then admitting you had the account didn’t prove that.”

  She nodded. “I see that now. I think my logical thinking lawyer side is on vacation.”

  Spencer turned in his seat and looked at her. “My birthday is Saturday and I want a gift from you.”

  Julie laughed. “Just because I have a checking account with sixty-thousand dollars in it, doesn’t mean I can actually buy you anything.”

  He smiled. “I’ll cover the expense, but will you go away with me? My dad says that we should.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Your dad says that?”

  “He’s fairly open minded. He says there’s a lot you can do in a hotel room.”

  Her cheeks instantly heated. “After all of this, you still want to be with me?”

  Spencer cupped her face in his hands and gazed at her. “You forget I’ve been poorly working this angle for months. I couldn’t make a pass at a married woman.”

  “You didn’t like me.”

  He chuckled. “I didn’t think I did. But looking back at it, we sure spent a lot of time together, just the two of us.”

  “Where are you going to take me?”

  “I’m going to tell you a secret. You can’t tell anyone yet.”

  She nodded. “I won’t.”

  “Avery is moving to France. It’s going to kill her parents, but she wants to do this.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  Spencer shook his head and let his hands slide down her neck and over her shoulders. “There is a guest house at the winery. She wants us to visit.”

  “France?” The word came on a gasp. “I don’t have a passport.”

  He laughed. “Well then we’ll have to wait a few weeks until you do.”

  Pulling her to him, he pressed a kiss to her lips. “Why don’t you direct me to your house. We can assess a few things and then go buy a few pieces of furniture. We’ll head back to Nashville tomorrow.”

  “My boss is going to begin to wonder where I’ve gone,” she said lingering close to him, their lips only a breath apart.

  Spencer moved his mouth urging the thoughts and worry from the past few weeks ooze out of her.

  He leaned his forehead to hers. “I’m thinking your boss isn’t going to worry about that anymore. He’s going to keep you very close.”

  “I’ll make it worth his while.”

  Spencer raised his eyebrows and smiled as he pulled back from her and drove them toward her home in the hills.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Spencer had literally deflated when he and Julie walked into the back room at Steve’s BBQ Pit and Beer hand in hand. Amongst the decor amassed from garage sales and auctions, the room was specifically decorated in pink and black.

  He let out a large sigh as Avery ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She planted a noisy kiss on his cheek. “Did you think I’d let you have a birthday party without pink and black?”

  “I so hoped.”

  “C’mon, you have to see the cake.”

  “Do I?”

  She took his hand and dragged him across the room leaving Julie at the door next to his brother.

  “She’s done this to him every year,” Tyler said to Julie as she watched Spencer shake his head again.

  “I think he secretly loves it.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  Courtney pushed Tyler aside and reached for Julie’s arm.

  “Would you mind escorting me to the bathroom?” She then turned to Tyler. “I know I know my way, before you get lippy.”

  Julie watched as he grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

  With Courtney’s direction, Julie moved through the eclectically decorated restaurant. “This place is crazy.”

  “Best barbecue around,” Courtney said as they walked down the hallway to the bathroom.

  Julie pushed open the door and they both walked in. “This bathroom is huge. You don’t see bathrooms like this in restaurants. Hotels maybe.”

  “That’s why I came in here. I really just wanted to talk to you away from everyone else.”

  The very thought that Courtney, the one who could see everything without vision, wanted to talk to her made her a little nervous. What did she think? What did she want? Suddenly Julie’s stomach tightened with nerves.

  “When Spencer came back from Oregon after the merger, I could tell something was very wrong. I know that had something to do with you.”

  “I didn’t make his time there very easy.”

  Courtney nodded. “I know that. But that wasn’t all of it.”

  Julie grinned and caught a glimpse of herself—her very happy self—in the mirror. “I’d jumped him in the elevator and planted one humdinger of a kiss on him. I think it might have startled him.”

  A smile formed on Courtney’s lips. “That would be it. I knew
he had a secret in there.” She reached out and touched Julie’s arm. “He loves you. You’re part of this family now.”

  Julie quickly pushed back the emotions that statement brought to her. What more could she ever have wanted?

  Courtney pushed back her shoulders and turned fully to Julie. “How do I look? Tell me my lipstick is perfect and my shirt is on right.”

  Julie chuckled. “You look radiant.”

  “Good. I’m about to go out there and tell my husband a secret which will totally distract from that pink and black cake.”

  The smile that radiated from Courtney was infectious and Julie knew exactly what was about to happen. She didn’t ask or say another word. She simply escorted Courtney back to the room where the celebration of Spencer and Avery’s birth commenced.

  When Julie found Spencer, he was standing next to his mother. He reached out his hand for her and that simple gesture had her heart pounding in her chest.

  His mother smiled at her. “I’m so glad you’re here. Above all gifts, seeing my son happy is the best one.”

  Julie’s lip trembled as Spencer’s mother touched her cheek and then walked toward another woman who had called her name.

  Spencer wrapped his arm around her waist. “I think they like you.”

  “Oh, I love them. All of them.” She turned to him. “I’m glad you appreciate all of them too. Because if you didn’t, I’d tell you how important it is. It’s like a high every time I’m around one of your relatives.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that.” He pulled her into his arms. “Of course, tonight, this isn’t where I want to be.”

  She grinned up at him. “Where do you want to be?”

  “I have somewhere I want to take you. What do you say we skip out of here early.”

  From the corner of her eyes, she saw Courtney move in toward Tyler and move him to the side of the room.

  “Okay, not yet.” She turned and pointed toward his brother. “Watch this.”

  “What’s going on? They’re just talking.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  Spencer watched his sister-in-law whisper in his brother’s ear. Tyler pulled back and looked at his wife. Was he crying? What in the…

  But Spencer knew exactly what had happened when Tyler scooped her up and swung her around.

  “They’re having a baby, aren’t they?” he asked dumbfounded by what he’d watched.

  Julie beamed. “I think so. She didn’t tell me specifics, but that’s what I thought she meant too.”

  Spencer reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers. He gave her hand a squeeze and she looked up at him.

  “I want to share all these moments with you.”

  Her mouth dropped open, but there wasn’t time for words before Tyler took over the party with his announcement that he was going to be a father.

  The pink and black cake had been cut and Avery had toasted each guest with a glass of her newest wine. At some point in the past week, she must have come clean with her plans, because no one was too shocked to hear her talk about the vineyard. However, the look on her mother’s face told Spencer everything he needed to know. It wasn’t completely welcome. But he knew she’d have the support she needed. That was the one thing Spencer was always sure of.

  He sipped the fancy wine Avery had poured him from the pink and black bottle and searched the room. There was an obvious guest missing.

  But at that moment in all her glimmering glory, Tiffany walked through the door.

  Wasn’t she a brilliant sight? And wasn’t it equally as brilliant to see the woman he loved run to her and envelop her in a hug. Who’d have thought they’d have ever bonded. There was a little guilt in his heart when he thought about that day Julie had asked for a job and he knew then he’d put her with Tiffany. What transpired hadn’t been expected.

  With their arms locked at the elbow, both women walked toward him with fascinating smiles.

  “Wine seems to be flowing freely here,” Tiffany looked around.

  “Avery just served us all from her wine collection.”

  Tiffany nodded. “That does sound fancy.”

  Spencer looked at Julie. “Would you get Tiffany a glass? I’ll get her some cake.”

  Julie nodded and hurried off after Avery.

  Spencer turned his attention back to Tiffany. “Well.”

  “You asked for one piece. The second took longer.”

  “But you have it?”

  She smiled and pulled two neatly wrapped boxes out of her purse. “If she doesn’t like them I can…”

  “She’s going to love them.”

  Tiffany stepped in closer to him so that they were eye to eye. “I love her,” she said. “If you hurt her I will mess you up.”

  Her lips curled into a fantastic smile before she moved in closer and pressed a noisy kiss to his lips, no doubt leaving red lipstick on him.

  That was when he heard Julie clear her throat. She handed Tiffany her wine and then looked at him.

  “You have a little something…” she pointed to her own lips.

  “I figured.” He wiped the smudge with the napkin that had been wrapped around the glass in his hand.

  “I’m going to go mingle. Pete is looking kinda lonely over there. Maybe I can perk him up.”

  Spencer shook his head as she walked away.

  “It’s a good thing I know you’re not sleeping with that woman or I’d be very upset,” Julie grinned up at him.

  “Never again,” he promised.

  The room was full of family and dear friends, but Spencer knew this was not where he wanted to be.

  “I want to get out of here. How about you?”

  Julie’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding? Look at all these people. You can’t leave.”

  He took her glass from her and set it on the table behind him with his glass. Then he took her hand. “C’mon. For a little bit. We can come back if they’re all still here.”

  Spencer had all but pulled Julie out of the party and no one seemed to notice. They’d climbed into his car and of all places he drove them out to the build site.

  He didn’t park by the trailers. Instead he pulled up in front of the charred remains of the house they’d been planning together.

  “Spencer, this isn’t where you should be on your birthday.”

  “I wanted so much to surprise you with that house. I knew you liked it. Tiffany had told me it was your favorite.”

  “She sure pays a lot of attention to things.”

  “She’s a jewelry designer. Attention to detail.”

  They sat there in silence for a few more minutes before Julie touched Spencer’s arm. “Why don’t we go back? This is just depressing.”

  “I have a better idea,” he said as he backed up the car and drove away from the site.

  But he didn’t drive far. Instead, he drove down the dirt road that led to the farm behind the build site.

  “It’s late. You don’t want to bother him do you?” Julie protested.

  “No. I don’t plan on bothering him. But there is this barn out here…” his words trailed off as he took a small road through the fields.

  The lights of the town seemed to dim the closer they got to the barn and the sky became brighter with stars.

  “You chose tonight to come stargazing?” She laughed.

  “My birthday. My choice.”

  Julie nodded. “I’ll give you that.”

  Spencer parked in front of the barn and turned off the car. He opened his door and looked at her. “C’mon.”

  Julie stepped out of the car. “Spencer, we shouldn’t be out here. This is still his land.”

  “Yeah, but he agreed to sell it to me,” he said as he shone the flashlight of his phone on the barn door.

  “That doesn’t mean trespass now,” she said following him into the barn.

  Spencer kept walking and it took her jogging, in her high heels in soft hay, to catch up with him.

  “There they a
re,” he said as he shined his phone on the set of stairs that went to the loft.

  “Are you serious? You’re going up into the loft? Spencer…”

  But he’d already taken off.

  He was waiting for her at the base of the steps. He reached out his hand and helped her up.

  “I couldn’t have changed shoes?” she said, but it only caused Spencer to chuckle.

  When they reached the loft, the top door was open and the nighttime view was spectacular.

  “Oh, Spencer.”

  With his arm to guide her he walked them closer to the edge and stopped to take it all in.

  “I came up here the other day and just sat here,” Spencer said. “It reminded me of my family’s house and my grandmother’s. All of that charm right here where the country meets the city.”

  “Just like you.”

  He nodded. “Sprawling Tennessee land and high-rises,” he confirmed. “I was thinking this would be the most spectacular view for a house.”

  She turned her gaze to him. “You’re thinking about your new development?”

  Spencer shook his head. “Not this time. I want to show you something else. Close your eyes.”

  He watched her until she did just that. She could hear him move around, but a moment later he was standing next to her.

  “Open them.”

  When she did, the loft had been transformed. White lights shimmered around her and a small bed had been laid out in the hay.

  She turned to him. “How long did you plan this?”

  He grinned at her. “Spontaneous. But it pays to have a best friend that will do anything for you.”

  “Tiffany?”

  “I’ll owe her a new pair of shoes.”

  “Her taste is exquisite.”

  “I know.” He took Julie’s hand and pulled her toward the little bed that had been laid out. “It occurred to me that you told me you loved me in my sister’s kitchen while you held my niece.”

  Julie fought the sting of tears. “I did.”

  “You looked so beautiful sitting there with a baby asleep in your arms among my family. I should have told you that.”