“Well, there are three of us. My older brother Scott is the one I’m staying away from and my younger brother Michael doesn’t like me very much and for good reason,” he said after taking a deep breath. He’d been going over the story in his mind trying to figure out the best way to tell it.
To give himself a few more minutes, he grabbed their jackets and balled them up, making a pillow, then laid back and pulled Scarlet into his arms. She rested her head on his chest waiting for him to continue. “For a long time, it was just my parents and Scott and I, but when I was ten and he was twelve, Michael was born. It was a huge disruption for our family, and Scott didn’t take it well. Then my mother died shortly after that and it all but destroyed us. My dad had no idea how to cope with all of us, and we didn’t really have any family to help out,” he said, deciding that the beginning was the only place to start.
“Oh, Marc, that must have been hard. Don’t you have any other family?” she asked, empathy in her voice.
“I know now that we do, but then it was only us, and my dad just didn’t know how to cope with all of our grief plus a small baby. I’m sure he did the best that he could, but losing our mother was a huge blow to Scott, they were very close. He already resented Michael, but when she died he blamed him and still does. It quickly became us against him, and remember we were quite a bit older than Michael.”
“Sibling rivalry can be a bad thing,” she said, thinking back to her own childhood.
“It was more than that. Scott hated Michael from the day he was born and set out to make his life as miserable as he could. I can’t tell you how many times I found him pinching Michael or tripping him, then when he got older it was teasing and bullying. The older he got, the more Scott tried using increasingly underhanded methods of ruining Michael’s life.” Marc had to stop for a second to collect his thoughts. Now came the hard part.
“We were awful to him,” he finally continued. “I’m pretty sure he broke his arm once. I wasn’t there for that one, but most of the time I was right behind Scott helping in whatever scheme he was launching against Michael. I adored my brother; for as long as I can remember, I wanted to be exactly like him, did everything I could get gain his approval, even if it was something mean and nasty.”
Scarlet sat up and looked at him, the pain in Marc’s voice so clear that she wanted to comfort him. “You were just a kid,” she said, scooting around so she could face him and took his hand in hers.
“But that’s the problem, it never stopped. Scott got a taste for bullying and scare tactics and before I knew it he was running our father’s company and using them there. I followed him blindly, doing anything he asked me too even if I thought it was morally questionable. I just ignored the things I didn’t want to see or think about,” Marc said, shuddering at the thought of all the people they’d hurt in Scott’s quest to make money. “It was all about making money. He’d buy up a company and then dismantle it, destroying people’s lives, but making a bunch of money in the process. Just thinking about it now makes me a little sick. We made billions putting people out of work and I fully participated in everything Scott did for years,” Marc said, feeling stronger the longer he talked.
“But something happened to change that,” Scarlet stated the obvious to keep him talking.
Marc nodded his head, then paused gathering his thoughts. “Michael graduated from college and wanted to start his own construction company, but Scott refused. My dad gave him the money and sent him to our uncle and cousin’s in Colorado, whom we didn’t even know existed until then. I didn’t know it at the time, but it sent Scott over the edge that our dad handed him a wad of cash that he hadn’t even know existed.” Marc paused, realizing that Scarlet didn’t know that in reality he was worth billions of dollars. He’d never found the right time to tell her how much money he had sitting behind him.
“Your dad was hiding money from you?” she asked, realizing that he’d been talking about large sums of money.
“Not exactly. It’s kind of complicated, but as a young man he walked away from his brother to make it on his own, which he did and with a great deal of success. Meanwhile, his brother, my uncle, built an equally large fortune including a ski area and the town where it’s located, but they never spoke to one another after my dad left. But my dad kept up with the family and sent Michael out to them, which pissed Scott off, not only because Dad had taken Michael’s side but because he’d never known about Terrell Industries and our rights to a part of it.”
Scarlet’s mind was spinning with all the information he’d given her, but what had struck her was the idea that his family owned a ski area and a town. “Did you just say that your family owns a ski area and a town?” she finally asked, needing some clarification.
“Well, we didn’t know that for most of our lives, my dad walked away and never talked to the family again until things got so bad with Michael and he saw what a mistake he’d made. Scott was livid, but honestly it didn’t matter that much to me. We had enough money, more than we could ever spend.”
He said it so off handedly that Scarlet found herself sitting there with her mouth hanging open. He knew he was in trouble when the look on her face changed from incredulous to angry. Scarlet was getting angry. Here she’d thought that she was doing him a favor letting him fix up the apartment when in truth he could have bought the entire diner without batting an eye.
“Just how much money are we talking about? Don’t you think the fact that you’re rich should have been something you shared with me at some point? It seems like a pretty big deal to me,” she said, jumping up and walking away from him.
She felt stupid and deceived. She’d thought that Marc was different, but he’d been hiding something huge. No man who had the kind of money and power behind him that Marc did was going to be content to live in Miner’s Ridge for the rest of his life. She’d been a fool to think that love had finally found her. If she’d known about this from the beginning, she could have protected her heart, but now it was too late. She was in love with Marc and there was no turning back.
Chapter 8
Marc jumped up and followed her, a little confused by her anger. He hadn’t told her about the money, but he didn’t see why that should make her angry. “Scarlet, I’m sorry. I know I should have told you, but it’s not that easy to bring up in conversation and I’m telling you now,” he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.
Her body was stiff and he could tell that she was fighting tears. “Don’t you see how much this changes everything?” she finally said, then held her breath to keep the sobs in.
He turned her in his arms and lifted her chin, wiping the tears off her cheeks. “It doesn’t change anything. You have to listen to the rest of the story, Scarlet. I came to Miner’s Ridge to get away from that life, to start a new one and I have,” he said, kissing her gently on the lips.
“But how long will you be happy here? You’re going to wake up one day and miss your old life,” she said, still not convinced.
“Come sit down and let me finish,” he said, his spirts lifting when he realized just how much Scarlet cared about him. Now finishing his story didn’t seem like such a bad idea; it would only make her understand just how happy he really was in Miner’s Ridge.
Scarlet followed him back across the overlook to where they’d been sitting under the trees and sat down stiffly. “Now where was I?” Marc asked, sitting down next to her.
“You’d just discovered that you own a town and a ski resort,” she said crisply.
Marc ignored her tone and continued, growing serious again. He still wasn’t proud of what he’d done even if the gun hadn’t been his idea. “After Michael left for Colorado, Scott made this crazy deal with a business associate to marry him off to the guy’s daughter. So, last spring, he headed out to Colorado claiming that Michael needed him to rescue him. I followed not long after to find that Scott had concocted a scheme to take over the town and Terrell Industries. It was crazy and
completely impossible, but I followed along blindly as usual.”
Scarlet was curious despite her anger and began to relax. “Okay, so what happened then? I’m still mad at you though.”
“Well, nothing Scott could do was going to get him what he wanted and I guess he finally snapped. We ambushed Michael one night at a job he was working on and Scott pulled a gun on him and threatened him as well as his girlfriend. I still remember watching him pull that gun out of his jacket and thinking it was a joke, but it was the real thing. I don’t know if he would have used it, but after Michael agreed to all his demands, he put it away,” Michael said, still haunted by the fear he’d felt that night.
“What did you do then?” she asked, understanding now what had driven him away from home.
“I called my dad as soon as I could, and he came to Colorado. He took over the situation and we were on a plane home the next morning. My dad actually had to threaten to call the police on Scott before he’d agree. I left home shortly after that,” he said with a big sigh, happy to be done with his tale.
“You did run away from home. I’m still afraid you’re going to want to go back to all that. It’s hard to believe you’d give it all up for Miner’s Ridge,” she said, shivering as the sun began to go down.
“Here’s the thing, the money wasn’t ever all that important to me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to know it’s there if I need it, but I really want to do something on my own. I don’t want my accomplishments to be tied to anything but my hard work. I’ve never done anything on my own, it’s always been someone else’s idea and dreams I’ve followed. Michael had a dream and followed it. I want to do the same,” he said, the passion in his voice stirring something in Scarlet that she recognized.
She’d been there once upon a time herself when she’d walked away from everything in her life and moved to a tiny town in Montana desperate to be her own person. The power of making her own decisions whether good or bad had given her the strength to overcome the pain and hurt she’d been feeling after her husband’s betrayal and threats. What Marc had gone through wasn’t all that different; to find that the one person who you’d put all your trust in wasn’t who they appeared to be was a life-changing experience.
Her anger and worry fading, she relaxed and moved closer to him, taking his hand. “I think I can understand what you’re feeling. The one’s we love can hurt us the most,” she said, sadly.
Marc knew in that moment that he loved Scarlet and would never do anything to hurt her, but he also knew that it wasn’t the time to tell her how he felt. He wanted to reassure her that he was going to be around for a long time but didn’t know how to make her understand without telling her how he felt. Instead, he pulled her into his arms and asked, “So, you don’t think any less of me?”
“No, if anything, I’m more impressed. It takes a lot of guts to walk away from everything like you did,” she said, exhausted by the conversation. “But now that I know you’re rich, I’m going to start charging you rent.”
Marc laughed and kissed her, tasting the salt of her tears on her lips, sorry that he’d hurt her and made her angry. He sat up and looked at her. “No more secrets, I promise. I wasn’t really trying to keep the money a secret, it’s just not an easy thing to tell people, and besides I had to have some excuse to be close to you. Letting you think I needed a place to stay seemed to be a good way to do it and the apartment does look pretty good.”
The last of Scarlet’s anger and hurt evaporated. “You did all that for me?” she asked, touched.
“I had to find a way to get closer to you. That’s also why I volunteered to wash dishes. Now that you know though I’m never washing another dish in my life,” he said, teasing her.
“That’s what you think,” she said, laughing, feeling like the equilibrium in their relationship had been restored. She’d learned a lot about Marc tonight, and there was still a small part of her that worried that he was going to get tired of Miner’s Ridge and move back to the city, but she was in so deep that there was no turning back at this point. It was time to put her faith in him and move forward.
The next morning, they decided to explore the mountains more by driving to the little town that was located right at the top of the mountain for lunch and some shopping. Scarlet had been there a few times over the years and knew the owner of the diner, so that was their destination. They took their time, stopping to take pictures like every other tourist around and arrived just in time for lunch.
It didn’t take long to find the diner in the little town, it was the biggest building around and had a big sign sitting on the roof. “All but about 200 people leave town during the worst of the winter. John has been running the diner up here for years. He keeps it open all winter as a way for people to connect,” she said, pointing to the old red brick building.
The diner looked like it had been standing for hundreds of years, the sign hanging from the front door so worn and weathered it was almost illegible. The windows had that smoky look that spoke of age, and the door had clearly been in place for years. They both had to duck to get through the doorway, but Marc was genuinely surprised to find the interior looked much like it would have a hundred years ago.
It was clear that at one time it had been the town’s general store, but the shelves had been removed except along the walls and tables had been placed around the room. The shelves along the walls were filled with canned and dry goods, and Marc realized that they were for sale. The kitchen was back through a set of swinging doors that looked like they belonged in the old west. Located next to them was a counter that also held an array of grocery items as well as a chalkboard listing available meats.
The entire effect was so charming and authentic Marc was smiling before they reached the middle of the room where a man had his back to them. Scarlet said his name and he turned to face them, further adding to Marc’s pleasure. He looked like he belonged in the old west as well. His weathered face was covered by a silver beard and mustache, and he was dressed in jeans and a checkered flannel shirt.
When he saw Scarlet, his face lit up. “You didn’t tell me you were coming,” he said, leading them back to the kitchen. “What are you doing all the way up here? Things are probably getting crazy in your neck of the woods.”
“I took a weekend off,” she said, then pushed Marc forward and added, “This is Marc Terrell. He’s...” Scarlet trailed off embarrassed, not sure if she should call him her boyfriend. She was a little old for a boyfriend.
“Her boyfriend,” Marc finished her sentence.
“It’s nice to meet you,” John said, shaking Marc’s hand. “Now let’s get you some lunch.” He pointed to the table in the kitchen.
Marc raised his eyebrows at Scarlet surprised to be seated in the kitchen. She only shook her head and sat down. It wasn’t long before he realized why sitting in the kitchen was an honor; watching John create their lunch was like watching a show, only better because in the end he set down a plate of food that had Marc’s stomach growling loudly. He’d had plenty of Mexican food in his day, but this far surpassed anything he’d ever had.
“John, this is amazing,” Marc said, his mouth full.
“Thank you. I’ve been trying to teach our southern girl here how to cook Mexican food, but so far we haven’t made it past red chili,” John said, pulling up a chair.
Scarlet just shrugged and gave John a dirty look and continued eating her lunch, not willing to engage in their teasing. They soon forgot about her, lost in a discussion about maintenance on the old building which was considerable because of the heavy snow falls it had to withstand every winter. It was late afternoon before they left the diner, but it had been nice afternoon for both of them.
Marc had left with plans to look into some new roofing material that might work for the diner and Scarlet had learned to make green chili. Marc insisted that they couldn’t leave without looking at the rest of the town, so they wandered up and down Main Street, and he became more and more conv
inced that his brother would love this town as well. On the way back to the cabin, they talked about Marc inviting Michael to visit, Scarlet supportive of the idea, thinking that it would help him move on.
“I think that’s a great idea,” she said, then suddenly got nervous about meeting his family. “I hope they like me, I mean...” No one had questioned their relationship, but not everyone was as open minded as the people they knew.
“Don’t worry, they’re going to love you,” he said, taking her hand, deciding to let her be surprised when she met Anabelle, Michael’s girlfriend.
She smiled at him weakly, forgetting about this part of a relationship. There was a whole list of reasons that his family might not like her including the fact that she was several years older than Michael and had a son who was fourteen. Then, with a sinking stomach, she realized that she’d almost forgotten about Sean. Not only was she suddenly feeling very guilty, but it was clear that Marc and Sean were going to have to officially meet if they were boyfriend/girlfriend.
“Marc, I forgot about Sean,” she said, her voice dripping with guilt.
“Well, he can meet them too,” he said, not really realizing what she was talking about. Then he realized the implication of his statement. He’d heard so much about Sean over the last few weeks that he already felt like he knew him, but the truth was, he’d never met him except for briefly that day at the park.
“Oh, I see what you mean,” Marc said. “I’m sorry I didn’t think about how he might feel about us. He’s used to having you all to himself. He’s not going to be happy about this, is he?”
“No, probably not, but I can’t let him rule my life. I didn’t stay single because of Sean, it was just what I wanted to do at the time. He’ll just have to get used to the idea. It’s not like you’re a bad guy and Hiram likes you, so that helps too,” she said, knowing that it would be a struggle, but that eventually Marc would win him over. She felt sure of that.
Hold Me Close: BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 6) Page 8
