I didn’t talk about work or investments or Justin or anything else going on with her in that area. It was most of what we had shared with each other so far, but it seemed like she needed a break. Even if she didn’t think she needed one, she deserved it after that meeting with Gabe and Quentin.
Instead, we talked about our lives and our families. We compared names of childhood pets and favorite vacation memories. It was nothing heavy or important, but I didn’t want it to stop.
9
Bryn
A side effect of my long-term relationship ending that I hadn’t really thought about, but that became abundantly clear very quickly, was that it left my weekends very open. There was no longer the date night I thought Justin was so thoughtful for putting together for me, but now recognized as requiring very little effort. I also didn’t have any of the other couple-y things we would do together.
At first, that made me angry. It just brought back all the aggravated, betrayed feelings. Suddenly it wasn’t just about being mad that he stole from me. Or that he was lying to me and trying to go behind my back and make a bunch of money for himself, but he was never going to tell me about. It was also sheer embarrassment that he was going to traipse right back off to the same group of people we hung out with, but not have me there.
Thinking about what he was going to say to them and the kind of spin he was going to put on the story to explain the end of our relationship just made me feel angrier.
I stomped around the house filling my time with anger-fueled chores. But after a few loads of laundry that involved slamming at the machines closed so hard I was briefly afraid I’d broken one of them and scrubbing the floors with far too much vengeance, I forced myself to sit down.
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the positive aspects of the situation. All I could come up with was that now I knew the truth about Justin, and I wasn’t going to waste any more time on him. At least I found everything out now, and it wasn’t a few years down the road when he roped me into marriage and ended up hurting me even more.
It wasn’t a small positive. In fact, if there was ever a silver lining, that was it. I decided to stop letting the anger control me. That was just giving him more power and letting him take more from me. Doing my best to choose an optimistic and peaceful outlook, I finished tidying up the house, got ahead on some work projects, and realized I was bored out of my skull.
I tried to look at it as an opportunity to just kick back and relax. That wasn’t something I did very often, and maybe I would enjoy it. Putting on my best lounge clothes, complete with fuzzy slippers, I popped some popcorn and curled up on the couch. Ten minutes and flipping around to change positions twelve times later, I got up with a frustrated huff.
I was not fantastic at not doing anything. Sitting around at my place watching TV and just waiting for the time to go to bed again didn’t appeal to me. I needed to do something to fill the time. I needed to remember how to function just on my own.
Getting dressed, I took some extra time to do my hair and put on a bit more makeup than usual. It wasn’t to appeal to anybody, really. Instead, I just wanted to see what it was like to give myself all that attention again. And to feel good about myself while I was out. I had to admit, it was pretty nice.
It didn’t help me decide what I was going to do to keep my mind occupied, but at least I could feel like I looked good doing it.
As I got in my car to head into town, my stomach did the slight slip again. I had been dealing with the low-key nausea on and off since brunch. It wasn’t too bad, but I was hoping it would go away soon. Being sick was one of those things that forced you to take downtime, and I wasn’t particularly eager to know what it was like to be sick all alone.
I strolled through downtown, enjoying the nice weather and window shopping, Crossing the street, I noticed the bakery right ahead. Some of that afternoon slump was starting to kick in. That called for coffee and a pastry. I went inside and stepped up to the counter. Deciding which of the glorious-looking treats inside the glass display case sounded the most delicious was a daunting task.
Finally, I settled on a strawberry éclair and a large coffee. I turned around from the napkin dispenser and took a step toward a table. Not paying attention, I ran smack into somebody. The coffee tried to jump up out of the cup, but I managed to move it away from me fast enough so it didn’t splash.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
“Bryn?”
I looked up and saw that the hard, muscled chest I just rammed into belonged to Nick.
“Hey,” I said. “Good to see you. I’m sorry about the coffee.”
He shook his head and looked down. “No worries. It doesn’t look like any spilled. You managed that cup like a pro.”
“I should add that onto my resume under miscellaneous skills,” I said.
My eyes drifted over to the older woman standing beside Nick, and he followed them, then jumped slightly like he was just remembering she was standing there.
“Bryn, this is my mother, Minette Freeman. Mom, this is Bryn. I’m helping her out with some investments,” he said.
I looked at him with slightly raised eyebrows, admiring the way he was able to weave that introduction so that he didn’t spell out my life story to anyone else, but also didn’t lie to his mother.
“It’s nice to meet you, Minette,” I said.
“Please, Minnie,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
Her eyes slid over to her son like she was expecting him to elaborate. Nick didn’t say anything, and I smiled at her.
“So, what are you doing?” Nick asked.
I looked at the coffee and éclair in my hands. “Getting a snack. Mostly, I’m just trying to find something to do. I didn’t realize just how boring my weekends were going to be now. What are you up to?”
“We’re picking up some pastries to bring back to the racing compound,” Nick said.
Minnie’s eyes lit up. “You should come! If you’re trying to find something to do today, come on out to the compound. We’re putting on a lunch for the employees and their families. We always have a lot of fun.”
I looked over at Nick. He was smiling and nodded, so I nodded as well.
“Sure,” I said. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Absolutely,” Minnie said. “You’ll love it.”
She smiled again and headed off to the counter to pick up her order. Nick leaned down like he wanted to say something without his mother hearing him.
“My mother gets a little enthusiastic when she meets people,” he said. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
“No,” I said. “It really does sound like fun. Unless you don’t want me there.”
He shook his head almost too emphatically. “No, I definitely think you should come. Like Mom said, we always have a good time.”
That second sentence sounded almost like it was tacked onto the first with an afterthought. I resisted the wider smile trying to make its way onto my face.
“She said it’s a racing compound?” I asked.
“My family owns Freeman Racing. It’s a motorcycle racing company,” Nick said. “I’m the only one who doesn’t still work for the company.”
“Oh,” I said. “Yeah, I think Lindsey mentioned something like that to me when I was waiting for you at the bar. That must be really interesting. I’ve never been around anything like that before.”
I drank my coffee and ate my éclair while I waited for the bakery to finish filling the large order for Nick and his mother. We each walked out carrying a couple of boxes. Nick had twice as many as I was carrying, but his long, strong arms could handle it. I helped them carry the boxes to their waiting car and said I’d follow them to the complex.
I had no idea what to expect, but when we got there, we pulled up to a sprawling, beautiful compound. I spent a good bit of time just walking around taking in the surroundings. There were garages and machinery, but they were clean and well kept. The massive
practice track was a counterpoint to the beautiful pond and walking trail beyond it.
As I wandered around, I tried to imagine Nick working on a motorcycle the way some of the other guys and a woman he introduced me to named Kelly were. I couldn’t get my mind around it. Maybe that was why he didn’t work at the complex with the rest of his family.
We all gathered together in a massive field at the center of the complex to eat. When we finished, Nick invited me down to the pond for a walk. As we walked away from the field, I noticed Quentin wink at his brother. Nick didn’t react, and I brushed the gesture aside.
“Why don’t you work here with the rest of your family?” I asked as we strolled along. “Do you not like racing?”
“It’s not that,” Nick said. “I mean, I’m not as into it as the rest of them are. But I still love it. I come out and help with things sometimes, and I like going to the events. I just didn’t want to wrap my entire life around the company. I didn’t want to work for my parents, then when Quentin took over, I didn’t want to work for him.”
“But you all seem so close,” I said.
“We are,” he said. “And that’s why I didn’t want to work with them. I didn’t want it to seem like any success I got I only had because of my family. It was important to me to branch out and find something that was mine. Something that I could work toward and achieve by myself. Even though Quentin has made this company much bigger and more successful than my parents ever did, it’s still built on the foundation they made. Everything he accomplishes is still tied to them. I wanted to feel like I did something on my own. Something that was just mine. That might sound ridiculous.”
I shook my head. “No. It doesn’t sound ridiculous at all. I completely understand.” We walked along for a few more quiet moments, then stood at the edge of the pond. I looked up at him. “Thank you for letting me hang out this afternoon.”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’m glad you came.”
We spent a little while down at the pond, and then he walked me back up to the parking lot.
“Tell your parents thank you for having me,” I said.
“I will,” Nick said. “I’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date on everything that’s going on when I get more information.”
I nodded, realizing I hadn’t thought about any of that the entire afternoon.
“Thank you,” I said. Giving into a compulsion I maybe should have resisted a little more, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
I climbed in my car and drove away, not letting myself look back to see his reaction.
10
Nick
Sunday mornings were the one time during the week when I usually let myself sleep in a bit. Burying myself in work meant I had to get up early in order to get to the office on time. Saturdays were usually about running all those errands adults have to do to keep their life rolling. And if I wasn’t engaged in such a glamorous activity as going to the grocery store or doing my laundry, I was usually doing something with the family.
There might be a race or an exhibition, or they could use extra help with one of the bikes or running practices. Sometimes it was like the day before when we all got together for a lunch to thank the staff. All that meant Sundays were my one day to try to catch up on all that sleep my body wanted but I rarely gave it. That Sunday I didn’t really get the chance.
I was in the middle of a particularly nice dream when the sound of my phone jostled me awake. I wanted to just turn it off and bury myself back under the pillows, but that wasn’t an option. My clients almost never contacted me on the weekend, much less on a Sunday, but it was always possible. If it was an emergency, I didn’t want to miss the call and cause a calamity.
And if it was one of my brothers, which was the far more likely possibility, they wouldn’t take the hint just by me not answering the phone. They would just keep calling back incessantly until I finally gave in and or the phone ran out of battery.
I grabbed my phone and looked at the screen. Just like I thought, it was my youngest brother Darren.
“Hey, Darren,” I said, rubbing my eyes.
“Were you still asleep?” he asked.
“Kind of,” I said.
“I’m sorry. I’ll call you back later,” he said.
“It’s fine. I’m awake now. What’s up?”
“I was calling to see if you wanted to take a ride this morning. The weather is really beautiful, and we haven’t gotten out on the road together in a while.”
The thought of getting on the back of a motorcycle and just letting the wind fly around me sounded pretty good. We would go out onto the backgrounds of the complex where there were roads nobody else accessed. It let us really open up the machines and push them to their limits without risk of other drivers getting in the way.
“Sure,” I said. “That sounds great. I’ll get ready and I’ll give you a call when I’m heading out.”
“See you soon,” my brother said.
I got out of bed and went to the kitchen for my first cup of coffee of the day. I was fairly impressed with myself that I had managed to carry on an actual conversation without even one sip of caffeine.
After getting a cup in, I dressed and stuffed my feet down into my black leather motorcycle boots. I had just grabbed my jacket and was shrugging into it when my phone rang. Thinking it might be Darren checking in on me, I grabbed it up and answered without looking at the screen.
“I’m heading out of the house right now,” I said.
“Oh, well, that’s impressive, considering I didn’t even ask you to meet me yet,” a voice said on the other end.
It took me a few seconds for the voice to sync in pass my expectation of Darren so I could recognize it.
“Hey, Clint,” I said. “How are you doing?”
It was Gabe’s friend in the police department.
“Doing okay this morning. As your clairvoyance has apparently told you, I was calling to ask you to meet up with me so we could have a talk.”
I smiled at the teasing in his booming voice. “My clairvoyance also tells me I see donuts in my future.”
He let out a theatrical gasp. “You truly have a gift. I was going to say we could meet at the donut shop next to the police station. Mind blown.”
I laughed. “I’m actually heading out right now to do a ride with Darren, but I can make it a quick one and then head out there to meet you. I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”
“Alright. It’s a long commute from my office, so make sure I have plenty of notice,” Clint said.
The shop was literally thirty steps from his desk.
“Will do. See you in a bit.”
I hopped in my truck and headed for the complex. Calling Darren right before I got there meant he already had two bikes out and ready to ride. We put on our helmets and shot out across the pavement toward the back roads. We weren’t able to talk over the roar of the engines and the rush of the wind around us, but it still felt good to have my brother right there with me.
We rode for almost an hour, and then I got back into my truck and headed for town. Clint was walking out of the police station when I parked my truck.
“I see you managed that overwhelming journey just fine,” I said, reaching out my hand to shake his.
“The power of determination,” he said, giving my hand a firm shake and clapping me on my shoulder.
He gestured ahead of him, and I led the way into the donut shop. Anyone visiting might have thought it was a brilliant business move for someone to build a donut shop right next to a police station. After all, the constant stream in and out of the shop showed a police officer’s affinity toward donuts wasn’t just a stereotype. But the less interesting truth was the shop had been there since the fifties, and the police station was the one that moved in after.
Clint and I went up to the counter and ordered coffee and donuts, then found a quiet table and sat down. “So, I have some news.”
“Alright,” I said.
“I looked into everything Gabe told me and ran it by a couple other people at the station. Anonymously, of course. Now, we didn’t get a chance to go into any real depth, and we’re not lawyers, but as far as we can tell, it seems there aren’t any laws broken here on the part of the investor.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah. It doesn’t look like he did anything illegal. He just didn’t know how to handle the money and put it into some bad investments. It sucks, but it happens,” he said.
“I’m familiar. So, that’s it? Nothing can be done?” I asked.
“Well, if you can prove this Justin guy took her money without her consent, we can arrest him. But the investor is a dead end,” Clint said.
I bobbed my head as I took a couple bites of my chocolate glazed. “You’re a smart guy, Clint. You planned this well. Over coffee and donuts is the only way bad news should be shared.”
“It’s not what you were hoping to hear, I know,” he said. “But really have her consider filing theft charges. Those are valid, and it would at least be something.
“Thanks. I appreciate you looking into it for me,” I said.
I wasn’t happy. My initial impressions from what the papers said, and then my conversation with my former boss, really made me think there was something illegal going on with the investor. Now that was a bust, and I was going to have to tell Bryn.
Rather than heading home, I drove out to the mountains so I could visit my favorite spot. I always kept climbing gear in my car in case I felt the urge to go up into the cliffs. It paid off now as I took off my jacket and replaced my boots with climbing shoes.
Telling Bryn wasn’t going to be easy, but I also felt like there was something else about this I needed to figure out. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Attaching my equipment, I headed up the face of the cliff. Climbing helped me puzzle out the problem as I made my way up. It was meditative for me. I spent my time thinking about everything Bryn went through. Then how I was going to handle this new development with Bryn.
Millionaire Hero (Freeman Brothers Book 4) Page 5
