by Parker, Ali
Blake
Doctor Steele’s consulting rooms were overly feminine. Everything was decorated in shades of pink and purple with flowers on the curtains and a collection of ceramic fairies behind a desk. I supposed it was meant to divert the patient’s attention from the instruments next to the examination table, many of which looked like mediaeval torture devices.
I hoped she wasn’t planning on using any of those on Aston today, but if she was I would have to deal with it. She smiled when she walked in, gesturing for Aston to hop onto the examination table while showing me to a seat near Aston’s head.
“How are you feeling today, dear?” The doctor asked Aston, already starting to push some buttons on the ultrasound machine next to her.
Aston’s eyes flicked nervously away from the collection of torture devices to meet Doctor Steele’s. “I haven’t felt any more pain since we left the hospital. I’m not as tired and haven’t been nauseous for a couple of days either.”
The doctor looked pleasantly surprised. “That’s good news. It means the first trimester symptoms are easing up, and you should keep feeling better from here on out. Until the third trimester, that is.”
“So I’ll have more of these wonderful symptoms to look forward to?” Aston asked, starting to roll up her shirt to expose her midriff as the doctor took the wand out of its cradle.
Doctor Steele nodded sympathetically and patted Aston’s hand. “There are many wonderful things about pregnancy, but some of these symptoms don’t fall into that category.”
There was nothing I could say to contribute to this conversation and I was smart enough to know it so I kept my mouth shut and let them talk as the doctor squirted gel on Aston’s stomach. I was glad to hear Aston hadn’t downplayed any more symptoms to me and reported that she felt well.
As it always did, my own heart stuttered and nearly stopped as I watched the baby’s heart beat in a steady rhythm. It was incredible, thinking that sex had led to this. There was an actual little person inside Aston, one we had created together.
Every time we visited one of these doctors, I was seconds away from crying like a fucking pussy when I saw that tiny little thing on the screen. Biting back a fresh wave of emotion as the doctor pointed things out to us on the scan, I lifted my hand to find Aston’s next to her on the bed.
Tearing my eyes away from the monitor, I raised them to Aston’s to see there were tears welling up there too. It was good to know I wasn’t the only one affected by these visits.
Doctor Steele took us through what to expect over the next couple of weeks and told us to make another appointment with the doctor back in Florida. “You can wait a week or so before you go see him, but no more than that. It will just be another checkup, but I would rather be safe than sorry.”
“Does that mean that it’s safe for Aston to fly?” I asked, half surprised to hear the doctor was ready to clear her so soon.
She nodded. “Everything looks great, so I don’t see why not. I would advise against too much further travel right away though. Check in with your doctor before getting on a plane again, just to be on the safe side.”
“We’ll do that,” I assured her, more than relieved by the news that everything looked great. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Giving us the all clear to get back to Florida didn’t hurt either.
After we left Doctor Steele’s office, Aston and I went back to the hotel, but only long enough to collect our things and head straight to the private airstrip. It didn’t escape my notice that I was using the company plane more and more often, but this way Aston wouldn’t have to stand in line, be jostled by fellow passengers, or brave any connections or delays.
She slept all the way back to Florida, and by the time we were in the car on the way to my dad’s house, was looking better than she had in days. “Waiting on what the doctor would say at the checkup was really weighing you down, huh?”
Nodding her head, she shrugged. “I guess so, I was worried something might have gone wrong again, something that I couldn’t feel.”
I reached over and rested my hand on her thigh. “Nothing is going to go wrong. You and the baby will both be fine. Mark my words, it will be smooth sailing from here on out.”
Never one to dwell on the negativity, Aston agreed. “I know. I’ll keep being careful, but I would sure like to get back to doing some kind of work.”
“Yeah? I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that, but I wanted to wait until you were ready.”
Aston shifted in her seat to face me and lifted an eyebrow. “Talk to me about what? There’s not much I can do until we get back to California. I realize that. I was just thinking of calling Tiffany and asking if I could help with the administrative stuff from here.”
“Actually,” I cleared my throat and wondered how best to say this without making her feel pressured or stressing her out. “How would you feel about taking over from Danny?”
Aston snorted, then giggled and clamped her hand over her mouth when she realized what she had done. “You can’t possibly mean that. Stop kidding around. I was being serious.”
I lifted my eyes to meet hers briefly before turning them back to the road. “So was I.”
“I couldn’t, I mean—that’s your brother’s spot and I—I’m not ready for that.”
“It’s not his spot,” I scoffed. “It’s the position he was occupying and can no longer be trusted in.”
We pulled up outside Dad’s house before we could take the conversation any further. Aston looked a little dumbstruck as she got out of the car, but quickly recovered when Mom and Dad came outside to meet us. Both of them gave her quick hugs, Mom lingering and talking to her in hushed tones, as Dad came over to greet me.
When Mom finally stepped away from Aston, she came over and pulled me into the kind of loving hug I hadn’t had from her in years. For the first time since she came back into our lives, I allowed her to hug me. Strangely, I found myself liking it and hugged her back before leaving her to grab our bags from the car.
The hug from my mother was only the first surprise, though. When we got inside, I found the second surprise waiting for me in Dad’s study. “Danny? What are you doing here?”
Swirling amber liquid around in a tumbler, he sighed and rose to his feet. I didn’t know whose idea it was for him to be here, but to say he didn’t look overjoyed to see me was an understatement. “We needed to talk. I thought it would be best to do it here.”
“Sure. Yeah, we do need to talk. Let me just go make sure Aston’s settled. I’ll be back.” When I got out of the study, Mom and Aston were already seated at the kitchen table with glasses of ice water. I checked in, but got scalding looks, as if I was interrupting, so I retreated with my palms up in surrender, chuckling on my way back to the study where my father and brother were waiting.
I waited for Danny to make some kind of snide comment about Aston being here with me, but he didn’t. My third surprise of the day. Lucky me.
Dad and I each took a seat after pouring drinks from a crystal decanter Dad had won in a weekly poker game once. Danny leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, the tumbler dangling from his fingers between them. “Well then, little brother. It seems you were right. Dad tells me he really has signed the company over, so it seems my fate is in your hands. Guess I should start packing my shit to get out.”
Dad didn’t attempt to intervene. He sat back in his chair and nursed his drink, waiting for me to answer. “I’m sorry about the way things went down in New York. I owe you an apology for that. I didn’t mean to spring anything on you, especially not in front of that deranged lunatic.”
“I heard what happened after I left,” Danny sighed. “Is Aston okay?”
“Peachy.” I was about to give him a piece of my mind about his choices in friends when I caught Dad’s eye. He shook his head almost imperceptibly, but it was enough. And he was right.
Danny was my brother. He was making an attempt at being civil and to his credit, it looked like he r
eally was worried when he asked about Aston. “How did you hear?”
Danny shrugged. “I’ve got a couple of acquaintances out there. Wouldn’t call them friends anymore, but they called. For what it’s worth, I don’t blame you for how things went down. I didn’t give you much of a choice.”
“No, you didn’t,” I agreed. “Look, I’m not going to give you some bullshit about how all is forgiven. The reality, the way I see it anyway, is simple. You fucked up, big time. I don’t want to punish you, I’m not that petty. This is a family business and you’re still family, but you can’t stay on where you are.”
Releasing a resigned sigh, he nodded. “I figured. What are you gonna do about it?”
“If you’re interested in staying, I do think it’s in the best interest of the company for you to stay on in some capacity. I need you at your best somewhere where you can really make a difference.”
“Okay,” he replied, a skeptical gleam entering his eyes. “Are you exiling me to the McAllen version of Siberia?”
“Where is that?”
“Arkansas,” he deadpanned, but I could see his lips twitching into a smile. “Wouldn’t be so bad there. I met this woman there once who could—”
Dad winced, “Spare us those details. Continue, Blake.”
Danny shrugged and mimed zipping his lips. When he was like this, I caught glimpses of the brother I was once close to. The guy I could depend and until very recently, even respect. “How do you feel about California?”
“California?” He frowned, “That would be the furthest thing from Siberia.”
“I’m not exiling you, Dan,” I told him, trying hard to keep my face straight. “I would like to know if you’d be interested in proving yourself there, as the Palo Alto Manager.”
“Palo Alto, huh?” Danny mused, then slowly started nodding without questioning me. It was a welcome change from the interactions we’d been having for the last couple of months. “I do like sunshine. This isn’t some kind of trick? You’re being serious?”
“You know me better than that, Danny.”
“True that,” he said, setting his tumbler down to clap his hands together. “Palo Alto. Could be fun. Okay, you got it.”
Dad, Danny and I talked while we finished our drinks. I told them about the plans I had made for the company while taking the downtime in New York, and both of them seemed to be on board. When we walked out of the study, Mom and Aston were still talking.
Mom smiled when she saw us enter. “All my boys on speaking terms again?”
“Sure,” Danny told her, going to take the seat next to her. It was weird, seeing them around a kitchen table together again after all these years.
But the happy family reunion would have to wait. I walked over to Aston and sat down next to her. “I’ve spoken to everyone about it and I want you to take Danny’s position in the company. I’m asking, offering really. It’s all official. Will you take over from him?”
Aston blinked and for the first time since I’d met her, didn’t have anything to say.
Chapter 66
Aston
“Excuse me.” I pushed my chair back from the kitchen counter and glanced at Blake’s family before letting my eyes come to rest on him. “Could I talk to you outside for a minute please?”
“Sure.” Exchanging a look with his father who nodded encouragingly, Blake followed me outside. I didn’t stop walking when we hit the deck, heading over it and onto the expansive green lawn.
The sparkling swimming pool was blue and inviting. I briefly considered stripping off my clothes and taking refuge in the silence of its depths, but I doubted very much that Blake’s father would appreciate a half-naked pregnant girl sitting at the bottom of his pool.
When I hit a patch of trees at the back of the property, I paced in the shade beneath them. Without having to look, I knew Blake was standing there watching me. He let me blow off steam for a few more seconds before planting his hands on his hips. “Before you say anything, hear me out.”
“I told you I didn’t want that spot, Blake.”
Walking toward me, he lifted his hands to my shoulders to stop me from pacing and bent his knees to look deep into my eyes. “You said you didn’t want it because it belonged to Danny, but it doesn’t. Even he agrees that he doesn’t belong in it any more, not after everything he did.”
“Maybe.” I threw my hands out to my sides in a dramatic gesture I wished I could blame on my pregnancy, but I couldn’t. This was all me. I was beyond frustrated with Blake, having told him not an hour ago that I didn’t want his brother’s position in the company.
It stung that he had ignored me, that he just went ahead and told his whole entire family that he wanted me to replace his brother.
“Or maybe he deserves another chance. Maybe he only agreed with you that he doesn’t belong in that position because it’s not like he has much of a choice. You are the boss now and you made it pretty clear that you wanted him out, maybe he felt like he had no choice but to agree with you if he didn’t want to walk away from here today unemployed.”
Blake shrugged, his eyes flashing with exasperation. I didn’t consider myself to be an exasperated person, and never had been. I wasn’t refusing the spot to try be difficult, to make him beg me to take it or sing my praises. I was refusing because Danny McAllen was Blake’s brother and that job was his birthright.
“I didn’t force him into agreeing to anything, and if you think that Danny would do anything he didn’t want to do, you are sorely mistaken.” He tried explaining. “Danny knows as well as I do that he fucked up. Big time. He’s not arguing with me over his position because he knows he shouldn’t be in it, that’s all there is to it.”
I stopped pacing, linking my fingers behind the back of my neck and squeezing. “Let’s imagine for one minute that you are right. Let’s say he shouldn’t be in that position, but that doesn’t mean that I should.”
“Aston.” With fierce passion burning in his eyes, his gaze held onto mine. “I would never, ever do anything that wasn’t in the best interest of this company. I love my dad and the company he built, I wouldn’t do anything that I didn’t well and truly believe was the absolute right thing to do.”
I opened my mouth to object again, but he held up a hand. “Just let me finish, please?”
“Okay.” I motioned for him to go ahead, silently starting a list of all the points he made that I wanted to respond to.
“I’ve wanted you on my team at the head office since pretty much the moment I met you, or maybe five minutes after. Back when sleeping with you was only ever going to happen in my dreams, and loving you was impossible. You are a force of nature, a force to be reckoned with in your job. I need that fire you bring to the table beside me every day.”
“But—”
“I wasn’t done yet,” he sighed, holding my eyes imploringly until I nodded. “I know you’re afraid of what people will think, but let them think whatever the fuck they want to. They’ll soon see what you’re capable of and then everyone will know you got the job on merit, not because of who you are to me.”
Coming to loosen my hands still clenched on the back of my neck, he took both of them in both of his. “But let’s stop there for a minute, on who you are to me. I’m looking to start a life with you and our baby. I never want to be away from you. This way, you’ll always be right by my side.”
Exhaling on a long breath, I shook my head. “I want to start a life with you too, Blake. But not this way, not like this. Besides, what about my hotel? What do we do about California if I’m never going back there? They need a manager and as well as Tiffany is doing, it’s not her job. She never wanted that much responsibility on her shoulders.”
“That’s why I’m sending Danny there,” Blake answered. Damn infuriating man thought he had it all figured out.
I held back a very unladylike snort. “You can’t send your brother to California, Blake. It’s too far away. He needs to be closer to you. You’ll never get
his best if he’s in a different state than you are.”
“I will,” he said, confidently. Frowning, he went on. “He’s already agreed to it. Why are you so against this, Aston? It’s all worked out.”
“I’m against it because I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I exclaimed, rolling my eyes. “Danny’s position isn’t some random spot. It’s a very important position in the company.”
“Exactly,” Blake snapped. “It’s not good enough to put some random person into that position, don’t you think I get that? That’s one of the reasons why I need you, Aston. You’re all I’ve got. I don’t have any other options that are good enough.”
“I’m a last resort?” My head reared back like he’d slapped me. I didn’t know what was going on with me, but my emotions were all over the place. Maybe it was the pregnancy after all, but knowing he only wanted me because there was no one else was somehow more hurtful than people thinking he’d only put me into that spot because he was sleeping with me.
Staring at me like I’d grown a unicorn horn or turned green, Blake shook his head. “You’re not a last resort. It’s not like that at all. Think about it this way, my dad supports me in this decision. About Danny going to California and appointing you into his position, all of it.”
That thought, more than anything else Blake had said, gave me pause. Wayne McAllen was my idol, my hero. I didn’t want to be the one responsible for tearing his family apart when it was only just coming together again.
“It’s not because he wants me in that position. Like you said, there’s not much choice. I’m sure he’d much rather have his son remain in it, but he knows you won’t let that happen. I’m carrying his first grandchild. That’s all it is.”
Blake blew out a deep breath, inhaling and releasing one after the other as he frowned at me. “That’s not at all what this is. Please, Aston. Will you at least come talk to him? Hear it from him?”
Tears jumped into my eyes from out of nowhere. I squeezed them shut and took a deep breath, willing myself to calm down. “Okay, let’s go inside.”