'Tis the Season

by Jennifer Gracen

  “Fine, thanks. You’re awfully chipper tonight,” Charles remarked as he sat in one of the other chairs. Clad in a long-sleeved T-shirt and track pants, Pierce still looked like the professional athlete he’d once been.

  “I’m feeling really good,” Pierce said. “I don’t know about ‘chipper,’ but yeah, things are good.”

  “Tell us more,” Tess said as she reentered, holding a glass of white wine in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, which she handed to Charles before sitting on the couch with Pierce. The living room felt warm and inviting, nothing like the home they’d all grown up in. Tess had decorated with earthy colors, deep rust and tan and wheat. The furniture was plush and cozy, the furnishings elegant but not ostentatious, and the artwork complemented it all perfectly. With a fire blazing in the stone fireplace and old R&B songs playing softly, Tess had created such a welcoming atmosphere that Charles felt himself melt into the chair and the stresses of his daily life ebb away as his siblings talked and bantered.

  Pierce told them how his soccer teams were doing, both the Edgewater youth league and the New York professional team he’d personally invested his time, energy, and money into. When Tess asked about Abby, the mere mention of his girlfriend lit Pierce’s face with such a glow that Charles was momentarily taken aback. He’d never seen Pierce look like that over a woman . . . or anyone, ever.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Pierce asked.

  “Like what?” Charles retorted.

  “Like I suddenly grew two heads or something,” Pierce said.

  “Um . . .” Charles took a sip from his bottle, using the time to choose his words carefully before speaking. “I’m a little stunned, frankly. At the look on your face when Abby’s name was mentioned. Your whole demeanor changed, do you know that?”

  Pierce made a face, something between a scowl and a look of disbelief. “Get out.”

  “He’s right,” Dane piped up. He ran a hand through his curly hair as his eyes sparked with mischief. “It’s nice. But boy, are you a smitten little kitten.”

  “A what?” Pierce laughed, shooting Dane a look. “You’re bonkers.”

  “We’ve never seen you like this, is all,” Charles said. “You look . . . content. Happy. It’s kind of amazing, and I’m glad for you.”

  Pierce fixed his brother with a long look, before saying quietly, “I was going to say something smartass, but you know what? You’re right. I am content and happy. Abby’s made it that way. She’s everything to me.” He looked down at his bottle for a few seconds, taking his legs off the coffee table and shifting position. Leaning forward, elbows on his knees, he looked around at his three older siblings and said, “I bought a ring. Last week.”

  Tess gasped, practically bouncing in her seat. “Omigod! Oh, honey!”

  “You serious?” Dane said, grinning.

  Pierce nodded, unable to keep the almost shy but pleased smile off his face. “Dead serious. We’ve been together for a year. We live together. It’s time. And I know she’s it for me. I’ve known from the start, so . . . yeah. I’m going to ask her to marry me. Holy shit, huh?”

  “Holy shit indeed,” Charles said with a chuckle. “And good for you. She’s a fantastic woman.”

  “Hey, anyone who puts up with your crap is a damn saint,” Dane teased.

  “Wish I could deny that,” Pierce said, “but I won’t. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Time to make it official.”

  “When?” Tess squeaked, her smile wide and bright.

  “I’m surprising her with a quick trip,” Pierce said. “Day after Thanksgiving, that three-day weekend, I’m flying her out to Sedona. She loves it there; she’s been there twice, and she keeps saying she wants to go there with me, so . . .”

  “So you’ll take her on a hike up to one of those red mountaintops and propose,” Dane concluded. “Very nice. Good luck, brother.”

  Tess vaulted across the couch to hug him. “Oh, Pierce. God, I’m so happy for you. I adore her. She is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. I wish you two all the luck and happiness in the world.”

  “She’ll be a wonderful addition to the family,” Charles said.

  Pierce snorted at that as Tess released him. “Yeah, I’m sure Dad will be thrilled to hear about this. Maybe he’ll give me a bottle of arsenic as an engagement gift.”

  All three of them quieted at that.

  “I’ll tell you all something right now.” Pierce’s voice got low and steely as he looked from one face to the next. “Whatever kind of wedding Abby wants, I’m going to give her. And I want it to be everything she’s ever dreamed of. So I don’t want him there. I won’t let him give her even a moment’s worry that he might say or do something to ruin the day. He’s not invited.”

  “Sounds reasonable to me,” Dane said, and took a swig of beer.

  Tess nodded and reached for her glass of wine. “We understand.”

  Pierce looked to Charles. “Well?”

  Charles shrugged and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “It’s your day. Your rules. It should be whatever you want it to be. You don’t want him there, done deal.”

  “How about actually proposing to Abby first?” Dane said. “Making sure she’ll say yes to a troublemaker like you.”

  “Shut up,” Pierce said on a laugh.

  “Dane’s right, though,” Tess said. “Let’s concentrate on the good parts, okay?”

  “Excellent idea.” Charles lifted his bottle to his mouth and stole another swallow of the dark beer. Mentally, he was already strategizing. If anyone would have to run interference between their father and the wedding, it would be him. Pierce was obviously counting on the three of them to have his back; no way would Charles let him down.

  “I can feel you thinking from here,” Dane said, breaking him from his thoughts.

  “Oh, really.” Charles crossed one leg over the other. “What am I thinking about?”

  “A certain dark-haired beauty, perhaps?” Dane’s mouth quirked at the corners.

  Tess’s head whipped to Charles. “You’re seeing someone?”

  Irritation prickled over Charles’s skin. “You bastard,” he growled at Dane. “You absolute bastard.”

  “You need help,” Dane asserted. “I can only do so much. You need a Team Harrison powwow, and we’re all here.”

  “Getting together wasn’t my idea,” Tess admitted softly. “It was Dane’s. He was worried about you.”

  Charles swore under his breath, set down the bottle on the table, and raked both hands through his hair. “I don’t fucking believe this.”

  “Charles,” Tess tried to begin.

  But Charles pointed a finger at Dane and snapped, “I trusted you with all that. How dare you open it to the floor as if it’s a subject up for discussion! It isn’t.”

  Unfazed by Charles’s anger, Dane leaned in and met his glare. “It’s about more than what happened with her, Charles. It’s about all of it. You need to talk about it, and you need to with us, because you know we’re the only three people on the planet that you can talk to. I’m not afraid of you. Go ahead and be furious at me. I’m trying to help you.”

  Charles grunted, but sat back in his seat, letting out a heavy sigh. “I came here to have a good night, not to be dissected and analyzed, dammit.”

  “Don’t think of it as a dissection,” Dane said. “Think of it as more of an intervention.”

  “Fuck you,” Charles ground out.

  “What’s going on?” Tess asked tersely, looking from Charles to Dane and back again. “Because you’re worrying me now. Dane was right; you’re not okay.”

  Pierce watched them intently without a word, waiting.

  “Charles.” Dane’s voice was soft, coaxing. “Tell them. We’re here for you.”

  Charles glared at his brother and blew out another frustrated breath, rubbing his hands over his face. “Jesus, Dane.”

  “Someone start, please,” Tess practically begged. She looked t
o Charles, her blue eyes wide with concern. “Honey?”

  The gentleness of her voice broke him. He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, put them back on, and heaved a sigh of surrender. “For a few months before I turned forty, that milestone birthday had me doing a lot of . . . introspection. And I realized a lot of things.”

  “Like what?” Tess asked.

  With one last sigh, Charles gave in. He talked about how resentful he’d grown about being groomed for the COO position since birth, how his life hadn’t been his own . . . everything he’d said to Dane already, everything he’d been holding inside. “And most of all, I’m worried that I’m turning into him. Into Dad.”

  The fire crackled in the fireplace, the popping sounds of the shifting logs filling the silence. Tess’s eyes had flown wide. Dane took a sip of beer. But Pierce leaned forward, put his bottle on the table, and stared at his eldest brother.

  “I can’t speak to most of that,” he said. “It must be hard on you. I can’t imagine the constant pressure of it. I’ve always been grateful as hell that it all fell on you. But you always seemed to be born to the throne. Like you really were made for leading the company, and one day, the family. All these years, I thought you liked it.”

  “For a long time, I did,” Charles said. “Until I looked around a few months ago and realized my life was all about work. I barely see my kids; my son, Thomas, is starting to hate me and he’s still in single digits; and after a disastrous marriage and ugly divorce when the mother of my kids took off, I’m alone.” He looked around at his siblings. “Don’t you see all the parallels? I’m becoming just like him. That used to thrill me. Now, seeing how bitter he’s become . . . it terrifies me.”

  “No. You’ll never be like him,” Pierce said earnestly. “You have a heart. You care about those things. That alone means you’re a much better man than he’s ever been.”

  Charles sucked in a breath. He and Pierce had butted heads throughout the years. With an eight-year gap between them, and Pierce’s shitty attitude and determination to be wild, Charles had had little patience for his youngest brother. Until last year, when Pierce had returned to New York, and as grown men they were able to forge a new kind of relationship. Now, Pierce’s soft but strong words had the same effect on Charles as a sucker punch and a hug combined. “Thank you for that,” he murmured.

  “It’s the truth,” Pierce said. “Look. You realized you weren’t spending time with your kids and they were starting to resent it. You fixed it. You changed it. The old man never even thought about that, much less did anything about it.”

  “Point to the jock,” Dane said.

  “But Charles,” Tess said. “If you’re that unhappy about working so much, do something about it. We’ll all back you. Call a meeting; give some of the other board members more responsibility. Because one day, you’ll be CEO, and you can step back and do less, like Dad does now. And he can only do that because as COO, you’re the one who’s really doing all the work.”

  “You’re already in charge,” Pierce said. “Everyone knows it. It’s just not said out loud.”

  “He’s right,” Dane added. “The board knows it. Dad does too. The company would take a major, major hit without you at the helm. Use that power and change some things for your benefit. Don’t let the power use you, you know?”

  Charles nodded and picked up his bottle again, taking a few long swallows. “I’ll think about it. Okay?”

  “Okay. Let’s change the subject and let him breathe on this a bit,” Tess said. She tapped her manicured nails against her glass. “Soooo . . . who’s the dark-haired beauty?”

  Charles winced. “I was hoping you had forgotten about that.”

  “Not a chance in hell,” Tess proclaimed with a wide smile. “Spill it.”

  Charles shot a glare at Dane, then looked back to Tess and Pierce. “If I do . . . it can’t leave this room. I’m dead serious.”

  “Charles.” Tess leaned in, causing her long dark curls to spill over her shoulders. “You know whatever you tell us stays with us. That’s a given.”

  “This is . . . It could be really unfortunate if any of it got out at this juncture,” Charles said.

  “Stop with the fancy talk and just say what you need to,” Pierce demanded.

  “I slept with Lisette the night of my party,” Charles said quietly. “I got a little drunk, she wandered in, and I basically threw myself at her.” He noted the way Tess’s lips parted in shock, the way Pierce’s eyes rounded, but made himself say the rest. The part he hadn’t even told Dane . . . that he hadn’t even admitted to himself until now. “And that’s not even the worst of it. Because since that night, I can’t stop thinking about her. I think I’m falling for her.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Whoa,” Pierce breathed. “The nanny?”

  “Watch it,” Charles warned with an edge.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I like her,” Pierce said. “She’s really nice. Great with the kids. She’s made them . . . uhh . . .”

  “Easier to handle,” Dane offered tactfully. Tess flattened her lips to suppress a grin.

  “Yes,” Pierce said. “That. Hey, Abby likes her a lot. Lisette’s so quiet, kind of shy, and I’m usually playing with the kids, so she and I don’t talk very much when I see her. But Abby draws her out, and they’ve talked. Abs thinks she’s really sweet.”

  “She is,” Charles murmured, reaching for his bottle. He stared at the label and tried to ignore the way his heart was thumping around in his chest.

  “She’s lovely,” Tess agreed. “Kind. Patient. Caring. I’ve seen it.”

  “She’s also gorgeous,” Dane said, “which is a nice bonus.”

  “Yeah, she is,” Pierce said. “I’ll admit it, I always wondered if you hired her because she was so pretty. You couldn’t know how she’d be with the kids, so . . .”

  “That’s not why I hired her,” Charles snapped. “I hired her because she was qualified for the position. And because I could tell right away that she was a warm, kind person, so she’d bring that to the kids. Her looks had nothing to do with it.”

  “Touchy,” Pierce noted, and it was almost a taunt. “Yeah, I’m not the only smitten little kitten in this room.”

  Charles raised the bottle to his lips and knocked back a few swallows of beer.

  “So . . .” Tess ventured. “Had anything ever gone on between you two before that night?”

  “No!” Charles said firmly. “Never.”

  “Okay. So how . . . ?” Tess asked.

  “I told you, I was drinking. I was in the study, and I broke a glass. She heard a noise and came to check it out, and it just . . . happened.” He shook his head as if he still couldn’t quite believe it himself.

  They were all quiet for a minute.

  “Hey, I’m glad you got laid,” Pierce said, trying to lighten the moment. “If anyone ever needed to—”

  “Shut up,” Charles snapped.

  “Charles.” Tess swept her long hair back over her shoulders. “What about since then? How’s it been between you two?”

  “Since then? It was fucking awkward at first, of course. But I kept trying to get her to talk to me, to break that ice, so we could be at ease around each other again.” Charles thought back to the night after, the anxious look in Lisette’s eyes when she got back to the house. “I think she was plain scared. She loves her job, and she thought I was going to get rid of her. Which was ludicrous, since it was my fault, really.”

  “Um, hold on,” Pierce said, pinning him with his gaze. “Why is it ludicrous? Of course she was scared—you hold her life in your hands.”

  “What?” Charles stared in confusion. “No, I don’t.”

  “Yeah, you do,” Pierce shot back. “Think about it. Everything in her life depends on you. Her job, her income, even where she lives. You have total power over her life. Hellooo?”

  “He’s got a point,” Tess murmured.

  Charles scowled as Lisette’s words echoed in
his head. “This isn’t my home; it’s yours. That’s not my car; you own it. The money I make all comes from you. Don’t you understand? My livelihood—everything in my life—is dependent on you . . . Hear me.” He swore under his breath.

  “What are you getting at?” Dane asked Pierce.

  “Well . . . someone has to say it.” Pierce eyed Charles and asked quietly, “Did she sleep with you because she was scared to say no? Have you even considered that?”

  Charles swore viciously under his breath and slammed his bottle down on the coffee table. “You’ve got some set. I’d never abuse my power that way,” he seethed. “And I can’t believe you’d imply that I would, or that I did.”

  “You’re not hearing me,” Pierce said. He took a swig of beer.

  “What I just heard,” Charles said, blood pulsing at his temples, “is you implying Lisette slept with me out of fear, that I used her in a power play or something much worse. That’s a hell of a thing to say.”

  “Charles. I know you didn’t, and you wouldn’t. But did she? I’m trying to make you see it from her point of view.” Pierce scrubbed the back of his neck. “You’ve had insane wealth and power your entire life. You’re a great guy, but you’re not getting this: you have a lot of power over her,” Pierce said. “That puts her at your mercy. Whether you would use that power or not is irrelevant. That imbalance still exists. If you’re falling for her, you have to acknowledge that.”

  Charles took a swallow of his beer as his mind worked. “Perhaps.”

  “You know . . . Julia got supremely fucked over by her ex-husband,” Dane said. His tone had turned somber, and they all turned to look at him. “He was rich, powerful, and treated her like a toy. And then like dirt. He used all the power his wealth and connections gave him to bury her when he decided he was done with her. He was ruthless. People like that exist, Charles. You’re not one of them, but regular people are wary of people like us.”

  “People like us?” Charles echoed.

  “Yeah. Insanely rich and privileged, which makes us powerful. We are different, Charles. To most of the world, we are.” Dane shrugged. “You have no idea what it took to get Julia to see me as just a guy who wanted her. To trust me. To trust that I wasn’t going to use my power over her, in any way, ever.” His brows arched to punctuate his last point as he said, “And she didn’t live under my roof. She had her own life.”