by Elle Wright
He swallowed roughly, clenched his hands into fists.
She sighed. “Krys called me that night. She knew she wasn’t going to make it.” His sister’s eyes filled with tears. “She needed to talk about some things. One thing she made sure she said was that she loved you. Carter, she loved you. Everything about you. But she knew you. She knew that you’d let her death consume you, she knew you’d let this ruin you. Your wife, my sister-in-law, wanted to be sure that you didn’t. She wanted you to live, to have a life even though she wasn’t here. She made me promise to tell you when the time was right. I’m telling you now.”
Exhausted and emotional, Carter gave in, letting the tears that had filled his eyes spill. He fell back into the chair. His head bowed, he whispered, “I don’t know how to do this, Aisha. How can I live without her?”
Aisha pulled a chair in front of him and sat down, tilting her head to meet his gaze. “It won’t be easy. But you have to. You deserve to live. That’s what she wanted for you. God didn’t keep you here so that you can die a slow death, in your grief.”
“What else did she say?” His voice cracked. “Was she scared?”
Shaking her head, his sister squeezed is knee. “Krys cried, but not because she was scared for herself. She didn’t want Chloe, your baby girl, to suffer. She was scared for you, for the family she’d leave behind. I, on the other hand, was hysterical with tears.”
Knowing that Krys wasn’t scared for herself didn’t surprise Carter. His wife was never scared. It was something he’d always loved about her. During labor, she’d refused to take pain meds. But she’d squeezed the shit out of his hand. So bad, he’d needed it iced afterward. “I can imagine you bawling. You’re such a big baby.”
“Hey, I’m still the oldest.”
The room descended into silence as they sat there. Finally, he said, “I miss her.” The admission was probably obvious to his sister, but it was the first time he’d said it out loud to anyone. It was like he’d been walking in a haze, refusing to show anyone that he was affected. Only the people closest to him could tell, and that was because they knew his routine, his personality. Everything about him had changed that October night.
Aisha pulled him into a strong hug. “I know.”
They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, him being held by his big sister. They’d grown up, but remained close. As children, they were joined at the hip. Only two years apart, Aisha had dragged him everywhere with her, to all the parties. She’d been taking care of him since they were toddlers, when she would sneak him cookies under the kitchen table.
When he pulled away, he brushed her tears away. “Thank you,” he mouthed.
She gave him a wobbly smile. “Always.”
“What’s going on at work?”
“So much. Martin is handling everything, but I don’t want him to get burned out. He’s finally settled with Ryleigh and they’re happy. They deserve some time to just be newlyweds. Traveling to Wellspring, Michigan, is not ideal for him right now.”
Carter thought about Aisha’s plea. She was definitely right. Martin did deserve to enjoy his new marriage. And he had to step up and let him.
“Who was scheduled to go with Martin to Wellspring?” Carter was so out of touch he couldn’t even remember the Wellspring project particulars.
“Walt.” Walter Hunt was the new software engineer they’d hired a few months ago. “He’s not strong enough to handle point on this project. Handling a project of this magnitude is too much for him.”
Carter rolled his eyes. Parker Wells Sr., president of Wellspring Water Corporation, had hired Marshall and Sullivan because they were the best in the state, and they’d designed an excellent Enterprise Resource Planning system. And his sister was a big part of that. Aisha is right. This is too big a job to trust to anyone other than me or Martin.
“So what are you going to do?” Aisha asked, a mixture of worry and challenge lining her face. “Someone is supposed to be in Wellspring on Monday to meet with the players. We’ve pushed the date back already. If we don’t do this—”
“Calm down, Aisha.” Carter had the perfect solution—one that would give him time and space from the emotions that surrounded him in Detroit. “I’ll go. I’ll head the project myself. And I’ll leave in the morning.”
Carter and Aisha talked for several more minutes, working out the details of his trip. Aisha also gave him updates on a few other issues with the company. He would leave first thing in the morning and drive to Wellspring, which was approximately a three-hour drive from Detroit. A hotel had already been booked for Martin, so Aisha was charged with switching the reservations to Carter’s name.
“Aisha?”
His sister turned toward the door. “Hey, girl!” Aisha stood and hugged the woman who’d interrupted their conversation. “Long time, no see. Carter, remember Ayanna? We went to high school together.”
Carter smiled at the woman. He definitely remembered Ayanna. The woman standing before him, with her light skin and light eyes, was still as beautiful as he remembered. Instead of the trademark braids she’d rocked in high school, her hair was wavy and flowing down her back. But the attraction he once had to her was long gone.
Ayanna was also his “first.” And judging by the way Aisha was singing her friend’s praises, his sister didn’t know. There were rules, after all. Back then, Aisha had banned him from ogling her friends. Little did she know or even realize, her friends weren’t exactly shy when it came to him. Carter might have been a one-woman man when he met Krys, but he hadn’t always been that way.
Aisha was yapping away, catching up with her friend. And Ayanna was checking him out. The heat in her eyes told him exactly what she was thinking.
“How have you been, Carter?” Ayanna asked, batting her long lashes. “You’ve been in my prayers.”
“I’m good. And you?”
“I’ve been enjoying life.” Ayanna inched closer to him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.
Carter inhaled Ayanna’s scent. She still smelled the same. It would be so easy to take it to the next level. The look in the woman’s eyes when she pulled back and shot him a sexy grin was an invitation. Any other man would have run with it. All Carter felt was cold. But this could be what he needed to move on. He just wasn’t sure he believed that.
“I didn’t know you were coming,” he said, wondering if Ayanna was the “hookup” his brothers had told him about. Only Marvin knew of their dalliance all those years ago.
Ayanna folded her arms over her breasts. “I actually was in the neighborhood, saw the cars and decided to stop. Your mother sent me in here to give you best wishes.”
Aisha piped up. “You should totally stay. There is plenty of food, and we’ll be playing cards later. It’ll be good to catch up.”
“I’d love to,” Ayanna said. “It’s a shame that we grew up together and barely see each other.”
Detroit was a large city, with a population of almost seven hundred thousand people. Plenty of people he’d grown up with still lived in the city, but seemed so far away. Many of the kids he went to school with had left, though. Some had moved to the suburbs, and others had left Michigan altogether.
Growing up in Detroit was a good experience for Carter. His parents both worked good jobs, and their neighborhood was a safe haven for him. Everyone knew each other and looked out for each other. He remembered block parties and going to the skating rink with friends. No matter what the outside world thought of his city, it was his home. Although he’d had plenty of offers from different companies, he’d never considered moving. It helped that Krys was also from Detroit. They’d actually grown up fifteen miles away from each other, but had never met.
Thinking of Krys brought him back from the walk down memory lane. Even if Ayanna was giving him “the eye,” he had no business even considering it. Especially today.
Taking a deep breath, Carter grabbed his still-full plate and tossed it in the waste bin. “I’m going
to go out and talk to Mom before I leave,” he announced to the two women. “I’ll call you in the morning, Aisha—before I leave.”
Even if he hadn’t believed it was a good idea before, he was sure that taking on this project was the perfect solution—a new town, a new opportunity where no one knew him. Wellspring might be the welcome change of pace he needed.
Chapter 2
Brooklyn Wells hated charity functions. But I love chocolate, she thought.
She snatched a chocolate éclair from the tray as the waiter passed her, and stuffed it into her mouth. Moaning in delight, she chewed the piece of heaven as if it was the last one she’d ever eat. Damn, that was good.
“If you don’t slow down, you’re going to turn into an éclair, Brooklyn.”
Rolling her eyes, Brooklyn assessed her stepmother as she walked by with a wealthy benefactor. The sound of her fake, monotone laugh echoed in the massive ballroom. The woman was as stiff as a board. Or was it boring as a stiff? She snickered to herself. It wasn’t funny, but she’d been forced to amuse herself all night. Between countless handshakes, fake smiles, and polite nods, she’d had enough. But her father, the almighty, had mandated that she attend—for the family. Never mind that the charity was in the top twenty-five of America’s worst charities. Despite her countless emails and pleas to donate to a more deserving charity—one that didn’t line its executives’ pockets with cash and one not connected to her father—her domineering father dismissed her requests and told her she’d better “shut up and show up.”
“Can I talk to you?”
Sighing heavily, Brooklyn looked at her ex. Sterling King used to send a shiver up her spine with one look from his startling gray eyes. But the puppy-dog look he was sporting at that very moment only made her want to shove him into the tray of caviar right behind him.
“I have nothing to say to you,” she hissed. “We’ve been through this so many times, Sterling. If you—”
Her words were cut off by his hands pressing urgently against her back as he guided her toward the back of the room, away from the stares of Wellspring society.
When they were tucked away from the crowd, behind a pillar, she jerked out of his hold. “What are you doing?” She folded her arms across her chest. “I told you I didn’t want to t—”
Before she could finish her thought, he was on his knees. In his hand was a box holding a solitaire marquise-cut diamond. Absolutely stunning. But not her style.
“Brooklyn, I love you. Will you marry me?”
She glanced behind her, hoping her father wasn’t lurking in the shadows. It would be just like Parker Sr. to have planned this entire thing. For all she knew, he’d purchased the ring himself. Her father had been trying to get her to marry Sterling since she’d graduated from college. Something about building an alliance between the King and Wells family. Brooklyn could care less about the business and her father’s interests, so she hadn’t intended to follow her father’s directive when it came to Sterling and marriage.
“Um . . .” It wasn’t like her to be rendered speechless. But she couldn’t seem to find the words—well, the one word she needed to say. “I-I have to . . . pee.” She turned on her heels and dashed through the ballroom without a backward glance.
Brooklyn breezed past a group of investors, lifted a glass of champagne from a moving tray, and headed straight to the private bathroom in the hallway. Once inside, she locked the door and gulped down the sparkling drink.
Gazing at herself in the mirror, she turned on the water and pulled out her cell phone. When her brother picked up, she whispered, “Parker?”
“Sis, where are you? Didn’t I just see you?”
“I need you,” she pleaded.
“What is that in the background? Water? Where are you?”
“I’m in the private bathroom.”
“Um, you’re crazy. Why are you calling me from the bathroom?”
Brooklyn knew he was on his way to her. After their mother died, her older brother took care of her when her father never bothered. He took her everywhere with him, introduced her to all of his friends. He’d threatened all his fellow football teammates with bodily harm if they even dared to approach her. So, she ended up with twenty brothers and no boyfriends.
Even now, as adults, she recognized that they didn’t have the same philosophy in life. Parker was all about the family business and name, being the guaranteed Wells heir, and she couldn’t care less about her trust fund or the perks her last name provided. But she never doubted her brother would be there for her, no questions asked. She heard him greet someone, excuse himself from another person, then . . . There was a knock on the door.
She rushed to the door, unlocked it, and swung it open, pulling him inside with her.
“What the . . . ?” he said, brushing off his charcoal-gray designer suit and straightening his tie. Parker crossed his arms over his chest. “You’ve really flipped out this time, sis. Why are you holed up in the bathroom?”
“Sterling proposed,” she blurted out.
Instead of the fury she’d half expected in her brother’s eyes, she was shocked to see the light of amusement in his brown orbs.
“Are you . . . Parker, did you hear what I said?”
Then, a smirk? Her dear brother thought her predicament was funny.
Clearing his throat, he said, “Sis, calm down.” He gripped her shoulders and squeezed. “You had to know this was coming sooner or later.”
“Sterling and I haven’t been together in years!” she yelled. “I can’t even stand him, let alone want to marry him. What was he thinking?”
Although she and Sterling had grown up in the same circles, and were great childhood friends, their attempt at a relationship went up in flames after three months. Unfortunately, his handsome—almost perfect—face and physique weren’t enough to keep her interest. Not only was he as boring as glue, he was horrible in the sack. As if that wasn’t bad enough, his incessant need to call her “Brooksielynsie” made her want to throw up. God, she hated stupid pet names with a white-hot passion.
“You know this is all Senior, right?” Parker told her. Her father had insisted that they call him “Senior” instead of Dad, although Brooklyn was the only one that could get away with calling him Daddy at times. She guessed it had a lot to do with her father’s need to be superior to everyone else in the world. “Just tell that idiot hell no, and keep it moving. This isn’t the end of the world.” Her older brother barked out a laugh. “I can’t believe you locked yourself in a bathroom. Get it together.” He shook her gently for emphasis. He wiped the corner of her eye with his thumb. “Fix your face, baby sis. You are looking rough.”
“You get on my nerves.” She pouted, turning to the mirror and pulling out her compact. She eyed her brother through the mirror. “I panicked, okay? I’m allowed to panic. We can’t all maintain control like you, big brother.”
Parker stared at her and gave her a small smile. “You remind me of Mom.”
Averting her gaze, she busied herself with her makeup. “I can’t add tears to this night, Parker.” She missed her mother, Maria, with everything in her. Her mother had been dead for fourteen years, but the grief was still just under the surface. Especially since her death was so tragic. “Let’s just concentrate on getting me through the night without killing Sterling.”
He placed a kiss on the top of her head. Her brother had more than a few inches on her in height, but he never made her feel small, like some of the other people in town. “Point taken. Stay clear of Sterling for the night. We can’t have a scene. But tomorrow, make it clear that you’ll never be Mrs. King. No matter how our father has conspired with his father to make it happen.”
Her father had been cultivating a business relationship with Sterling’s family for years. When Sterling’s father was elected to the state senate, Brooklyn’s father practically salivated with glee. Although Brooklyn wasn’t involved in the daily business of the family company, she knew her father though
t that having political allies would further strengthen his hold on the town and the state. For years now, Senior had been attempting to buy land in several counties to tap into the springs, and expand the company. It was obvious Senior had something up his sleeve, but Brooklyn would not be a pawn in any game her father wanted to play.
Parker picked up her empty champagne flute and opened the door. He held the glass up to her. “You need another of these. And go find that man with the chocolate puff things you love so much. It’s going to be okay.”
She waved at her brother as he strutted out of the small bathroom and followed him a few minutes later. Spotting a cute server with tray full of those yummy chocolate eclairs, she grabbed one and smiled at him as he strolled by. When he returned her smile with one of his own and a wink, she averted her gaze and pretended to look for someone in the crowd. She was not in the mood to be propositioned or hit on.
“And please try not to get drunk tonight, Brooklyn.” Senior’s fifth wife stopped right in front of her and scowled. “This is a charity event, not a Super Bowl party.”
“Leave me the hell alone,” Brooklyn muttered under her breath.
“I heard you,” Patricia hissed with a hard roll of her eyes. The woman, barely ten years older than Brooklyn, smoothed a hand over her messed-up blond wig.
“I’m sure you did. Did I stutter?” Brooklyn said between clenched teeth.
“Look, I’m not playing with you,” Patricia snapped. “Be good.”
“You are not my mother, so stop acting like it.”
“Well, I married your father.”
“So did his last few wives, before he dumped them.”
Patricia grumbled incoherently before she stomped off, probably in search of Brooklyn’s father. At any minute, Senior would come over and berate her for daring to talk to his child bride that way.
Shrugging, Brooklyn scanned the room, looking for her brother. Parker was standing with one of her father’s board members. They were talking in hushed tones, probably about some business deal. Parker was always talking about business, always trying to please their father. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand why. It’s not like he didn’t loathe him as much as she did. Unlike her, though, Parker thrived on business and he was good at what he did. One day, he’d run the company—Wellspring Water Corporation.