by K. A. Linde
“Hey, hey, hey,” Morgan said, diving in after me.
“I’m fine. Nothing happened. All is well. Feel free to yell at someone else.”
“I wasn’t going to yell at you.” She rolled her eyes and swatted my arm. “Family meeting. We were waiting for you.”
“What’s it about?” I asked as I followed her.
“You’ll find out with everyone else. But get ready; it’s pretty kick-ass.”
I blew out a breath. “Oh, good, you’re not pregnant.”
She rolled her eyes. “Who do you think I am? Sutton?”
“Hey!” a voice said, coming up behind us. “I heard that.”
My youngest sister trotted up to us and flashed us a feisty smile. She was only twenty-two and had dropped out of college at Texas Tech after she got pregnant by her now-husband Maverick. The name was the real deal. Their son, Jason, was pretty adorable, and even Maverick was turning out to be an A-OK guy. We’d all thought he was in it for the Wright money, especially after he had taken the Wright last name in the marriage, but he’d surprised me by being upstanding and really loving Sutton. Somehow, she’d found her happiness before anyone else…even though there was an eleven-year age gap between she and Jensen.
“You were supposed to,” Morgan quipped.
“Y’all can keep being jealous of my awesome fucking life.” She flipped the classic Wright dark hair, though she’d died the ends blonde for the summer, and then barged between us.
I always wondered what would have happened with Sutton if she’d finished college and worked for the company. I suspected she’d have been a force to be reckoned with.
“She’s got me there,” Morgan said.
“I’ve got an awesome fucking life.”
Morgan laughed. “Yeah, I bet you do, Austin.”
Her laugh haunted me as she walked away toward Jensen at the front of the living room. Everyone else had made themselves scarce. For the first time in a long time, it was just the five of us again. Jensen and Morgan looked like two peas in a pod. Bonded over their love and dedication to the company…and overall sarcasm. Landon was tilted back in a recliner and offered me a beer. I willingly took it and plopped down next to Sutton on the couch. She had her legs crossed underneath her and was staring down at her phone.
“Is this going to take long?” Sutton asked.
“Have somewhere to be?” Jensen said, crossing his arms.
“Besides enjoying my vacation?”
“You don’t even work,” Morgan pointed out.
“Um…hello? I have a one-year-old,” Sutton said, looking like she was going to toss her phone at Morgan.
“It won’t take long,” Landon said.
“You don’t even know what it is,” Morgan said.
Landon shrugged. “We can’t all be in the same room together without ripping out each other’s throats. So, I’m assuming Jensen is having this meeting for a reason and will get on with it.”
I popped open my beer and took a long drink. This is going to be fun.
“I can’t believe you’re enabling him,” Sutton muttered to Landon.
“Not you, too,” I said.
Everyone needed to get off my back about drinking. This was who I was. Fuck.
“Can the meeting be about that?” Sutton asked. “I’m supposed to be the party animal. I’m the age to constantly be fucked up. You’re…not.”
“Yet you’re the one with a kid, and I’m not. Seems to have worked out better for me than you.”
Sutton glared and straightened. “Austin, I might be little and not give a shit about a lot of stuff, but if you insult me again, I will kick your ass.”
“Enough,” Jensen spat. He had his fingers on the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. “I love you all, but can we have peace for five minutes?”
Sutton looked at Jensen, as if to say, He started it, but one look from him, and she kept it to herself.
Fine. I’d have it out with Sutton later. She, like Morgan, could shove her pretentious, preachy bullshit up her ass.
“Are we all done?” Jensen asked.
“Can I ask a question?” Landon said, raising his hand with a giant grin on his face.
Jensen looked up to the heavens for help. “What is it?”
“Are you and Emery getting married?”
“Oh!” Sutton gasped, sitting up. “And babies? God, please say there will be babies.”
“You are so gross,” Morgan muttered under her breath.
“Look…normal women like babies, Mor!”
“Thank God I’m not normal. Everyone else here is baby crazy, except me.”
This time, I raised my hand. “Um…me either.”
“Could we all please stop?” Jensen asked with an exaggerated sigh. “Emery and I are not getting married.”
“This seems like an egregious oversight,” Landon offered.
“Just because you rush into things doesn’t mean that I do,” Jensen said. “Marriage and…babies are high on your priority list. I’ve already done both of those things and…not that I need to explain that to any of you, but Emery and I want to wait.”
“Well, can we cut to the chase then?” I asked.
“Yes. Back on track,” Morgan said with a barely contained smile.
“The real reason we’re here today has nothing to do with my marital status,” Jensen said. “It’s because…I’m stepping down as CEO of Wright Construction.”
Six
Austin
The silence in the room was deafening. Vicious.
What the hell?
Jensen isn’t going to be CEO? My brain couldn’t logically wrap itself around that concept.
Our father had died when Jensen was twenty-three years old. I was twenty and had been in college at Tech, partying and living the life. Then, with one phone call, everything had changed. Our father was apparently dead of alcohol poisoning. The newspapers had reported it as a suicide. I still wasn’t sure. But, with our mother dead from cancer when we were kids and our father gone, Jensen had taken over the company. He’d been successfully running it for a decade. He was the face of Wright Construction. He was what people thought of when they saw the motto, What’s Wright Is Right.
“What?” Sutton finally gasped out. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah. What she said,” Landon said. Slack-jawed, he pointed his thumb at Sutton.
I just stared. It was as if everything in our lives had fit into this perfect little bubble, and then suddenly, Jensen had gone and burst it.
“I know this might come as a shock to you all,” Jensen said.
“Understatement,” I muttered.
“However, I feel like this is the best move for all of us going forward. As you know, I studied architecture in college and worked in New York for some time, focused on that. It wasn’t what…our dad wanted from me, but it was what I loved. After much consideration, I’ve decided that I should follow my dreams and work in architecture again. I might be good at what I do, but I don’t love it, like when I was designing and building things. It isn’t the same.”
“Wow. That’s really awesome, Jensen,” Landon said.
“I love it!” Sutton said.
I nodded. I was happy for him. If he was going to start his own architecture firm, then by all means, he should do it. But what’s going to happen to the company?
“Am I the only one wondering where the hell we’ll go from here?”
Jensen frowned. “I’m sure you’re not.”
“Okay. Then, where the hell do we go from here?” I set my beer down and leaned my elbows against my knees. I was interested now.
“I’ve spoken to the board about my decision,” Jensen said, “but I wanted to talk to you all about what was happening. You are Wright Construction as much as I am.” He cleared his throat and continued when it seemed no one had anything to say about that, “With that said, I’ve put Morgan’s name forward to be our next CEO.”
All eyes shifted from Jensen to Morgan, wh
o had been standing next to him with her hands behind her back this whole time. She beamed at the statement. Twenty-seven years old and set to be the CEO. Badass!
“The board approved the decision,” Morgan added.
She didn’t seem shy or nervous about the decision. She looked ready. Poised and fucking ready to take on this huge responsibility. She was going to dominate.
“Hell yes!” I said, standing and pulling my sister in for a hug.
She startled a little at my enthusiasm. But how could she be surprised? Morgan was second-in-command. Everyone knew she loved Wright Construction more than Jensen and that she had trained for this moment. It had maybe come a little earlier than expected.
Landon and Sutton jumped up next and were quick to give hugs and congratulations. Morgan looked relieved. As if she had known that she was ready for this step but still worried about what we would think, which I thought was fucking dumb. The board had agreed. They thought she was legit. And they were right. The company was lucky to have someone like Morgan run it.
“I’m really excited to take on this new challenge. I think it’s going to be a whole new step for the company,” Morgan said.
“It’s going to be great,” Jensen said. He placed his hand on her shoulder and beamed. “Of course, it won’t be immediate. There will be a transitional period while we slowly move Morgan into this key role. But this was step one, and we wanted you to know.”
“Who is going to take Morgan’s job?” Landon asked.
And then a bell seemed to go off in my head.
If Morgan was CEO, that meant that her position was up for grabs. Holy shit! That was my position. Sutton didn’t work. Landon had golf. That meant, I was next in line. It made just as much sense as Morgan stepping into Jensen’s shoes.
I was a Wright.
I deserved this position.
“We’re, uh, still working that out,” Jensen said.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means that the board is still in consultation about how to transition Morgan’s position.”
I narrowed my eyes. What the hell did that mean? How hard was it to say that another Wright would take over?
Jensen pushed past the rest of the family and tilted his head toward the kitchen. “Can we talk somewhere more private?”
“Sure,” I said in confusion. I couldn’t seem to grasp what was going on.
We veered out of earshot of the rest of the family, leaving them alone to congratulate Morgan. Jensen shot me a pained expression, as if what he was about to say was something he was really not looking forward to.
“What’s going on, Jensen?” I demanded.
“Look, I put your name up to the board to take Morgan’s job.”
“Great!”
“And they declined you.”
My jaw dropped open. “They did what?”
“I don’t know how to say this gently, Austin, but they don’t think you’d be a suitable replacement for Morgan. You…give off the wrong image for the company.”
“But I’m a Wright!” I spat, raising my voice.
“I know, I know. Trust me, I pleaded your case. I told them that you would be the right person for the job. I believe in you.”
“And they just didn’t give a fuck.”
“It’s not that exactly. They worry about your…drinking habits.”
“What about my fucking drinking habits?” I snarled.
“They think…you are…” Jensen stumbled over his words and then shook his head and straightened his shoulders. “You’re an alcoholic, man.”
“So, I have a few drinks here and there. It’s not the end of the world.”
“You have a few drinks with breakfast. Legally, I don’t know how you drive anywhere. You’re a mess.”
“Fuck off, Jensen.”
“I’m serious, Austin. We’ve all let it slide up until now. But you’re going to miss out on this if you don’t sober up. Maybe if you went to rehab to show you were serious—”
“Seriously, Jensen, go fuck yourself! I don’t need rehab.”
“I’m trying to look out for you, Austin.”
“No, you’re trying to parent me. But guess what? Our parents are dead, and you can’t replace them.”
Jensen winced. “Come on, man.”
He reached out for me, but I brushed him off.
“I don’t need any of this shit.”
Then, I turned on my heel and walked out of the lake house.
My mind was whirring to life at all the goddamn accusations. I loved drinking, but, fuck, I didn’t have a problem. Jensen had a fucking problem. Everyone had a fucking problem. This was more bullshit to pile on me because they wanted to give the position to someone else. How fucked up is it that they want someone who isn’t a Wright to run the company behind Morgan? How could they even be okay with that?
I stumbled down the hill to the dock and the pitch-black lake beyond. Clouds obscured the sliver of a moon in the sky overhead. A fitting vista for betrayal.
My stomach lurched as the anger boiled over. Jensen had recommended me, and the board had said no. Just like that. I hadn’t even gotten to defend myself. They had made that decision with no other consideration than my name.
The Wright name, of course, always had. But my name had never made any splashes. Jensen was the oldest. Landon was a professional golfer. Morgan was the prodigy. Sutton, the baby. I was just…me.
Now, they had a name for me. Not exactly flattering to be known for my drinking habits. Or, as Jensen had so eloquently put it…an alcoholic.
Fuck!
I wanted to scream.
Jensen had joked that I was following in our father’s footsteps. Morgan had scolded me when I jokingly brought a flask into church. Landon had eyeballed my Bloody Mary in the morning. It was never a big deal. I was responsible. I wasn’t getting into car accidents. I didn’t have a DUI. I still did all my fucking work. I showed up to work on time, church every Sunday, all planned family events. They had lost their fucking minds if that wasn’t enough to be the right kind of Wright.
And if it wasn’t enough, then why the fuck was I doing all this shit?
If they didn’t respect me, then what I did in my spare time didn’t mean anything. I could be off at a fucking bar this weekend, picking girls up, instead of getting left on a cliff side by Julia and verbally harassed by my family. But I was here. Not that it fucking mattered to anyone.
I stomped onto the dock and noticed a figure seated at the end with their feet dangling off the edge. Just what I didn’t want to deal with—another person.
I was about to turn around and find somewhere else to be alone when the person turned around, and I saw Julia’s beautiful face.
“What are you doing?” she asked defensively.
“I know it’s a shock, but my world doesn’t revolve around you, babe.”
“I didn’t say—”
“Didn’t have to,” I interrupted.
“Jesus Christ, I wasn’t trying to argue with you.”
“That’s a shock. All you seem to do when you open your mouth is yell at me.”
I knew I was picking a fight on purpose, but I couldn’t have the one I wanted with the board. So, this would have to do.
“As if I’m the only one!”
“You left me up there.”
“You were being a prick,” she said with a shrug. Totally unapologetic.
“I’ll add it to my fucking tally.”
“Do whatever you want.” She turned back to face forward, ignoring me once more.
Fuck, she wasn’t giving me what I wanted. I wanted to argue. I wanted her to scream at me. I wanted to feel something. I wanted to stop thinking about what I was fucking dealing with.
So, I plopped my ass down next to her. She gave me a nasty look.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.
“Sitting down. Is that a fucking crime now?”
“It is when you do it. I thought I’d made
myself clear when I left you up there,” she said, pointing upward. “I don’t want to deal with this.”
“You made yourself clear when you said you were interested in Patrick,” I spat.
She rolled her eyes. “I can do whatever I want.”
“Yeah, and I can fuck half of the lake if I want to.”
“Then, do it,” she challenged me. “See if I fucking care!”
But the expression on her face mirrored the one I had given her earlier. Her eyes were as flat as the lake water and her mouth pinched. Yet I couldn’t stop admiring the way her hair blew in the breeze and the flash of the ring in her nose and the ease of her body as it tilted toward me. God, I wanted her. Even with this anger that sizzled through me, I wanted to fucking lay her back on this dock right here and now and fuck her brains out.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she whispered. Her fire had dissipated in a second.
“Like what?” I asked hoarsely.
“Like you’re going to kiss me again.”
“Going to do more than that, Jules.”
She swallowed hard but didn’t avert her gaze. “What’s going on with you? You’re hot and cold and then hot again. I can’t get a read on you. I thought you wanted a fight, and now, you’re wanting to fuck.”
“Two things we’re best at,” I said with a gruff laugh.
“Well…I don’t want to do either,” she lied, finally glancing away from me. “If there’s something going on, you can tell me. Otherwise…I’m going to go back in. It’s getting cold.”
Did I want to tell her about the shit going down? She’d eventually find out, but right now, I wanted to drown myself in alcohol and forget everything Jensen had ever said. Probably wouldn’t help my case, but at this point, who even cared?
It was my turn to lie.
“There’s nothing.”
She narrowed her eyes, as if expecting me to say more, but when I didn’t, she got up off the dock and strode away from me.
I probably deserved the solitude anyway.
I lay flat on my back and stared up at the stars as I wondered how the fuck my life had gotten to this point.
Seven
Julia
Going back to reality on Tuesday morning had been a slap in the face. Despite the bullshit with my breakup and then Austin, the rest of Memorial Day weekend had been pretty much amazing. Heidi and Emery had gone out of their way to make sure that I enjoyed myself. Between suntanning, taking out the Jet Skis, and getting pulled behind the boat on tubes, it had been awesome.