Conklin's Foundation (Conklin's Trilogy #2)

by Brooke Page

  Tyler pushed the plate over to me along with a fork and napkin. He turned to grab the tea pot and poured the hot water into a coffee mug that held a tea bag. “Of course I did. Making breakfast in bed for my girlfriend on a Sunday should be a given,” Tyler said, putting the mug in front of me and grabbing his plate to come sit next to me. He kissed my forehead as he walked by.

  “Hmm and why haven’t I had this luxury before?” I said with an arched brow. His face fell. Shoot. I didn’t mean to upset him. “I’m kidding, thank you. It looks great.” I smiled, putting my hand on his forearm while picking up my fork. I dug into the omelet first. From what I remembered, he made great omelets.

  A smile played on his lips as he picked up his fork, never taking his eyes off of me. We ate in silence, mainly because I didn’t want to take a break from eating. It was delicious. I pushed my plate away after eating half of it. I was stuffed. Tyler’s face scrunched when he noticed.

  “Aren’t you going to eat more?” he asked.

  I put my hand on my stomach. “I already ate too much.” Tyler flexed his jaw and turned back to his plate, scrunching his eyebrows.

  I stood up and took my plate to the sink and began to clean the other dishes. While the faucet water ran, my mind drifted to Jamie. I was going to have to talk to her. Today. I couldn’t stand the thought of her being mad at me. I didn’t even have my phone to call her, not that she would answer. I turned off the faucet after I loaded the last pan and felt Tyler’s hands on my hips. He briefly kissed the back of my neck. “How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.

  I leaned back into his chest. “Sore.” I sensed his grin on my neck. He slowly turned me around so we were face to face, my lower back pressed against the counter.

  He lifted his finger and made a circle motion on my chest and gave me an unsure smile. “What about here?” he whispered, his eyes becoming concerned. I frowned and my shoulders fell.

  Letting out a deep sigh, I said, “It still hurts.” His face fell even more. “But last night helped a lot. Thank you,” I said, tilting my head up to kiss him on the cheek. He gave me a lopsided smile and wrapped his arms around me.

  His smile quickly faded into distress. Hesitantly he looked down at me. “Are we okay?” Tyler whispered, giving me a firm squeeze.

  His unsure look was sobering and tore at my heart. Our bodies definitely connected last night, but he needed verbal reassurance. I reached up and ran my hands along his clean shaven jaw. “Yes,” I said, pulled his face down to mine. “Thank you for not giving up on me,” I murmured across his lips, giving him a gentle kiss.

  Tyler’s shoulders relaxed as he kissed me back, wrapping his arms around me tighter. He stopped the kiss and put our foreheads together. “Giving up on you wasn’t an option.” He kissed me again, but then bit his lip as though he needed to say something. “Don’t be mad,” Tyler said pulling slightly back from my face, still keeping his arms wrapped around me, “but I think Jamie feels awful. She has been texting and calling my phone. I haven’t looked at them. I did, however, send her a text saying that you were home safe with me and asked her to grab your stuff from the party.” His face was scrunched as though I were going to yell at him.

  I bit my lip. I didn’t want Tyler to think I was going to lash out at him, I wasn’t that type of person, until last night. I guess it might be a while until Tyler won’t feel like he has to walk on egg shells around me.

  “I’m not mad,” I murmured, still touching his face. There was no need for me to be jealous of him talking to Jamie. “Will you take me home? I need to talk to her and tell her I’m sorry.”

  Tyler frowned. “I think she should be the one to apologize.”

  “Maybe, but I can’t lose her. I was pretty harsh last night; I could have said how I felt in a lot nicer way.” I closed my eyes, trying to dry up the tears that were threatening.

  “You won’t lose her. From what I’ve gathered, she is afraid of losing you,” Tyler said, kissing my nose.

  ~

  I threw on my favorite jeans, which I missed dearly since I hadn’t had them in a month because I left them at Tyler’s. They didn’t fit as flattering as they used to. They were baggy and hung lower on my hips than usual. I frowned when I looked in the mirror. They probably hadn’t been washed since I wore them last. I put on a button up long sleeve shirt and headed downstairs to drive to River House and face Jamie.

  I was scared and fidgety, biting my nails and bouncing my leg. Tyler put his hand on my knee soothingly and kept his eyes on the road. He didn’t say anything, which was good, because I needed the silence during the whole three-minute ride.

  “Do you want me to come in with you?” Tyler asked, rubbing his thumb along my knee.

  I nodded my head as I got out of the car. He might help as a buffer; at least if Jamie freaked out on me, I could pull Tyler into my room and cry on his shoulder.

  I slowly opened the door, peeking in trying to notice if Jamie was in the living area. I sighed when all was silent, and I crept into the kitchen. It was after 11:00am, but she was probably asleep. I didn’t think about that. She probably had a late night with Sean. For all I knew, he was in bed with her. I was going to look past their relationship. Even though it hurt me, I couldn’t judge Jamie for how she wanted to live her life.

  “Where did these come from?” Tyler asked as he ran his finger along one of the flower petals in the vase on the island counter.

  I gulped as my eyes widened to the flowers. Tyler picked up the note card that was attached to one of the flower stems. I didn’t even realize Gage had written a note with the flowers he brought over before picking me up for the Christmas party last night.

  Bs,

  Thank you for letting me escort the most beautiful girl attending the party. No promises about what we talked about in the Chevelle.

  Gage

  Tyler’s jaw flexed as he read the small card, his brows furrowing as he scowled down at the flowers. I slowly walked around the counter until I was a foot away from Tyler. He stared down at the ground, attempting to rein in his anger, hurt, betrayal. I couldn’t tell which emotion he was displaying.

  “They’re just flowers,” I mumbled. Tyler sighed and clenched his jaw. Just as I was going to say more, I heard a bedroom door open and turned to look down Jamie’s hallway.

  This was it. She would ignore me, start shouting, or act like nothing had happened. Jamie and I never fought, so I had no idea how she was going to react. My eyes instantly started to water when they met her light brown eyes. I bit my lip to stop it from quivering.

  She was taken aback when she saw Tyler and me standing next to the flowers in the kitchen. She gulped as she studied me. Her expression was blank and unreadable. I wrapped my arms around my chest, as though that would stop me from shaking, waiting for her wrath.

  “Jamie, I…” I choked.

  She shook her head at me as her eyes started to water. She practically sprinted over to me and pulled me into her chest. “Becca, stop it,” she hushed.

  I wrapped my arms around her and let the waterworks fly. “I… I never… I never should have said those things about you. I… I…” I was stuttering like an idiot while I tried to apologize. Tears were flowing down my cheeks and there was no way I could hold it together anymore.

  “Shh… stop. I needed to hear it. I can’t believe I never thought about how my dating a technically still married man would affect you. I was being stupid and careless… I said I wasn’t going to do that anymore. I moved here with you so we could grow up, not fuck up.”

  I snorted at her last confession. We were both bound to fuck up no matter what. Jamie let out a muffled laugh as she pulled back to look at me.

  “I never should have said you used me. I’m sorry, I just went a little crazy,” I added, wiping my eyes.

  “Yeah that was pretty harsh…” Jamie pursed her lips. “I thought about that a lot, and honestly, maybe I did? But I never intended to. We just get along so well, and I wanted us to s
tay friends. If I ever made you do something you weren’t comfortable with I’m so sorry,” she croaked, her eyes watering. I knew she was talking about our year off in Florida.

  “Jamie, I’m an adult. I make my own decisions. It’s my own fault if I get upset about something from my past.” I gulped as I started to say my next sentence. “But I buried my past last night, and I was so scared I threw the dirt on you, too.”

  Jamie let out a laugh. “You are going to have to say something a hell of a lot bitchier to get rid of me, Becs.”

  I laughed and hugged her. We were going to be okay. I didn’t destroy my relationship with Jamie. If anything, my outburst may have made our friendship stronger.

  Jamie looked past me over at Tyler who was leaning back on the kitchen island with his arms crossed, smirking at the two of us. He looked so young in his faded blue jeans and black North Face hooded jacket. We hadn’t been in the house long enough for him to take it off.

  Probably because he was distracted by the flower arrangement from Gage.

  Jamie looked in my eyes after noticing Tyler, trying to read whether or not we had made up. I blushed at her stare as a slow smile spread across her face.

  “How about tomorrow we have a girls’ night? We can order some Chinese; I will even refrain from giving you shit about that boring chicken and vegetables you always order.” She smiled. “I’m sure you already have plans tonight,” Jamie smirked, looking from me to Tyler. I blushed again at the thought of Tyler and me continuing making amends this evening, if his mood wasn’t soured by the flowers from Gage.

  “Thanks for taking care of my Becs last night, Tyler. I would have pounded down your door to come after her once I kicked Sean to the curb, but I thought I should let Becca cool off.” Jamie took a step to the side of me so we were making a triangle between the three of us.

  “Jay Rae, you didn’t have to break it off with Sean. You are in charge of your own life. I won’t let it bother me,” I said feeling guilty.

  Jamie shook her head and narrowed her eyes at me. “No way! Not when my best friend got cheated on. I can’t do that to someone else. I can’t be part of a reason why a marriage fell apart. We were never really serious anyway. I’m ashamed I never put it all together. I know I’m not anywhere near as morally correct as you Becca, but I’m trying.”

  Tyler pulled me to his side and kissed my temple. “I’m trying, too. You are a great example, baby.”

  I wrapped my arms around Tyler’s waist, grateful that he had softened a bit from the note Gage left me. “I’m no saint,” I whispered, thinking about all of the random men I had slept with. Gosh I would give anything to erase that part of my life.

  “Stop selling yourself short. You are being way too hard on yourself,” Jamie scolded. “Although, you did spit some mean venom towards that bitch last night. She finally got what was coming to her. I’m not sure if it sunk in that you are done with her. You and I both know not a whole lot is going on upstairs when it comes to Ashlynn. Hopefully she won’t call you in a few weeks asking you to make blueprints for her.” Jamie rolled her eyes. “I hope Connor has come to his senses and gives her the boot.”

  Tyler let out a chuckle under his breath. “You didn’t even hear the best part of it. You walked in after she finally confronted her.”

  Jamie smirked. “Oh, I heard it. Nathan and I took the long way to the exhibit. You would be surprised how much sound carries against glass display cases.”

  I scrunched my eyes and squeezed Tyler even tighter. I didn’t want to think about last night anymore. I wasn’t proud of how I acted. I didn’t like that I turned into a fire breathing dragon, even if Ashlynn and Connor deserved my wrath. Tyler sensed my uneasiness with the conversation.

  Intentionally changing the subject, Tyler asked, “Since when do you know Nathan?”

  A wicked grin spread across Jamie’s face. “Oh, your brother and I shared the same concerns. Besides, we met through work. You are looking at Conklin Architecture’s newest marketing coordinator.”

  “You’re kidding?” I snorted with a puzzled look.

  “Nope. Nathan and I met to talk about you two.” Jamie pointed between the two of us with her index finger. “And he clearly saw my mad skills and offered me a job, and since my current job blows, I took his offer. Besides, now we can carpool!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands.

  A huge smile spread across my face. I loved seeing Jamie this happy. But then I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows as I looked at Tyler. He had the same expression on his face. “What do you mean you met with Nathan to talk about us?” I asked, pulling my hands from Tyler’s waist and crossing my arms. Tyler set his hands on the kitchen island while he looked intently at Jamie.

  Jamie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Well Becca, you were miserable, and YOU wouldn’t stop blowing up my phone,” she grumbled, glaring at Tyler. “I was sitting at The Woods with some people from work for lunch, and I happened to notice some guy talking loudly on his phone by the bar. I was rather irritated with him, because honestly, he acted like he was the only one in bar,” she scoffed.

  Tyler and I exchanged glances. We both were picturing Nathan exactly as Jamie described him.

  “So after 10 minutes of him barking at whoever was on the other end of his phone, I got up to tell him to either quiet down or leave. Just as I came up to him he ended his call and turned to look at me, full blown Conklin scowl--Yes, exactly like that,” Jamie chided, pointing at Tyler’s expression that was plastered on his face after Jamie said Conklin scowl. I let out a laugh and leaned up on my tip toes while wrapping my hands around Tyler’s bicep to kiss his cheek. He deepened his scowl when he looked down at me, causing me to laugh again.

  Rolling her eyes at our display of affection, Jamie continued. “Anyway, I knew who he was then, and my intentions changed. We talked about how miserable you both were, and we were planning on forcing you back together at the Christmas party, but clearly we didn’t need to.”

  Tyler wrapped his arm back around me and kissed my hair. Yes, we finally came to the conclusion of meeting each other’s demands because we were miserable without each other. We still needed to talk more, but I felt we were headed in the right direction.

  “I guess he liked how my mind worked because he offered me a job. I start the beginning of January.”

  “Good thing you will be eight floors apart,” Tyler teased. “Otherwise you probably wouldn’t get any work done.”

  Jamie raised an eyebrow at him. “And how many floors are you from Becca?”

  Tyler became serious. “Becca and I are very professional at work. That won’t change,” he said turning to look at me. I shook my head in agreement. Yeah, I wanted to walk into work with him and kiss him goodbye once we got off the elevator, but I still wanted people to take me seriously and not think I was only there because my boyfriend practically owned the company. Yes, I was used to being able to get what I wanted because of my father’s notability, but I never took advantage of his capability to get anything he demanded. I tried to hide from the fact that my dad practically owned the city, but it was an unfortunate shadow that was constantly cast upon me; therefore, it would never matter how hard I worked for something because there would always be doubters. My mother and siblings were always okay with this. I, on the other hand, wasn’t.

  Speaking of my mother, I wondered if Jamie had talked to her, if she seemed different after my outburst. “Did you, um… talk to my mom last night after I left?” I asked, biting my lip, gripping Tyler’s bicep a little tighter.

  “No, why? Oh no… did you say something to her, too?” Jamie asked.

  Tears threatened my eyes. Why did she have to cross my path last night? She never meant to talk to me the way she did, and I’m sure she never realized the way she had talked to me my entire life was so damaging, but she didn’t need to feel bad about how I perceived her comments.

  “Becca, you told your mom exactly what she needed to hear,” Tyler spoke in a soothing tone. I bit my li
p harder, shutting my eyes, remembering exactly what I said to her.

  “I’m never going to be perfect enough for your family picture, Mother. You can poke and prod at my face, tug on my dress, and tell me to suck in my stomach, but I’m still not going to measure up to your satisfaction.”

  “Good, it’s about time. That woman can be just as much of a monster to you as Ashlynn,” Jamie snorted.

  I dropped my hands from Tyler’s bicep. “She may speak before she thinks, but she is my mom, and she didn’t deserve for me to speak to her the way I did,” I whispered, staring at the ground. “The air is forever going to be weird between us.”

  “I’m sure your mother didn’t think anything of it. She probably thought you were just PMSing. I’m sure if you called her right now she wouldn’t act any different than she always does. Don’t worry about it, Becs.” Jamie walked into the kitchen to rummage through the fridge.

  “Do you two want breakfast? I was thinking about making pancakes,” Jamie said, pulling out the eggs. “Or should I say lunch? It is after 11:00am.”

  I was still full from Tyler’s giant breakfast.

  Tyler glanced at his watch then spoke. “It doesn’t matter to me, but I was hoping to run to the mall today. I have to get my mother a Christmas present,” he grumbled, sounding less than enthused.

  Shit. Christmas was in less than a week, and I had totally forgotten about getting gifts. My head had been in such a fog, I completely forgot about Christmas.

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I need to do some shopping too,” I agreed. “We will take a rain check on the pancakes I think,” I said, glancing at Tyler. Although I’m sure Jamie already knew my answer because she knew I didn’t eat pancakes.

  “Sure, I assume you are going to be gone all day and night?” Jamie smirked as she was pulling out the skillet from the dishwasher. I blushed and nodded my head yes. I peeked up at Tyler who was grinning as he laced my hand with his then pulled them to his lips, never taking his eyes off me. I widened my eyes and blushed even more.