by Taylor Hart
Immediately, her walls went up. She turned away from him and scoffed. "I can’t believe you haven’t brought any other women here.”
He put his arms around her, and he was glad she didn’t move.
“What else about Anthony?” She asked.
He exhaled. “Sometimes I feel like he's already gone. Dead. Like these memories are of a dead brother because we don’t have any modern memories. We have nothing anymore.”
Surprising him, because he’d always been the one to initiate affection, she turned in his arms and kissed him gently on the lips then trailed her lips sweetly down his neck.
A slow smile filled his face, and he pointed at her. “Remember, it’s in the contract I can’t fall in love with you, so you better make sure you don’t fall in love with me.”
Immediate annoyance rippled across her face. “I got it handled, Kincaid.”
He laughed and took her hand and pulled her with him as he climbed out of the water and sat on the beach, still thinking of his brother.
She sat and relaxed. “Why don’t you end the feud or whatever? Why don’t you make it right if you want to make it right?”
Frustration coursed through him. “I’ve thought about it a million times, but something else always happens. Of course, during the season, both of us are consumed with football, the next game, practices, the press, the competition. Our father.”
“Why has your father allowed this?”
It was a question Kade had been asking himself his whole life. “Dad says he hates it, and he tried to make it all seem okay. But at the same time, he feeds into it, telling us things about the other. Things that tick us off.” He sighed and closed his eyes for a second, wishing he could push it all aside. Wishing he could rinse his mind of all the bad of the past few years.
“Tough love,” she said.
“What?”
“Your father, I’ve done research on him. There’s this article about him, about how his father was hard on him, whipped him.”
Kade knew this, but he didn’t really think about it much. “Okay.”
“Your father whips you in a different kind of way. There was an interview with your father where he said he’d done everything he could to make you boys tough.” She shook her head. “It’s not right, but I would bet your father would think everything he did made you the best.”
Of course, he knew his father thought he was right. He thought he was right about everything. “I don’t know.” He sighed. “I have so many regrets with my brother. I told you about the woman, but after we talked the other day, I also thought of something else.”
She waited.
“In high school, he got a high ankle sprain. It was my senior year and his junior year, but see, he was the starting quarterback.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah.” Turmoil filled him. “Part of me was happy he was down because it meant I moved up. But my dad was awful to Anthony, yelled at him all the time. He said Anthony was lazy and continually razzed him about the ankle sprain and how he was weak because of it.” He sighed and felt awful. “We’d lost our mom the previous year, and Anthony and I had been tight. Really tight. I was the older brother, so I’d tried to lead out and be strong. When all of this happened, I abandoned him.”
“What do you mean?”
Kade thought about his father’s tongue-lashings. “I should have stepped up. I should have stopped my father, but I didn’t.”
For a few moments, it was quiet between them.
“I should have protected my brother from my father. I’ve always felt badly I didn’t do something.”
Felicity played with his hand, covering and uncovering it with sand. It felt so good. Finally, she looked up and met his eyes. “I believe in you. You can do this. You can handle it. You can fix things with your brother. Just talk to him. Tell him this.”
It kind of stunned him that she knew him, and she was saying this. He’d never spoken so freely with someone about his problems before.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “Just feeling grateful right now. Thanks for listening. I think talking about this with you is just want I needed.”
His words started a warm glow in Felicity that made her brave enough to be honest. “I’m happy to help. I have to admit I like the fact you might need me, too. Because … I kind of like having you around.”
He grinned at her reference to him needing her. Keeping his eyes locked on hers. “That’s good, cause you’re not getting rid of me.” He leaned down and kissed her.
Loving how eager she was to kiss him back, he pulled her down to the sand so they were side by side.
The sun was warm, but not too hot. The waves rolled onto the beach next to them. He closed his eyes, listening to birds chirping and deciding he could do anything with Felicity next to him.
Pulling back after a few moments, she stared up at the sun.
The quiet moment broken, he quickly moved and started the process of burying her feet.
He worked getting her all buried while she giggled. At the end, he noticed her just staring at him.
“Hey.” He flounced back next to her buried form.
Her eyes danced with happiness.
“I should probably put sun screen right here.” He tapped her nose.
She giggled some more.
They stared in each other’s eyes and more and more he was determined that this woman would be his.
He unburied her and found himself kissing her again, holding her, getting back into the ocean with her and splashing around.
At one point, he was holding her and noticed she had gone quiet.
“What are you thinking?”
She shrugged. “About my dad. A vacation we all took to the beach before Jimmy passed away. It was a lot better then.”
He frowned and hugged her to him.
“I just wish …” She sighed. “My momma says I need more grace in my life for my father.”
Chills washed over him, and he thought of her sweet mother. How she was humble and grateful and how she liked his rabbi, priest, and cowboy jokes.
She looked out into the ocean. “Momma says I need to have grace for Jimmy dying. I need to have grace for myself and my heart condition, and I need to recognize God’s grace in my life.” She blinked. “Momma says grace is something God gives you. The thing between right and wrong, sin and death, that thing that’s intangible but puts you closer to him when you may not deserve it.” She blinked, and he saw tears in her eyes. She put a hand on his face. “I think you’ve brought more grace into my life, Kincaid, then I deserve.”
Emotion was in the back of his throat, gently he kissed her forehead. “Ah, you deserve me.”
She laughed. “And your humility astounds me.”
He laughed, too and kissed her head again. “All I know is I want to spend the rest of my life deserving you.” He gently squeezed her tighter and then pulled back, staring into her eyes. “We’re going to figure everything out with your heart, then come back to this castle and live happily ever after.”
She put her cheek against his chest. “I hope so.”
All he knew at this moment was his bachelor days were done.
Chapter 23
The next morning Felicity choppered into Dallas with Kade at the helm, and she couldn’t believe her pitter-pattering heart. She was in love with him.
Before, she could have convinced herself that it was just twitterpation. She’d never really dated anyone. She would have told herself he was a womanizer and wasn’t worth it. But there were no excuses anymore.
She thought of the how she hadn’t planned on doing another surgery even though she hadn’t told her mother. Now, with Kade in her life, it terrified her. She didn’t know if she could go through another failed surgery. She had to make that clear to him.
They got to his house, and he turned off the chopper and turned to her with a large grin on his face. “Want some lunch?”
Sh
e took off her headset and decided there was no time like the present. “Can we talk?”
He took her headset and put it down. “Sure, I’m starving. Can we talk over lunch?” He leaned forward and gently brushed his lips against hers.
Part of her was paralyzed by his touch.
He grinned, and there was something so hopeful in his expression. He leaned in and kissed her again.
She found herself wrapping her arms around him, pulling him closer, not wanting to give this up.
He laughed, his lips still on hers, but he pulled back. “Come on, Song. Let’s eat.” He got out of the helicopter and rushed to her door, yanking it open for her.
Before she could tell him, both of their phones went crazy with incoming texts.
Many of hers were from DaVinci, with the projects she was working on. They both scrolled through their messages.
“Oh my gosh!” Kade exclaimed.
She didn’t have to ask what he was upset about. She read it in plain lettering.
"Anthony Kincaid, car crash.”
Her heart raced, and she turned to Kade. He had one hand on his heart and the other holding his phone. His hand shook.
She scrolled through the details. It had happened a half hour ago, and he was at Houston Hospital Riverside General.
Kade just stood there, staring at his phone, scrolling down.
“Kade. Get back in the helicopter and fly to Houston.” From what she’d read, his brother had a neck injury and other broken bones and was in critical care.
Shaking his head, his eyes still glued to the phone, his phone rang.
Kade glanced at her then answered it. “Dad.”
Her heart skipped a beat. This was crazy. Adrenaline poured through her. Go. Go. Go. He needed to go now!
“No, Dad.”
She watched him hold the phone away from his ear, and she heard his father ripping into him.
Her eyes weren’t on the phone. They were on his face.
She saw tears running down his face. She thought of yesterday at the beach and how he’d said he felt like his brother was already dead.
Tears slid unchecked down her cheeks.
Kade put the phone back to his ear. “Keep me posted.” He pushed end.
He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers into them, like he could erase the pain if he pushed hard enough.
“Kade.”
He didn’t move.
She went to his side and gently put her hand on his arm. “Kade, you have to go. “
He shook his head again. “No, he wouldn’t want me there. We … I told you we aren’t even friends. Pretty much arch enemies.”
Every part of her felt shaken up, but she sucked in a breath and focused. What he needed was to get to Houston and be by his brother’s side, so for his own good, she went into client mode, as she’d seen Mr. DaVinci do. “Kade, how would it look if you didn’t go? What will the press say?”
A curse word came out of his mouth, and he ripped away from her. “Don’t give me that BS. Not from you. Not about this.”
She realized he was right. She was an idiot. They were way past that. “Kade, he’s your brother. If I could get one day, one hour, one minute back with Jimmy, I would do anything.”
Now, he turned to her, a mix of vulnerability, anger, and pain on his face. He started sobbing and shaking his head. He punched the center of his chest and hunched over, holding his knees. “My brother. My brother’s …” His body wracked with sobs
She went to him and held him. “Shh. Go to him. He needs you.”
After a couple of moments, he sucked in a huge breath and turned to her. “Will you go with me?” His voice was shaky, and he reached for her hand, tears streaming down his face. “'Cause I don’t think I can do this alone.”
Squeezing his hand, she nodded. “Of course.”
Tugging her into him, he held her, kissing her forehead.
Standing next to Kade, she knew she would do anything to be with him.
Chapter 24
The helicopter ride from Dallas to Houston had taken roughly an hour and a half. Kade had gotten special clearance to land on the tarmac above the hospital. Now, he rushed through the hallways. Felicity’s hand was tucked inside of his, and all he could think about was everything between him and Anthony and how he could fix it.
Regret pummeled his gut. He could only hope for the chance to tell him he missed him. When he’d been at the castle yesterday, all he could think of was how they might never go there together again. Tears streamed down his face, and he swallowed the grief. He hated crying. Hated feeling this way. He knew when his father saw him, he’d probably rip him for being a weenie.
Finally, they got to the room, and the hospital employee who had been guiding them pointed to a door and stopped.
Felicity tugged her hand back. “You go. I’ll wait right here. I promise.”
He wanted to grab her hand back and insist she come, but he knew he had to do this alone. He knew his father was in there, and he didn’t know what to expect. He pushed the door open.
To his shock and horror, his father was standing over his brother, full on yelling at him. “Get your butt out of that bed. Get up, boy! Do you hear me? Kincaids don’t sit. Kincaids don’t take things lying down! They get up! They do! They fight! They don’t lie there looking weak! Get up!” His father roared.
Shock pulsed through him, and he heard Felicity draw in a quick breath.
His brother lay in bed, a neck brace fixing him in place. One of his legs was propped up in a strange looking contraption. Kade saw his brother’s eyes were fluttering open.
“Good.” His father turned to Kade gesturing to him. “It’s about time your brother got his butt here. See, he’s walking. He’s doing it." His father cursed and kicked the wheel of the hospital bed. Kade had never seen his father in such a full-on meltdown.
Normally, he was pristine in his appearance even if a little hokey. It didn’t help that he wore a five-gallon hat and had a typical mustache that made him look like he was the evil villain in a movie and a belt buckle that signaled Kincaid Oil. His father got new designs on the buckle every year and handed them out liberally. Kade had a drawer of them.
His father moved to him. "He’s being unreasonable. It’s like that year he had that high ankle sprain. He just babied it. Do you remember that? Sat out of practice and just ..." His father clenched his fist.
Anger filled Kade.
Turning back to his brother, his father started yelling again. “Get up! Get—”
Swiftly Kade grabbed his father from behind and picked him up. “Dad, we're not doing this any longer, do you hear me?"
He turned toward the door and caught it with his toe before it shut all the way. Kade kicked it open.
“What the?" A string of curse words fell from his father’s mouth.
Kade was able to get him out of the room, but his father turned on him like a mauling mama bear.
“What are you doing?”
Kade put his hands on his father’s shoulder and held him at arms length. He was actually surprised at how strong his father still was. Yes, he kept himself in shape, but he must have some adrenaline going too because Kade had to use almost all his strength to keep him out of the room. He had become an offensive lineman. There was no way he was letting his father at the defenseless QB in that room.
“No, Dad! No! This stops here. I should have stood up to you a long time ago.” He turned to Anthony and then back to his father. “I should have protected Anthony from you after our mother died, and he hurt his ankle, but I didn’t.” He blinked the emotion away. He would not let his father just berate his brother like that. Fierce loyalty and love and regret for all the things he hadn’t saved his brother from washed through him.
His father kept pushing against him.
They were locked in a standstill, but Kade would do this all day long if he had to. He wasn’t too high and mighty to be a lineman today, and just like his guys were the best around a
t protecting Kade, he would pay his brother back for not being there for him all those years ago.
His dad kept coming, and Kade kept blocking.
He saw Felicity’s wide eyes, and he saw her shooing the staff away and requesting they give them some space.
“Dad, no.”
The battle continued.
“Leave him alone!” Kade finally roared, feeling emotion from the last ten years pour out of him. “Leave my brother alone!” The words were at least a decade too late, but he’d gotten them out.
Finally, his father stopped pushing, apparently realizing he wasn’t going to get through.
He saw Felicity out of the corner of his eye, and he felt crazy. He could only imagine what she thought of him. But, he couldn’t let his father treat his brother this way.
His father looked vexed then pissed. “Why are you doing this?
“You can’t do this, Dad,” Kade said, calming himself. “Just let Anthony have a second to recover from a broken neck before you start in on him again.”
Wow. He felt really good. It felt so freeing to tell his father this. To finally stand up for Anthony. He realized he should have done a lot more of this. “Stay out.”
“You think you’re gonna keep me out of this room?” His father spit on the floor and gave Kade a challenging look.
“Yeah, I am.”
His father turned, and his gaze fell on Felicity. His eyes narrowed before he turned back to Kade. “Her? I thought she was just a paid date.”
Kade saw Felicity didn’t even flinch.
His father swore again.
“Dad, just go.” Kade tried to keep his voice calm, but he could feel his jaw clenching.
His father sneered, looking happy he’d finally understood where he could hurt Kade.
“Fine.” His father straightened. “He can be your problem then.”
Kade didn’t wait for his father to ride off into the sunset. He just turned back and went into the room.
For a few moments, he stared at his brother. He couldn’t move in the neck brace with a bunch of monitors attached to him and his leg propped up. It seemed like he had an arm that was hurt too. But unlike the crazy manic way he’d felt earlier, now he felt calm.