by A. D. Ellis
Sawyer and Katie watched Decker walk to his sleek, black car. He waved as he drove away and Katie turned expectant, worried eyes toward the man who had been her best friend all those years ago.
Hanging his head, Sawyer sighed deeply. “Don’t Katie, just don’t. It’s not that easy; please don’t give me that look.”
“How do they not know, Sawyer? Surely I’m not the only one who knows?” Katie’s words implored and she felt tears rise again as she realized what her best friend had been living with for so many years. Reaching for him, she pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back. “Sawyer Morgan, you’re lucky your best friend is back in town. We’ll get you through this; there may be some storm clouds ahead, but a cleansing rain may be just what you need so you can face brighter days.” They chuckled together and she held his hand as they walked to her car. He kissed her cheek as she climbed in and he watched her back out of the parking space before he headed to his Honda S2000. A movement to his right caught his eye; if he didn’t know better he’d swear Decker was circling the parking lot. Why would his brother have come back here?
**********
He should have just driven home but he was obviously a glutton for punishment. The tiny bit of hope he’d felt when he sensed Sawyer’s awkwardness over the suggestion of a date with Katie was dashed as he watched her pull Sawyer into a hug and rub his back. The kiss at her car had been the final nail in the coffin of his hope. Katie and Sawyer had something between them and he’d respect it. Tomorrow, he’d lay it all out so there was no awkwardness, and they’d move on as colleagues. He’d also talk to Sawyer just so there were no secrets between them.
Chapter 8
The next morning, Katie grabbed her coffee before heading to the office. As an impromptu peace-offering, she grabbed a black coffee for Decker knowing he’d be there working out before he started his day; he and the other guys, along with the employees, always did their workouts before classes/programs started for the day or after hours. Facing the conversation she had planned, she was nervous, but felt strongly that clearing the air was the best thing for keeping their working relationship positive.
Arriving at The Center+, she caught a glimpse of Decker in the gym as she walked past toward her office. The man was pure perfection; tall, dark, and handsome was an accurate label for him. He and Sawyer both had their father’s athletic build and their mother’s dark hair. With a crooked little smile and breathtaking golden brown eyes, they were absolutely devastating. But, when she saw Sawyer in the weights section, she didn’t feel her breath catch. Watching Decker on the treadmill sent her heart beating into overdrive. Pushing the feelings down, she thought back to high school when her girlfriends had been gaga over both of the Morgan boys. She recalled how the girls always talked about having trouble telling them apart, but Katie had never had that problem. From the first moment she met them, she saw a softer, more vulnerable part of Sawyer; Decker had a harder glint about him, physically, emotionally, socially. Caught staring, she blushed as both men waved at her and then hurried toward her office.
Stopping his run at two miles, Decker stepped off the treadmill and headed toward the weights. Clearing his throat, he started to speak at the exact moment as Sawyer. They both abruptly clipped out, “So, um, I need to talk to you…” Chuckling nervously, Sawyer nodded toward his brother, “Go ahead. Floor is yours.”
Decker thought lifting weights while he talked would be helpful, but he found he needed his wits about him; placing the barbell back on the rack, he sat up on the weight bench. Clearing his throat yet again he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking. “Listen, man, this is rough, but I know you and I don’t have secrets between us, so I’m just going to put it out there. If it pisses you off, we can go a couple rounds in the ring if you want to.” Sawyer raised an eyebrow and waited expectantly for his brother to continue.
“Yeah, so, here’s the deal. I like Kate. As in like her. But, I saw how things were between you guys last night and I can tell there’s still something there, so I’m just letting you know that I promise not to interfere with whatever you guys have. In the long run, it’s for the best since I don’t date colleagues and dating my assistant manager would most likely spell disaster. But, I just wanted to clear the air so there were no secrets between us. She’s a great girl and I wish you both nothing but the absolute best.” Decker spoke in a rush and then turned pleading eyes toward his brother, begging him to accept the admission and allow them to move on.
Sawyer took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly, slight tears squeezing from the sides. A shuddering breath and a sarcastic chuckle escaped him before he whispered, “Secrets….yeah, no secrets.”
Decker frowned at his brother’s response. “Man, please tell me that this isn’t going to cause issues between us. I didn’t tell you to cause problems, I just couldn’t walk around with these feelings without letting you know. I figured laying it all out there would help me get rid of the feelings; I didn’t mean to upset you.”
He reached for his brother’s shoulder, “Hey, man, you okay?” Decker got the feeling that his admission wasn’t what Sawyer was upset about. Wondering if this reaction had anything to do with what Sawyer was so upset about a week ago, he waited for his brother to speak.
“Deck, we need to talk. Not about Katie, but there’s a lot to talk about. Work isn’t the place to do it. Thanks for letting me know about Katie. I love that girl with everything I have. But…well, let’s talk soon, just you and me, okay?” Sawyer let out a deep breath and headed toward the showers, leaving Decker confused and concerned. He didn’t like the thought of Sawyer being upset; something was definitely bothering him.
**********
“Good morning, Decker. I got you some coffee. Um, I know we have a lot to go over today, but I was wondering if I could have five minutes of your time?” Katie spoke directly but nervously, which brought Decker an extra dose of confusion. First his brother was acting strange and then Katie acting nervous; the strong woman in front of him didn’t seem to do nervous often.
“Sure, Kate, what’s up?” Decker leaned back on his desk, stretching his long legs out in front of him. Katie imagined walking close to him and positioning herself between his legs.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and spoke quickly, “Decker, I have feelings for you. I know nothing can happen between us because of work and the fact that you probably don’t feel the same. I feel silly even telling you this, but I felt the need to be honest and upfront about it in hopes of just moving on.” Finishing her speech, she dared a glance at him and winced at the look on his face.
“Un-fucking-believable…” Decker sighed out the word. “Well, Kate, I might as well present you with the main thing I wanted to discuss with you this morning.”
At the look of confusion on her face, he continued, “You see, the main thing I wanted us to go over this morning was the fact that I have these crazy feelings for you. I honestly have never been so drawn to a woman before. But, there are a couple issues. One, we work together and I don’t want to mess that up. Two, Sawyer.” When Katie cocked her head at him as if needing more explanation, he huffed out, “You guys dated; last night it was evident there’s still something between you; he just admitted to me that he loves you. No matter what the two of us feel, I will never disrespect my brother by stepping in on what is his. I hope we can just push these feelings aside and continue with our work relationship without there being any problems. If you don’t have feelings for Sawyer, that’s going to have to be something you two discuss, but I can’t be the reason you’re not with him. My loyalties will always lie with him, with my family.” Katie noticed the hard set of his jaw and knew his words came with a strong conviction and dedication to his family. She respected that, and it made her feel even more for him in that moment.
“Decker, I respect that, I truly do. First, I’d like to point out that I’m a person and I don’t belong to anyone so I’m not ‘his,’ but I think you and Sawyer n
eed to have a serious talk and soon. I won’t go any further into it….let’s just say that there’s nothing between Sawyer and me anymore aside from being very close friends.” Katie wanted to wrap her arms around Decker and hold him as she watched the confusion and unsureness dance across his face; she could tell that he didn’t like feeling unsettled like this.
“So, where does this leave us, Decker?” She wanted him to throw the rules out the window, but she knew he still had major reservations about her and Sawyer. Rules could be discussed, but nothing was going to change until he and Sawyer had an honest, heart-to-heart conversation.
“You are the best thing to have happened to me, Kate. Hiring you and having you working by my side is exactly what I needed. I wish I could say we could expand to something more, but there are too many hurdles to overcome. I hope we can continue our positive work relationship and push the rest of this to the back of our minds. Are you okay with that?” Decker spoke professionally, no emotion, no indication of the feelings swirling inside; he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her until neither of them could catch their breath. Damn his rules.
Sadly, but with complete understanding, Katie smiled at him, “Yeah, Decker, I understand, and I think that’s probably for the best. I’m glad we spoke and got it all out there. We can’t work well together if there are secrets between us. But, seriously, promise me that you’ll talk to Sawyer. Soon.”
The sparks between them as their gazes met across the room belied their little agreement, but they continued about their day, pouring over reports and plans. Both of their brains insisted to their hearts that they could handle whatever was between them just fine; a working relationship was what had started first and it was all they could have. End of story.
**********
“Sawyer Nicholas Morgan! You need to talk to your brother NOW!” Katie smacked his shoulder as she spoke to him, and he hung his head. “First, I can’t believe he doesn’t know. Second, I can’t believe you’ve kept this from them. Third, surely they all have an inkling. Fourth, you have one of the best families in the history of families, they will love you no matter what. Fifth, Decker has feelings for me, and I have feelings for him, but he won’t disrespect you by asking me out. Oh, and the convenient little fact that we work together isn’t helping matters either.” She took a deep breath after releasing her faux fury on her best friend.
Smiling at her, Sawyer focused on the last part of her speech, since it was easier to face. “Does my best friend have feelings for my brother? Do you want to kiss him and love him and have his babies?” Seeing her feelings written clearly on her pretty face, he sobered a bit. “So, you really like Decker, huh? Wrong brother all those years ago? I have to be honest with you, Katie-girl, even if you remove me from the equation, I don’t see Decker breaking his rules. You’ll still be his assistant manager, and I don’t think he’ll pursue you.” He watched as his best friend raised her eyebrows, obviously waiting on him to address the other issue that stood like a huge white elephant in the room.
“I know, I know, I’ve wanted to talk to them all so many times over the years. Honestly, I wish someone would have just straight-up asked me about it because I can’t ever figure out a good time to bring it up. I truly think they will all eventually be okay with it; I just don’t want to cause any stress or problems for them with their friends or people in town. What if it causes problems at The Center+? It’s like this huge weight on my chest, but I don’t want to put the weight on them; it’s my issue, I should be the one who has to shoulder it. Right?” He hung his head, partially out of shame for being so much of a pansy that he couldn’t speak to his family and tell them the truth, partially out of fatigue, exhausted from carrying around a secret for so many years.
“No, Sawyer. They are your family, they love you. They’ve supported each other through a lot of ups and downs. I’ve heard the love stories of your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, your parents, none of those times was easy. But, they loved each other and supported each other and made it through to a happier time on the other side. Share with them, let them support you. Even if some of them balk at first, I truly do think each and every one of them will eventually come around. But, you have to start with Decker; he’s your brother, your twin, your other half. He deserves to know and to hear it from you.” Katie hugged her friend tightly.
“He’s going to be so pissed. He was just talking today about how we don’t have secrets between us. And now I need to tell him something that is the mother of all secrets.” Sawyer knew Decker would be mad, but he thought he’d probably be hurt more than anything. They’d always shared everything, but Sawyer had been keeping something from him for many years.
“Yes, he’s going to be pissed. Decker doesn’t like secrets. But, I think he’ll be more pissed at himself for not realizing it sooner. You’ll throw him off-kilter for a while, and he doesn’t like the feeling of not being in control. But, he’s your brother, your biggest supporter, he’ll come around.” A kiss to his cheek and Katie turned to leave Sawyer with his thoughts. At the door she stopped, “Sawyer?”
“Yeah?” Sawyer was sitting on the floor, against the wall of the studio, looking like a lost little boy.
“Talk to him soon. I know he and I have some huge obstacles to get past, but I don’t need his loyalty to you being one of the hurdles I have to jump.” She spoke with a smile and a wink before leaving the studio.
With a deep breath, Sawyer steeled himself. It was time, past time, to talk to his brother. He promised himself he’d do it before a week was out. First Decker then the rest of his family. He’d never felt so anxious, excited, and sick to his stomach about something before, but Katie was right, he had to tell them.
Chapter 9
“Man, we’ve got a problem. Possibly a big problem.” Zach spoke from the doorway of Decker’s office.
Not one to get ruffled unnecessarily, Decker waved his cousin in. “Okay, let’s hear it, and we’ll get it worked out.”
“Well, one of our biggest backers just called me and said he’d received some confidential information detailing some ‘unsavory labor practices’ at one of our suppliers. He’s put a freeze on his contributions until we can prove that the supplier isn’t involved in anything illegal or corrupt or unsavory. Without his money coming in, the supplies for the new wing can’t be bought which means the construction has to stop for now. I’m sure I don’t have to explain that we’re still under contract to pay the construction crew even while we are losing days to this.” Zach delivered the news and Decker’s stomach plummeted.
“Damn, this is bad. Which supplier is supposedly bad? And where the hell did this confidential information come from?” Decker was pissed.
Zach rattled off the name of the supplier, but had no leads on where the confidential info had come from.
“Fuck!” Decker held his head in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself. “Okay, I will call the backer and let him know that I have the utmost faith in this supplier. I’ll pay a surprise visit to the supplier and take pictures and video of the day-to-day procedures so that I can reassure myself and the backer. There’s no way the supplier is involved in anything wrong.” Pacing his office, he knew he could solve this problem easily within a few phone calls and a day or two out of the office. “Sit down with the crews and come up with lists of things they can continue working on the next couple days while we get this taken care of.”
His biggest concern was who was messing with the expansion. Someone had to have it out for him or The Center+ to go to this amount of trouble to pause construction. “Who the hell would take the time to mess with The Center+? It’s a place for learning and growing and having fun; who could oppose that?”
“I don’t know man; maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with The Center+. Maybe someone has a beef with the supplier? Or someone is hoping for our backer to pull his monetary support from us and put it somewhere else? Just get on the phone with the backer and make your plans to pay
a visit to the supplier.” Zach stopped before leaving Decker’s office. “Maybe take someone with you? Kendrick and I can’t go, we’ve got meetings scheduled. I’m pretty sure Sawyer is booked with introducing new programs to the community. Maybe Katie could go? Having another witness to prove there’s nothing corrupt would probably be helpful.” As Zach retreated, Decker acknowledged the wisdom behind his cousin’s suggestion; but he questioned his own wisdom in considering Kate as his partner for the trip. This was going to be an overnight trip; could he ignore what was between them? Did he want to continue ignoring it?
On a strangled whisper he spoke to the empty room. “Shit, what am I talking about? There’s no question about it. She’s my assistant manager so of course she’s the one I should take. There’s nothing to ignore. She’s my colleague and my brother loves her, no matter what she says.” Decker nodded his head at his own little pep talk. Walking to the adjoining door, he knocked and popped his head in.
“Hey, Kate, got a minute? We’ve got a problem I’m going to need your help with.” The smile she turned on him did funny things in his gut. This was going to be a long trip.
**********
An hour later, Decker had explained the problem to Katie and called the backer with assurances and an explanation of his plan. Katie had pulled a history, all clean of course, of the supplier in question including a BBB report, tax filings, and statements of satisfaction from former and current employees.
“Okay, we need to leave in about an hour. I’ll head home to pack. Can you pick me up at my place? We’ll get there tonight, grab a bite to eat, find a hotel, and then go check the supplier out tomorrow.” Katie was excited about the trip; she wanted to prove to the backer that The Center+ wasn’t involved with anything unsavory. Her excitement had nothing to do with an overnight trip with Decker. Nothing at all.