by Stacy Finz
“I don’t compete anymore.”
Colt stared him down. “You don’t compete or you’re afraid to compete?”
“I don’t have time to compete. I run a business, Colt. I run it because no one else in this family can be bothered with the day-to-day crap that makes the trains run on time. Why does everything always have to fall to me? Why don’t you compete, or better yet, Win?”
“Because you have the best chance of winning.” Colt put his beer down on the counter and gave TJ a long, assessing look. “Why is it that everyone knows that except you?”
“Bullshit!” TJ said. “You and I both know that if anyone of us can even place in the White Crush, it would be Win.”
Colt laughed. “Seriously, what is it with you and our youngest brother? Win’s good, maybe even great. But you’re the fucking maestro of the mountain. Sometimes I think you sabotage yourself just so you can put on this loser act of yours.
“Do what you want,” he continued. “No one is forcing you to compete. But know this: We’re not going to keep financing a losing venture. If you and Deb can’t save the online store in the next couple of weeks, we’re voting to close it down. And TJ, as much as I love Deb, we can’t keep her on just because she’s your girlfriend. You’ve already promised Darcy a promotion. There isn’t room in the company—or on the payroll—for two if there’s no store. This is a business; we have to run it like one.”
TJ had always run it like a business. He’d been the one to dedicate his life to growing their profits, not Colt or anyone else. For that reason, he resented Colt’s self-righteous speech. Colt wasn’t the boss; TJ was. But he couldn’t deny the truth. Without the store, Deb held a position the company simply couldn’t afford.
He’d fix things some other way. But not by skiing in the White Crush. He’d given his blood, sweat, and tears to GA; no way was he giving his soul.
Chapter Twenty-Three
In usual Britney psychotic fashion, she’d changed her mind about going to Win’s parents’ for dinner.
“Not an option,” he’d yelled at her over the phone. “My mom’s hosting this for you and me. Be ready when I get there, Brit.”
He was pretty sure his demand would go unheeded. Britney did whatever the hell she wanted, regardless of hurting or embarrassing others. The only trump card was Win cutting her off financially. And if she reneged on going tonight, he’d do it. He’d stop paying her rent, her utilities, and all the other bills she’d saddled him with.
He nosed into a guest parking space as close to her condo as he could find. As it was, they were running late. His mother had gone to a lot of trouble; he didn’t want to spoil her party.
As it was, he’d been avoiding his family the last few days, not wanting to answer a lot of questions about Britney and their so-called plans. One day they were getting married, the next they weren’t, depending on Brit’s moods.
But it wasn’t just about Britney.
On Tuesday, he’d overheard TJ and Colt talking at Garner Adventure. Thin walls and doors. His brother and Deb, huh? It certainly explained why TJ had hired her. The truth was, Win didn’t know how to feel about it. In a lot of ways, Deb had always been his best friend. Maybe he’d led her on to think there was more between them, and maybe he’d always figured someday there would be.
But with all the crazy changes in his life, he needed at least one constant and Deb had always been that. Until now. He didn’t know if she’d be at dinner tonight with TJ. Every time he’d seen his brother this week, Win had taken a detour. If TJ was bringing her, the sad and simple truth was, seeing them together was going to hurt.
He got out of his Jeep, slammed the door, and marched up Britney’s front steps. She opened before he could knock.
“Good, I’m glad you’re here.” The woman was psychotic.
“Forty minutes ago, you threatened to cut off my balls. What is it with you, Brit?”
She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. “You want the neighbors to hear?” Britney clearly meant Cami, who had ears the size of rabbits.
He followed her into the living room. “Nice flowers.” There had to be three dozen red roses in the arrangement. He fervently hoped he hadn’t paid for them.
She was at least dressed appropriately. A long, flowy top and nice pants, instead of one of her sequined numbers or something else over the top for a casual country dinner.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“We need to talk.” She pulled him toward one of the sofas.
He was through talking. “We’re late, Britney. My mother went to a lot of trouble to do this. The least you can do is be polite and show up on time.”
“I’m not marrying you, Win.”
He sat down and rubbed his hand down his face. She was pushing him past furious and it took a lot to make Win mad. “Are we doing this again? Make up your goddamned mind, Britney. But know this: I’m raising my baby.”
“It’s not yours,” she said and sat next to him. “I’m marrying the baby’s real father.”
For a second, he wondered if he’d heard her right. “What are you talking about?” Was this another one of her stunts? That was par for the course with Britney; she was always working her next con, always upping the ante for the big score.
“Win, did it ever occur to you that we always used condoms?”
Yeah, and she’d said she was on birth control. But shit happened. He didn’t need a sex-ed class to know that. “Cut to the chase, Brit. Have you been lying to me this entire month?”
She at least had the decency to look guilty. “You don’t know what it’s like, Win. You come from money, a supportive family, and brothers who would do anything for you. I’m on my own, without any support system.”
He stared her down, his jaw clenched. “Did. You. Lie?!”
“Yes.” A tear slid down her cheek, which instantly filled him with guilt. He didn’t like making women cry, but this was unacceptable. She’d sent him to hell and back these last few weeks.
“How am I supposed to believe you? What did you do, Brit, hook a bigger fish?”
“I can have a paternity test done at the end of the first trimester to prove it to you, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that it isn’t yours. I’ve always known, Win. Cortland is giving me an allowance until we get married and I’ll pay you back for every cent you gave me.”
Cortland? What the hell kind of name was that? Whoever he was, let Britney be his problem from now on.
“Why didn’t you just tell me the baby was someone else’s in the first place? I would’ve helped you if he wasn’t willing to step up, Brit.”
“I was scared,” she said, and another tear made a slow pass down the side of her face. “But it’s all good now. Cortland’s decided to do the right thing and you won’t be stuck with me.” Britney flashed a weak smile. “Or a baby.”
And Win was willing to bet Cortland made three times as much money as he did. Britney had probably choreographed everything just right. “How’d you work that, Brit?”
Her expression turned sheepish for an instant, and then it went hard as granite, the face of a scrapper. “I threatened to go to his family as soon as it was safe to do the paternity test.”
“And what makes you so positive it’s not mine?”
Her eyes dropped to her feet. “The timing. I’m a little more pregnant than I led you to believe.”
“I was there when you took the test, Brit.”
“Uh . . . it wasn’t my first test. You and I had a break in fall, when I met Cortland. That’s when it happened.”
He tilted his head against the back of the couch and let out a breath. “So, if Cortland hadn’t come through, you would’ve married me under false pretenses.” He should’ve been angrier, but all he felt was tired. Bone-tired.
She didn’t say anything, which answered his question. He reached across the table and removed the small card from the stick in the floral arrangement. It was signed Cortland. At least Win hadn’t paid for it.
“How far along are you, then?” He got to his feet.
Again, guilt flitted across her face. “Ten weeks.”
“I want that paternity test, Britney.” He actually believed her, but he wouldn’t put anything past the scheming witch.
She nodded and rose, too.
“I’ll call you in a few weeks,” he said and walked to the door.
She followed him and took his arm as he started to leave. “I’m sorry, Win. You’re a good guy. But look at the good side of it; you’re free.”
He shook her hand off his biceps and walked out. Free? He was happy to be rid of her, that was for sure. But he still felt like he’d lost something. Something he hadn’t even known he wanted.
Win got in his Jeep and made the drive to his parents’ house. It took him forty minutes in traffic. People who didn’t know how to drive in the snow. When he got there, everyone was already around the table. Everyone except Deb. Win assumed TJ was waiting for the right moment to break the news that they were seeing each other to him.
A room full of eyes stared at him as he stood there, probably looking like road kill. He certainly felt like it.
“Is Britney not coming?” his mother asked hesitantly.
“Nope. The wedding’s off and the baby’s not mine. Let’s eat.”
* * *
Deb got to work bright and early Sunday. She planned to spend the day fine-tuning the online store. Jillian had showed her a few tricks to make the site come up in searches more often. Although they still weren’t getting many orders, she was satisfied that they were doing all they could, including notifying their thousands of newsletter subscribers of another blowout sale.
She planned to talk to some of the local ski resorts and the kayak and bike rental places about carrying flyers and needed to update all GA’s printed materials with the store’s link. Jillian had also helped her create a new Garner Adventure signature for all the employees to use in their emails that was clickable to the webpage.
If TJ would give her the budget, she wanted to run a few ads in adventure magazines and websites. The rest was word of mouth, which meant they needed their guides to wear the gear and push the merch. Next week, she’d schedule a meeting to discuss it, including giving everyone a fun pitch they could use at the end of every tour to send clients to the site. Hannah had helped her with it.
But frankly, she was putting all her hopes in White Crush; that was, if TJ even planned to show up. She hadn’t talked to him since the meeting at GA on Friday. Not for lack of trying, that’s for sure. Two days and he hadn’t returned her calls. Colt had told her to give him space, that it wasn’t her, that it was the idea of competing again. She had no idea that it was such an issue. He’d always sloughed off missing his shot at the Olympics. If she had known how much angst it caused him, she never would’ve signed him up in the first place.
She checked the time. Before everything had gone south between them, TJ had promised to come in today and work with her on a PowerPoint presentation for the meeting with the guides. Deb hadn’t the foggiest idea how to make one. He’d confirmed this morning with a short text: I’ll be there. But he was late, probably lagging after a late night at his family’s for dinner. Given all the turmoil, she hadn’t gone. The fact was, TJ hadn’t been able to get Win alone long enough to tell him about them. Deb thought it was unnecessary to be so formal about it, but TJ thought it was important.
Noise in the lobby pulled her out of her chair. She went up front to see what the ruckus was, hoping TJ had finally arrived. But it was Win, and he was dragging an antique wooden canoe through the reception area.
“What are you doing with that?”
He jumped, surprised to see her. “You scared the crap out of me.”
She grinned because it was fun sneaking up on Win.
“Give me a hand with this. I want to take it to the back and patch the hole.”
Baffled, Deb asked, “Why didn’t you park in the rear so you didn’t have to lug it across the building?”
“Because the front door was closer. I carried it from home and it’s twenty degrees out and this weighs a hundred pounds.” He said it to her like she had a comprehension problem.
“What are you doing with this old thing anyway?” They made much lighter ones nowadays. And why in God’s name had he carried it across town?
“My brothers and I built it when we were kids. It’s great, when it holds water.”
Patching an old boat that couldn’t be used until spring seemed like an odd way to spend the weekend. But she didn’t argue and grabbed an end. They tried to get it around a tight corner between the reception counter and the wall, but the ridiculous thing was cumbersome.
“Do-si-do it,” Win instructed.
Wasn’t that a square dancing move? She ignored him because she didn’t know what the hell he was talking about and tried to flip the boat on its side, hoping it would buy them more space that way.
“Not like that; like this.” He hefted up his side, causing her to lose her grip.
“Win, you’re going to drop it.”
“For Christ’s sake.” He lifted the whole thing himself over the counter while she scurried around to pick up her end again.
In the process, she collided with him and their legs got tangled up. Next thing Deb knew, they were both sprawled on top of each other on the floor. Win had somehow managed to wrangle the canoe out of the way so neither of them hurt themselves. Deb felt like she was in an I Love Lucy episode.
“Get off me, you big lug.” She pushed on his chest, but he lay on top of her, laughing his head off. She started laughing, too. “Seriously, you’re crushing me.”
He lifted up on both elbows and hung his face over hers, “Not until you say ‘Uncle.’”
She never got to say it because at that very moment TJ chose to walk in.
He stood there, frozen, an imperceptible twitch in his left cheek. “That certainly didn’t take long.” And just like that, he turned around and walked out.
“Shit, get off me.” Win rolled to the side and she scrambled to her feet as fast as she could and went after him.
But Garners were fast and he was gone, the exhaust from his Range Rover tailpipe leaving cloudy puffs in the air. Win found her a couple of minutes later on the sidewalk, bent over with her hands on her knees.
“You better get inside without a jacket.”
She didn’t feel cold, only numb. “I need to go find him. You think he’ll go home?”
“Maybe or to Royal Slope.”
She shook her head. “His skis are here.”
Deb started to walk home to get her car keys, but Win grabbed her arm. “Let him cool down.”
“You don’t understand; he thought we were . . . because he and I . . . oh, Jesus.” Then it dawned on her that Win already knew because why else would he say to let TJ cool down? “Did he tell you last night?”
“No. Let’s go inside before you get hypothermia.”
She followed him. He went in search of her jacket because she’d begun to shiver. When he came back, she put it on and he motioned for her to sit on the couch.
“What do you mean, no?”
“He didn’t talk to me about it.” He sank down next to her, and for the first time, she noticed the brackets around his mouth and the bags under his eyes. “I overheard him telling Colt on Tuesday. Things blew up last night, and I suspect he didn’t think it was the right time.”
“What happened? Did you two fight?”
“Britney broke the news that I wasn’t the father of her kid. She’s marrying the real father. . . . I’m off the hook.”
Deb jerked in surprise. “Oh, Win, are you okay?”
“About Brit? Hell yeah. The baby? It’s strange, but I miss not having him . . . or her. Does that sound crazy?”
“Not at all.” For all his faults, Win could be sensitive—and good as gold. She’d always loved that about him. “It’ll happen for you. But next time, it’ll be under better ci
rcumstances.”
“I know.” He slapped her leg, an attempt at reassuring her that he was okay.
“I need to go, Win. I need to talk to him.”
“Does he love you?” Win asked, his voice soft.
“I don’t know.” You. I want to come home to you. “But I love him.”
“You do?” He studied her, because they both knew what he was really asking.
“With all my heart.”
“Then you better get moving,” he said and got up to tug her off the sofa.
“Are you really okay, Win?” His eyes were slightly glassy.
“Just a lot of changes.” He pulled her in for a hug. “I’ll talk to TJ, too. We’ll get this straightened out.”
“I don’t want to put a wedge between you two.”
“Never.” He shook his head. “We’re Garners, Bennett; we stick together. And TJ’s the best of the bunch. You chose wisely, Grasshopper.”
She grinned because Win was loyal and amazingly self-deprecating when the time called for it. But most of all, he was a true friend.
She ran home, got her car keys, and drove to TJ’s place. His truck was parked in the driveway. Deb rang the bell, and when that didn’t rouse him, she banged on the door a few times. Finally, she whipped out her cell and called him.
“I’m at your door and I know you’re home. It’s freezing out here, so please let me in.”
She waited and waited and nothing. Undeterred, she went around back. Sure enough, she found him working on his boat. What was it about Garners and their boats in winter?
“Hey,” she called as she walked down the dock. “I’ve been pounding on your door.”
He didn’t say anything, just gave her a cursory once-over.
“Can we go inside and talk? I don’t know what you think you saw, but nothing was going on, TJ.”
“Maybe not this time.” He went back to hosing down the sides of the Outback. Fruitless, because it was just going to snow again.
“Please.” She stood there feeling helpless, especially with him ignoring her.