Call You Mine (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #4) - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,45
I’m a stupid kid. News flash, I’m not.”
“Stop!” Pierce orders, pointing at him, then looking at me. “Why the sudden need to add some gigs?”
“The guys proposed it. I personally think that if we work within those parameters, it can happen. Also, we can try to keep everything within an hour’s flight,” I explain. “As I told them when they suggested this idea, it’s up to you.”
Pierce nods. He looks at Hayes, who shrugs.
“Twenty dates,” Pierce offers. “Set twenty dates throughout the year and the rest here or in Happy Springs.”
“Don’t encourage him.” Henry’s eyes narrow to crinkled slits.
“If we want him to trust us, we have to trust him too,” Pierce explains.
“It goes two ways, Henry,” Hayes agrees. “We need a few rules, though.”
“I think it’ll be smart if we request those dates as your free days—in case you are late,” Pierce suggests. “That gives you ten days to do whatever the fuck you want.”
“Isn’t it against the rules to use them for work?” I ask.
“Let me worry about the details. I can bend the rules slightly.” He looks around the room. “You want to vote on it?”
“I’m cool with it,” Mills says.
“Same,” Vance agrees.
“I trust you to do the right thing. So far, you’ve managed to stay in town,” Hayes says. “Honestly, I thought that you’d be flying out of here within the first week.”
I did.
“Give me some credit. I know how to be careful and not just do something stupid,” I say with a straight face.
It’s not a lie. I wouldn’t do anything stupid. That’s different from I’ve been out and about. I just know how to cover my tracks.
Henry looks at me. “Get Sophia, Blaire, and Leyla on board, and you got yourself a deal. I trust you, but if you fuck this up…”
I cross my arms, smirk, and give him a challenging look. “You’re going to ground me?”
“No, I’m going to make you fix it.”
Fix it is the wrong word. I could save the people affected. The properties will be sold, and the Lodge demolished. However, I am ready to step in and manage to save the town and the livelihood of those fucked by our father. He doesn’t need to know that, though.
“Don’t challenge him,” Mills warns Henry. “Or underestimate him. Maybe if you stop calling him kid and start giving him more credit, he wouldn’t have the need to leave the main house and come to this place every day because he can’t deal with your attitude.”
“I’m trying to make sure he doesn’t fuck up anything,” Henry defends himself. “He almost died.”
“I didn’t.” I snort. “You need to chill. When I’m on my death bed, you’ll know.”
“Enough, Beacon,” Hayes orders with a low, commanding voice. “He’s not handling this well.”
Pierce looks at me and says, “Look, we’re trying our best, but as the doc said yesterday, we can’t lose another brother. You scared us shitless by disappearing, and it wasn’t because we thought you were gone but because something could’ve happened to you, and there was no way to reach you in time. Henry is concerned. You have to remember that sometimes his emotional constipation only allows him to yell like a wounded animal. We’re a work in progress.”
“You have fewer hang-ups than we do because your grandparents did a great job raising you,” Hayes says reassuringly.
What he’s really saying is that Henry’s behavior has a lot to do with his fucked-up life and nothing with what I’m doing. Fine. I’ll give him a pass.
Neither one says what we all know; their mothers’ bitterness made them the way they are. I understand. If my grandparents were alive, they’d chide me for being an asshole to my brothers. Maybe I should ask for a day and drive to Seattle. I should hang out with Grace’s family. They keep me grounded.
Grace is my anchor, though.
“By the way, the guys are buying a place, and Grace might be moving into town.”
“Are you finally going to tell her how you feel?” Henry asks with a smug grin.
“I always do. She just doesn’t believe me.”
“Clearly, you don’t know how to do it well,” Hayes says mockingly. “Maybe compose a cheesy song.”
I could list all the songs I’ve written for her. Instead, I change the subject. “Well, just so you know, she’ll be around for the remainder of the sentence.” I hope.
Pierce’s eyes brighten. “Do you think she can give us a hand with the little ones?”
“You still haven’t found a way to get us a nanny?” Mills groans.