has a somehow normal relationship?
He laughs. “Nah, I don’t do that shit. My best friend invited me to have brunch with her family. See you later, assholes.”
“You know what’s sad?” Mills’s low voice asks.
“That we’re getting together just because our father died?” Henry answers with a monotone voice.
“Other than that,” he amends his statement. “That we’re all alone.”
When I look at Leyla walking with Poppy toward the indoor arena, I’m reminded that I have her.
“I’m married,” I protest.
“Are you in all honesty happy with your life?” When he asks that question, I’m hit with an ugly answer. I haven’t been happy for a long time. It happened right after we got married.
“I will be when she signs the fucking divorce papers,” I answer.
This is the wake-up call I need to regain my life. Maybe this is the only real gift my father gave me. When Mills tells us that he’s going to therapy because he wants to be a good father to his son, I’m impressed. I should be more like him.
We end the call. I agree to be at Baker’s Creek. One last hurrah before I start a new life. I’m about to go to the arena to see Leyla and tell her about it but stop myself. It’s time to let her go and regain my happiness.
Chapter Fifteen
Pierce
I’m no stranger to shit shows during the reading of a testament. I’ve been the legal party mumbling the crap the deceased left to their families and friends and watching the faces of those loved ones change from grief to anger in a matter of minutes.
The Aldridge shit show starts with not only the six children my father has left but also Blaire Wilson, Carter’s widow, best friend, and Hayes’s ex-girlfriend. I already know the old man left a little treat in his stupid will when I see her. I pull out my phone to be ready to take notes. We’re going to have to fight her to say the least. Who the fuck knows what else he did? I don’t want the money, but I’ll make sure that the hard work of my ancestors isn’t left to someone undeserving.
“Why is she here?” I ask the infamous Jerome Parrish.
The man who left me that voicemail. The same who stayed with us during the funeral procession. Never have I seen a lawyer being at the cemetery. That doesn’t mean it’s not a thing. Did my father leave some stipulation about us being there that he had to see through? Well, Vance is already out of the running because he hasn’t arrived yet.
“Your father stated clearly that this couldn’t be read unless his seven sons were in the same room,” Jerome explains, handing over a package to each one of us.
I read it, and it’s true, it mentions that the seven of us have to be here. Pulling out my pen, I circle their first mistake. This is going to be easy to fight. By tomorrow Blaire will be saying goodbye to whatever she thinks she’ll be receiving.
“That document is outdated,” I say out loud. “Our brother Carter died twelve years ago.”
“Let’s get this over with, so I can go to bed.” Blaire glares at me. “Tomorrow, I have to drive back to the airport.”
Ask me if I care, Princess Blaire. I don’t give two fucking shits about your life. You shouldn’t be here.
According to Carter’s Mom, it’s because of her that Carter died without treatment. We could’ve saved him.
“We have to catch up, Skittles,” Beacon states, and the nostalgia of the old days grabs onto my heart. How I wish we were younger and the last time we saw each other wasn’t at Carter’s funeral.
“Mr. Parrish, would you mind reading the will,” Blaire focuses our attention to what matters.
“And please explain her presence.” I agree that we need to do this fast because I’m leaving today. There’s no point in staying any longer, but first, tell me why she is here.
“As I explained earlier, Mr. Aldridge wanted all his children present when his testament was read. In the absence of his son Carter, he requested the presence of his widow, Blaire Noelle Wilson.”
Hayes’s jaw twitches, and if anybody wonders if he still has feelings for her, the answer is right there. We go back to Aldridges can’t keep the people they love. He adored Blaire, and well…she married our younger brother, not him.
“You’re fucking kidding me. She gets part of the cut?” Henry protests. “She’s not getting more money from us. I’ll