Читать книгу The Marine's Temptation - Jennifer Morey - Страница 8
ОглавлениеAfter the detective questioned them and AdAir Security gave him the recording of what had happened in the parking garage, he left to begin an investigation. Now Carson turned to Whit, who stood behind his desk, too charged up to sit down. He leaned against the wall with his feet crossed and arms folded, and Georgia sat on a sofa next to Ruby. The detective had asked them about Reginald’s murder and, after cautioning them over carrying on their own investigation, seemed to think the shooting might be related to their meddling.
“Why would Dad’s killer shoot at you and not me?” Whit asked. “We’re both looking into his murder and Jackson’s kidnapping.”
“Maybe he hasn’t tried to kill you yet,” Georgia said.
“I don’t think it was Dad’s killer who shot at me.”
Whit’s brow lifted. “Oh? You didn’t mention that to the detective.”
No, but his thoughts were filled with other possibilities. Disturbing possibilities. “We don’t have anything on the murder. No leads. Our best suspect is our mother and she’s not in the country. Why go to the extreme of killing us when it appears our mother is the one who murdered Dad?”
“Who do you think it could be?” Georgia asked.
Carson looked at her but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure how much he should say.
“What motive would Mom have?” Whit asked. “That’s always bothered me. Why would she kill Dad?”
“Who knows?” Carson said. “She tried to kill Elizabeth. Dad was so distant with her, she could have done it as a result of his neglect. Their relationship wasn’t good.”
“No, it wasn’t. Not true love, that’s for sure. But is that enough to make her kill him?”
Maybe Patsy had taken all she could and finally snapped, beginning with the murder attempt on Elizabeth. But if the kidnapper had killed Reginald for getting too close, then it seemed unlikely that Patsy could have been that person. He supposed the kidnapper could have killed Reginald and was now going after Carson and Whit, but Carson didn’t think that was what happened in the parking garage.
The way the shooter had carried out the shooting, covertly moving in and making a clean getaway, was tactical and planned. Would Jackson’s kidnapper be so professional? Possibly, but Carson didn’t think so.
“What are you thinking?” Whit asked, moving around his desk. He must see Carson’s doubt and concern. He stopped before him.
“What’s wrong?” Georgia asked.
He looked over at her, again unsure of how much he should say.
“Do you have any idea who might have shot at you?” Whit asked.
Slowly, Carson nodded.
“Who?” Georgia asked. Beside her, Ruby followed the thread of conversation by looking from one to another.
“My last mission didn’t go as planned,” Carson said.
“You were shot.”
Yes, he’d been shot, but a lot had happened before that. He glanced at Ruby and Georgia again. “It was a classified mission.”
“Were you in the military?” Ruby asked, innocent of what Carson might be implying—that someone from the failed mission had come shooting at him.
“Yes. I was part of a four-man team in MARSOC, which stands for the Marine Corps Special Operations Command. Our missions were assigned by US Special Operations Command.” He looked pointedly at Whit, who understood the brotherly code. His team had done top-secret reconnaissance missions in some of the most dangerous places in the world. In this case, he’d gone to Myanmar, an arms-embargoed country and a conduit for illicit trade. If Carson had made an enemy there, the shooting in the parking garage could only be the beginning. But it was probably best not to discuss that in front of Ruby and Georgia. He could only trust Whit right now. And for the women’s safety, he’d keep them out of it.
He looked over at Georgia, who sat wide-eyed in fascination he doubted she welcomed. She had known he was in the Marines but not that he’d done special forces. Did that put a chink in her anti-Adair armor?
Seeing Ruby notice with a tiny smile, Carson wondered if she shared Georgia’s animosity or if her disgruntlement centered only on Reginald. Interesting, that Ruby had been the one who’d been hurt by an Adair and it was Georgia who carried the torch. The two were close, but Georgia was Ruby’s champion. Ruby had a frailty about her, whereas Georgia was a rock.
“Georgia is a librarian,” Ruby said.
“Mother,” Georgia said, a warning for her to stop playing matchmaker.
A lover of books. Carson wasn’t sure if the profession fit her fiery disposition.
“How do you propose we handle this?” Whit asked.
“We wait for the detective to study the evidence. See what he comes up with from the video surveillance. Then I’ll take it from there.” If he had to involve his colonel, he would.
There was a lot to consider here, namely, the safety of his family and Ruby and Georgia.
“What was your rank in the Marines, Carson?”
The way Ruby asked made Carson wonder if she was asking for Georgia, who, although intrigued, would not give in and ask herself.
“Lieutenant.” He saw how Georgia tried to hide her awe while her stepmother asked all the questions.
“You didn’t want to leave?”
He shook his head. “I’d have retired a marine.”
“Why did you have to leave?” Ruby asked. She may have noticed his limp but hadn’t made the connection.
“I can’t be a marine with this.” He gripped his lame leg. Resentment and regret rose up as it always did when he was reminded of all he’d lost. He struggled with that reaction, one he always had when people asked him about it.
“Oh,” Ruby breathed her realization. “That’s where you were shot?”
He really didn’t feel like talking about this anymore. He saw how Georgia hadn’t missed a thing, and pushed off the wall.
“There’s a limo waiting in front of the building.” He went to the office door. There, he looked back at Whit. “We’ll see you later.”
Ruby left the office, and Georgia’s dark green eyes met his as she passed. Out in the hall, she let Ruby go ahead of them.
“What did you mean we?” she asked.
“Whit and his wife are having a barn dance tonight. They finished their new house and are having something of a house warming. Since you and Ruby are staying at the ranch, you may as well join me.”
As Georgia’s mouth parted to reject the invitation—Carson was sure that’s what she would have done since she’d rejected the invite to Whit and Elizabeth’s party that had ended up being their wedding—Ruby stopped and faced them with a cheery smile. “Oh, how delightful. We’d love to.”
Georgia didn’t look excited at all about the prospect of going to a party. Maybe it had more to do with a party that an Adair put on. It would do her some good to see for herself that his family wasn’t a bunch of mean people with money.
“Dress casually,” he said to her, loving how easy it was to rile her.
* * *
Carson found Georgia and Ruby in the living room, sitting on the big off-white leather sectional. They’d both changed into jeans, Ruby much more conservative. Georgia wore a teal-green scarf over a white boatneck T-shirt and distressed jeans that were nearly worn through in places. She had teal accessories, belt, shoes and jewelry. She was so put together. Completely different than the suited woman he’d seen at AdAir. The librarian had sparks. A librarian who hated money. Or was it only his money? He wondered if he should stifle the urge to test her on that.
“I have a little surprise,” he said. “Follow me, ladies.”
Ruby stood with an excited smile and came toward him. Georgia was much slower, woe to be her, subjected to an evening with awful Adairs.
Leading them to the front door, he opened it to a waiting horse-drawn carriage, complete with a driver.
He helped Ruby up and then offered Georgia his hand next. She didn’t take it. Amused, he sat beside her and not Ruby. Ruby looked on in approval, and Georgia scooted over to put space between them. He almost chuckled.
But business had to come first. The carriage was a tool, part of his strategy to relax Ruby enough to broach the subject of Jackson.
He waited for the carriage to start moving.
Ruby sat prim and proper, rail-thin, salon-finished nails, light brown hair dyed to hide her gray. Even her physical appearance supported his expanding theory that Georgia had taken on too much responsibility where Ruby was concerned. It was sad that Ruby had lost her son so long ago, but Georgia had her own life to live.
“I don’t know how you could have ever dreamed of leaving all of this,” Ruby commented, in a fairyland all her own as she took in the landscape.
“I could never have stayed.” This was actually a good way to lead into asking her about Jackson. “It’s what my father wanted.”
“Did Reginald expect you to stay?”
“He expected me to go to college for some kind of business degree and, yes, follow him and Whit. My father and I were never close. He had little interest in being a father. He spent most of his time working.” He glanced over at Georgia, who listened like a mama bear, ready to attack if Carson said anything harmful to Ruby. He was about to take the risk of being clawed. He turned back to Ruby. “If I’d have known his first son was kidnapped and much of his aloofness came from that, things might have been different. He never talked about his feelings, but he must have been heartbroken over losing Jackson.”
“He was. Reginald was a changed man after Jackson went missing. When Jackson was born, I like to think we fell even more madly in love. Our love for Jackson made us close. Until Jackson went missing.” She gazed off into the darkness, unaware that Carson had begun the questioning he’d been itching to do since they’d arrived in California. But Georgia was. Her eyes had narrowed in warning.
Carson ignored her. “It wasn’t your fault, Ruby. Someone took your baby. You didn’t give him away.”
Some of the sorrow left her as she looked at him again. “That’s very kind of you to say, Carson, but no one back then believed I was a competent mother. I left him outside to go answer the phone.”
Reginald and his family had blamed her. “In your own backyard. He should have been safe. You should have been able to leave him out there without worry.”
“It was the middle of the day,” Ruby said, encouraged. “I was in the backyard with him, doing some gardening. He was in his carrier. The phone rang and I went in to answer it. I was only gone one or two minutes. When I came back outside, he was gone.”
“Who knew you had a baby?”
“Everyone. Family. Friends. The police questioned all of them. I’ve always thought my neighbor at the time was holding something back, but the police didn’t find any reason not to believe her. That’s something that has always bothered me.”
“Why did you think she was holding something back?” Carson asked.
“She had a lot going on in her life at the time. She just seemed... I don’t know...distracted. The police didn’t talk to her long. I guess I’ve always felt she might have seen something and didn’t tell police because she didn’t want to be involved. It was an impression I had, nothing more.”
Something she’d noticed in the way her neighbor spoke to her? It may be important.
“Did you ever tell Reginald any of this?”
She turned from her lost gaze out across the dark landscape. “He called me about a week before he was killed and asked me about her. He remembered that I’d mentioned what I’d thought of our neighbor and he wanted to confirm it.”
Reginald had called Ruby? She must not have minded. She must be over him. Of course she would be. Their marriage had been so long ago. And Ruby had been happy and in love with Georgia’s father.
“He was going to look into the neighbor,” Carson said aloud.
“Yes, but I don’t think he had the chance.”
“I don’t, either, which is why I plan to talk to her.” Carson stopped questioning her. He had enough for now.
“Are you going to go to North Carolina?” Ruby asked.
Beside him, he sensed Georgia’s tension over the desperate hope coming from Ruby.
“I’ll need to in order to talk to some people.”
“Georgia and I could go with you.”
Ruby seemed to want to help, but it was clear that Georgia had other ideas.
“Why don’t we just let Carson handle this?” Georgia said. “You’ve already been through enough. Leave it up to him.”
“It’s much easier if we’re there. We can help him.”
Carson doubted she’d be of much help, but he also wasn’t so sure that was her main reason. More likely, she couldn’t bear to wait to hear what kind of progress he was making. Waiting here would be harder than being there. But if he made no progress, wouldn’t that be worse for her?
“Let’s decide that later,” Georgia said as the carriage came to a stop in front of the barn.
He watched her take in the grandeur of Whit and Elizabeth’s new house with reluctant admiration and decided right then to enjoy proving her wrong about the rich—the Adairs.
* * *
Georgia hopped down from the carriage, still marveling over Whit and Elizabeth’s big house. It was on the ranch property and it was as spectacular as the Spanish hacienda from where they’d just come. This afternoon she’d gazed out over rolling hills of alfalfa fields, horse pastures and citrus groves and several outbuildings. The guesthouse was three times the size of hers in Florida. She didn’t want to be impressed or like it so much, but she was and she did.
Seeing Carson watching her, she marched toward the barn. She didn’t want to be impressed by him, either, but the deft way he’d handled Ruby had softened a part of her heart. He may not be finished talking to her about the kidnapping, but he had enough to go on for now and backed off. She appreciated that. But he didn’t have to know it.
Reaching the open barn doors, where light poured out onto a corral, she stopped. People ate at tables and danced in the middle to a live country music band. There were Adairs everywhere. And nice or not, Carson was part of this family, the one who had treated Ruby so horribly and attracted people like them. Reginald had loved Ruby, but it was his family that had destroyed them. It hadn’t just been losing Jackson.
Georgia didn’t shun all rich people. Not all rich people were snobs or magnets to draw others like them into their circle. People could make a comfortable, secure living without amassing enormous wealth. There was a difference between struggling to get by and making a comfortable living. People didn’t need hundreds of millions or even billions to survive. Yes, the rich created jobs and kept the economy going. But without those who kept the wheels turning, the ones struggling to get by or making a comfortable living, they’d have nothing. People like Reginald and his parents were just plain greedy. And even if one or two in a family managed to remain humble, there was bound to be someone or several who weren’t. As far as Georgia was concerned, getting involved with a rich man wasn’t worth the risk of happiness.
Carson and Ruby stood on each side of her. Everyone looked normal, but Georgia braced herself for the backlash. Ruby was the first to step forward and introduce herself to a young couple. The happy light had returned and she was ready to mingle. Affection and love swelled up in Georgia. She didn’t have any trouble melting right into the crowd. It was as though she’d stepped into another world and wasn’t an average Lake Mary, Florida, resident anymore. Free for the night. Maybe she was remembering what it had been like to be married to Reginald, to be well off. She had loved Georgia’s father, but he hadn’t made millions.
Georgia followed Ruby and was disappointed when Carson joined her. The young couple wandered off and a man about the same age as Ruby appeared before the three of them.
“Carson.” He stuck out his hand. “I heard you were back. So sorry to hear about your parents.”
“Hayden. Good to see you.”
“Who are these lovely ladies you have with you?” He spoke to Ruby, who all but gushed over the attention.
“I’m Ruby Mason. How very nice to meet a charming devil like you.”
Georgia gaped at her stepmother. She’d never seen her act this way before. Maybe she had when she’d met her dad, but Georgia had been so young, she didn’t remember. A traitorous thought came to her: socializing with the rich made her this way.
Hayden spent extra time greeting Ruby, lifting her hand to give it a kiss before saying, “A pleasure.”
Ruby blushed a little, and Georgia was shocked over the transformation in her. Clearly, Ruby loved the attention. Back in Florida, nothing made her shine like that. Most of the time she was sad and lonely.
“Hayden runs a ranch bordering ours,” Carson said.
“Oh,” Ruby said, sounding awed.
Georgia gaped at her again. What was wrong with her?
“What brings you to the Adairs’?”
“Ruby was married to Reginald. She’s Jackson’s mother,” Carson said.
Hayden sobered. “Oh. Tragic. We were all so shocked to find out that Reginald had another son.” He turned to Carson. “Your family certainly has had its share of bad news of late.”
“Yes, but we’ll overcome. An Adair doesn’t give up easily. Whit and I will find Jackson. And we’ll find my father’s killer.”
Hayden turned to Ruby. “Then you’ll be in town awhile?”
“I...” She looked at Georgia and Carson. “We may be taking a trip to North Carolina. That’s where I lived when my son was taken.”
“Too bad. I was going to offer to show you around.”
Wasn’t that a little sudden? Hayden sounded as though he were quietly trying to get her to change her mind and not go to North Carolina so she could stay here and get to know him.
“Oh,” Ruby breathed, clearly delighted he’d made the suggestion. “I would be thrilled to have you show me around. Maybe some other time?”
She’d spend a day with a man she had just met? Georgia was taken aback. Was it his money? Who was this stepmother and what had she done with Ruby? Carson knew the man, so maybe that changed things. That was when an idea struck her.
Distancing Ruby from the search would minimize the amount of pain she suffered along the way. The less involved she was, the easier it would be on her, particularly if they never found Jackson.
“You did say you wanted to see the old lighthouse,” Georgia said.
“Yes.” Ruby looked disappointed.
“And the museums...?”
Ruby stared at Hayden forlornly. “Yes.”
“When are you leaving?” Hayden asked. “Perhaps we can take a day or two.”
“Why don’t you stay here, Ruby? Carson and I can go to North Carolina.” Beside her, Carson turned a sharp look her way. “I’ll call you every day with updates.” If there were any. “You don’t have to be there with us.”
“Oh...I...” Ruby’s happy light began to shine again. That and the shameless flirt Georgia had never met before.
“There’s Beachfront Village I could show you, as well,” Hayden said. “There’s a fabulous place to have lunch there.”
“If you like, you can join up with us later,” Georgia said. Or not. Hopefully, this mutual interest Ruby had with Hayden would keep her here and away from Jackson’s kidnapping investigation.
“Well...if you’re sure.” She smiled coyly at Hayden.
“I’m sure.” She met Carson’s wry look. He knew what she’d just done. At least he didn’t fight her on it. Now all they’d have to worry about was being alone together.
* * *
Carson brought Georgia a glass of wine and put his beer down before sitting beside her at the picnic table they had all to themselves. They had made their way around the barn, and she had met more people than she could possibly remember.
“What do you think so far?” he asked after sipping his beer.
What did he mean? “About what?”
“All these rich people.”
Oh, he was teasing her. “I think they’re rich.” She sent him a mock smile.
With a grin, he left it at that, making her wonder why. Was he playing games with her? Or was he just pushing her because he was offended by what she thought of him? Carson, offended? No. He was way too confident for that. He seemed amused. Charmed, even. Why would her opinion of him and his family charm him? What was her opinion of him? When she’d first arrived, she was full of animosity. She’d expected Patsy’s kids to carry through with what she’d started and keep her stepmother from the inheritance that was rightfully hers. But Carson had surprised her. Some in his family may be coldhearted snobs but he was not. Was just being a part of the family that had so hurt Ruby enough to keep her reticent? She didn’t know him, after all. And didn’t everyone put on their best face when they first met someone? Maybe the evil side would emerge later. If she gave him that much of a chance.
Dismayed that her thoughts had even gone down that path, she looked toward the dance floor and spotted her stepmother doing a two-step with Hayden. They were really hitting it off, ogling each other, oblivious to anyone else. They hadn’t run out of things to talk about, either. It worried her that her stepmother had taken to the rancher so quickly. Would she end up repeating old mistakes? She hadn’t taken any money from Reginald when they’d divorced. It had been a matter of principle. And guilt. Poor Ruby. But she didn’t look like a woman to feel sorry for right now.
“She fits right in,” Carson said.
Realizing he’d followed her gaze and that he was likely challenging her again, she said, “They just met. He could turn out to be no different than Reginald.” Just like what she’d been thinking about him.
“Hayden is a good man. He lost his wife five years ago. She was his high school sweetheart and he made his millions the hard way...on his own. Not only is she safe with him, he would take care of her like a gentleman.”
Would Carson do the same with a woman? And what did he mean by take care of her? That he kept his women?
She wasn’t prejudiced against all rich people. He had to know that, so she took the risk of offending him again and said in a light tone, “Well, then it’s probably a good thing he isn’t an Adair.”
He wasn’t. He just grinned, enjoying what he perceived as her misconception. Maybe she did have a misconception, but the agony Ruby had suffered when she had been a part of this family was too deeply ingrained in her. She couldn’t just turn off years of conditioning. And letting down her guard with him would be a recipe for unhappiness, as far as she could see.
“How much did this cost?” He fingered her scarf.
She looked down at his masculine hand lifting the soft, silky green material and then letting it fall back against her chest. She met the playfulness in his eyes.
“I don’t remember.” She did. It had been expensive. She saved her money so that she could go on a few hundred-dollar shopping sprees every so often. She could spend an entire day putting outfits together, and then loved organizing them in her closet and wearing them until she saved enough for her next spree.
“The purse?”
She couldn’t say she didn’t remember that one. It was a famous American brand. “Three hundred or thereabouts.”
He whistled. “You like expensive things.”
“I like clothes.” Lots and lots of clothes. Plus, accessories. The accessories were the best part about putting outfits together. But she’d never tell him that.
“That could cost a good amount of money if you do it often enough,” he said, sipping his beer without removing his gaze from her.
She did. Something else she wasn’t going to tell him. But then, she didn’t have to. He’d figured that out on his own. And, oh, he was having fun. She discovered that tickled her. He had an infectious sense of humor.
She couldn’t stop a brief laugh. “Okay, you got me.”
His deep chuckle did more than tickle her.
“There you are.”
Carson’s brother interrupted what would have ended up being a long, hot stare.
“Georgia,” Whit said in greeting.
“Mr. Adair.” She sat back, realizing she’d leaned toward Carson as though his charm had enticed her to.
“Call me Whit. We are in a barn, after all.”
She smiled and then Whit turned to Carson.
“I’ve finally managed to get away from Elizabeth,” he said. “And we don’t have mediation lawyers and police around anymore.” He looked over the crowd in the barn. “Just a bunch of neighbors and friends.”
What was he talking about?
“Why do you need to get away from Elizabeth?” Carson asked.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something. I want it to be a surprise for her.” Something caught his eye to stop him.
Georgia followed his look along with Carson. Landry had arrived. She laughed exuberantly with a group of men who were clearly taken by her. She looked like Scarlet O’Hara in that infamous scene, only—Georgia looked closer—maybe a little tipsy.
“She’s later than she usually is,” Carson said.
“Yeah. Have you noticed how different she’s been?” Whit asked. “She’s taken Dad really hard, but I expected her to be moving on by now.”
“Mom’s behavior shocked her, I think,” Carson said.
“Well, maybe it’s time to shock her out of her funk. Did you know she had to cancel a charity event last week?”
Carson turned a sharp look to him. “No.”
“Yeah. Stayed out late the night before. Come to find out she hadn’t finished making arrangements. I doubt the sponsor will use her again.”
Carson stared at his sister awhile. “It’s so unlike her. She’s usually so punctual and together.”
“Yeah. Bad girl isn’t a term I’d stick her with but...”
Both brothers watched Landry swing an arm around one of the handsome men in her circle. She spilled a little of her drink and tipped her head back to laugh at her clumsiness.
“I’ll talk to her,” Carson said.
“So will I. Between the two of us, maybe we can talk some sense into her.”
“She needs to accept what happened.”
“Something I could say to you, too, brother.”
Carson turned another sharp look toward his brother. “Me?” Carson wasn’t a partier and he’d grabbed his father’s death by the horns. He was having no trouble coping. Except...
Georgia understood what Whit meant. Carson hadn’t accepted his injury and its impact on his future.
“It’s why I need to talk to you. It’s about AdAir Corp. I’ve been hesitant up until now to broach the subject. I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it.”
Perplexed, Carson’s brow rose. “This sounds serious. Feel about what, Whit?”
“I should have pulled you into my office for this discussion, but there never seemed to be a good time for that.”
Not with their father’s murder, Jackson’s kidnapping and someone shooting at Carson mucking things up.
“Okay. You’ve got my attention. This is about the business.”
Whit pulled out a chair and sat, flattening his hands on the table. He was still hesitant. Whatever he needed to say, he had major reservations.
“Whit? It’s me. Carson. Just tell me.”
“You might not like it. And it’s something I really need from you.”
“Okay. What is it? I’m sure we can work it out.”
Georgia began to feel like an intruder. “Maybe I should go talk to Ruby.”
She started to stand, when both men said, “No,” at the same time.
“You can stay,” Carson said.
She leaned back against the chair, and Carson turned to Whit again, who hesitated yet again.
“Carson, I know how you felt about Dad. His business. But with Elizabeth pregnant, I don’t want to spend so much time at the office. Now that you’re back and out of the Marines, maybe you’d consider taking over for me?”
Georgia felt the internal shock wave that rendered Carson still and speechless. He did not react well to that request. He hadn’t expected it, either. Whatever he’d thought they could figure out hadn’t included this.
“Nothing you need to decide now. I wasn’t planning on leaving soon. But give it some thought, okay?”
“What will you do?”
“I’d like to stay close to home. Work the ranch, maybe.”
How sweet. He wanted to stay close to his wife and raise a family. Beside her, Carson’s profile told a different story, as if he felt squeezed into a corner. Not just cornered. Pressed there. Crushed.
“Maybe you should hire someone,” Carson said.
Whit’s head angled and his mouth frowned in disappointment. “I didn’t expect you to react positively to this, not right away. But I don’t want to hire from the outside.”
“I’m not qualified.”
“Yes, you are. You know the business. Whether you like it or not, you know it. And I’d train you, help you with the transition.”
“Whit, I don’t think—”
“You need to put the Marines behind you, Carson. What happened.”
Whit meant when Carson had been shot. There was so much emotion radiating off him that Georgia became certain whatever conundrum he had over leaving the Marines affected him greatly. He hadn’t wanted to leave. He’d been forced because he’d been shot. And now the idea of taking over for Whit, taking his father’s place, did not go over well with him. He recoiled against it.
“All I ask is that you consider it,” Whit said.
Carson stood. “Yeah. Sure. I’ll think about it. What else am I going to do with my life than run Dad’s company?” Bitterness dripped from his tone.
He looked down at Georgia. “I’m heading back to the house. You coming or waiting for your mom?”
He sounded curt and annoyed. No, troubled.
“Oh...” Georgia was so stunned by his reaction that she fumbled for a response. “I’ll wait.”
“Carson, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot, but I had to talk to you about it. I don’t want the company controlled by an outsider. It’s a family business.”
“I said I’d think about it, Whit.” With that, he stalked off.
Georgia watched him go, more than a little curious over what had made him so surly. When he disappeared outside the barn, she turned to Whit.
“Well, that went worse than I thought it would,” he said.
She looked toward the barn doors. Carson was home, but he didn’t want to be here. He was here not by choice. He was a man who needed to be in charge of his own direction. Take that away and what was left? A man going through a life change. Resisting it every step of the way.
“He hates the idea of following our father,” Whit said, bringing her gaze back to him. “But he has nowhere else to go.”
“He could do worse than running a successful company.”
Whit grunted his doubt. “Tell him that.”
Maybe she would. Because she was sure something more than being shot had put all that emotion in him. More than rebelling against his father. And more than his father’s murder. What dismayed her was that something she couldn’t control made her want to find out.
