Broken (40 page)

“I did, once. She’s probably the only other girl besides Courtney who I’ve felt like I wanted to really be with. I was crushed when she left for college, but—”

“But, what?”

“What I feel for Courtney is so different than anything I’ve ever felt before for anyone, even Anna. Half the time, when I’m with Anna…I’m thinking of Courtney. I mean, I know we’ve only been out a few times, but that night she stayed with me…I kept thinking…ah shit, I’m such a fucking dick.” He shook his head and let out a sigh.

I put my hand on his shoulder. “Did you sleep with her, thinking it would hurt Courtney if she found out?”

He shook he head. “No. I mean, in a way, I was hoping it would make her jealous. I wanted to be with Anna…I really did. At least I used to dream of being with her, but the whole time…I couldn’t stop thinking of Courtney. I’d close my eyes and…” His voice trailed off. “That’s not fair to Anna. I know that. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.”

I snuggled back up next to him as he leaned back onto the sofa.

“I’m so confused, Whitley, because I don’t want to give up something with Anna to chase someone who won’t ever want me in her life…or give me a chance to be in her life.”

I nodded. “I understand, Reed, but if you truly love Courtney, don’t give up.”

Reed let out a long sigh. “Get some sleep, Whit. I’ll set my alarm in case I fall asleep, so we can head back up to the hospital in a few hours.”

I slowly felt my body relaxing for the first time in four days. “Mmm, okay.”

As I drifted off to sleep, I saw Layton’s face. I could almost feel his love wrapping around my body, keeping me warm and safe.

As I rode up toward the house in the ranch truck, I saw Whitley standing out front, talking to someone. It had been two months since the whole Roger incident, and even though he was in jail, my heart still stopped anytime I saw Whitley talking to a stranger. I knew the moment she saw me, she was going to be pissed that I had taken off.

All this sitting around is killing me. I’m bored out of my fucking mind and ready to do manual work, something with my hands.

As I drove by, making my way down toward the barn, Whitley glanced over and waved. I knew she would ask a ton of questions. I’d told Mitch to tell her I was going to mend a fence even though I knew that would piss her off. I couldn’t tell her what I had really done.

As I was walking toward the house, Whitley came around the side of the house, laughing at something the guy had said to her. I instantly didn’t like him. I didn’t like the way he was looking at her.

Jesus. Calm the hell down, Layton. She’s a beautiful woman, and men are going to look. Get over it.

She walked up to me, and the smile she gave me caused my heart to skip a beat. I smiled back as I leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.

“Hey, baby.” I looked up and reached my hand out to the stranger standing in front of me. “Layton Morris.”

“Mr. Morris, my name is Robert Mitchel. I represent a law firm in New York and Chicago.”

Oh great. Watch that motherfucker Roger try to sue me for beating the shit out of him.

“I guess I can see the whole lawyer thing now with the briefcase and all. Listen, if this is about Roger and—”

Whitley put her hand on my arm. “It’s not about Roger. Mr. Mitchel is being very secretive, but I can tell you it’s not about Roger at all.”

“Is there somewhere we can go to sit down, Mr. Morris?”

“Am I being sued?”

Mr. Mitchel let out a laugh and shook his head. “No. No, sir, you’re not being sued.”

I started walking toward the back door. “Then, come on in for a glass of sweet tea. It’s a beautiful December day, and the heat has made me thirsty for some tea.”

Whitley grabbed my arm. “Where did you go? Are you in any pain?”

I smiled as I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “The only pain I feel is the pain of not being inside you right at this moment.”

Her face blushed as she pushed me gently away.

We got inside, and Mr. Mitchel sat down at the table in the kitchen as Whitley got out three glasses. I took out the sweet tea from the fridge and poured us each a glass. As I sat down, I gestured for him to start talking.

“Well, Mr. Morris, I’m afraid I’m here on some rather disheartening business. My law firm, um…we represent your father.”

My heart dropped to my stomach, and Whitley reached for my hand.

“What has he done? Has he gotten into some kind of trouble?” I asked, trying to force the lump down my throat.

Mr. Mitchel looked away and then back at me as he shook his head. “Mr. Morris, your father passed away a few weeks ago. He’d left specific instructions for all of this information to be hand-delivered to you in person, here in Texas. I’m so very sorry to be the one to break this news to you. I understand that you and your father had a strained relationship.”

I let out a gruff laugh. “Yeah, you could say that. He left my brother and me to fend for ourselves as teenagers with no parents and a huge ranch to take care of.”

“Well, your father left everything to you with the exception of a small part of his estate to his granddaughter, Kate. He also—”

“Wait—he knew about Kate?” I asked as I took a quick peek over toward Whitley.

“Um, yes. He also knew about Miss Reynolds, and he asked for a handwritten letter to be personally delivered to her also. So, with you being here, it has helped me out, Miss Reynolds.”

Whitley tried to give him a smile, but I saw her hands were shaking.

She looked over at me and asked, “How did he know?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “How did my father know about Whitley? I mean, I guess I could understand maybe someone telling him about Kate. But Whitley?”

Mr. Mitchel took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Mr. Morris, your father was in constant contact with your foreman—a, um…Mr. Mitch Black. Mr. Morris would call him a few times a year to see how things were going on the ranch.”

All the air in my lungs felt like it had been sucked out. I sat back in my chair and shook my head. “That motherfucker was in contact with my father and never once told me about it?”

“Well, I’m not sure what their relationship was or why Mr. Black didn’t share this information with you, but yes, he had been in contact with your father over the last several years.”

Why in the hell would Mitch keep this from me?

“So, what is my father’s estate? I doubt he had any debt. He was always a fairly simple man,” I said.

Mr. Mitchel let out a small laugh. “Mr. Morris, your father’s estate is worth just over six million dollars. One million of that goes to Kate.”

I dropped the glass of sweet tea that I was bringing up to my mouth as Whitley and I both said, “What?”

Whitley jumped up and started to clean up the spilled tea and broken glass. After she sat back down, I looked at Mr. Mitchel and shook my head.

“How? I mean, I knew my father was always well-off, but I just figured he made enough to do okay since he still sent the yearly taxes on the ranch even though he had signed it over to us long ago.”

“Your father was a smart businessman. Most of his earnings were from stocks, investments, and racehorses. You’re also now the owner of six racehorses. Two of which are highly talked about as Derby contenders for next year.”

I sat up and just stared at him. “What are their names?”

Mr. Mitchel smiled. “Sunset Sky, Fast as a Bullet, Kate’s Date, Lay it Low, Mike’s Lucky Star, and Sweet Baby.”

I felt tears building in my eyes. I’d heard of every single one of these horses, but I had never dreamed they were my father’s. All were named after each of us. He must have used a different name as the owner.

“I can’t believe it,” I whispered.

Whitley took my hand in hers. “Layton? Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “He named them after us.”

Whitley looked confused. “What do you mean?”

I looked down at her and smiled. “Sunset Sky was the name my mother wanted to call the ranch. When he saw a horse he thought was a winner, he’d say, ‘That damn horse is fast as a bullet.’ Kate’s Date—well, that has to be for Kate. Lay It Low is what my father used to say when I got in trouble with my mother. He would tell me to lay it low until she cooled down.”

Whitley smiled. “Mike’s Lucky Star.”

I smiled and nodded. “For Mike.”

“What about Sweet Baby?” Mr. Mitchel asked.

I looked up at him and fought like hell to hold back the tears. “He called my mother Sweet Baby. I can see him now, walking up behind her as she cut up vegetables. He’d ask her, ‘How was your day, sweet baby?’ I can actually hear him saying it to her.”

My heart was breaking all over again.

Why did he leave us? Dad…why did you leave us?

Mr. Mitchel stood and opened his briefcase. He pulled out a folder and three envelopes. One had my name on it, one was for Whitley, and one was for Kate.

“Mr. Morris, you’ll want your lawyers to take a look at all of this. Your father was a major stockholder in an investment firm. All of that will be transferred to you. I’m guessing they will probably request for you to attend the next stockholder’s meeting.”

I rolled my eyes as Whitley let out a small laugh.

Motherfucker, not another investment firm. Why the fuck did my brother and father get involved with these companies?

“Where’s the firm located?”

“New York City.”

I saw Whitley suck in a breath of air. I was pretty damn sure we were praying to God it wasn’t Roger’s dad’s company.

“Miller and Pike Investments,” Mr. Mitchel said.

Whitley and I both let out the breath we had been holding. I glanced over to her, and she gave me a small smile.

“Do you have any other questions for me, Mr. Morris, before I head back to Chicago?”

I snapped my head over toward him. “Chicago?”

“Yes. That’s where your father was living when he passed away.”

“I see. Um…may I ask how he died?”

“Oh, yes, I’m so sorry. I don’t normally take care of estates like this. Please forgive me. Your father had lung cancer. He battled it for a few years, but…” Mr. Mitchel looked down and away.

“Thank you so much for making the trip out here. Let me walk you out,” I said. I leaned down and kissed Whitley on top of the head.

As I walked Mr. Mitchel out to his rental car and said good-bye, I noticed Mitch driving by, heading to the barn.

“Layton, don’t go talk to him right now. You’re upset, and now is not the time to do this.” Whitley placed her hand on my arm.

Fuck! This was supposed to be the best day of my life, and it’s turning out to be one of the worst.

“Will you go for a ride with me?” I smiled down at my beautiful girl.

She gave me that smile of hers that I loved so much as she winked and said, “I’d love to go for a ride with you.”

Whitley had been talking nonstop since we got into the truck. I knew she was trying to keep my mind off of just finding out that my father had passed away—and the fact that he’d left me with five million dollars, six racehorses, and God knows what else was in all that paperwork.

And in the letter.

I wasn’t sure I would ever read that letter.

As we got closer to the area I had set up earlier, my heart started pounding. I pulled up and parked. I looked over at Whitley and smiled. “You ready?”

“Ah…I guess so. Ready for what though?” she asked with a laugh.

“I have a surprise for you, baby.” I jumped out of the truck as easily as I could. I was still in a lot of pain, but I was trying like hell to hide it from Whitley.

I walked over and opened her door. She jumped out of the truck and looked around.

As we started walking toward where I had everything set up, she grabbed my arm.

“Layton, are we going to the old house?”

I smiled as I pulled her closer to me and crushed my lips to hers. When I pulled back, she still had her eyes closed.

“I miss being with you, Layton. I miss feeling you inside me.” She opened her eyes and smiled.

I grabbed her hand, and we made our way down the path that had been worn by the workers.

“Have you been coming here, Layton? I don’t remember such a worn path.”