Crushed (18 page)

She nodded thoughtfully. “So it wasn’t because of her that you changed your college
choice? Your whole career path?
Because I’m not blaming her but to be honest, I
did
think you based your decision on your relationship.
”

“No,”
he
said decisively.

“But you just never brought it up until recently.”

“Like I said, I knew Dad wasn’t going to be happy about it. I knew he wouldn’t let
it drop.
And I was right, wasn’t I?” he knew he was. “
I guess I just took the easy way out and let him think what he wanted for as long
as I could. But no, I
never
wanted to go to
Northwestern
. And I
never
wanted to take over the mill. He just thought I did
. I mean really, he never asked. If he would’ve asked, I would’ve told him. He just
assumed
. And then he blamed Cleo when he found out differently. When I told him last year
I had other colleges picked out he had a meltdown.
I’ve tried to tell him it wasn’t her fault. He ignores me, like I have no say in
the matter. Just like I knew he would. That’s why I waited so long to tell him.
”

“You could have told
me
,”
she
pointed out. “You
should
have told me. We could’ve talked to him.”

The trouble with that?
His
parents were already having problems. At the time, they’d been on the verge of separating.
He
hadn’t wanted to make things worse
. E
ven though
he and his mom
were close,
he
hadn’t talked to her like
he
normally would’ve
. Turn
ed
out, they separated anyway. Even now,
he
felt like
he
was dumping on
his
mom
. A
nd
he wasn’t sure just how stable his parents’
marriage was at the moment. “I didn’t want to dump any more on you at the time. You
had enough to deal with.
”

“I’m your mother.
And you are not
dumping
on me.
These are the kinds of things you are supposed to tell me. Yes, your father and I
were having problems. That’s no secret
. B
ut you and your sisters have always been my first priority.
”

Reece
didn’t say anything. She was probably right.
He had
taken the easy way out. Or what
he had
thought had been easy at the time
. He’d
been a coward by avoiding
the issues altogether.

“What else should I know?” she urged.

“Did he tell you that if I go into forestry, I have to pay my own tuition?”

Beth
pursed her lips. This seemed to
anger
her more than anything
they had
already talked about.

She finally blew out a breath. “Reece, you do not have to worry about your own tuition.
We’ve had money set aside for your education for a long time.
You can go into whatever field you want to
go into. Just like your sister
s did.”

He
nodded.
He’d
had a hunch his
dad’s
threat was nothing to worry about. At least, not if
he
got
his mom
involved. If it were up to
Landon
? Then
Reece
would probably have to worry.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m defending his actions, because I’m not. But
for as long as I can remember
, his dream was
to become a successful business
man. You know growing up, he didn’t have much. Part of the reason he was so desperate
for that success was because he didn’t want his children
to grow up the same way. He wanted the three of you to have
it easier than he did.
He’s always thought the mill was the key to that. He’s in a position to offer you
a career that would probably pay double what you would make starting out elsewhere.
He’s prepared to hand the whole operation over to you one day.”

“But—
,
”
Reece interrupted and Beth
held up her hand to stop
him.

“But you don’t
want it. I understand that. The
way
I
feel i
s that the mill has provided us
with the means to help you and your sisters pave your own way. To follow your own
paths. It’s still making life easier for his children, just not in the way he envisioned.”

“I wish he would see it that way,”
Reece
mumbled.

“I know, honey,”
Beth
said. She looked exasperated.
Reece realized s
he looked that way a lot lately when it came to
her husband.

As long as
they
were digging into things,
he
had one more topic
he
wanted to cover. “I’m thinking I should
buy
my own car.”

Beth
’s brow furrowed. “Why? Why would you want to do that?”

He
shrugged. “I’ve been looking around. I have enough in savings
.
I could probably get something that isn’t too bad. I figure if I bought it, I don’t
always have to worry about him taking it away. I’ll be eighteen in a few months and
then I can put it in my name.”

Beth
slumped in her chair and
Reece
suddenly felt bad. When she’d asked how
his
week h
ad gone, he was
pretty sure she
hadn’t realized
what she was in for.

“You don’t need to buy your own vehicle. We’ll be switching your Navigator
into your name on your birthday. J
ust like we did for Amanda and Chelsey. You just keep that money in your saving
s
account until you find something you really want,” she firmly told
him.
“As for this entire conversation,
I’ll be speaking to him about this.
And if anything else comes up, I want you to come to me. That’s what I’m here for.
” 
She
got up to check whatever was in the oven. Then she turned back to the counter
and
pick
ed
up a knife to slice up the loaf of French bread.

And, as if on cue, or maybe it
was just later than Reece
realized,
they heard the front door open. Beth shot Reece
a look as
they
heard
Landon
toss his keys onto the table next to the door.
Reece
heard the closet open and close as he hung up his coat.

Beth was
staring at the bread like she
was
going to enjoy slicing it to bits.
Reece
t
ook
that as
his
cue to leave.
He
stood up from the table just as
his d
ad walk
ed
in.

He
had a
big grin on his face. “Damn, whatever you’re making smells good!”

Beth
pushed
a smile onto her face. She was
clenching the long, serrated knife in her hand. “Landon, darling,”
she
said
.
Reece
grabbed a couple
slices
of bread and made a run for it.
“I would like for you to tell me…
W
hose
house is this?
Who
decides
the rules around here?
Who
makes the decisions?
Because I seem to be under the mistaken impression this is a marriage, not a dictatorship,”
she said as
Reece
reached the
bot
tom of the stairs.

Chapter 1
1

“You
look exhausted,”
Emma chastised
as Cleo
slumped
into her front seat.

This wasn’t news to
her
so
she
just nodded.
She
looked terrible.
She
kne
w it. There wasn’t a whole lot she
could do about it. Make-up only went so far.

Emma gave her
a sympathetic look
and then backed out of the driveway
. “You need to tell him the truth.”

She felt her
self blanch. “I can’t. Too risky.”

She shook her head. “You don’t know that. I bet my nail polish collection that you
two could work this out if you would just talk to him. I don’t think there’s anything
Reece wouldn’t do for you.”

She just shrugged. She knew Emma
was right.
Maybe
. She
just couldn’t take the small risk of her being wrong. And she
could
be wrong. There was a time when
Cleo
knew Reece would do anything for
her or give anything to her. But now, she
wouldn’t blame him if he hated her for how she’d
handled things. Even if
she
did have a reason for what
she
had done
. “He’s with Mia now.”

Emma gave her
a searing look. “Uh-huh. Just ask Lauren how well that’s going,”
she
advised.

“What? Why?”
Cleo
demanded.

“She told me one night they were all over at Adam’s and Mia made a comment about you,”
she gave
Cleo
a pointed look, “I don’t know
what
so don’t even ask. It’s not important. Anyhow, Reece pretty much tore her apart over
it
. T
hey barely talked the rest of the night.
Actually, she
said
that happens a lot.
Them fighting about you, I mean.
”

Cleo’s
stomach flipped over unpleasantly.
She
knew Emma was only trying to help
. B
ut the thought
of Reece and Mia talking about
her in
any way made
her
feel
a little sick. Then again, the thought of Reece and Mia at all made
her
a
lot
sick.

“Mia’s obviously nothing but a
rebound. It’s not going to last,
”
Emma said confidently.

Cleo shook her
head at her
.
They
’d had this conversation multiple times already
. “It’s already lasted three month
s
.” An unbelievably long time, as far as Mia’s track record went.

“You know what I think? I think,” Emma said before
Cleo
could say anything, “that Reece is going out with Mia because he’s too nice to go
out with anyone else.”

“What does
that
mean?”
Cleo
asked.

“I think because
of
Ethan, he thought he needed to be with someone too. But it wouldn’t be fair for him
to be with someone he could hurt. We both know Mia’s been after him a long time. His
family has more money than anyone else
’s
in this crappy town.
Including hers.
I think it’s a status thing for her. Reece probably knows it too. There’s no doubt
he’s still hung up on you.” She shrugged. “I really don’t think he’d go out with anyone
if he thought they were
really
into him
. When he so obviously still wants to be with you
.”