Return to You (22 page)

“If it helps, he doesn't seem like the usual snob.” Kate knew how much her boss despised people with money and a superiority complex. “He seems pretty sincere, like he's really in a pinch.” When Selena still hesitated, she added, “He reminds me a little of my grandfather. Kind eyes, sweet smile, and honestly…there's just something about him that would make me feel horrible about turning him away.”

With a roll of her eyes, Selena relented. “Fine,” she said begrudgingly. “I'll talk to him, but I'm not making any promises.” Great, now she'd have to ruin somebody's grandfather's day. Perfect.

“I'll send him in!” Kate fairly skipped from the room and returned a minute later with an older gentleman. “Selena, this is Mr. Mackenzie Williams.”

Selena stood and shook his hand and motioned for him to have a seat while thanking Kate for showing him in. “Well, Mr. Williams, what can I do for you today?” Kate was right; Selena liked him instantly. He was in his late fifties to early sixties, and between his twinkling blue eyes and his infectious grin, Selena knew she would try to do whatever it took to help him out.

“Well, Miss Ainsley, I have found myself in a bit of a bind and I understand that you're the best in the area,” he began with a hint of bashfulness. “You see, I procrastinated a little too long on a couple of events that were up to me to cover for both my business and my family, and now I don't know how to get them both done.”

She nodded and began to take notes. “Okay, why don't we start with the business event? What was it that you want to do?”

“Well, we are opening up a new division within our company that's going to be based here on the Outer Banks. New office, new staff, and we want to have a big welcome party with our key executives. Nothing too fancy, some snacks, some drinks…more like a cocktail party than anything.”

“It doesn't sound overly complicated to me, so I just have to wonder why a local caterer couldn't handle it,” Selena asked.

“To be honest, I'm not looking for something I can pick up from the deli, Miss Ainsley. While I know I said nothing too fancy, that doesn't mean I don't expect quality, and your reputation in this community tells me you are someone who excels in that department. I'll understand if this is a little beneath your usual—”

“Oh no,” she interrupted, completely embarrassed by his assumption. “It's not that at all. I was just curious why you want to put in such a big effort for a seemingly small event. I didn't mean any disrespect.”

He smiled. “None taken, my dear. This particular event is very near and dear to my heart, and I want the new president of this division to know how much we value him and how excited we are to have him here. We've been courting him for quite some time, and now that he's finally accepted the position, I didn't want to put out some cheese-and-cracker platters. I want him to feel valued. Like family.”

Selena couldn't help but smile right back as she wondered if this new executive realized how lucky he was that his boss was willing to go all out to impress him. “I will make sure we customize everything to your liking. If you could get me a list of perhaps all of his favorite foods, drinks, music… My staff and I will guarantee that he'll want for nothing—and have you to thank for it!”

“Excellent!” Mackenzie beamed. “I knew you were the perfect company for the job.”

“And the second event? The family one?” she asked as she made notes on her pad.

“Oh, that one's going to be a bit of a challenge, I'm afraid.”

Selena quirked a brow at him. “How so?”

“For starters, it has to be a surprise.”

“That's not a problem at all. In fact, we handle several surprise parties every month. I promise our staff will be very discreet and won't give anything away.” She wrote a couple of notes. “We can actually hide our vehicles so that no one will be the wiser.”

Mackenzie continued to smile at her. “That was never in doubt. No, it's going to be a challenge because of the timing. You see, it will need to be the same day as the office party.”

Selena asked for the date and then checked her calendar. “That won't be a problem for us at all, Mr. Williams. We often have several parties on the same dates. And really, since it's a month out, even if we had some scheduling issues, we'd have time to work them out.”

He shook his head and frowned before shifting in his seat. “I'm going to be difficult for a moment, Miss Ainsley. The family event is a little more…intimate. I don't want a staff there, I only want a singular person. You.”

Selena dropped the pen that was in her hands. Clearly she hadn't heard him correctly. “I'm afraid I don't understand…”

“The family event is really an early engagement party sort of thing. Well, maybe party is the wrong word. The groom is looking to propose, and he wants a very romantic setting without it being so…public. No restaurant, no fireworks or writing in the sky. He's a very private person.” Still Selena looked confused. “He just bought a home, and he wants to propose in the place where they are going to spend the rest of their lives. He's not very good with this sort of thing, and I happen to…well, let's just say that I have a gift where getting people together is concerned. I'm thinking a romantic dinner, tons of candlelight… The property is exceptional, and I'm sure once you tour it, you'll come up with some fabulous ideas of your own. However, I do have some ideas…”

“I'm sure you're very gifted, Mr. Williams,” she began diplomatically. How many times had Selena been forced to tell well-meaning people that their “ideas” were not only horrible but impractical? “But,” she continued, “I don't usually work these events. I own the business, I organize everything, but I have a staff that handles all of the hands-on preparations. I have a very capable staff, and perhaps Kate could come and handle the proposal.”

He stiffened in his seat. “Miss Ainsley, I understand your position; I honestly do. As the head of my own company, I'd react exactly as you are if someone asked me to go back out into the field. However, it would mean a great deal to me if you were to handle this one personally. I'll pay whatever it takes to make it worth your while.”

Now her back stiffened. “It's not a matter of money,” she said icily, “it's a policy of mine.” She nearly jumped when he reached across the desk and took one of her hands in his, as if they were lifelong friends rather than near strangers.

“I'm a businessman, and I respect you. I did a great disservice to this young man many years ago and again recently. I'm doing my best to make it up to him. You see, there's only one thing he ever wanted in his life, and it wasn't much to ask for, but he never got it. Respect. I may be too many years too late, but I have to try. Please, Miss Ainsley. Help me try to make it up to him.” The sincerity of his words came through loud and clear, and by the end of his plea, his eyes shone with unshed tears and his voice shook with emotion.

Well, how was she supposed to say no to that? She wasn't heartless, and where family matters were concerned, Selena wished she had someone like Mackenzie Williams there to help and comfort her. Her eyes met his. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. With her hand still in his, she said, “I'll do it.”

James was miserable.

That was nothing new.

He had taken an extended leave of absence from the department after Selena left, and no matter how much he worked on his yard or pushed himself physically, he couldn't seem to snap out of the depression he found himself in. Weeks had gone by, and he could barely stand to be in his own home. He started sleeping in the guest bedroom because the master one held too many memories.

So many people had warned him that this day would come, the day when he would have to handle the fact that all of his running would bite him in the ass.

And it had.

Big time.

Even now, James couldn't quite say why he had done the things he had. There was rebellion and then there was flat-out stupidity. He knew now that he fell completely in the stupidity category. Probably worse. All those years had been wasted, sitting and sulking and not doing what he wanted to do: reach out to Selena and win her back. Her father's hateful words had always stopped him, and far too many times he himself had felt that she deserved far better.

Why had he doubted himself? James knew he was lucky to grow up in the home that he had and with the family that he had. They had always supported him. Well, up until he had decided that he didn't want to be a part of the Montgomery corporate machine. That wasn't a crime though, was it? The more vocal he had gotten about not wanting to work with his family, the more he and his father had butted heads.

Robert Montgomery was always a fair man, but he had taken James's need to make his own way in the world as a personal attack. James never forgot the day he had left home. His mother had cried and his father had told him that whenever he was ready to do the right thing, he could come home. Funny how he never considered his son being happy the right thing. It wasn't that he hated the family business; he knew it was the business that had given him so many opportunities growing up. It just wasn't what he wanted to do with his life. James wasn't a corporate kind of guy. He enjoyed getting his hands dirty; he enjoyed physical labor. None of the other Montgomerys were into that sort of thing. Well, except his brother Zach, but he enjoyed getting physical in the form of extreme sports. That definitely wasn't James's thing.

So where did it leave him? He was thirty years old and still didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up. Or maybe he didn't know
who
he wanted to be. It was probably the latter. All he knew was that he wanted to be his own person. Just James. Not James Montgomery of the Montgomery family—just a guy who worked for an honest living doing what he loved. Why, in his father's eyes, did that have to mean wearing a suit and tie every day to work? Why wasn't he allowed any kind of compromise? Where was the middle ground? Maybe it was time he and the old man hashed out that little point once and for all.

Or maybe later.

Right now he was too comfortable sitting on his front porch drinking a beer, having his very own pity party. Table for one. Looking up, he saw a family walking down the street, a husband and a wife pushing a baby in a stroller. He rubbed a hand over his chest. That's what he wanted. But then again, admitting that was nothing new. Why had he let it slip away from him without a fight? As much as he hated having the Montgomery name at times, back when Selena's father had threatened him, he could have had the best lawyers in the country come to his defense, and he could have shown Jerry Ainsley that he couldn't be bullied. Instead, he had let that man dictate the course of his life, and right now, that life sucked.

He was still sitting when a strange car pulled into his driveway. If there was one thing James was certain of, it was that no one ever dropped by on him unannounced. It was a rule. Or maybe that's just the way things turned out when you cut so many people out of your life—hard to have surprise guests when no one wanted to see you. Maybe this guy had the wrong address.

Surprise made him gasp first and groan second when he recognized the man climbing from the car. His uncle William. Great, just what he needed. He was in no mood to be polite or even civilized for that matter. He just wanted everyone to leave him the hell alone so that he could wallow in peace. His mind flashed back to the day of the reunion softball game, when he and Selena had been arguing and his uncle had called him. James hadn't called him back; he hadn't even listened to the voice mail message his uncle left. Had something happened to his family?
No
, he thought, shaking his head; if something had happened to any member of his family, it wouldn't have taken weeks to find out. Someone else certainly would have called before now to let him know. So what was the old man up to?

“Nice place you got here,” his uncle said as he walked up the brick path to the porch. “I always thought there was nothing nicer than a craftsman home. Love the wraparound porch. Your aunt always loved something bigger, more colonial with lots of brick, but to me, this is a house. The stonework is magnificent. You don't often see this kind of craftsmanship anymore.” He stood with his hands in his pockets and looked down to where his nephew was sitting on the front steps. “How're you doing, James?”

How was he doing?
How
was
he
doing?
He wanted to stand up and howl and scream and rage and tell his uncle exactly how he was feeling in hopes that he'd just go away and leave him alone. Doing his best to not growl, James said, “Fine, sir, and you?”

William rocked back on his heels and laughed.

“What's so damn funny?” James snapped, in no mood for whatever it was his uncle was here for.

“Your mother did a fine job teaching you to have manners, but your face and your posture are talking a completely different language than your mouth.” He came and sat beside James on the step. “Now, forget the politically correct answer and tell me exactly what's really going on with you.”

“Why? What have you heard?” When his uncle just continued to stare at him, James took a long drink from the bottle of beer he had sitting beside him. “Just working in the yard.”

William looked around, impressed. “It looks amazing. You always had a gift with this sort of thing. I'm surprised you never did more with it.”

James shrugged.

“Not that law enforcement isn't an honorable profession; I'm just saying it surprised me that you chose being a cop over doing what you love. After all, that's why you left home—so you
could
do what you love, right? What happened to that?”

“I changed my mind,” James said defiantly, staring straight ahead.

“Bullshit.”

Now James turned his head. “Excuse me?”

“You have plenty of faults, James, but playing at being deaf isn't one of them. You heard me loud and clear. I said bullshit.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he yelled, jumping to his feet. He didn't care that his uncle was thirty years his senior; James had been itching for a fight for weeks, and it looked like he was finally getting the opportunity. And wouldn't that go a long way toward making his family proud? Hitting a sixty-year-old man.

William stood, and even though James was near six feet tall, William still towered over him. “I mean that it's about time you grew up! You left home because you felt like you couldn't be who you wanted to be or do what you wanted to do. Fourteen years later and nothing has changed. You still haven't done what you wanted to do with your life!”

“I got sidetracked,” James snarled, his fists clenching at his side.

“And again I say bullshit. What the hell are you waiting for? Do you think that girl's father is impressed by the fact that you became a cop? He probably hasn't given you a second thought in years. Do you think he would have been impressed if you did what you set out to do and made a success of yourself? Maybe it would have gotten his attention if you succeeded at what he considered failure. All you managed to do was prove him right.”

“It's not about him; it was my decision to make, and I made it,” he said through clenched teeth.

William shook his head and laughed. “I thought you were smarter than that, James.”

“Meaning?”

“Of course it was about him; you wouldn't let your father dictate to you how to live your life, but you let Selena's father do it to you. He may not have told you exactly what to do, but he told you what not to do, and you went right along with it.” William leaned in close to his nephew. “And I thought you were stronger than that. The boy I remember had a strong will to prove to everyone that he didn't have to follow orders or do what anyone expected of him. Funny how a nobody like Jerry Ainsley was able to put you in your place when no one else could.”

“Wait a minute,” James said, taking a step back and running a hand through his hair. “What the hell are you talking about? How do you know about Selena?” And then he stopped and growled with frustration. “It was you, wasn't it? You and Ryder put your heads together and interfered in my damn life. Thanks to you and your damn report—”

“Do you think that no one in this family talks?” William asked with exasperation. “Ten years ago you kept your silence about what you were going through, but get a couple of drinks in you, and you spill your guts about what you really want.”

“Damn Ryder…”

“Your brother was concerned about you; hell, we all were. So what happened, James? She came here, you saw her…then what?”

James had a feeling he didn't need to go through a blow-by-blow description of events; his uncle always had a way of finding things out and knowing things that you didn't think anyone but you knew. “Then…nothing. It turns out I'm not what she's looking for. She's moved on. And now I have to as well.”

William stared long and hard at his nephew before giving a curt nod and turning back toward his car and walking away.

“That's it? You're just gonna leave?”

William turned around. “Why not? You're still not willing to be honest, not with me and not with yourself. The way I see it, this was a fairly pointless trip. My mistake. Take care of yourself, James.” He smiled, and it was sincere. “Oh, and call your mother. She misses you.”

James didn't think his uncle would actually leave, but he did. James stood there mutely as the car pulled out of the driveway and then down the block. It shamed him to know that his uncle had come all this way on his behalf, and all he could do was act like an ass. When would he learn?

How could he possibly put into words the pain that he felt? How could he stand there and admit to his uncle, to anyone for that matter, that he was so screwed up that he had no idea who he was or what he wanted out of his life? That he had gotten so lost along the way that he had no idea how to find the way back?

And there was another lie right there: He knew what he wanted out of his life. He wanted Selena. He'd always wanted her, and he'd go on wanting her until he drew his last breath. The problem wasn't so much admitting that as it was figuring out how to actually achieve that, especially after the way he had screwed everything up.

Walking back into his house, James looked around. He'd made a good life for himself here, but it was hollow and empty. This was a beautiful house, but he had no one to share it with, no one to come home to. Hell, he didn't even have a dog. Shouldn't he at least have put in an effort to have a little companionship? He was lonely. It didn't hit him until that moment, but the truth was that he was a lonely man, living a sad existence.

What difference did having a successful career make when it was a career he didn't love? What good was having a beautiful home when he was all alone in it? He walked into the living room and looked at the scattered pictures. He missed his family. Picking up the one photo of him and his siblings, he smiled sadly. Ryder was married to the girl of his dreams and having a baby, Zach was getting ready to go on some major climb in Denali, and Summer was always going wherever her heart led her. They were all happy and doing what they loved, and where was he? Sitting in an empty home and living a life that meant nothing.

Placing the photo back on the mantel, he walked to the kitchen and rinsed out the beer bottle in the sink before putting it in the recycling bin. Staring out at the yard he loved and worked so hard to make perfect, he couldn't help but smile with pride. He had done that; he had taken a blank canvas and turned it into a small oasis. That's what he wanted to do. He wanted to do that for himself and for other people. His heart began to pound at the thought of all the possibilities as the excitement built. It didn't have to be here on Long Island; it could be anywhere.

Even the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Reaching into his pocket, James pulled out his phone and scanned his contacts until he found the number he wanted. Pacing the kitchen, he waited for an answer and was surprised to hear a phone ringing out on his front porch. Pulling the front door open, he smiled at the person on the other side.

“What took you so long?”