Taming the Moguls (4 page)

Unless he heard a compelling argument against
it, he’d meet with Holcomb’s rep and decide if STS had a toehold in
the fight to keep Bear Stream the quaint lift it had always been.
His dad had taught him to never miss an opportunity to size up the
competition. Tommy had a feeling Holcomb’s rep wanted to size him
and STS up right back.

Chapter 7

Kevin drove Shiloh’s sedan down the drive to
his mom’s house, pulling the visor down to block the afternoon sun.
The pretty wood cabin stood along the banks of the river as it
always had. His mom had her flowers planted in the pots flanking
the garage, and they looked half eaten by deer. He’d felt excited
about coming home before his big fight with Shiloh, but an ominous
feeling settled over him and caused him to drive slower than
normal. He’d put off his trip home long enough.

His mom would be furious. Sarah
Woodward-Dodge believed in the sanctity of marriage above all else.
Her mantra of no bailing, no cheating, and giving nothing short of
the best was ingrained in his head. He hadn’t bailed or cheated,
but he knew he hadn’t given Shiloh his best lately. Maybe longer if
he cared to think that far back. For the sake of self-preservation,
he didn’t.

Dodge came out of the barn as he drove past,
forcing Kevin to stop. He put the car in park and slowly got out.
Dodge came around the bumper with his hands and jeans covered in
grease.

“Well, look who finally showed up,” Dodge
said, wiping his hands on a rag he’d pulled from his back pocket.
“I hope you aren’t expecting leftovers.”

Kevin let out a half-hearted chuckle. The
Thanksgiving meal was one of his favorites, and the fact that he
hadn’t even considered what he’d missed confirmed the dire state of
his affairs. “I know you and Lyle wouldn’t leave me a crumb.”

“We thought about it…for about two seconds.
Where’s the little woman?”

“At her mom’s.” It wasn’t a lie. Even though
he hadn’t talked to her, there wasn’t any place else she’d be. If
Dodge didn’t know Shiloh had been in town for days, she’d surely
been hiding out with her parents. Good. He didn’t need his family
to find out about their problems through the grapevine.

“You staying a while, or do you have to get
back for work?”

“Ahhh, I think we’ll be here longer than
expected.”

Dodge gave a funny quirk of his lips that
Kevin didn’t know how to read. “Your mom’s got Lyle’s old bedroom
all fixed up and ready. We’re glad to have you as long as you don’t
move in like your brother. I just got him out.”

Kevin stifled a flare of jealous irritation.
His mom and Dodge seemed to weather every storm—and there’d been
quite a few through the years—without even a crack in their armor.
That was half Kevin’s problem: They’d set a seemingly impossible
standard. “You won’t even know I’m here.”

“Not likely, kid, but I’m glad you made it.
It’s good to see your ugly mug. Besides, I can always use a hand
around here.”

“Slave labor’s not free anymore,” Kevin
joked.

“For room and board, you’re damn right it
is.” He tucked the cloth back in his pocket. It hadn’t made a dent.
“Go on up and say hi to Sarah. She’s been missing you, boy. We both
have.”

The muttered endearment was the equivalent of
a love song coming from Dodge. Kevin thought Dodge might feel
differently when he heard the news. Kevin climbed back into his
car.

“Tell your mom I’ll be a while yet. If you
get a hankering for using your brain on something other than an
airplane, we could use some help with the tractor.”

“What brain?” Kevin tossed through the car
window.

“Good point,” Dodge said before ambling back
toward the barn.

He hadn’t lied, he told himself as he
continued to the house. He’d merely neglected to give Dodge the
details. He needed to tell his mom first. Dodge would have known
something was up the minute he arrived home, anyway.

Sarah sat at the kitchen counter with a cup
of tea and an open book. The smile that broke out on her face when
Kevin came up the stairs could have lit the Denver skyline during a
blackout. She jumped up and threw her arms open wide. “Kev! You
didn’t tell me you were coming today.”

Her cinnamon scent and firm grip made Kevin
feel like a little boy in his mother’s embrace. He closed his eyes
as an unexpected lump rose in his throat. He was going to
disappoint her again. He’d done too much of that in the past.

She pulled back and cupped his face.
“Something’s wrong.”

He nodded and pushed down the emotion that
had sprung so suddenly to the surface. He needed to keep his cool
so his mom would believe he had things under control. “Something
is.”

“Tell me.” Her face drained of color, and she
clutched a fist to her shirtfront.

“Can I sit?”

She stepped back and then followed him into
the den. He eased onto the worn leather couch. He wanted to pull
the throw from the back and huddle into a ball, but instead he
gripped his knees and looked his mom in the eye. “Shiloh’s left
me.”

“What?” She sank next to him on the couch,
clutching his hands. “What do you mean she left you?”

“We had a fight, a big one, and she took off.
I’m guessing she’s at her mom’s.”

“You’re not sure? Kevin, she’s your
wife.”

“I know that, Mom. I was giving her time to
cool off.”

He’d seen that look on her face many
times—all through high school and college when he and Shiloh would
break up and get back together. It bordered between disappointment
and irritation. “You two can’t start these games again. We talked
about this, Kevin. You’re married. You don’t walk out on a
marriage.”

He took a breath before he shattered her
impression of him. “She had good reason. It wasn’t her fault.”

“It never was.”

“No, Mom, this time it wasn’t. I screwed
up.”

She walked to the kitchen, picked up her tea,
and joined him on the couch. “In that case, you’d better start from
the beginning.”

Chapter 8

Gretchen stared at her cell phone on the
nightstand in her hotel room. She needed to call Ryan, but she had
to work herself up to the task. She hated communicating with her
ex-husband, especially when discussing their son. Of course, the
only reason she ever talked to him was Alex. If not for her son,
she would never talk to the bastard again.

One of the few certainties in life was that
she couldn’t change the past. Gretchen knew that better than
anyone. On a huff, she dialed his number and waited. The sound of
his voice sent fingers of fear down her spine. She hated that he
still wielded so much influence over her.

“Ryan, it’s me. We need to talk about the
holidays. Your secretary left word you’re going out of town?”

“What’s to talk about? We each get Alex for a
week. I’m taking him skiing in Vermont since I’m covering the New
England game.”

Vermont? Since when did Ryan take Alex
anywhere or even care to spend time with him, especially when he
was working? “He doesn’t know how to ski.”

“He’ll learn. He’s my son, for God’s sake. He
can learn to ski.”

Yes, he’s your son when
it’s convenient
. Since Ryan had never exercised his right to
visitation over the holidays, she couldn’t figure out what was
convenient about taking Alex skiing. “I know he can learn, but he’s
afraid of heights.”

“So was I until my dad pushed me down a
mountain. He’ll learn like his old man did, trust me.”

Trusting Ryan was like trusting the devil.
“You grew up in the mountains. He hasn’t. I don’t think this is a
good idea.”

“You have no say in what we do when he’s with
me. He’ll be fine. If you didn’t treat him with kid gloves all the
time, he’d have broken a few bones by now like a normal kid. When I
was ten, I’d had half a dozen casts already.”

“Ryan, if you push him down a mountain,
I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” He let out a cackle when
Gretchen remained silent. “Exactly. You’ll do nothing. Now, where
are you? I’ve tried to reach you several times.”

“I’m away on business.”

“Let me guess, you left instructions at work
to keep me in the dark?”

“My life doesn’t revolve around you anymore.”
Thank God. If only she could say the same for Alex. “I didn’t leave
any instructions about you.”

“I’m sure my lawyer would appreciate knowing
my ex-wife left the state without letting me know. I think that
might violate our custody agreement.”

He didn’t want custody of Alex. He didn’t
want anything to do with Alex, but that had never stopped him from
using the agreement as a threat. “You don’t let me know whenever
you leave Illinois,” she said.

“All you have to do is watch TV to know where
I am, Gretch. Oh, but I forgot. You don’t like to watch
football.”

Of course she didn’t like to watch football.
If it wasn’t for football, Ryan Lowry would be in jail where he
belonged. “Why would I watch a barbaric sport? Or a bunch of
has-beens in suits relive the ‘glory days’?”

In the pause that followed her rare display
of anger, she wondered how much she and Alex would pay for her
sharp tongue. “You didn’t feel that way when Tommy was on the
field.” From his quietly controlled tone, she knew they’d pay
dearly.

“Tommy knew football was just a game. It
wasn’t his life’s ambition.”

“Seems to me he didn’t have much ambition
considering he quit the team and dropped out of college. But I
won’t waste my time discussing your former
crush
. Where are you?”

Crush? He knew just how deep to stick the
knife. “Out of town. You can reach me on my cell.”

“I tried. Why do you think I called your home
and office? How long will you be gone?”

“Until my business has concluded.” She’d
learned over the years not to give him too much ammunition.

“And where is Alex?”

“He had school. He’s with a friend.” Gretchen
had too much floating around her head. “Where will we do the switch
if you’re going to Boston?”

“That’s weeks away. He’s old enough to fly on
his own if I have to go out before he’s done with school.”

“You have to get special permission for
something like that, and you’d need to be at the gate to meet him.
He doesn’t know you, Ryan. Why don’t you just let me keep him until
you get back? I know how busy your schedule is during the
playoffs.”

“Not this time. He’s old enough to fly on his
own, ski down some slopes, and hang out with his old man while he
works. It’s about time he became a man.”

“He’s just a boy. He can’t be left
unsupervised.”

“He won’t be. I got this. I’m his
father.”

By God’s greatest trick, he’d fathered an
innocent boy in an act of violence. She’d made it her life’s
mission to raise her son to be nothing like his father. “I’ll need
your itinerary down to the hour.”

“I’ll have someone from our travel department
email you the flight details. The rest is unscheduled man time. I
intend to undo the harm you’ve inflicted over the last ten
years.”

I’ll kill you
. The
words echoed in her head.
Touch one hair on his
head, and I’ll kill you dead
. “I’d appreciate whatever
information you can provide.”

He hung up without saying good-bye. Gretchen
clutched the phone to her chest when the urge to throw it against
the wall had her arm shaking. He was up to something. Ryan had
never passed up Gretchen’s offer to take Alex off his hands. And
skiing? Ryan never did anything impulsive where Alex was concerned.
He had an agenda, and Gretchen knew she wouldn’t be able to
concentrate on anything else until she knew what it was.

Chapter 9

Lyle whistled as he carried paint cans into
the cabin from his car. Erica had helped him pick out a
putty-colored paint for the walls. She said it would soften the
harsh white without being too girly. He’d shrugged and promptly
ordered the paint. She could have suggested purple, and he would
have bought it. He laughed at himself and kicked at the door to
close it.

“Hey,” Kevin said, stopping the door from
closing. “Is that any way to greet your brother?”

Lyle stood with paint cans dangling from both
arms and narrowed his eyes. “You’re not hiding from Mom here.”

“I don’t need to hide. I just came from
there.”

Lyle set the cans on the floor. “Did you tell
her what’s going on?”

“Can’t you see the switch marks on my butt?”
Kevin joked.

“You’re too old for a spanking. I should kick
your ass for telling me not to tell her you’re in town because your
wife left you.”

“I’d just have to kick yours right back.
Should be easy enough since you can’t seem to wipe that stupid grin
off your face.” He came inside, closed the door, and leaned against
it. “You’ve got it bad.”

“You’d recognize the signs. You walked around
all through high school like this.”

Kevin sighed. “I can hardly remember that
feeling.”

“That’s probably why she left.” Lyle leaned
down and poked the embers of the fire he’d started earlier to take
the chill off the air.

“She left because I screwed up. I should let
you kick my ass for that.”

Lyle straightened and looked Kevin in the
eye. Kevin was an inch or two taller, but he’d become soft flying
planes. “If you tell me you cheated on her, I will kick your
ass.”

“I didn’t think you liked Shiloh.”

Lyle shrugged. “You used to like her enough
for both of us.”

“I love her. I’m about to crawl out of my
skin it’s been so long since I’ve seen her or talked to her.”

“Then what are you doing here? You know as
well as I do she’s at her mama’s.”

“She needs some time. We both do.”