Then Caleb held his up in a toast to Reed. “Welcome to the world beyond Lyndon Valley.”
Reed couldn’t help a harsh chuckle at that. The world beyond Lyndon Valley hadn’t worked out so well for him.
“So, tell me about these new investments.”
Reed looked his brother square in the eye. The bakery, the tailor and the limo service were irrelevant. “I set up the Sasha Terrell Endowment Fund with ten million dollars.”
Caleb blinked.
“It’s for the benefit of the Liberty Ballet Company,” Reed continued.
Mandy reached over and grasped his upper arm. “For Katrina?”
“For Katrina,” Reed confirmed, reaching for his warm beer, swallowing it against his dry throat.
Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
“I just told you what I did.”
“Reed, are you sure?” asked Mandy, sitting forward in her chair and leaning toward him. “I mean, it’s great and all. And what a wonderful tribute to your mother. But that’s a whole lot of money.”
“You slept with her?” Caleb accused.
“Back off,” said Reed.
Caleb paced across the deck. “What is the matter with you? I specifically-”
“It’s to protect her,” Reed stated.
“From you?”
“Give me a break.” Reed rocked to his feet. “She doesn’t need protection from me.”
“Then why the ten million?”
Reed was tired of having his motives questioned. “There’s a guy in New York, Quentin Foster. He’s made a lot of large donations to the ballet company, and he seems to think it gives him the right to sleep with Katrina.”
“What?” Caleb demanded.
“That’s why I went to New York,” said Reed, owning up to at least part of the truth. “I told him to back off. Threatened to kill him, actually. But he wouldn’t listen.”
Caleb’s jaw had turned to steel. “He didn’t…”
“He’s still breathing,” said Reed. “So, no. He didn’t. He asked. She turned him down, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’s the guy who caused her ankle accident.”
Mandy rose distractedly. “I have to call Katrina.” But she didn’t move any farther.
“The Sasha Terrell Endowment Fund will replace all of Foster’s donations,” said Reed, still looking directly at his brother. “And then some. He’s out. We’re in. And Katrina is perfectly safe.”
“Now I understand,” said Danielle.
Mandy’s shoulders slumped in relief. Then she took the two steps that brought her to Reed and she enveloped him in a hug of gratitude.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her throat obviously clogged.
Reed hugged her back. “Happy to do it.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?” Caleb asked.
“Didn’t need to.”
“She’s going to be my sister-in-law. And I have a lot more money than you do.”
“It’s handled,” said Reed, releasing Mandy. A couple of tears had leaked out of the corners of her eyes, but she was smiling.
Caleb cocked his head to one side. “But why not-”
“Leave it,” said Reed, glaring at his brother.
But then comprehension dawned on Caleb’s face. “I’ll be damned.”
“What part of ‘leave it’ didn’t you understand?”
“What?” Mandy looked back and forth between the brothers.
Caleb shook his head in obvious bewilderment. “How long have you been in love with Katrina?”
“You don’t have to answer that,” said Danielle.
Caleb turned to her. “What? We’re in a court of law now?”
Mandy looked to Reed, her brows knitting together. “Did I miss something?”
“She’s safe, Mandy.” He told her. “That’s all that matters.”
“But-”
He moved toward the door, wanting nothing more than to get very far away from this conversation.
“How does she feel about you?” Mandy called after him.
He paused, his respect for Mandy at war with his instinct for self-preservation. “She’s in New York City. I’m here. End of story.”
“Is she upset? Did you hurt her?”
Reed knew his answer was going to make Mandy angry. He regretted that. He regretted it a lot. But it was always going to end this way. He’d tried to tell that to Katrina, and he’d certainly known it himself. “She understands that our lives are completely separate.”
“But you slept with her anyway,” said Caleb.
“That’s still none of your business.” Reed started for the kitchen door.
Caleb put an arm out to stop him. Surprisingly, there was no anger in his tone. “A very wise man once told me that when a Jacobs woman sleeps with you, it means she loves you.”
Reed remembered their conversation perfectly. But that was a different time, a completely different circumstance. “That doesn’t bring Katrina any closer to Colorado.”
“You think that’s your only answer?”
Reed ignored his brother and began moving again, increasing his pace.
“That Katrina comes to Colorado?” Caleb called. “You can’t go to New York City?”
Reed smacked his hand on the doorjamb as he rocked to a halt.
“There are two possible solutions,” said Caleb.
Reed turned, enunciating carefully. “My world is here. I have a house to build and kids to raise and a mother to honor.”
“You think Mom would want you to give up Katrina?” Caleb stepped closer.
“I think Mom would want Katrina to be happy,” Reed answered with total honesty. There were more than a few parallels between the two women. And he would never, ever do to Katrina what his father had done to his mother.
“So do I,” Caleb said softly, stopping directly in front of Reed. “I think Mom would want you to make Katrina happy, on Katrina’s terms, in Katrina’s world.”
Reed opened his mouth to argue.
But Caleb wasn’t finished. “I know your plan, Reed. And I understand why you’re doing it. But you’re wrong, dead wrong. You don’t honor Mom by staying in Lyndon Valley. You honor Mom by honoring Katrina.”
Reed couldn’t wrap his head around it. “You’re suggesting I move to New York City?” Was Caleb saying their mother would want him to move to New York City? The idea was preposterous. He was a cowboy. His life was here. He was about to dig the foundation for his house.
“Imagine,” Caleb continued, voice controlled, but Reed could see the anger simmering in his eyes. “If Wilton had once, even once in his miserable, toxic life, given a damn about Mom? What she wanted, what she needed, what would make her happy instead of him?”
Reed got where his brother was going with this. “It’s not just geography, Caleb.”
“Then, what is it?”
Reed wished there weren’t quite so many witnesses, but he supposed there was no point in backing off now. “The last thing she said to me was, no matter how I dressed up, I’d always be an uncouth Colorado cowboy.”
Caleb shrugged. “So change.”
Reed snapped his fingers. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“I’m not going to stop threatening to kill any man who hurts her.”
A grin spread across Caleb’s face. “Yeah? Well, maybe you could stop telling her about it.”
