Yeah, she may be insanely naive, annoyingly cute and over-the-top happy but she is good. A good person. And it’s been a long damn time since I’ve come across one of those.
I shrug the thoughts off, pushing to my feet and picking up my hammer. If my brother and I are going to have it out, then we might as well get this porch done.
“Lexi is Cannon’s wife,” Walker brings me back to the conversation. “Let’s just say their relationship wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies at the beginning.”
I feel my impatience rising. “What are you getting at?”
Walker lowers his voice and steals a peek at Callie to make sure she’s not listening in on our conversation. “Initially, Cannon and Lexi only got married so that Dad would hand over the company to him.”
“I knew it!” I shout, feeling justified. “I knew our brother was a crook.”
“No, you don’t understand, Eli.” Walker huffs out. “Dad was rundown. Mom was falling apart. Everything was crumbling around them. Kingston Realties employees were quitting left and right to save their reputations when your fraud charges hit the papers.” Damn—I feel a pang when he says that. “Dad was ready to close down the business once and for all because it was too much for him to handle. Until Cannon stepped in and announced he was getting married.”
That’s when it all clicks. “The deal…The deal between Dad and Gramps…” I mutter.
Thirty-something years ago when Dad took over the CEO position from Ma’s father, Gramps made Dad promise him one thing—Kingston Realty Holdings would always be run as a family business. No outsiders would ever sit at the helm. And if one day, the family became unable to run the business, the assets would be liquidated and the company would be shut down.
I always thought it was a silly agreement but fundamentally, I respected Gramps’s motivations. He’d spent the early days of his career completely devoted to building his empire, virtually neglecting his wife and two daughters. Eventually, my grandmother got sick of being overlooked and left him. That’s when Gramps began to fall apart.
When my grandfather and I worked side-by-side at Kingston Realties, he always reminded me of that, he warned me of what would happen if I didn’t keep my wife happy. I never wanted to repeat Gramps’s history. I think that’s part of the reason I was willing to do anything, sacrifice anything to keep Gabby happy. It’s what my grandfather taught me. I spent my entire professional career striving toward the ideal the old man aspired to, struggling to balance the responsibilities of being a family man with those of being a business man.
Look where that got me.
“What the actual fuck?” I mutter, scrubbing a hand down my face.
“Yeah,” Walker says. “If Cannon hadn’t stepped in, there wouldn’t even be a Kingston Realties to fight over today. Our family company would have been ancient history. Sold to some outsider. So, at least, this way, the business stayed in the family and we all got a nice payout.”
Shit. That hits hard.
My oldest brother shrugs a shoulder. “And on the bright side, Cannon and Lexi are happy now. They’re in love. They’ve got a kid. All’s well that ends well, right?” He chuckles.
I huff and stew, letting this new information sink in. All this time, I’ve had Cannon framed in my mind as the bad guy. Maybe I was wrong? Maybe Cannon wasn’t deliberately trying to stab me in the back when he took over the reins at Kingston Realty Holdings? I guess I should be thankful to the bastard for keeping the company from completely falling apart. But ‘thankful’ still feels like a bit of a stretch at this point.
Walker follows me back to the porch and grabs the other end of the tape measure to map out our next cut.
“Anyway, speaking of happy endings, Penny and I are getting hitched in a few weeks.” Walker grins and puffs up his chest like a lottery winner holding up his oversized novelty check for the news cameras. “It’ll be a small ceremony. Right here on the property. You’ll be there, right?”
“We’ll see,” I say noncommittally.
Ma sent me a text message the other day, listing out all the upcoming events on the Kingston Family social calendar for the next few weeks. My parents’ 38th wedding anniversary. Gramps’ 90th birthday party. Walker’s wedding. It all gave me the hives. To say that I haven’t been feeling sociable lately is an understatement.
Walker huffs out. “It would mean a lot to have you standing there with me, man.”
“We’ll see,” I repeat.
I know how much Walker loves Penny. I spent half my life watching my brother holding a torch for his best friend. Now he’s finally grown the balls to claim the woman so this is a big deal.
Christ, I missed a lot in the past couple years. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to get back into the flow of things, to take my place in the family once again.
I hang my head and set down the saw, feeling utterly defeated. “I’m sorry, man. I’m sorry for blowing up at you and for being an asshole about everything. The whole thing just isn’t fair, and I’m so goddamn frustrated.” Words and feelings and shit just all come tumbling out. “I want to get my life back, but I can’t. Nothing’s the same. I have no woman. No support. No job. Even my own daughter hates me. She’s terrified of me half the time.”
His palm lands on my shoulder. “Just give it time, Eli. Callie will come around. She loves you. But she's a kid—she just doesn't know how to show it. She asked about you more than you know. When you were
