Kerri Carpenter - Falling For The Right Brother

“No kidding?” Jasper’s tune changed quicker than he could get his Lamborghini from zero to sixty.

“Apparently Europe agreed with her.”

“Good for her,” Mrs. Dumont put in as she poured more lemonade into her glass. “I always thought she was sweet. And everyone knew how smart she was. Top of her and Jasper’s class. Or she would have been...”

“Didn’t she throw herself in the bay after that prom?” Collin asked.

Another aspect of that story that had never made sense to Cam. Supposedly, she’d been so upset after the video aired that she’d pitched herself off the dock into the bay. Some called it a last-ditch effort to get Jasper’s attention.

“Oh, yeah,” Jasper replied.

The thing about attempting to drown yourself was that people who did so usually couldn’t swim, Cam thought. Elle had been a great swimmer. He shook his head. A mystery for another time.

“Invite her to the party on Friday,” Collin contributed, still reading his iPad, no doubt having pulled up the Wall Street Journal.

“Great idea,” Lilah added.

“Um, I don’t know if that’s...”

“I’m willing to extend the olive branch to a hot girl,” Jasper said.

Cam ignored his brother’s wink. “Did you say Friday? The party is happening this Friday? It’s Wednesday.”

“Invitations went out two days ago. What is life without a little surprise and excitement?” His mother’s eyes sparkled.

“I didn’t get an invitation,” Cam said.

“That’s because I didn’t want to give you a chance to RSVP no.” Lilah beamed at him.

Cam clenched his teeth. He’d had plans to quit work early on Friday and take a couple of his employees golfing. “What’s the reason for this party?” he asked.

They all looked at each other for a split second before his mother said “April,” with a definite nod.

At the same moment his father said, “Flag Day.”

Cam rolled his eyes, not sure where to start.

“Oh, who cares why,” his mother called out. “It’s a party, not a funeral, so get that stick out of your a—”

“Ah, that’s enough,” Collin said, as Cam tucked his tongue in the side of this mouth.

“But you are expected to be there,” Lilah said, using her I-raised-two-boys-so-don’t-even-think-about-messing-with-me tone.

“Seriously, Mom.” Cam put his glass down on the table a little harder than he’d meant to and returned the uneaten apple, as well. The sound of heavy crystal hitting marble echoed throughout the room. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Collin looked up from his iPad.

“Just because you didn’t want to work for the family doesn’t mean you’re not part of it.”

Cam hated the hurt that flashed in his father’s eyes. He knew he’d put it there by one selfish decision. He began to speak to his dad, but Jasper stopped him.

“Don’t be so hard on him. I stepped up. I work for the family.”

Cam knew Jasper wasn’t saying that out of spite. He was only trying to help.

“And what an employee you turned out to be. Always wanting to change every damn little thing.”

That same painful look flashed in Jasper’s eyes now and Cam wanted to kick himself. He hadn’t planned to come in here today to upset everyone. Nor had he intended to cause so much ill will when he stopped working for his parents and started his own company.

But it didn’t take a soured afternoon to see the results of his decision. He carried around the guilt on a daily basis.

Cam used to go to every construction site of every building, shopping mall, apartment complex or whatever else his dad had been working on. Collin had proudly introduced him as the future head of Dumont Industries to anyone who would listen. That included Rick, the foreman on one of his job sites.

Rick had been the first person to really talk to Cam about construction. He’d patiently answered question after question. Walking around wearing a hard hat, looking at foundations and I beams made Cam feel excited. Not once had he ever felt that way in the office with his dad.

One summer Cam had announced that he would be working with Rick on the construction of a new multiplex. His dad still hadn’t realized that Cam liked working with his hands, enjoyed building things. Instead, Collin had bragged that his son wanted to learn the business from the ground up, and wasn’t that just great.

But even as a sixteen-year-old, Cam knew he’d found his calling. His dad never forgave him for it.

Cam pulled himself back to the present when his father let out an awkward and forced cough.

“I need to take this.” He waved his phone and made a quick exit from the room, hurt trailing in his wake.

Cam didn’t look at his mother when she rose from her seat, nor did he say goodbye as he left the solarium and headed back through the sprawling house toward the front door. He turned only when he heard his brother’s voice.

“Cam, wait.” Jasper bounded toward him, his expression concerned.

“Don’t worry about it,” Cam said. “And don’t listen to the old man. You’re doing a great job.”

Jasper’s face fell. “Yeah, I can’t get my own father to listen to my ideas, let alone the rest of the board. Quick, someone get me on the cover of Forbes.”

Cam didn’t know what to say and he couldn’t stand seeing the frustration in his brother’s eyes. “Listen, I’ll stop by your place later and fix that balcony door.”

Jasper shook his head.

“What?” Cam asked. “It’s been hanging off the hinges for weeks. And while I’m there I can measure for those shelves you were talking about.”

“Stop,” Jasper said. “You don’t owe me anything, Cam.”

But he did. Cam was in debt to his little brother and fixing a few things around his condo didn’t even come close to making up for it.

“I’ll be by around seven,” he said, his voice offering no room for argument. With his hand on the brass doorknob of the opulent front door, he asked his baby brother, “Are you happy?”

“What?”

“Answer the damn question, Jasp.”

Jasper let out a long exhalation. “I’m fine. Stop worrying about me. Things are going fine.”

But he did worry about him. More than his brother realized. Because Jasper had stepped up for him and Cam would spend the rest of his life making it right.

“Hey, bro. Answer me this.” Cam waited for Jasper to meet his eyes. “Do you really not remember Elle Owens?”

Jasper shrugged. “Kind of. But if you say she’s gorgeous now...”

Unbelievable. Because to Cam’s way of thinking, the woman he’d picked up this morning was pretty damn unforgettable.

“I never said gorgeous.” But he very easily could have. Suddenly, Cam felt incredibly uncomfortable.

His brother grinned as Cam flipped him off and left the house, thoughts of just how gorgeous Elle had become following him out the door.

Chapter Two

“Cancer-free as of today.”

The breath she let out was full of relief. Elle had been holding her jaw so tight that her face actually ached.

“Seriously?” she asked tentatively. She knew better than anyone that her dad had a habit of downplaying. The fact that he hadn’t shared his diagnosis—even during their recent Christmas visit—until a couple weeks ago still had her seeing red.

“Cross my heart.” Her dad kissed her on the head before engulfing her in a long, hard hug. Nothing could have felt better. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to pick you up this morning.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She waved a hand in the air as she took in her father. He looked mostly the same, a little thinner maybe, and a bit pale. But that was to be expected. “Tell me everything the doctor said, and start from the beginning.”