Page 4 of Sutton and the CEO Forever

“I still don’t see why we are helping out,” Mark whispered to me. “Can’t we just pay someone?”

I mock gasped and shook my head. “Where is the love in that?”

“I didn’t know that all of my actions had to have love behind them. That might make hostile takeovers a little uncomfortable.”

I knew he was teasing me, so I merely swatted his ass and turned to visit with Candice. It was true that few things in life can compare to Otterville Falls Town Days. I can try and describe it, but honestly, unless you are there to smell the popcorn and cotton candy in the air or feel the fine sheen of sweat coat your skin, you truly don’t know what it’s like until you’ve experienced it firsthand.

When Mama got sick and stopped taking me, I would tag along with Ruth Ann and Gabe. Abberly’s had been a part of Town Days even back then, and alcohol sales during Town Days made up for a good part of Ruth’s Ann’s budget for the summer months. Gabe never wanted anything to do with me, but Ruth Ann would take me on the Ferris wheel. She loved it and would rock the basket back and forth while we were high in the air, and I would laugh even though I was sure my belly was going to slither down my body and come out of my toes.

There were times when Mad Max would slip me a dollar, and I would buy the biggest, pinkest cone of cotton candy that Ruth Ann would give me.

I remember the rodeo riders and the clowns who chased the angry bulls while the cowboy got away. There was a pie-eating contest we’d watch Reena win every year, and Alice’s preserves won the blue ribbon more times than I can count.

Town Days were as much a part of me as the faint southern accent I stumbled into from time to time.

The day at the fair started with a steady stream of customers. We sold a lot of cookies, lemon bars, brownies…anything that was grab and go, we were able to sell. When lunch came around, the grill opened, and we had ribs, chicken, and corn on the cob. There were sandwiches Martha had premade, and of course, the beer was flowing freely.

Brian manned the grill while Mark and Earl took care of the bar. The few times I looked down at them, Earl was drinking more than he was serving. I stifled a laugh; some things never change.

In the early afternoon, Mark came and whisked me away to see some of the fair. The best part was that he had a golf cart arranged so I could get off my feet. Once he realized I was more worried about my feet than the sights, he stopped and rubbed them, stinky socks and all.

“You are the best husband I’ve ever had,” I said with a sigh.

Mark laughed. “I’m the only husband you will ever have.”

I smiled. “Then it’s a good thing that you’re the best.”

“Let’s get you home,” Mark suggested just as Brian approached.

“You finished with your shift?” I teased.

Brian, Mark’s younger half-brother, was a head taller and more muscular than my husband. A retired Marine, he was one scary motherfucker. I could see a lot of Mark in him. But where Mark was all polished edges, Brian was raw and often standoffish. It wasn’t until he really knew someone that he would let his true personality show.

“It’s time to get you two home,” Brian simply said.

Brian’s company specialized in keeping high-profile clients alive. He also was involved in private investigations. Mark and I didn’t talk about it much, but they hadn’t been close growing up. Brian was a product of an affair, and their dad refused to acknowledge him, even after the DNA tests proved Brian was his son. I didn’t know their father, as neither Mark nor Brian had anything to do with him. But as I watched the brothers interact, I began to wonder about my father.

Who had Hollingsworth Sutton III been? It was silly, but part of me wasn’t altogether certain that I really wanted to know. It seemed that every little thing revealed about my mother sent us further and further down the rabbit hole. Would the same thing happen if I learned about my father?

But then I would think about the twins I was carrying and the ideaof them not knowing Mark. The thought made me physically ill. I wondered if that was how my father felt when he learned he had a daughter he’d known nothing about? A daughter who grew up in abject poverty and subjected to some of the worst situations possible, all while he could have given me the world if he had only known about me?

“Hey,” Mark squeezed my hand. “Are you sure you’re doing okay?”

I smiled tiredly and let go of the stresses plaguing my mind so I could sink into his embrace. “I will be.”

2

Mark

The bags under Sutton’s eyes worried me almost as much as the way she kept rubbing her lower back. The twins were a lot for her small frame to carry, and as much as I loved watching her carrying our babies, I knew I’d breathe a sigh of relief when they finally arrived.

She reached over and tucked her hand into mine almost absentmindedly. It was these little touches that pulled at my heartstrings. The love I have for this woman scared me sometimes.

I didn’t have a good example of how to be a good man. My father was a cold bastard who did wrong by both of his sons. I hated what he did to Brian. Shit, I hatedhim. Perhaps because the pregnancy was coming to a close, I started to worry about my babies. Would I be the father they would need me to be?

I caught Brian’s gaze in the mirror and noticed his jaw was tense and his gaze intent. Without alarming Sutton, I looked in the direction Brian had indicated with a slight nod of his head.

Our home was off to the left, and we were going right past it. He had to have seen something. I raised an eyebrow in silent communication, but Sutton must have noticed where we were.

---