Page 10 of Win Big

I snort. “Nah. Big fundraiser the team does every year. I thought I could miss it, but apparently not.”

“Oh. Well, I guess that’s something you need to do. Business. Really, don’t worry about us.”

“I’m not worried,” I say quietly. “I want to be there. For Owen.”

“Of course.” Her tone is subdued. “Okay, I’ll see if I can work through lunch and leave an hour early, and you check about rescheduling.”

I feel like shit. Heather doesn’t want to burden me, I know she doesn’t, but I could feel her dismay just talking to her on the phone.

I try to help her and Owen as much as I can, but sometimes I worry maybe I help a little too much. Not that Heather takes advantage of it; but I know she’s coming to rely on me.

Which freaks me out. But then I feel glad that I’m freaked out, because I deserve it.

But it’s okay. I can do this. I want to be someone who can be relied on. I’m just terrified that I’ll never be that guy. I’ve already let her and Owen down in the worst way possible. Why would I think I can ever make that up to them?

3

EVERLY

“Okay, why are we all here?”

I look around my dining table at my various relatives—nephews JP and Théo; my three brothers—Asher and Harrison, who are twins, and Noah; and my niece, Riley, who just asked that question.

We’re all close in age. Riley, at twenty-three, is the youngest. Théo is the oldest, at twenty-eight. The only one we’re missing from this younger generation is Jackson, who lives and plays hockey in Chicago.

I’ve convened the meeting at my place after extensive planning, since we all have crazy schedules. “Apparently Harrison and JP think we need to do something about this, uh, dispute between my dad and Mark and Matthew.”

“And by ‘dispute,’ you mean lawsuit,” Asher mutters. Asher, like me, doesn’t play hockey—but he writes about it, as a sports reporter.

“Yeah, that.”

I don’t know why Harrison thinks I can solve this, but he somehow convinced me to get everyone together to talk about it. I’m good at organizing, so I managed to find a day and time everyone could make it. I’m not going to solve this problem, butI’m pretty good at facilitating, so maybe with all of us on one room, we can come up with some ideas.

“What do we know about it?” JP asks, looking around the table.

“Mark and Matthew think Dad stole money from them,” Harrison says. “That’s bullshit.”

“I don’t think they’d sue him if it was bullshit,” JP says with an edge.

I pat the air with my hands in a “calm down” gesture. “Let’s not get defensive. That’s part of the problem here. Everyone’s taking sides and we don’t know the whole story.”

JP relaxes. “True enough. Sorry.”

I smile at him. He can be hotheaded, but he’s relaxed a lot lately. Might have something to do with Taylor.

I look to Théo. When it comes to problem solving, he’s the man. “What do you think, Théo?”

He shifts in his chair and peers down at his hands. “I don’t know much about the lawsuit.”

“Much?” I lean forward. “Or anything?”

He meets my eyes. “I heard Grandpa and Chelsea talking one day. She was... not very happy with him. It kind of sounded like... he did take some money.”

My stomach tightens. But to be honest, I’ve overheard some things too, over the last couple of years. And I have my own fears about what’s going on.

Théo and I are probably in the best position of anyone here to find out the truth. He works with Dad every day and, well, Dad’s my dad. Also, my mom knows something about this.

“Have you noticed how much time your mom is spending at the office lately?” Théo asks me.

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