Page 69 of Old Money

“Let’s do it,” he says. “I’ll be there tomorrow.”

There’s a silence on the other end, and we both wait to gauge Brooks’s response.

“I’ll be there too,” he says. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about. But I know that there’s no one else in my life I trust more than you two bastards.”

I smile faintly and nod.

“Tomorrow,” I say. They both nod.

“Tomorrow,” they say in unison.

I hit the red button and take in a deep breath, rubbing my temples. I hear a soft knock on my office door.

“Come in,” I say. She does, prancing across the floor like a little doe. And God, does it do me good to lay eyes on her.

“I brought you some tea,” she says. “You’ve been in here all day.” She sets the mug down on my desk then climbs onto my lap and pulls my head into her chest. It’s such a cathartic feeling when she holds me like this. Like, for a few short minutes, I don’t have to be the brains of the operation, or the family coordinator, or the CEO. I can just breathe against her.

“I’m sorry, baby,” I say, pulling off her to pull her down into a kiss. She smiles.

“Don’t be sorry,” she says. “Just drink.”

I smile and nod, taking a sip of the perfectly brewed tea.

“Do you know that you are my entire sunshine?” I ask her. She tilts her head, a little smirk playing on her perfect lips.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that everything for me points to you. My day can be…this,” I say, motioning to my desk and all the mounds of paperwork, “but my axis still points to you. My direction is clear. You’re the reward I get when I get through a day like these last ones. You are the fresh air when it feels like I can’t breathe.”

She smiles, leaning down so our lips are just centimeters apart.

“And you are my moon,” she says. “Because when I feel like I’m starting to spin out of control, you pull me back.”

“What a pair we make, then, huh?” I say. She shrugs and kisses me again. “I need to tell you something. But first, come with me.”

I lift her off my lap and lead her out of my study, down the stairs, and to the elevator. I nod at Tyler, and he follows us in then opens the doors when we get to the car.

“Where are we going?” she asks, and I smile. I wonder if she ever gets tired of these surprise adventures. But this one is a doozy. I just shrug as I take her hand, stroking the back of it with my thumb. After a few minutes, she knows, and I love how familiar she’s becoming with all things Everett. “Bedell House?”

I smile and shrug again.

The ride is peaceful, mostly quiet. A few things here and there, but she doesn’t ask any questions because she knows now that I’m a hard nut to crack. Finally, Tyler pulls us in and up the long driveway then turns right once we’re on property and pulls around to the west tower. He stops and helps her out.

“What are we doing here?” she asks. I smile.

“Where’s your key?” I ask her. She pulls the chain out from her shirt, lifting it off over her head. I use it to open the door then lead her up the stairs. When we get inside, I pull her into the room, and she looks around, confused until she sees a black velvet box on the windowsill.

Her eyes widen as she stares at it.

I lead her to it, picking it up and spinning toward her.

“Sawyer Jean, I’m in love with you,” I tell her. “This next part of our lives might get a little rocky, but I know we will figure it out because I have you. I’m not proposing tonight,” I tell her. And her eyes bounce from the box, to me, back to the box. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion. I take her hand. “I want to do that when the potential downfall of my family legacy isn’t hanging over me. I want to do it when our lives aren’t consumed with other things. But tonight, I want to promise something to you. And I’m asking for you to promise me something in return.”

“Okay…” she says. I open the box, and inside sits a thin band with teeny, tiny diamonds around it.

“This band was my great-grandmother’s. This was all my great-grandfather could afford before he struck the oil. He gave it to me on my twenty-first birthday. He told me to hold onto it until I found the woman who’d wear it. The woman who’d love me even if we never struck oil, just like she did for him. It’s been in my safe ever since…until today.”

She stares at it, her eyes filling with tears.

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