Page 89 of Unraveling the Truth About Love
“I was going to…”
“But you wanted to figure out your own stuff first.” Treat narrowed his dark eyes, pinning him to his chair. “Don’t be surprised if you’ve already lost her. I thought you were smarter thanthat, Josh.”
Josh threw his fork down on the table. “Damn it, Treat. I don’t know what I am. I love her. Iadoreher. Every ounce of me wants to be with her. But what if someone says something about her and I lose it? Then we’re right back in this nightmare again, with Riley going through it all as the innocent party. And what if that means losing what I’ve created? I’m not like you. I can’tgive up what I’ve built. I love my work. I love my business, and trust me, I know just how much of a self-centered jerk that makes me.”
“It does,” Treat said with a nod.
“Iknow.”
“Why do you see this as all or nothing? You know how these things go. It’s a setback, Josh. So what if you fall back a year or two while this thing blows over? You climbed that ladder once; you’ll climb it again.And as far as losing it goes, or hitting someone, you’re a Braden. Your first line of defense isn’t your fists. You might feel like it’s going to be, but your mind will always override that physical side.”
Josh ran his hand through his hair. “I want an assurance that I’m not going to kill someone, and…” He pushed past his embarrassment and admitted what he’d been thinking for the last twenty-fourhours. “I want to be like you and be ready and willing to give it all up for the woman I love. I know that would make me so much more of a man, but—”
“Yeah,right,” Treat said with another glare. “Being a man has nothing to do with giving up anything. I built my business to prove something to myself and to my family. That was it. There was nolovebuilt into that. I love negotiating, but I couldhave done that in any business. I could have built a business on resorts, sailboats, or freaking playground equipment, for all I care. You built your business based on something youlove, and you wouldn’t love doing any other work the way you love designing. We’ve known that since you were six years old.” Treat shook his head.
“What are you getting at?” Josh asked.
Treat sighed. “What makesa man isn’t what he’ll give up, Josh. It’s the grace in which he lives his life. The level of honesty and the moral code he lives by. The ethics of being aboveboard, and…” Treat looked away.
“And?”
Treat drew his eyes back to Josh, and when he spoke, his voice was tender. “And the value he places on those he loves combined with the efforts he takes to protect them. Those are the qualities thatmake a man. What I did wasn’t manly. What I did was sort of cowardly.” Treat laughed. “I would have walked through a field of dinosaurs to be with Max. Nothing else mattered to me. Doling out my responsibilities for work to enable me to be by her side was weak. It was the easy way out, but it made me happy, and I’m okay with that. I could have fought for her to bend to my lifestyle, and she probablywould have. No, she definitely would have. But I can tell you this. Working on Dad’s ranch and running my businesses remotely was worth it. I’ve never been happier than when I’m with Max.”
“It wasn’t weak. It was chivalrous,” Josh said.
“Hardly,” Treat said. “Okay, maybe to some people. But, Josh, we all have our own paths to happiness. Yours doesn’t have to include giving up your career. Youjust need to figure out if you can live with the world around you seeing Riley one way when you know her to be another.”
“That’s just half of what I’ve been wrestling with,” Josh admitted.
“And what have you come up with?” Treat asked.
“I can’t imagine my life without her. I’ve spent my career worried about doing the right thing, dating the right women, dressing appropriately, attending allthe right events, and for the first time in my life, when I’m with Riley, I feel free from that. But it’s more than that.” Josh took a deep breath, hoping his brother wouldn’t think less of him for what he was about to say. “It’s like there’s another person controlling my emotions. The anger…” Josh looked away.
“Go on,” Treat urged.
“Treat, man, if someone were to say something derogatory aboutRiley in my presence, I don’t know what I’d do. When those media hounds were all over her, I felt something I had never felt before. I swear my blood was on fire. It was all I could do not to rip them to shreds, and that’s not who I am. I had to stop myself from getting physical. I mean, really stop myself. Tell myself, ‘This isn’t you.’ You know me. I’m not a fighter, never have been.” Josh watcheda smile spread across Treat’s face.
“You’re also a man in love, little brother, and that’s something you’ve never been before either. It takes you by surprise, doesn’t it?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Josh said.
“All those protective urges that you always thought were reserved for your family members suddenly apply to someone else in a bigger, more powerful way, and it scares you. That’s natural.Itshouldscare you,” Treat said.
“Scared the life out of me. It still does.” Josh sighed, feeling the tension in his shoulders ease. Treat understood. He wasn’t losing his mind after all.
“Your rational mind will always override the physical,” Treat assured him.
“I keep going over and over this in my head. As scary as all this is—and believe me, lately it feels like the Incredible Hulk istrying to break through my body—it’s not half as scary as losing Riley. I know I messed up. I should have fired Claudia ages ago, before Riley ever came to work there. Claudia’s been an issue for a long time, but she was so good at her job, and she’s Peter Stafford’s niece, so there’s the whole ridiculous loyalty thing. I never thought…”
Treat leaned back and crossed his legs. “You’re a goodperson, Josh. You see the best in people and want to believe no one is as slippery as they are. You’ve been that way your whole life. Remember when Hugh used to do stupid things, you’d try and take the blame for him so that he didn’t get in trouble. Dad would turn his back and chuckle.”
“If he didn’t believe I did those things, why did he allow me to take the heat?” Josh remembered a handfulof times he’d taken Hugh’s punishments, usually for Hugh being selfish toward others. Josh had never wanted to believe that his little brother could be selfish and self-centered. He’d learned a lot about Hugh over the years, and he’d come to accept that the youngest Braden was, in fact, exactly that. Although, Hugh’s recent call had him questioning if the assessment was still accurate.
“BecauseDad was teaching you a lesson just as he taught the rest of us. If you’re going to step in to take the heat, you’re going to get it. It was a good lesson, at least for me. You learn to pick and choose your battles. You do realize, Josh, that if you move forward with Riley, nothing in your life will ever be the same.”
“You’ve convinced me. No one could ever make me believe Riley stole anything,and I feel better knowing you understand the anger that’s been eating away at my gut. I’ll trust your experience, Treat, that I won’t hit someone,” Josh said.
“What are you saying?” Treat asked.
“I’m picking this battle.” Josh nodded as he stood from his chair.
“And what if you’re wrong and she stole the design? You can’t have a life with a woman you can’t trust,” Treat said.
“Maybe I reallyam a jerk, because now I want to hit you,” Josh said.
Treat shook his head. “Seriously, Josh.”
“It’s Riley. She’s worth it, and I’m not wrong. She didn’t steal the drawing, and even if we can’t prove it, I’m ready to take the heat.”
