As we rushed back to her mother’s room, I couldn’t get the kiss out of my mind. It dominated my thoughts, even as concern about Robin ’s heath crept in with every passing breath. The kiss had been raw and passionate, but it had also felt like coming home—as if I had been on a long journey and had finally found my way back to the one thing that made sense.
And that one thing was her. Samantha.
“Whatever it is, we will handle it.” I told her as the elevator door closed, and the car took us to the third floor. She leaned against the back wall, and her hands gripped the metal railing that ran across the center of the car. I placed my hand on hers. “We’ve got this. Do you at least feel that? You’re not alone anymore.”
This wasn’t how I usually talked to a woman. Just wasn’t. Most of my past relationships were strictly transactional—interactions built around merging my family with another. I hadn’t let the women in my life get close enough for me to give them any measure of warmth or caring. It was easier that way.
But Samantha had always managed to unlock my heart.
“I’m here,” I said as the elevator arrived at our destination. “Just remember that.”
She gave me a faint nod as the doors opened. “Okay.” She rushed out of the elevator, and I followed her down the hallway.
“Do you want me to come in?” I asked when we arrived at the door. “I mean I—”
“No,” she hurriedly replied, one eye on the room. “I’ll text you later, okay?”
“That’s fine.” I expected her to say something like that. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”
“Thanks.” She gave me a half-smile and disappeared into the room.
I waited for a about half an hour then decided to leave the hospital. I didn’t have any idea how I could help here, and Samantha and her mom needed their space. Besides, I was already working out in my mind how I could pay for her mother’s medical bills. She hadn’t given me any idea how extensive the costs were, but they had to be large, given the type of medical care her mother was receiving.
That’s how I can help.
Whatever it was, I could pay the medical bills so Samantha didn’t have as much on her shoulders. I just needed to figure out the right time to present her the money.
I headed to the Everglades Club. I had some time to kill before teeing off, translating into a beer and a burger at the club’s restaurant. Normally I liked the food, but it tasted like cardboard and water. I was distracted. A lot.
“Hey, man, you’re early,” Aaron said as he sauntered to the bar just after four. “You’re never early.”
“I know.” I pushed my half-eaten burger away then shook hands with Aaron. “Boredom, I guess.”
He cocked his head. “You look like hell.”
“No, I’m”—I grabbed my lukewarm beer and downed the rest of the draft—“I have a lot on my mind, that’s all.”
Aaron nodded in the direction of the golf course. “Nothing a quick trip to the links won’t solve, I hope.”
“Me too.”
“Too bad it’s just us, bro. I called Luke Rothschild, and he was all set to go, but then he had a staffing problem at the Namaste Now studio in Palm Beach Gardens.” Aaron shrugged. “And everyone else is busy this week. Family stuff.”
“Understandable. It is right before Christmas.” I said this more for my benefit than his, and I pulled my phone out of my pocket to confirm my suspicions. “God, I can’t believe Christmas is four days away.”
“Not long now.” Aaron clapped me on the back. “Come on, let’s hit it.”
We picked up our golf clubs, balls, and carts from the pro shop. Both of us kept a club set in the men’s locker room nearby, and we were on the on links less than fifteen minutes after Aaron walked into the club.
I tried to use my mediocre golf game as a distraction from Sam, but it didn’t work. Is Samantha’s mom okay? We were about to tee off at the third hole when Aaron stopped the game.
“Something’s on your mind.”
“No, I’m fine.”
Aaron scoffed. “No way. I don’t buy it.”
I studied him and considered how to respond. “Things are just…odd lately.”
He walked over to me, using his club as a walking stick. “Okay, fine. I know you don’t normally like to share, but I’ll bite. What’s the problem?”
I sighed. Maybe talking about it would make me feel better. Couldn’t make me feel much worse. “Samantha. Samantha Green is the problem.”
He frowned. “Who?”
“She’s the daughter of my grandfather’s former housekeeper. Her mother worked for our family for a long time, but she suddenly left when I was a teenager.”
“And what does that have to do with now?” He cocked his head. “Don’t tell me—let me guess. Your dad is really her father, and now she wants money. You know, like an I-slept-with-the-help thing.”
“No.” I laughed, glad for the crass, blunt way Aaron had of putting things. “But knowing my dad and his behavior, that’s a decent guess. And Samantha is my age.”
“I’m all ears then.” Aaron retrieved a beer from the cooler in the back of the golf cart. “The affair story was my best guess.”
I found my own beer. “So, life hasn’t been so great for Samantha in the last few years. Her mother is very sick, and she’s in the hospital.”
“How’d you find out about that? Don’t tell me you were actually on Facebook for once.”
“No way.” I shook my head. “Besides, if she’s on there, I haven’t found her. But no, it wasn’t through social media.” I paused. “She works for the caterer that did Trevor and Ainsley’s wedding.”
Aaron eyes widened. “The caterer? Oh God.”
“Good job hiding your snobbery, jackass.” I grinned at him before sucking down more beer.
“What?” My friend Aaron gestured with his club. “I’m an elitist. So? At least I know myself. Most people never really do.”
“Moving on.” I placed my beer in the cupholder. “Her mom was a great employee, and she used to bring Sam to work a lot. We became pretty close when I was a kid, and she was one my best friends, but then she disappeared.”
I didn’t add that she’d walked out of my life right after the moment when things had changed—when we’d crossed from friends into more, when I’d finally let my feelings take over. Aaron didn’t need those kinds of details.
“And now she’s back, and you’re falling for her.” Aaron laughed. “I shouldn’t be surprised, right?”
“She’s still what I remember. No—scratch that. She’s better.”
Aaron wrinkled his nose. “We already went through this with Luke Rothschild, remember? He fell for that yoga girl—”
“Natalie is more than just a yoga instructor.”
“Well, I’m not saying she’s not nice. She’s perfectly fine. Pretty girl, and all of that. I know he loves her. But it…it cost him. It took a lot of effort from me to work it all out.”
“Seems like he’s doing well enough. Namaste Now has a bunch of locations, and they’re opening in Orlando next month.”
Aaron sneered. “No one ever said Luke doesn’t have a head for business. It’s a good concept, and he’s franchised it well. But what I’m telling you is—and this is client-to-client—he had to take a tremendous risk. More than you’d expect. His father didn’t react very well once he found out Luke was serious about this woman.” Aaron paused. “I doubt that your grandfather will take it well either. Everyone knows Senior expects you to marry a woman from the right family, one who can help you keep the Armstrong empire alive.”
I stiffened. “He doesn’t have much choice. He either leaves the company to me, or he leaves it to strangers. And he hasn’t spent his life building up an empire to see it washed away.” I stared at my friend. “So, I want to help her. And her mother.”
“Are you sure this is—”
I held up a hand. “She’s in trouble, and she needs help, whether she asks for it or not.” I pointed at my chest. “I’m the guy to do it.”
It had been a long time since something motivated me this way. But we were talking about Samantha, and I wasn’t going to let her get away again. Not when I could make up for the past.
“This is way out of character for you, bro. I haven’t known you to go out of your way to help anyone. Ever.”
He was right. I’d been selfish for a long time and consumed by my own hubris—my own focus on whatever it meant to be an Armstrong. A bitter taste filled my mouth, and I shrugged one shoulder. “People can change. Maybe I have.”
“Somehow, I doubt that.” Aaron sighed, a telltale signal he was growing annoyed with my demands. Too bad, he’d have to accept it. On the drive from the hospital to the club, I’d made up my mind. I wasn’t going to let Samantha and her mother suffer. Not anymore. “As a member of your wealth management team, it’s my duty to help you consider this from all sides. You can’t afford to fall for anyone out there, Davis. You must make strategic decisions—there are too many things at stake for you to do something different. This is about so much more than what your heart—or your dick—tells you to do.”
I laughed. “My dick, huh?”
“Hey, I’m a man too. I know how it works. Even if I like men instead of women. We get tangled up.”
“I assure you, this has nothing to do with my dick.”
“What does it have to do with, then?”
My heart.
I grabbed my club out of the bag. It was shiny, customized, and rarely used. I twisted it back and forth in my hands, thinking what a frivolous and impulsive purchase it had been. “Let’s start by helping her.”
“And how do you propose doing that?”
I didn’t have a great answer—I was basically making this up as I went along, and I knew it. But I also wasn’t about to turn back. “For starters, I’ll probably need to get my hands on at least five hundred thousand. Maybe a million, just to be safe.”
His eyes widened. “A million?”
“Yes. This sounds like a lot, but I want to give her enough to take care of her mother’s medical bills, and then not have to worry about her other expenses.”
“Very generous. Some might even call it extreme.”
“So what? I can do this, and I want to. I’m going to.” I walked closer to him, eager to end this subject so we could get back to our golf game. He might have been a trusted advisor, but when it came to talking money, I found the topic distasteful. “I know I have two hundred forty saved in the Barclays account. So, that’s a start.”
“But that’s the money you’ve been saving from your monthly trust fund payments. The money you put away in case something catastrophic happened and you got left out of…” Aaron glanced at the open golf course as if to confirm we were still alone. We were. “The point is, it’s not something you want to fritter away.”
“I wouldn’t call this that. We can consider it a donation.” My mind flipped through the other investments I’d made with Aaron, ones that remained independent of any Armstrong funds. “So, we go with the two forty cash, and then there’s the hundred thousand in P&G stock. We can sell half of that. Then we only must find seven hundred and ten more. I’m sure you can do that.”
“It’s possible.” Aaron sucked in a deep breath. “However, if you want to touch money connected directly to the Armstrong investments, that’s going to take some creativity.”
“That’s what I pay you for, right?” I clapped him on the shoulder with my free hand. “I know you can get this done. Quickly.”
Aaron studied me for a beat. “You’re not going to back down, are you?”
I shook my head.
“I guess this is where it starts,” Aaron replied. “And I know how you operate, friend. Once you decide to pursue something, you don’t give up.”
“So, do it,” I ordered.
I walked away from him, placed my ball on the tee, swung, and delivered one of the best tee-offs I’d had on the Everglades Club course.