Chapter Twenty-Five
Landon
I slumped in my office chair and couldn't move. Even breathing was a struggle. A heavy fatigue hung over me even though I hadn't been able to sleep for days. Trying to remember the last time I had a decent meal was exhausting in and of itself. I leaned back, shut my eyes, and rocked the chair, but nothing helped.
Riley had walked away, practically ran, and she took everything with her. Not that I blamed her. I just missed her so much it hurt.
Now all I had in front of me was a long list of emails and pop-up reminders from Lyla about work. I reached out and tapped my computer keyboard aimlessly. In just a few days, my inbox had become a jumbled mess.
My computer dinged and I sat up. The housekeeper from Golden Bluff never contacted me over email, but I hadn't been there for days. I opened the email, declined her offer to close up the unused rooms, and closed out the inbox screen.
All I wanted to do was come up with the perfect message to leave Riley. I was sure she was erasing them all, but I still hoped to find the words.
"Nothing," I muttered. "I've got nothing."
I sat up and yanked open my desk drawer for the tenth time that day. The only thing inside was the dark blue ring box. I grabbed it and sat back, gripping it hard in my hand. Why did I think I would find the answer in the bright, prismatic winks of the emerald cut diamond? It had belonged to my grandmother, and I remembered my grandfather telling me it was the best investment he’d ever made.
Riley didn't think I respected her grandfather. It took a good, loving man to work that hard and plan ahead in the hopes of saving his granddaughter from a mistake. How could I not respect anyone who tried to protect Riley? The only problem was her grandfather was dead. He couldn't see me studying the flawless ring. He had no idea our engagement wouldn't be a mistake.
It only looked like a mistake on paper.
Half an hour ago, I had scoured through every word of my inheritance with the best contract lawyer I could hire. The only consolation I had was that his fee put a serious dent in the sum total discussed. Everything else was legally binding and I couldn't change a thing.
My office door swung open and I stashed the engagement ring before Lyla came in.
She gasped. "Sorry, Landon. I didn't expect to see you here."
"In my office?" I asked, rocking back in my chair again.
She straightened her tailored suit coat and gave me a cool smile. "The Durango report needs to be sent within the hour. It's been sitting on your desk for days."
"It's already been sent. In fact, I assigned future reports to the accounting department because that's what they get paid to do."
"Well, if you're becoming that efficient, you should have plenty of time to get a decent haircut and shave."
I scratched my growing beard and scowled at her. "I might just let it grow."
"Landon, you can't go on like this or people will think you're depressed." She inched closer to my desk. "I noticed you've been, ah, staying in a lot lately. I hope this has nothing to do with the business matter I brought to your attention. None of that is my fault, you know."
I looked up at her, but the family resemblance reminded me too sharply of my father. My eyes drifted back to my phone. Riley still hadn't called. "A business matter. You really are a cold fish, aren't you?"
She sat down in the hardback seat across from my desk and clutched her throat. "A cold fish?"
"Fine, a shark, whatever you want to be called is fine by me because I'm done with you. All you want between us is work, and that works for me." I gritted my teeth and kept my eyes on the desk.
"I remember you carrying all my equipment to Middle Camp," she blurted. "My father called it a waste of time and wasn't going to let me go until you offered to help me carry everything."
"That's why you were my favorite cousin —our fathers were the same. Well, not exactly, because my father had the money." I shook my head. "Seems like your side of the family finally got what you wanted."
"Landon, you know I was pushed to be this way." She laced her jittery fingers together. "My father forced his ambition on all of us."
"He just wanted our money." I turned my chair away from her. "Money ruins all my closest relationships. Even family."
"Except Andrew," Lyla said. She waited until I inched back around to glance at her. "Andrew never let money get in the way of being our friend. When we were younger, I mean. He's not that friendly to me these days." She trailed off and swallowed hard.
I sat forward. "You used to follow Andrew everywhere. You were his number one admirer."
Lyla touched her throat again. "Andrew always knew what he wanted, and he worked for it. Yet somehow, it's all simple and straight-forward for him."
"Did she just call me a simpleton?" Andrew asked from my open office door.
Lyla jumped to her feet and smoothed her short black skirt into place. "I was just telling Landon that I always admired how you worked for what you wanted without it taking over your life."
Andrew swept his dark eyes up and down Lyla. "No wonder you're so wound up. You haven't given me a compliment in years. That must have been painful for you."
He chuckled and brushed past her to stand in front of my desk.
"I can't compliment you because I'm not sure that's really you under that awful beard," Lyla said.
"A lot of women love this beard, I'll have you know." Andrew swung to face her again.
Normally I’d enjoy watching the two of them face off, but today I felt tired. I sat back, wondering if I should call Riley again.
"A lot of women?” Lyla said. “What, do you have them bused into Michel's Beach? Because the last time I checked, I didn't have much competition." Lyla's ears turned pink and she snapped her mouth closed.
Andrew tugged on his beard and studied her more carefully this time. The silence stretched until I thought Lyla might faint from holding her breath.
"I was just telling Lyla I might grow a beard too," I said.
"There, see? We're going to start a trend." Andrew dodged around my desk and hauled me out of my chair. "In fact, I'm taking Landon, and we're going to go start that trend right now. Out of this office, far away, hopefully somewhere with bad lighting and good beer."
"Don't worry, she'll keep tabs on how many women love our beards —but watch out because she might bribe them to run away." I didn’t care about the bitter sound of my voice. I didn’t care how my words cut her. I stood up and led the way out my office door.
Lyla's torn expression was still with me when we sat at the bar.
Andrew shook his head. "That girl's gonna wake up one of these days and make a change, or I might have to leave Michel's Beach. I can't stand to be around her anymore."
"You'll never leave Michel's Beach or The Sand Dollar," I pointed out.
"Exactly. Shit." Andrew took a long drink of beer.
"Someone's going to have to help her change," I started, but he cut me off.
"Another beer for my heartbroken man here," Andrew called to the bartender. Then he swiveled his bar stool so he could gesture at me. "I've got a big problem with all of this."
I looked down at my rumpled clothes. My shaggy bangs dropped over my forehead. "I'm fine. Everything's fine."
"Liar. And the worst part is that you're moping around about the assumed answer. You never even asked Riley, did you?"
"There are, uh, complications." I wanted to drop my head on the bar but saw the sticky edge and squared my shoulders. "Turns out Riley has a trust fund of her own."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
I shook my head. "It comes with conditions, too. And the biggest caveat is that Riley can’t get married until she is at least twenty-eight years old, or she forfeits the full amount."
Andrew scratched his beard. "And why does that bother you? I didn't know you were gunning to be a groom."
I told him about the terms of my own inheritance and what Lyla had told me about the Board of Trustees. Then I leaned back and tried not to flinch when Andrew's flat hand slapped hard against the bar.
"That bitch! I’m going to find Lyla, and I’m going to make her go straight to the board and sort all this crap out."
I held Andrew back from spinning off his bar stool. "Sorry, man, it's over. She won. I turn thirty-five in less than three months, and Riley won't marry me for another two years. Even I can do that math."
Andrew gripped the bar with both hands and his knuckles turned white. "How can you stand to work with her?" He settled back onto his barstool and shoved side to side in frustration. "You know I was once at the aquarium down in Monterey. They have this big kelp forest tank and a diver was cleaning the windows. His air hose got caught and kinked, and he started to suffocate. He pounded on the glass but we couldn't do anything. That's what it's been like watching Lyla the last few years."
"Jesus, what happened to the diver?"
"His spotter pulled up the slack and sorted out the kink. He was fine." Andrew knocked back another gulp of beer. "But Lyla is drowning right in front of us."
I snorted. "And she was always the best swimmer. Remember when she beat all of us around the bend to the cove?"
"That's the Lyla I miss," Andrew nodded.
"That's the Lyla you used to have a huge crush on." I nudged him in the ribs, and he immediately punched me in the shoulder. "Come on, you weren't so suave back then, you practically drooled over her. I didn't know whether to punch you or give you my blessing."
"Then it must have been a curse," Andrew snapped. "Barkeep, a round of shots. Make it four shots. Shit."
I took my first shot of whiskey and savored the burn in my throat. "What I need is a fucking time machine."
Andrew slammed his shot. "What you need is to burn some money. Call up that LearJet of yours. Let's finish this night with Mai Tais in Maui. Remember that little resort we found with the beach parties and the private pools?"
My shoulders slumped. "I was just in Hawaii with Riley. She worked double shifts to afford that ticket."
"She paid for her own ticket? Jesus, you suck as a billionaire. Let's hit Las Vegas so you can try to save a little face."
"No thanks," I said.
Andrew swiveled back and forth on his stool and took his second shot of whiskey with a thoughtful sigh. I slammed mine and calculated I would need another four at least before the pain in my chest numbed.
"You know you can ask any woman in the world to marry you," Andrew said. "I hear it's one of the perks of being a billionaire."
"I can't. I only want Riley." I stood up and headed for the door. "And that's why I'm turning everything over without a fight."