Forbidden Contract (The Birmingham Brothers Series) Page 3

  Of all of her sons Beckett was the closest in looks to Roark. He was taller than his father by a few inches but had his trim muscular body with broad shoulders that tapered down to his narrow waist with trim hips atop long perfectly formed legs. With his dark hair and blue grey eyes she understood why women fell at his feet. Even when he was a toddler the women would gravitate to Beckett vying for his attention and he ate it up. Her other boys were tall too but they were broader with more of a linebackers body. She swore when the three of them stood side by side they made an impenetrable wall of testosterone. Ethan got her red hair and brown eyes, Justin and Trent each had brown hair and blue eyes. Roark used to joke with their teachers that they resembled the mail man and for a while the boys even doubted who their father truly was.

  As she walked with her son up to the house she saw her remaining two come out beer in hand to begin the celebration. For the past few years they had been trying to make inroads into the South only to be turned back due to Southern prejudices. Kathleen often argued with her husband that the Civil War was over and the North won. He would smile patiently and her heart would melt. He still made her knees go weak when he looked at her that way. She took her seat next to her husband and watched as her son’s congratulated each other on Beckett’s success.

  “So Beckett tells us how you pulled it off.” Roark asked once the usual teasing was done.

  “Yeah who did you have to sleep with?” Trent asked before taking a swig of his beer.

  “No one…yet.” Beckett grinned. “Actually I just found their weakness…seems the Montgomery boys have been hiding the true state of the business and its demise from Regina Montgomery….I just presented her with the facts and my proposal.”

  “I still say we’re stupid for paying those idiots a salary just so they can strut around like they still own the place.” Justin argued

  “I can’t believe she agreed to your terms without countering terms of her own.” Kathleen said and when she saw Beckett’s eyes shift away she wondered. “What….there’s more to this deal then you’re telling us isn’t there?”

  “What did you agree too?” Trent asked “We don’t have to give them credit for our work to do we?”

  “No…they will only be around long enough for our work to speak for itself, they will have no control over any of the workings of the company.”

  “But?” Kathleen pressed. “What else is there….what did Regina demand in return for her to agree to your deal?”

  “Funny thing.” He said trying to figure out the best way to bring it up. “She proposed a merger.”

  “No way…..I wouldn’t merger with those idiots; I’d rather kiss the Grayson contracts away.” Ethan argued then seeing the look on Beckett’s face he was just as curious as his mother “What kind of merger?”

  “Marriage.” Beckett laughed trying to make light of it. Now that he thought about it he realized how crazy it would sound to his family.

  “MARRIAGE!” Trent asked as he spat out his beer. “To who?”

  “Her granddaughter.”

  “Why…..what’s wrong with her?” Justin asked.

  “Actually nothing….she’s quite attractive.”

  “Wait a minute, the old battle ax really suggested one of us marry her granddaughter to seal the deal?” Justin laughed. “How did you keep a straight face?”

  “Actually…..she suggested I be the one who does the marrying and I agreed.”

  “What!” Kathleen said shocked.

  His brothers thought it was a joke and they busted out laughing. When they realized he wasn’t kidding they grew serious.

  “You’re kidding right?” Trent asked

  “Seriously Beckett, you’re pulling our leg right?” Ethan asked

  “No I’m not…..believe me I thought it was joke when she brought it up but the more she talked to me about it the more it made sense.”

  “Wait a minute….you?” Ethan said. “Married?”

  “Well I will be in four weeks.” He grinned.

  “No Beckett you won’t.” Kathleen stated. “You’ve done some pretty hairball things in your life but you’re not marrying a total stranger so we can purchase a company.”

  “Mom it makes sense, I marry her granddaughter and it helps in our cause to win over the South, makes us look legit….all I have to do is set her up in a house for a year, give her a reasonable allowance and for her part she will put in all public appearances with me. At the end of the year we’re established, she and I divorce, I give her a small nest egg and we finalize the sale…..we can’t lose with this.”

  “You can’t marry this woman…. I won’t allow it.”

  “Mom….look we all know I’m not the marrying kind….this is perfect.”

  “Beckett…I still have hopes you will one day marry….you just haven’t found the right girl yet.” Kathleen argued then seeing Beckett flinch she regretted her comment.

  “Not for lack of trying.” Trent joked trying to make light of the situation.

  “Bite me.” Beckett countered. “Mom….it’s no big deal….it’s one year….no one will get hurt.”

  Kathleen thought about this for a minute. “And this granddaughter….she’s ok being used like this?”

  “She likes her life style; one that will disappear if the company goes under….she’s already agreed.” Beckett assured her. “She even signed the contract before I signed it.”

  “You already agreed and signed a contract?” Roark demanded. Until that moment he had been silently listening to the others. “Why were you so rash?”

  “Because I knew you guys would try to talk me out of it and I had already made up my mind while I was there.” Beckett said feeling like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

  “And what about Macy?” Roark asked. “How is she going to react?”

  “She’ll probably be upset…knowing her she might even throw things but in the end she’ll forgive me.” He grinned. “I know none of you have ever liked Macy. But she and I have been totally honest with each other since the beginning. I never had any intentions of doing anything more than sleep with her and enjoy her company. Lately with all her friends getting married she’s begun to question our relationship. By me getting married she’ll rethink things and see the benefit of this.”

  Kathleen looked at Beckett and shook her head. “You don’t really think Macy will still want to see you after this?”

  “Of course she will.” He said taking a swig of his beer. “It will add some new excitement to our relationship…all the sneaking around…..forbidden romance.”

  “And what will your new wife think about that?” Roark asked

  “It’s all part of the contract.” Beckett said surprised. “Don’t worry I’ll be discreet….where’s the fun in it if I don’t play the part?”

  Kathleen looked at Roark and threw her hands in the air as she walked into the house. She didn’t understand how Beckett could be so causal about this. When she heard the door open and close behind her she expected to see Roark come in to talk to her. She was surprised to see Beckett.

  “Mom.”

  “What happened to you Beckett….when did you give up on love?” She asked already knowing the answer. He looked at her and she saw the pain on his face.

  “The day she died.” He answered then turned to walk out.

  “Beckett.” She said stopping him. “Lachelle wouldn’t have wanted this for you.”

  “Well she’s not here is she?” He said looking at her trying to replace the pain with anger.

  “It wasn’t her fault….she fought it as long as she could.”

  “There were other drugs she could have tried.” Beckett said trying to control the pain from overtaking him. “She gave up.”

  “She was tired.” Kathleen said touching his arm. “Her body just gave out….she loved you….she fought as long as she could for you.”

  Beckett looked at her and his eyes filled with tears. “I know.”

  “Oh
Beckett.” She said pulling him into her arms. “You can’t run from love forever.”

  “I can’t go through that again…the pain of losing someone I love.” He said looking at her as he once again closed off the pain and regained control of his emotions. “Mom….this arrangement for marriage….it doesn’t mean anything….it’s just business.”

  Kathleen wanted to argue with him, force him to face the pain, grieve for Lachelle and hopefully begin to heal but she recognized that mask he wore was once again in place and he would not listen to her. She sighed as she touched his face.

  “Ok.” She said.

  Beckett kissed her cheek then headed back out to where his brothers were as his father passed him. Roark entered the kitchen and found his wife busy putting dishes in the dishwasher. When Kathleen felt Roark’s hands circle her waist she stopped what she was doing and turned to face him. Tears streamed down her face and she welcomed the comfort of his arms.

  “Hey….what’s this?” He asked.

  “Oh Roark, after all this time he still hasn’t grieved Lachelle….that’s why he’s never settled down…”

  “I know.” He said as he looked at her surprised face.

  “You knew….why didn’t I know?”

  “Because you haven’t fully grieved for her either.” He said honestly.

  “What are you talking about….I grieved for her?”

  “Yes…for her…..but not for them.” He said. “Kathleen we all loved her, despite their age we all assumed they would marry….but you planned this whole life in your head , you were going to have the daughter we never had, you were going to have the wedding, the family holidays, the grandchildren.” He said as he touched her cheek. “Lachelle didn’t just fight to live for him....she fought for you too.”

  She looked at him and realized he was speaking the truth. Lachelle was the daughter she miscarried and she had become the mother Lachelle had lost. Lachelle was going to be the one who came over and helped with Thanksgiving meals, the one who would have helped her decorated the house, wrap the presents and bake the cookies. Then when she was pregnant they would shop together for the baby. Elizabeth would help her decorate the nursery, give her advice when she got nervous, be there when her grandchild was born.

  “Oh my god!” She said touching her cheeks.

  Roark smiled. “Don’t worry…it’s why we all love you.”

  “The boys knew too?”

  “Yeah….all but Beckett.” He said. “Look….the boys and I were talking….we don’t think Macy is going to take the news as well as Beckett thinks…this may be the thing that finally breaks them up.”

  “You think?” She asked hopefully.

  “Yeah….but don’t tell Beckett that.” He grinned. “He might change his mind.”

  “But marriage….is he jumping from a frying pan and into the fire?”

  “No…I looked over the contract…Regina Montgomery is no fool….she’s assured her family name will retain its status, her family is going to be taken care of and we will get the business…at the end of the year Beckett will be free and hopefully Macy will be gone.”

  “What about his bride….what if she tried to trap him?”

  “Not likely….I don’t think Regina wanted her family’s blood tainted with ours.” Upon seeing Kathleen raise her eye brow he explained. “There’s a no sexual contact clause in the contract, I think she put that in specifically for her granddaughter to prevent her from getting any ideas of making the marriage permanent.”

  “I see.” Kathleen said suddenly despising this woman. She already had a low opinion of any woman who would sell out her granddaughter just to save her family’s name; then again she also wondered what kind of woman would agree to marry a total stranger. She wasn’t as certain as Roark or Beckett that this arrangement was going to be as uncomplicated as they assured her it would be.

  “Come on…Trent should have the fire going by now, let’s go roast marshmallows.” He grinned.

  Chapter 4

  Drink in hand Beckett headed out to his balcony that overlooked the valley below. He had stayed long enough for his parents to hash out the details of their trip to Alabama. Beckett would go down with Ethan and his parents at the beginning of the week while Trent and Justin took care of the Harrison building demolition. Once the schedule was worked out with the electrician and the plumbers Trent and Justin would join them by the end of the week. By then Ethan and Roark would have had a good look at the financial status of the company and Beckett would have a list of damage control that needed to be done. During the two weeks between the announcement party and the actual wedding, Beckett would put in his appearances with his future bride while his mother searched out a house for his new bride to live in. The rest of the men in the family would begin assimilating into their roles within the company. After the wedding Beckett, Ethan and his parents would stay on while Trent and Justin flew back to Montana to oversee the Harrison building.

  Beckett thought about the upcoming wedding and his mind returned to another face. One from his past, the only one he had ever loved and the one he had planned to spend the rest of his life with. Lachelle Grainger’s family moved to town after her mother’s death from a skiing accident in Colorado. She was a freshman and he was a junior when they first met in the office of their high school. Once again he was waiting to see the dean for an incident during lab class. He and his friend Josh Turner had been secretly working on a type of explosive when it accidently went off starting a small fire that cause an evacuation of the school. Lachelle had walked through that door and it had been love at first sight. When she sat next to him waiting to see a guidance counselor he struck up a conversation. In a town of less than 800 people where everyone knew everyone else since birth any one new, especially a pretty female was fresh meat on the market for every guy in school. He found her shy but beneath that timid first impression he sensed a quick wit and sense of adventure. He hadn’t been wrong and by that Friday they had their first date where he took her rock climbing behind his parent’s home. He had been harassed by both Trent and Justin for weeks on his luck for meeting Lachelle first. Each insisted had she been swimming freely in the stream they each would have hooked her first. By the end of the month they were a couple and once she met his family she became a permanent fixture at their home.

  His mom took her under her wing giving her the mothering advice she desperately needed. Her father was never home always traveling on business and her older brother was away at college. For the next two years they dated and began to talk of a future together. Beckett would graduate in the spring and go away to college. She would finish high school and once she graduated they planned on getting married. He had even given her a promise ring which he purchased from his salary earned over the summer at his father’s construction company. Everyone had always said they were the perfect couple with his tall dark looks and her small blonde frame. Despite the fact she was only a sophomore she was nominated with him as the cutest couple his senior year. He was the star quarterback and she was the only sophomore on the varsity cheerleader squad. At the beginning of his senior year she began to start bruising easily and was tired a lot. On Christmas Eve she was diagnosed with leukemia and began to go downhill fast. Over the next few months she went through a barrage of treatments but nothing stopped the disease from ravaging her body. Her father even took her away to try out experimental treatments but she came back looking worse than when she left. On the day of his graduation she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. Instead of a party to celebrate he sat with his family in the lobby waiting to see if she would pull through.

  She came home a week later not because she was better but because she didn’t want to die in the hospital. In the end he was there at her side holding her hand. Her father was unable to watch her and left for the local bar. Her brother had come home and he sat at her other side holding her other hand. His family stood around the room and in the presence of those she loved Lachelle passed away.

&
nbsp; Her memorial service was packed as businesses closed down so their employees could attend. Every seat in the church was taken with the rest of the town either standing or spilling out of the doors into the parking lot. Since the moment he learned she was ill he had helped her fight. He was with her when she was throwing up, holding her when her body shook from the chills of the treatment and got her to eat when no one else could. He was the driving force behind her battle. In the end when she slipped away he was still in denial. He was angry with her, with God, with her doctors. He was numb from the loss and over the next week went through the motions. He didn’t hear a word spoken about the tragic loss of one taken so young. Didn’t hear the tears of her friends as they retold stories of their times together. As he sat with his family at her graveside he didn’t hear the minister speak of her moving on to heaven. All he heard was the first clump of dirt as it hit her casket, then the next. Everyone else had already gone on to the Grainger home but he remained behind. His father had convinced the rest of the family he needed to be alone. When the third scoop of earth hit her coffin he rose and headed for his truck.