Lincoln nods. “But it might be the best thing to ever happen to him. Other than college, he’s never lived anywhere else. He’s never had to earn a paycheck to make sure he has a roof over his head and food on his plate.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And you did?”

“From the day I graduated from college until a few days before I met you, I was cut off completely. No family money there to cushion my fall if I failed. It taught me something that Harrison desperately needs to learn—what it is to be your own man.”

The front door slams and I wince. “He doesn’t sound like he agrees with you.”

“Doesn’t matter. He’ll figure it out, or he’ll have to swallow his pride and come crawling back to Commodore and apologize. Enough about my brother. There’s something I wanted to tell you about your cousin’s wedding at the resort.”

I have so many more things to say about this subject, but none of it is going to be helpful right now, so instead I smile.

“What about Cricket’s wedding? Is there an issue?”

“No issue, but wait until you hear what McKinley’s going to do for her.”

Nineteen

Lincoln

With Renee Rango’s death, the exhumation of my father’s body has been canceled, but part of me wonders if that was really the right choice. I can’t escape the nagging feeling that maybe we should have done it anyway, but Commodore made the decision, and I’m not going to argue it right now.

The last thing we need in this family is more potential for disaster, and removing my father’s casket from the mausoleum seems like an invitation for it. Besides, with Harrison in charge of security, it was going to be a clusterfuck.

The fact that Whitney and I are in the library instead of dodging press and dealing with the past is vastly preferable. I’m working through contracts as she writes, at least until her phone buzzes on the table between us.

I look at the name on the display. Asa.

Fuck. Whitney’s brother.

I’ll never forget the beating he gave me, or how he threatened to kill me the day of her wedding.

“Are you going to answer that?” I ask as she stares at the phone and then looks up at me.

“What am I going to say to him?”

“Tell him the truth.”

Whitney’s face pales, and there’s no doubt she remembers exactly how much her brother hates me too. He probably hates me more than my brother hates her. Obviously, our family issues are going to take some time to work out.

She answers the phone. “Asa?”

“Where the hell are you? Where the hell is everyone?”

Even though it’s not on speaker, I can hear every word, and I grimace. He has to be here in Gable. Fuck.

“What do you mean? Where are you?” Whitney asks, and I don’t know if she’s hoping he’s not really here or if she hasn’t put it together yet. I’m going with the former over the latter.