Everywhere and Every Way(85)

“Will you be all right?”

Another man might have mocked her or beat his chest in masculine outrage at such a question. Cal only smiled, the last bit of warmth in the room. “Yes. I’ll call you as soon as I’m done.”

“Okay.” She paused. “I know you have issues. I know it’s not my business. But family is special. You don’t choose blood, so it’s not supposed to be easy. You understand each other in ways no one else could. Just . . . give each other a chance. For all of your sakes.”

Morgan walked out and left them alone.


Cal heard her words, and his gut lurched. She sounded just like Mom. Always trying to stop the bickering and remind them of what was important. Yet, here he stood, listening to his middle brother plan to cut him out and leave him behind. Had it really come to this?

Especially this week. God, not this week.

Six years and it still felt like yesterday. Six years ago, his mother had died in that car crash and changed everything. His brothers were finally together, yet so far apart, they hadn’t even mentioned the date to one another. Grief beat in his bones, and he desperately fought back. Not now. The anniversary was always painful, but this year all the memories were close to the surface, ready to draw blood. He just had to keep it together a little while longer.

Cal dragged in a breath and faced his own personal firing squad.

Tristan, never one to hide, met his gaze head-on. A crazy flash of respect trickled through Cal. Even now, pitted against each other, he managed to be proud of who Tristan had grown up to be. A man who had carved out his own future. Still, there was a darkness in Tristan that bothered him. A sad place he couldn’t seem to reach, as if the best parts of his life were already behind him and he’d accepted it without a fight. “I don’t want to make this a TV drama of the week, Cal. I was going to talk to you anyway.”

Cal walked into the shell of a house that wasn’t his and leaned against the new island Dalton had finished. “Seems like a good time now.”

Tristan shifted his stance. Dalton glanced from one to the other. “Tristan thinks he’s smarter than both of us,” Dalton said. “Guess he’s gonna save the business by his own hand.”

Tristan shook his head. “What do you care? You just want to build your own projects without consequences and go back to California.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Pierce Brothers is mine just as much as yours. If we work together as a team, maybe we can build something even better.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Cut it out,” Cal interrupted. “Do you really think I’ll just step back and let you take over what I built, T? You have great ideas. I want to hear them and implement them, but we have to get through this project and the next few months before we can start experimenting.”

Tristan made a rude noise. “Right. You’ll never give me validation, Cal. You and Dad were alike and never enjoyed having anyone question your decisions. You don’t want input—never did. It’s happening all over again, but this time I’m not going to run away. This time I’m fighting for what I want.”

“You want me out?” he asked calmly. He tamped down on the slight panic. His own brother seemed like a stranger. There was no trace of the boy he’d grown up with. Going on adventures in the woods, and sharing details of their first kisses, and facing down Dad as a team, always a team. All of the memories drifted in front of him, but Tristan saw nothing. Just what he thought he wanted.

“Of course not,” Tristan said politely. “I want to work with you. But the dynamics need to change. I want you to take a step back and let me spearhead Pierce Brothers. I do have some ideas I’d like to implement, and of course you’d continue as the main builder, but this company needs more than you can give. It needs a new direction you’re not able to take it in. I can.”

A humorless laugh escaped Cal’s lips. “Oh, boy, this is good. You run off and leave me with Dad and the mess left behind, refusing to come home for five years. Now you want to ride in on your perfect white horse and make it yours? Life doesn’t work like that, bro. I’m the one who’s stuck around, taking the daily crap. The problem you’ve always had was tunnel vision. I’m fine if you want to incorporate real estate and redesign. Hell, I think it’s great. But we’re builders first. Pierce Brothers Construction. If we lose sight of our main goal, we’re going to forget who we are.”

Tristan shook his head. “You’re wrong. My tunnel vision is being able to see the future. I just bought two properties and plan to flip them for a huge profit. If we keep being afraid to branch out, Pierce Brothers will wither and die. You’re afraid to grow. You think like Dad. Hell, you’re still taking his orders from the grave, just like a damn lackey.”