The Ties That Bind

But first the scholarship. He reached into the mail crate filled with unread applications, grabbed one and swiveled his chair to face the three mesh bins on his sideboard. The rejected applications stack towered over the short “maybe” stack. The “yes” bin remained empty. It should only take a few moments to decide into which category the one in his hand would go.

Every year more people needed a hand up. He couldn’t afford to help them all, so he searched for the one with the most potential and ambition. The one who’d fought hardest against the greatest odds to achieve the most.

He’d only read the applicant’s name when Sarah breezed into the room. “Ahh. My first full night’s sleep in a week. I feel human again and well enough to tackle composing the rejection letters. I felt guilty for not staying last night to help with the transition, but with my ulcer acting up, I needed the peace and quiet.”

“Not a problem.”

She dropped her purse on her smaller desk. “How did Anna and the boys make out last night?”

“I don’t know.”

“You didn’t ask her over breakfast?” she inquired as she grabbed a six-inch stack of applications from the rejection bin.

He nodded toward the sandwich. “I’m eating at my desk.”

Sarah’s red lips curved downward. “I have never spoken ill of your father before, but—”

“Don’t start now.”

“But,” she continued in a way no other employee would dare, “children are not meant to be dragged out only when it’s convenient.”

“Spoken from your vast experience.”

She winced and her expression turned somber. Pierce experienced a swift stab of regret. He was on a roll of hurting feelings this morning. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled-for.”

“But accurate. My husband and I weren’t able to have children—a fact that I regret more each day and one that makes me appreciate other people’s offspring—in small doses—all the more now that I’m pushing fifty and my friends are enjoying their grandchildren. Graham needs you, Pierce.”

She’d passed fifty a while back, but he let her fib go uncorrected. “He has his mother and a nanny you handpicked.”

“Don’t repeat your father’s mistakes. Spend time with your son. If you let him Graham will enrich your life in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.”

“He’s Kat’s son.”

“Yours and Katherine’s. It doesn’t matter that Katherine got pregnant behind your back. Graham is still your flesh and blood—as this current custody situation and the exorbitant child support you pay every month attests.”

“I’ll spend time with him when he’s old enough to intern at the company. Like Hank did with me.”

Sarah shook her head. “I became Hank’s executive assistant while he was still operating Hollister on a shoestring budget. When he began the paperwork to adopt you I had hoped a child would soften his hard edges, but he never changed his ways even after he brought you home.

“He worked just as late and he never took vacations. I tried to tell him children—especially an eight-year-old boy who’d recently lost his family—needed love and attention. And what did that damned fool do? He married a woman thirty years younger even though he was never going to love anyone other than that fickle hussy who’d dumped him and married his brother while Hank was deployed.”

Pierce frowned at the reminder. The year he’d turned thirteen he’d come home from school for the summer and been presented with a new “mommy.” He’d hoped that they’d be a real family and that he could live at home and attend a local school like a regular kid, but that hadn’t been the case. The woman, he couldn’t recall her name, hadn’t been interested in anything other than shopping and spending Hank’s money, and come fall Pierce had been sent back to boarding school. His new “mother” had been gone by the time he returned for Christmas break.

“At least the prenup kept her from robbing him blind.”

“You’re deliberately missing my point. More than once I asked Hank, ‘Why have a child if you’re not going to spend time with it?’”

“He needed an heir to keep his lazy, girlfriend-stealing brother from inheriting the company.” Pierce could practically hear Hank’s raspy voice snarling the words.

“That is not a good reason to bring a child into your home.” Sarah shook her head and settled in her chair, piling the papers in front of her.

“Hank needed someone to take a welder’s torch to his frozen heart. And you’re going to turn into a cantankerous old grouch just like him if you don’t let someone past that armor of yours. I understand your distrust of Katherine. She deliberately deceived you. But, Pierce, that’s not Graham’s fault. And handing out money isn’t going to fill your heart the way giving and receiving love does. No matter how many scholarships you award, you can’t bring your brother back.”

Damn, she had a way of going straight for the jugular. But Sarah didn’t know about the baby in Pierce’s foster care home—the one who had died. And Pierce had been the last one to see it alive. He pushed the memory away.

“I might be able to prevent another kid from the system from facing the same fate as Sean. That’s why we’re here sorting through over a thousand applications—with a looming deadline before the announcement and banquet.”

“Sean made bad choices after your parents died because he lost the emotional connection to someone who cared enough to guide him. Make sure you don’t put your son in the same position.”

It was his turn to recoil. Sarah asked too much. Letting Graham—or anyone—into his life meant making himself vulnerable. Everyone he’d loved had died. His parents. His brother. Hank.

Kat would return, and when she did she’d take Graham back to Atlanta. Eventually she’d find someone else willing to give her the ring she craved, and then even if Pierce wanted time with the boy he would play hell trying to get visitation. He’d seen custody battles happen time and time again with friends and employees.

Keeping his emotional distance would be easier in the long run. When he had something to offer Kat’s son—like a job at Hollister Ltd., he’d teach Graham the business if the kid was interested. But until then, he wasn’t investing himself in a temporary guest.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

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