Broken Vows (Domestic Discipline Romance) (7 page)

Josh dragged his brother out of his chair and hugged him. "Damn, you are good!"

"Don't I know it," Tyrell crowed. "Violet thanks you too, since she now gets her new kitchen. Will you hide this from Jenny, too?"

Josh lost his smile. "No, I'll tell her about the settlement. I need time though to work through the inheritance. I think this windfall will buy me a partnership deal I had to turn down a couple of weeks ago. It will also get us out of Waterbury, which we desperately need. If we put distance between Denise and us, we might make it. Jenny and I have been talking about moving west. The partnership deal is in Colorado."

Tyrell leaned over and flipped through several pages in the folder. "In addition to a slew of investment properties, the old man left you several personal properties. One of them is in Durango, Colorado, estimated value at 1.3 million. Hello, bro, that is worth checking out. Ah, it looks like it was where the old man lived for the last part of his life.

"There are also some rental properties around ski resorts, and here are two more personal residences. One is in San Diego and one in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Each of those is worth about a half a million or more, it looks as if they have been rentals for a while."

Tyrell sat back in his brother's chair and watched Josh continue pacing the floor. "Okay, little brother, I will keep your secrets. However, I have a price for my silence. I want your promise to not try and pay back Dad and Mom."

Josh's head snapped around.

Tyrell raised his hands to ward off his brother's words. "I didn't have to be a genius to figure out you were in over your head. I have no idea what Dad gave you, though. It's between the two of you.

"I know how your mind works, Josh. You have always been a proud bastard. Paying Dad back was the first thing to cross your mind when you saw those figures in the folder. It was also the first thing to cross your mind when I gave you the settlement figures. Don't do it.

"You think of it as paying a debt… as money owed. Dad and Mom think of it as extending love and help to their child. If you pay it back, they will forgive you for your misguided intentions, but their feelings will also be hurt, although they would hide it from you. Your dang pride has always made you fight to make Dad and Mom proud of you, but you would never let them help you get there.

"That's what parents do if they can, Josh, they help their children. You will be there for Emmeline and Adam. I will be there for my two hellraisers. Children become adults, but parents always want to be there for them, which is what family is all about. They help each other. I know if Dad suddenly needed every cent of your inheritance, you would hand it over without a qualm. It works both ways."

"Can I at least offer to give it back to them?"

"No," Tyrell replied firmly. "This is the deal on the table. Take it or leave it, but I don't think you want your mother-in-law in on your recent windfall anytime soon."

"That's extortion," Josh growled.

Tyrell grinned.

"All right," Josh said begrudgingly. "However, after the dust settles and I figure how to handle all this, I want to at least
talk
to Mom and Dad about repaying them. Fifty-seven million dollars and I am not discounting what you got out of DQ&H. Six-hundred-thousand dollars is friggin amazing! I can't wrap my brain around all this!

"Jenny went out to the grocery store today and I lectured her about not buying anything which would cause us to go over budget. Now there is no budget."

Tyrell leaned back in the chair again. "You need to slow down, little brother and take a chill pill. You are a freaking side show right now. Not that I don't enjoy watching it, but you need to take a deep breath and take the time to digest everything. It is not in your personality to do so, but do not immediately splurge and blow a million dollars on junk!

"You know what? I changed my mind. You should talk to Dad. He is somewhere close to your new financial bracket, and probably knows the terror it comes with. He will be thrilled for you, and will be able to give you good advice. If the subject of the money he gave you comes up, and I am sure it will because you are a single-minded bastard, talk with him about it. Don't be surprised if he doesn't want it back.

"My advice is to go about your business as usual. You need to keep on top of the estate attorney to make sure no claims come out of the woodwork from people wanting to dip their fingers in the pie. With this kind of money, there are usually a lot of suits claiming the old man promised them something. Unless they got it in writing, the courts would bounce them out if they even make it that far. Maybe somebody shoveled the old man's walk or ran an errand for him at some point. When millions of dollars are at stake, everyone thinks they are entitled to a part of it."

"Well, that would be more than I did," Josh exclaimed. "I didn't know he existed."

"It doesn't matter," Tyrell said. "He knew about you and he is blood kin. He named you in his will sixteen years ago. That, my bro, will hold up in court.

"Take the settlement money and go into business for yourself, if that is what you want. Give yourself time, and give your marriage the time it needs. Your relationship problems are still there, Josh. Right now they are shrouded in your current blind panic. If Dad drilled anything into our heads, it is
family comes first
."

* * *

Jenny was sitting in her walk-in closet surrounded by a mountain of clothing. How she had accumulated so many clothes she did not even wear was not a mystery, but she still regretted it. Emmie was playing dress-up in a shimmery silver cocktail dress and high heels Jen had not worn in years.

"I remember that outfit," Josh said from the doorway of the closet.

"It is going out to a resale shop or into Emmie's dress-up box. I doubt I would fit into it again."

"You are not much bigger now than when we married," Josh said, looking at her. "You are a little too thin, in fact."

"A woman can never be too thin," Jenny protested. "Even so, I went up a dress size after Emmie and another after Adam. Childbearing has had an effect on my figure."

"So what," Josh teased in her ear. "I love your hips, and your butt, and the fullness of your breasts, all of which are only a
tiny
bit bigger now. You are a woman, Jen, not a skinny, size two adolescent. You are beautiful and you gave us two amazing babies out of your stunning body."

"Thank you," Jenny said as he squatted down to kiss her.

Josh plopped down on the floor, and began a game of tossing clothes over Adam and pulling them off him to make him giggle. "I have a job offer."

"Really," Jenny exclaimed. "Is it a good one?"

"It sounds good, but I have to fly to Denver for an interview. I will be away for a couple days. While there, I also want to take the time to go to Montrose and check out Brice's proposition. Can you handle things alone for a few days?"

"You have been on business trips before," Jenny said mildly.

"Yes, I have," he agreed. "Denise has also used those times to corrupt your mind and pick our pockets. I cannot come back to discover several thousand dollars of debt that was not there before I left. I need you to be strong."

"I will be strong," Jenny promised. "I still have a ton of stuff to go through. Each time I mark a box for auction or resale at a consignment shop, it reminds me how stupid I have been."

"I hate being a hard-ass, but I have to be," Josh said firmly. "You don't have a good track record of turning down your mother. I think she's implanted little
time bombs
in your brain, she says a keyword and you cave."

Jenny shook her head. "I won't cave," she promised. "You read too much science fiction."

"Okay, I have your promise. If I come back to discover she has conned you into something, your ass will pay for it and not in a fun way."

"I will bury myself in packing, and I will ignore her. You have my solemn word that I will not go near a mall. The Engleson's want settlement and occupation in twenty-eight days. The idea of being homeless in less than a month scares me."

"We will never be homeless," scolded Josh. "We have the settlement and we are going to fine. We will recover from this mess, and be stronger than ever."

* * *

Josh left home after many, many hours of reassuring Emmie about his going away. He didn't want his baby girl traumatized by his leaving. At one point, he and Jenny had even discussed him taking Emmie with him. With a lot of discussions and promises, Emmie agreed that he could go if he called her every day. She wasn't talking yet, but she was very good at shaking and nodding her head to make herself understood.

He flew into Denver where he caught a local flight into Grand Junction Regional Airport. From there, he drove to Montrose to spend the better part of a day and evening talking to his old college friends and now potential business partners. The business was still in its planning stages so it would be months before they could finalize the deal. They had a lot of research and development to conduct before putting any money on the line. There was also the issue of where he would live. His friends assured him telecommuting would make it viable wherever he lived. He bought into the partnership.

His next stop was Durango to meet with Mr. Mitchim and take possession of several envelopes filled with keys to houses and safe deposit boxes, as well as large boxes filled with portfolio files. He had already been in contact with the money management company who had dealt with Harold Bentley's fortune. At least, he knew that was not an issue. It was the same firm that worked for his father.

True to what Tyrell had promised, Henry Grayson was elated at his son's sudden turn of fortune. He had also dispensed good advice and given his son several contacts in investment and asset management firms. His father echoed his brother's advice to get his marriage on solid ground before making too many major lifestyle changes. Money was a complication in marriage, not a quick fix for relationship issues.

With hand-drawn directions from Mr. Mitchim, Josh drove outside Durango to view the Bentley property. Within a few minutes of wandering around, he got an idea he thought might work. He spent two long days inspecting the buildings and making lists. He went back to Mr. Mitchim's office to set arrangements in motion for the house to be readied for his family. He put Mr. Mitchim under retainer as his attorney.

* * *

Jenny often thought her mother must have a spy in the neighborhood. How else could Denise know when Josh was not around? She arrived at their house, not ten minutes after Jenny returned from dropping him off at the airport. Since then, Denise had come every day, several times a day. She brought with her the constant snide and disapproving remarks. She did not bring a willingness to help.

"I can't believe you are allowing him to ruin your life," Denise sniffed as she looked around at the boxes stacked against walls.

"We are doing what we have to do, Mom," Jenny said as she put Adam into his highchair and lifted Emmie into a chair for lunch. She took cooked vegetables left over from the previous night's meal out of the refrigerator for Adam and set them aside while she made soup and a sandwich for Emmie. "In some ways, I am looking forward to it."

"It is unbelievable," snorted Denise. "I warned you when you married him, he would not amount to anything. Look at what he has done! Maureen Pugh is livid and spreading rumors around the country club that Josh sued her husband's company and because if it, the government is snooping around his business."

"Well, first of all, Mr. Pugh no longer owns the company. It retained his name, but another corporation owns it. Second, if Mr. Pugh had treated Josh ethically, along with a number of other employees, there would have been no need for a lawsuit. I don't think the government would be snooping around unless they suspected something illegal."

"I have to deal with the Pughs, Jennifer," Denise reminded her daughter. "We are in the same clubs and social circles. It is grossly unfair for Josh to have put me in this position."

"You are not in a
position
." Jenny glanced over her shoulder at her mother as she set Emmie's lunch in front of her. "I realize it would never occur to you that my husband has a legal right to defend himself against an unscrupulous employer. It would also never occur to you he was in the right. Not only did he defend himself, but also nineteen other co-complainants who received unfair treatment. It would never occur to you to defend your daughter's husband against malicious slander because you would rather stick by your wealthy friends than your family."

"Why should I? I have never accepted him into our family! He is a
nobody
. He doesn't even know who his parents were. They were probably alcoholics or drug addicts." Denise exclaimed. "He was never worthy of marrying into our family!"

"Do not say another word against my husband," Jenny snapped. "What God died and put you in charge of deciding who is worthy? I was there, Mom, and I have not forgotten a thing including Dad's dirty business deals, your lies, and how you treated both of us as children."

"I don't know what you are talking about! We gave both of you the best of everything! How did you repay our generosity? Both of you ran off and ruined your lives," Denise snapped. She moved towards the dining room to look inside. "Are you selling all your things?" she demanded.