Page 8 of Brother In Arms

“That was a mother’s worry, Bailey.”

I blinked. My mom had never been terribly maternal, we’d pretty much had a nanny for that. I felt my brow crush down in a frown.

“Why the sudden interest?” I demanded bitterly.

I’d never seen the look that crossed my mother’s face just then. It immediately made me feel awful, and I would pretty much agree to just about anything to make it go away. She reached a hand across the table and I took it.

“There is a lot I protected my children from. Things you don’t know about your father, and for that I am grateful. Still, there are things I apparently couldn’t protect you from… Philip especially. I loved your father, flaws and all, but some of his worst traits have manifested in your brother and I fear for you. Bailey… I see things here that you can’t. Just let Dray’s friend work here… please?”

I felt my own eyes tear up, like every rich family ours held more than a couple of skeletons in its closet. Maybe my mom had paid attention more than I realized. Philip had always been a shit to me growing up, but then he’d gotten into it deep enough with a girl at his school that father had had to step in. I was sent to boarding school shortly after – an all-girls boarding school.

Yeah, I know, crazy right? My brother gets in trouble and I’m the one that goes to boarding school, but that was my dad’s logic for you. Didn’t I say, good ol’ boys club? I’m pretty sure I did.

It was probably one of the best things to have ever happened to me while at the same time, the worst. The best because the school really was fantastic, the worst because I finally felt cast aside for good in favor of an older brother who was just plain awfully behaved.

I slammed the door on painful past truths and looked critically at the present ones. I really didn’t want this Rush guy around, I was pretty sure he knew that I knew exactly who he was and that was just a headache I didn’t need. One I especially didn’t need on top of the daily headache that was preserving my father’s legacy, and to some extent, my dream of finally proving myself worthier than the make heir apparent, when it came to Blue Hills.

Still, looking at my mother’s face, the worry, and the deep knowledge that things were only going to get worse the more I dug my heels… I ended up nodding reluctantly. It didn’t feel good. I’d already used him once and that hadn’t felt good either. Okay, well, it’d felt amazing; like really amazing, but it couldn’t happen again. It never should have happened in the first place.

“Fine,” I said, “I’ll hire him on a trial basis. Happy?”

“Relieved, my darling girl. I’m relieved.” She sat back in her chair and I picked up my glass, drinking more because I had absolutely no idea what else to talk about now.

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