Nathan was always so strange, so stern and serious. I always felt slightly awkward around him. He had been the only one to really pay attention to me as a small child, stepping to help me with my English when I had first moved to San Diego from Mexico. In fact, some of the things that he taught me really helped me move forward to fluently speaking English.
When my parents died, his face was the first I saw when I walked into the room full of police officers. He grabbed me by the arms and led me to the couch when I collapsed under the weight of the news. I could never tell whether his kindness to me was from his own heart, or because he knew how much his mother loved me and wanted to provide me with the best life that she could. Either way, awkward or not, he had always been there in the background so part of me was happy and comfortable having him come by to say hello, though I wasn’t quite sure how he knew I was here.
Nick had always been the one in the Landers family that I got along with the best. He had a fun personality, and when I got older, he became more playful toward me. It was only natural that I gravitated toward him, even though Nathan had been the more caring one. Part of me felt bad that I didn’t realize that until now. I’d always blown off Nathan and hadn’t even thought about it during family events. He walked in the door and looked around.
“Would you like some help packing and loading your things?”
He was quiet and serious, but I was happy he was there.
“That would be really amazing,” I said, relieved that I didn’t have to be alone during this.
Quietly, we moved around the room pulling everything out and wrapping the breakables. We packed the boxes as full as I could carry, since I would be moving them into my place by myself. I smiled at Nathan as he rolled up his sleeves and awkwardly taped the boxes. I could tell he had never actually moved on his own before, and I wondered who moved his things from college to his house on the water. Being as rich as the Landers meant they could hire someone to do just about anything.
When we were done packing, we carried the boxes, one by one, through the house, pausing momentarily to see Nick in the living room watching television with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Nathan rolled his eyes and shook his head as he pushed past and out of the house. He helped me get everything packed into my car and walked back in with me. As I started grabbing cleaning supplies, he chuckled, realizing there was no way I was leaving my mess for the maids. He grabbed the vacuum and followed me back, and we commenced the cleaning process.
Between the two of us, it took less than an hour to get the place cleaned. When we were done, Nathan helped me put everything away. I leaned in and hugged him tightly, thanking him for helping me. He smiled awkwardly before turning and walking to the kitchen. The house looked so sad and lonely now that Mr. Landers lived there by himself. Most of the shine had faded when Mrs. Landers passed, and she took a piece of my heart with her. I took a deep breath and headed down the hall, knocking quietly on Mr. Landers’s study doors.
“Come in,” he said sternly.
I cracked the door and stepped inside, my hands clasped in front of me.
“What can I do for you, Ronni?” he asked impatiently.
“I am all packed up,” I replied. “I just wanted to come in and thank you. Thank you for taking me in all those years ago and giving me the amazing opportunities that you have. I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am.”
“Mmhm,” he grunted, staring out the window.
I waited for a moment to see if he was going to say anything else, but he never turned to look at me. I took a deep breath and turned from the room, leaving the house without saying goodbye to the boys. I was hurt by Mr. Landers’s reaction, but there was nothing I could do but walk away. I looked up at the large mansion before getting in my car, excited about my future but sad to leave the place behind.
Chapter Three
Nathan
I was back in the office Monday morning, surrounded by people who either loved me or hated me. It came with the territory of being the boss. But even though I was at the top, a constant feeling nagged at me that my father was waiting around every corner, watching over my shoulder. The company wouldn’t be fully mine and my brother’s until my father was gone, not that I was looking forward to that day. But after I got out of college, my father wanted to retire, so he made me the head of the company. I knew that chapped my brother’s ass, but my father could see just as well as I could that Nick was not interested in taking over this company. I looked up at my phone as the secretary came over the speaker.
“Mr. Landers, your brother, Nick is here to see you,” she said.
“Thank you, send him in,” I replied, rolling my eyes and sighing, wondering what in the world he wanted now.
Nick strolled through the door, his hand in one pocket, and the other making sure his perfectly coiffed hair hadn’t moved from the same position it was earlier that morning. He looked around my office, picking up different items, scoffing, and putting them back down. I sat at my desk watching him, wondering what the hell he wanted.
“So,” he said, sitting down in the chair and looking at me. “Why haven’t you taken my advice on the acquisition I brought you?”
“Nick, we talked about this already,” I said, sighing.
“Remind me,” he said, lifting his eyebrows.
I wanted to slap that smug look off of his face.
“The property value is crap,” I replied without sugar coating it. “After estimating the number of repairs that we would have to do, the cost of the people we would have to pay, and the commissions that would come out of it, it wasn’t a smart business venture.”
“I thought profit was a smart venture,” he said angrily.
“Only if the profit is more than the cost of a light bill,” I said, looking down at the paperwork in front of me. “Time is just as valuable as money here, Nick. We could invest that time in a property that gives us five times the return.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with the return,” Nick said angrily leaning forward. “It’s your irritating need to control every decision in this company.”
“That’s my job, Nick,” I replied, still not looking up at him.