He paused before deciding to open up. What he was about to tell her wasn’t something that he felt the need to talk about, but he’d do or say damn near anything at this point to wipe that still-shocky look from the depths of her eyes. If it meant talking about himself, when that was usually something that he never did, then so be it. So he took a breath and began. “But there was a time in my life when I was afraid, yeah—my father died when I was in college. It was unexpected . . . a massive heart attack. In addition to the pain of losing him, the debt we found out he owed was damn near crippling.” He paused and saw that her eyes were clinging to his. “You want me to go on?”
She nodded her head, the look in her eyes sincere.
Garrett let the memory wash over him. “It was scary as fuck and I was petrified. My mother had never worked outside of the home, and Erin, our sister, was still a teenager, about to leave for college that my brothers and I had no goddamn idea how we were going to pay for. We found out that it had all been a smokescreen—the lifestyle we’d been living. When my father died, the bank called in all the loans, both personal and business, and the house we’d grown up in looked like it was going to go on the auction block without a serious input of cash . . . cash that we didn’t have. Damian and Nick, my older brothers, were adamant—they were going to find a way to send Erin to school . . . to keep our mother in the home she’d been in since she’d married our father, and frankly, forming the Rule Corporation with my brothers was one of the hardest things I’d ever done in my life. I was still in school . . . and suddenly my future was decided for me. And what made it worse was that I didn’t feel as if I had anybody to discuss it with. My dad was gone, and my brothers, for whatever reason, didn’t want to burden our mom with how bad things were. I’ve never figured that one out . . . she’s a strong woman, but I guess she’s got such a soft touch that you really can’t see beyond it and they felt the need to protect her. Anyway, for that reason, I couldn’t talk to her either and I felt totally alone. Alone and forced to go along with my brothers when I had no fucking clue what we were getting ourselves into.” He took a deep breath and pushed the memories aside. “Of course, it all worked out. We worked our asses off and the thought of our family losing everything isn’t even a consideration anymore. But let me tell you . . . we had some dark days.”
His words came to a standstill. The flush of color on Maria’s face told him that he’d done the right thing by getting her mind off her recent experience.
She licked her lips. “I’m sorry.”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a twisted smile. “Thanks . . . not your fault, though.”
“My dad left my mom and me when I was a little kid,” she said softly.
He hadn’t known that. “That sucks, baby.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “It is what it is. We survived.”
“Where’s your mom now?”
She let out a tiny, wistful smile and he was damn glad to see it. “Fort Lauderdale. She married a real estate adjuster she’d met who was in the area after the storm. I worked part-time here during my senior year of high school, and when I graduated, I was offered a full-time job with a suite, so I moved in and she sold the house and left.”
“So you went to college and worked at the same time?”
“Yes.”
He found his eyebrows coming together. “Do you have hard feelings about your mom leaving the area?”
“No, they wanted me to come with them, but I had big dreams, you know, and I already had this crazy affinity for the hotel that I can’t seem to shake.”
One side of his mouth lifted. “Why is that?”
She lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know. It was my first job . . . and I’ve always loved being here . . . loved the people . . . loved the building.”
“So I guess it came as a shock when the family sold out?”
“Not then, because I already knew that Mrs. Duncan’s heart wasn’t in it. The shock came before that . . . when Mr. Duncan died.”
“I’m sorry about that, baby.”
“Yeah? I don’t suppose it’s really your fault.”
He half-snorted a laugh. “That’s true. I didn’t kill the guy. Never even knew him.”