I realized that Grand Orchard was full of people who brought joy to my life. Even my parents. The apartment felt like a place where I’d never had anything. It felt like a life I’d shed and didn’t want to go back to.
When I dragged my ass out of bed the next morning, I had a new determination. My appointment with Victoria Chan was even more important. As I sat in her office, waiting for her to see me, I debated calling Tristan. But it was still fairly early, and I didn’t want to wake her if she was still asleep after our late night. I almost jumped when my phone rang just as I was putting it away. I looked down to see Dani’s face.
“Hey,” I said warily, wondering if she was going to chew me out over Tristan all over again.
“Hey back,” she said before diving into business like Dani was so good at doing. “So, I was thinking about the interviews today.”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe you should ask them how they’d handle the whole Tristan thing.”
“I don’t want anyone to say anything about her,” I growled. “She shouldn’t have to deal with this, Dani.”
“It’s too late for that,” she said. “If you care about her as much as you profess, you have to do something to send the hounds home.”
The reality was, I more than cared about Tristan.More… There was that damn word again. Hannah and Tristan had both written themselves on the pink edges of my heart like a tattoo. One I didn’t want to remove.
“I think I’ve found my Faith,” I told her honestly.
“What? Religion? You?” Dani scoffed.
I chuckled. “No, my Faith Hill. When I was younger, I used to say I wanted to be Tim McGraw with my own Faith Hill, and we’d have two kids named Tennessee and Londyn.”
“If you name your kid Tennessee, I will personally send Nash to murder you in your sleep.”
“You like tossing around his murder capabilities a lot,” I teased back.
“He likes being threatening and broody,” she said. “But focus, Brady. Back to Tristan. If you give the press nothing, it’s just going to get worse. They’ll think you have something to hide, and as much as you all look alike, and as interested as Hannah is in music, they might just draw the conclusion she’s your love child.”
I groaned. We did look alike in some ways with our dirty-blond hair and eyes differing shades of brown. But we didn’t look alike enough for me to be Hannah’s dad. My heart lurched at that thought. Being there for her for the rest of her life. Being front and center at her first concert. Taking pictures while she got ready to leave for prom. Walking her down the aisle when she got married.
“I’ll talk to Tristan,” I told her gruffly.
“Denying them isn’t going to protect them,” she repeated her point, pounding it home. “So, find out what these PR hopefuls might say, and it’ll give you a good idea about how much you can trust them with your personal life.”
She was right. Dani was always right. I wished to hell she wasn’t leaving me, but I also understood the good she was doing with From the Ashes. Her foundation was giving people—whole families—the new beginnings they needed.
Just like I wanted to give Tristan and Hannah the new beginning they deserved.
The male assistant outside Victoria’s office kept shooting me looks under his lashes. He was tall and muscular with a sexy, nerdy vibe. When he finally rose and said, “Victoria will see you now,” there was an undeniable innuendo to the words.
He held the door open for me, and I winked at him as I went by. The guy flushed about twenty shades of red before asking, “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“No, but thanks,” I said, continuing my smile.
The guy stood there until the woman behind the desk finally waved her hand. “Shoo, Demir.”
The assistant closed the door, and I turned to meet Victoria Chan for the first time. She had high cheekbones and eyes so dark they appeared black. The depths of them were accentuated with curled black liner. Her silky black hair was up in a do from the forties or fifties. She reminded me of a Chinese Audrey Hepburn who’d aged with more grace than seemed humanly possible.
I stuck out my hand. “Brady O’Neil. Thanks for meeting with me.”
She didn’t take the hand, and I dropped it, sitting in the chair on the other side of her desk. She was as intimidating as hell. If she couldn’t make William do her bidding, I wasn’t sure anyone would be able to sway him.
“I’m not sure I can help you, Mr. O’Neil. I may be on the board of the bank, but I leave all the day-to-day business to William. He’s proven himself more than capable.”
Hardball. I was going to have to play hardball. “I offered him a full fifty thousand dollars over the asking price for one of the properties the bank owns. Cash. And he rejected it. That doesn’t seem like the smartest move for the bank’s stockholders.”
“It’s not just about the stockholders, though, is it? William cares a great deal about Grand Orchard. Our entire family does. Where would we be without the support of the community, after all? If William doesn’t want to sell the place to you, it’s likely he doesn’t believe you’re in the best interest of the town.”
