Winning Wyatt (The Billionaire Brotherhood Book 1) (26 page)

“Do
you still want me to come?” Her voice quavered with uncertainty. “I can be
there by three o’clock this afternoon.”

“Yes,
of course. That will be great,” he said, aware he could no longer avoid telling
her the truth. “I can send a jet for you.”

“I’ve
already booked a flight.”

“Uh,
Kara...”

“Can
you give me your mother’s address? I’ll get a taxi to bring me there to pick up
Sean, I guess, but where will we stay? Did you cancel our hotel reservations?”

“Text
me your flight info. I’ll send someone to pick you up at the airport, but I
think you’ll want to stay here.”

“Why?”

“Well—”
This was worse than any confession he’d ever had to make. “You see, Kara, Sean
has the chicken pox.” There, now it was out in the open.

“When
did he get sick? Has he seen a doctor? Are you sure he has the chicken pox?
What symptoms does he have? Why didn’t you tell me?” With each question, fear
pushed the tone of her voice higher.

He
understood her concern and even her outrage at being kept in the dark. The only
course open to him now was to reassure her and get her here as soon as
possible. He told her about the doctor’s visit. “She said chicken pox is a
common childhood illness. It’s going around right now, and it’s nothing to be
worried about. She’s seen cases much worse than Sean’s.”

“But
it affects each child differently,” Kara objected. “How can she be sure Sean
isn’t suffering?”

“He
doesn’t appear to be.” Wyatt looked across the room at the boy enjoying a bowl
of banana pudding. “But I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.”

“Has
he been asking for me?” she demanded. “I’ve never been away from him when he
was sick before.”

“I’ll
let you talk to him.”

The
boy took the phone and Wyatt let him conduct his own conversation. Talking to
Sean would reassure Kara more quickly than anything Wyatt could say. Words like
itchy, hot, and ice cream peppered Sean’s part of the exchange.

“I
knew I shouldn’t have let him go with you,” Kara said when Wyatt recovered the
phone from a small sticky hand.

“How
would that have helped? The doctor said he was exposed two to three weeks ago.”

“Oh,
no!” Kara moaned. “That’s when we started taking him out in public. I knew we
shouldn’t have taken him out.”

“Kara,”
Wyatt said, trying to retain his patience, “he’ll be fine.”

“But
I’ve read that in small children it can cause pneumonia or encephalitis.”

“Only
in severe cases without medical supervision.” He heard Kara take a deep breath
before continuing her harangue, but he stopped her. “There’s no point in
arguing about it. You probably have a lot to do to get ready for your flight,
don’t you?”

Sean
settled down for his nap after lunch. Wyatt headed to the sunroom in response to
a summons from his mother. He’d expected the request to come sooner rather than
later and was relieved she hadn’t insisted on the confrontation while he’d been
tending a sick child.

The
sunroom, with a view of the gardens and pool, was a favorite spot of Rosalie’s.
Never one to waste time, she held a rosewood lap desk and wrote personal notes
while she waited.

Watching
her for a moment before she became aware of his presence, Wyatt considered the
false picture of frail Southern gentility she portrayed. Still a beautiful
woman, her hands were the only part of her that showed any sign of her age.

As
he stepped into the room, she looked up, and her face, her posture, and her
eyes betrayed the steel beneath the magnolia, the woman who ran an empire. He
recognized that look from every business negotiation he’d ever attended with
her. It usually meant there was a plan afoot and she intended to have her way.
She usually got it, too.

She
set the desk aside and removed her reading glasses. “I understand Kara is arriving
this afternoon.”

He
took a seat in a wicker rocker. “She’s getting in at three.”

“Is
Jonah picking her up?”

“No,
Allie.” Wyatt might consider Jonah a member of the family, but Rosalie didn’t.
He knew she recognized very well the significance of having his sister perform
the service.

Her
mouth compressed into a disapproving line. “I’m sure Allison has more important
matters to attend to.”

“Maybe,
but she agreed to do this as a favor for me.”

Rosalie
made a tsking sound accompanied by a shake of her head. “I don’t know why that
woman is so important to you when you have all the women in the south to choose
from.”

“Not
quite that many.” Wyatt swallowed back a more biting retort. He was determined
not to argue with her on the eve of her birthday, but his caution was based on
more than that. Of late, he had wearied of their adversarial relationship.
Maybe he’d come to realize it wasn’t that easy to be a parent, or maybe, he was
just tired of the drama it involved.

One
of Izzy’s young relatives entered the solarium and poured glasses of ice water
with lime. “Will that be all, ma’am?”

Rosalie
dismissed the girl with a nod, but Wyatt stopped her. “Lucy, Izzy’s upstairs
with Sean. Would you check and see if they need anything?”

“How
is the little darling this afternoon?” Rosalie almost glowed at the mention of
her grandson.

“Much
better, except for all those spots.”

“He’s
behaving very well for a child who’s not feeling well.” Rosalie beamed with
pride.

Wyatt
sipped his water and set it aside. “After lunch he wanted to go out and play. I
said he had to stay inside while he’s sick, and he said, ‘I’m not sick, Daddy,
I itch’.”

Rosalie
smiled. “So bright, so clever. Just like you at that age. Much like your
father, too.”

Wyatt’s
eyebrows soared. “You don’t mention my father very often.”

“I
should, I suppose. We were married a long time. But the way he died was such a
betrayal to me, to my name, to our marriage and the life we shared. I find it
hard to forgive him for that.”

Wyatt
supposed she’d known about his father’s mistress before his fatal heart attack
in the woman’s bed. But still, it would have been a terrible blow to her pride
to know that the rest of the world was aware of it, too.

“But
there was good there, too, and there’s much of him in you and your son.”
Something new and calculating in her expression warned Wyatt they had reached
the crux of the conversation. “I’d like to think Sean’s future is in good
hands.”

“Whose
did you have in mind?”

She
lifted her blue-veined, pampered hands as if they contained an invisible ball.
“Right now, it’s in mine.”

He
cocked an eyebrow. “How do you figure that?”

She
lifted her chin to its most imperial height, the way she did when issuing a
proclamation. “As it has been for generations, the future of Wyatts is
controlled by the one who runs the business.”

“My
future and my son’s future,” Wyatt retorted, “are not synonymous with the
future of the business.”

“But
they should be,” she stated. “They could be.”

“No,
Mother,” Wyatt said firmly. “They could not.”

“Tomorrow
night, at my party, I plan to officially name you as my successor.” She folded
her hands in her lap and calmly waited for the salvo to land.

“No,
Mother.”

She
hesitated only briefly before forging onward. “I know you’ve always said you
didn’t want the position, but isn’t that simply idle talk leftover from your
adolescent rebellion? I was patient with your need to distance yourself from
your destiny for a while, but I’ve always believed you would set aside that
teaching nonsense one day and resume your true place in the family hierarchy.
Now that you have your own child and I’m getting older, you must accelerate
your return to Wyatt Enterprises.”

“Spare
me the inspiring call to arms,” Wyatt broke in when she paused for breath.
“This is very touching, but we both know you have no intention of retiring. I’m
certain if I agreed to this scheme, in twenty years you’d still be at the helm
and I’d be dead from boredom as your successor-in-waiting.”

“If
that’s what’s holding you back, we’ll draw up a formal agreement that will
ensure my removal by a specific date.”

“That
isn’t what’s holding me back.” He could see her eyes sharpen as she prepared to
change tactics, and he took her hands in his. “We’ve had this conversation
before, Mother, but you never listen. This time I want to make sure you
understand. I have no intention of ever returning to Wyatt Enterprises on a
full-time basis.”

“But
we need you.” She played the sense of responsibility card, the one she had
crafted just for him over the years. “You’re the logical choice.”

“Only
to you.” He squeezed her hands gently. “There are others far more capable than
I, if you would be willing to consider them.”

“You
mean Allie.” Rosalie returned her hands to her lap. “I should have known you’d
take her side.”

“You
should be taking it yourself. She’s worked her way up from every thankless
position you’ve ever stuck her in and earned the respect of every person around
her while she did. Everyone’s respect but yours.”

Rosalie
waved away his words. “She doesn’t have the kind of business intuition that
can’t be taught. You have it, and I have it. Jackson used to have it until he
got old and wanted life to be comfortable rather than interesting.”

“Allie
has something better. She has the desire to succeed. And she will, with your help
or without it. I think you should give her your backing. Share your expertise
with her,” he urged, “and you’ll be surprised at how far she’ll go. Otherwise,
she just might decide to go somewhere else. Like I did.”

His
mother tapped her manicured fingernails against the arms of her chair and
considered. “If I agree to start making an integral place in the business for
Allison, will you agree to come back and share the responsibility with her?”

“No.”
He had to give her points for not giving up, but that’s all he’d give her. “If
you name her as your successor tomorrow night instead of me, I’ll agree to stay
on the board and lend her my advice and support whenever she needs it. And if
you don’t, I’ll never work another day for Wyatt Enterprises.”

Not
much of a threat, but he knew Rosalie would recognize the underlying meaning of
his words. His sister meant more to him than the business did, and he would
walk away from it if it came to a choice.

They
looked at one another across the space of a few feet, but their clash of wills
spanned decades. This time, she blinked first. “You don’t work many days now.”

“Those
will dwindle to none.”

She
sighed, and with a bat of her eyelashes, she signified her decision. Still, she
made one more stab at changing the outcome. She wouldn’t have been his mother
if she hadn’t. “You drive a hard bargain. See why I want you to take over for
me?”

“No,
I don’t. On a personal level, you disapprove of every choice I’ve ever made.
But regarding the business, you’ve always acted like I’m the next coming of
Christ. Allie has been devoted to you for years, and if it comes to that, Chase
worships at the Wyatt altar along with her. I have never understood your
obsession about drawing me back into the fold.”

“It’s
simple, really.” Her look softened, and for a moment, she looked more like a
mother than a businesswoman. “You have a natural gift for it, but you’ve always
been so independent. I’ve been afraid that if you aren’t tied to the company,
then you aren’t tied to me.”

Years
of resentment and misunderstandings dissolved with her honesty. Now that he was
a parent himself, he understood her concerns more clearly. “Mother, we aren’t
tied together by the company. We never have been. We’re tied together by love
and blood and so much shared tradition and history. If I never stepped inside
the office of Wyatt Enterprises again, I’ll still be bound to you more tightly
from inclination than any contract you could devise.”

“You’ve
broken away from us many times,” she said, an observation rather than a criticism.

“And
yet, I always returned. And I always will.”

“With
Sean?”

“With
Sean.” He bent over to kiss her lightly on the cheek. “And Kara too, if things
work out the way I hope.”

“Is
she the really the one who will make you happy?” For once, she seemed
concerned, not critical.

“She
is.” Ironic that his mother should be the first to know of his intentions.
Maybe this was the start of a new understanding between them.

“Then
I wish you well.” She patted his hand, a blatant gesture of affection on her part.
“But if you don’t want to work for the company, what do you want to do? I’ve
never believed you find teaching all that fulfilling.”

“You
guessed that, did you?” Her insight surprised him. He had thought she only
cared that he wasn’t doing her bidding. He hadn’t realized she read him so
well. “You’re right. I like teaching, but I won’t make it a lifelong
commitment.”

“Will
you ever make a lifelong commitment to anything? Besides that woman?”

He
ignored the stab at Kara, knowing Mother was still adjusting to the idea. But
he jumped at the opening she’d given him. “Now that you mention it, I do have
an idea I’d like to talk over with you. Remember the problems Xander had a few
years back with alcohol? Well, what I’d like to do now is...”

Wyatt
explained his desire to set up a center for troubled teens. He would resign
from Wyatt Enterprises and accomplish this plan on his own if need be, but he
hoped his mother would help. Rosalie suggested he stay on the board of Wyatt
Enterprises and head a foundation capable of funding all their philanthropies
under one umbrella. “We’ve primarily been patrons of the arts in the past, but
I don’t see why we can’t shift our focus to social issues. You’ve already taken
the first step with the Adam Enderley Foundation. It’s a natural progression.”

Excitement
surged through him about his new prospects. “If the rest of the board and the
other family members agree, it would be the end of my professional indecision.”

“They’ll
agree.” Rosalie’s words sounded more like a promise than a prediction.

He
could continue living in Connecticut without breaking his ties to his family
and Wyatt Enterprises. He could do something he considered meaningful, but not
have to play an active role in the family business unless he wanted to. The
best of all possible worlds.

Optimistic
about the future, Wyatt took leave of his mother with a kiss on her cheek and
strolled out to the foyer to see if Kara had arrived yet. Just as he reached
the entryway, Jonah swept open the front door and admitted Kara and Allie. With
luggage in hand, Kara looked tired from her stay in Indianapolis, rumpled from
her trip, anxious about Sean, and breathtakingly beautiful, in spite of it all.

“How
are you, Jonah?” Kara paused only long enough to be civil. “And how’s Sean?”

“He’s
a fine little boy, Ms. Kara.” Jonah took the suitcase from her.

“Thank
you, but—” She broke off the sentence and turned toward Wyatt who watched her
from the foot of the stairs. “How is he?” Hurrying towards him, she stretched
out to him. “Where is he?”

He
took her hands and kissed her quickly before she could object. “He’s fine. He’s
sleeping.” Looking past her to Allie, he said, “Thanks for picking Kara up.”

“No
problem, brother dear.”

“Can
you stay for a minute?” he asked her. “I need to talk to you, but I better take
Kara up to see Sean before she wrings my hands off.”

“I
can wait. I’ll be in the kitchen with Izzy, putting some finishing touches on
our plans for tomorrow’s party.”