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2
Don’t Shoot the Messenger
Ace
Driving home in the afternoon traffic, I used the time to think. I was going to crush Celine with this news. She would blame herself for choosing to be a mother, for choosing our kids over the family company.
The last thing I wanted was her guilt-tripping herself because she chose our family.
I rolled to a stop at a red light, mulling over the financial situation in my head. There had to be a way to fix this. I couldn’t let Celine and Ryan lose their legacy.
I glanced at my phone. Ryan said he would call after he told Amber.
The green Prius behind me laid on the horn as soon as the light turned green, shocking me into action. Impatient assholes. Sometimes, this made me miss Georgia.
I glared at the hippie-looking driver in my rearview mirror and continued on my drive. The music stopped playing in the cab of the truck as Celine’s name popped up on my dash.
“Hey, princess.” I heard her soft sigh before a screech from one of our kids echoed through the speakers, hurting my ears. “Who the hell was that?” I demanded.
“All of them.” She laughed. God, I loved her laugh. “Are you in the car? I was just calling to ask if you wouldn’t be late tonight.”
“I’m actually on my way home,” I confessed.
“Who died, Ace?” There’s no hint of sarcasm in her voice. She genuinely believed something was wrong. “Is it my parents? Oh, no; I never answered my mom’s call this morning. I am such a terrible daughter. Will you answer me already?” She was just about screaming at me through the phone.
I never left work early, hence her freak out.
“No one died. Relax,” I soothed. “I just need to talk to you in person, and I wanted to have an early night with my wife and kids.”
“We haven’t had an early night since you started working for my dad, Ace. Don’t lie to me. What’s going.”
I pulled into the driveway of our two-story home, and I pressed the button on my rearview mirror to open the garage. “Good thing I’m home then.” I ended the call before she could protest and hopped from the truck, feeling my joints protest at the abrupt landing.
Jeez, I was getting old.
Celine was standing at the entrance of the garage door, her hands on her hips, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a pair of white shorts, her tanned legs on display. She had on a bright pink top, making her shine in the afternoon light.
I was a lucky man to call this woman mine.
“Don’t you just look ravishing, baby.” I leaned forward to pull her into my arms, but she sidestepped me, her brows furrowing.
“No distractions, Ace.” I heaved a sigh. I couldn’t even get a kiss from my woman. “What the hell is going on? You never come home early.” She rested a hand on my chest, pushing me back, her blue eyes softening as she glanced over my face.
“Why don’t we go inside? You might want to sit for this.” She stopped me from entering the house, holding the door shut with her other hand.
“The kids are in there. I made cookies earlier. They are in the kitchen.” I nodded, running a hand through my graying, black hair. I didn’t want to do this in the hot garage. The back of my shirt was already feeling damp from the humid air.
Why the hell hadn’t I bought an air conditioning unit for the garage again? Oh, right. Celine wanted to put the money towards a trip to Disney for the kids.
“We are having some serious problems at work.” Her hand dropped from the garage door, and she reached for me, her eyes wide and round.
“What kind?” I wrapped both my hands around her shaking ones, knowing this was going to crush her, and I hated to have to be the one to do it.
I wet my lip with my tongue, trying to buy time, to figure out the best way to tell her we were going to lose everything, that we would need to sell all of our assets.
“We’ve gone bankrupt, baby.” Her blue eyes widened the biggest I had ever seen. she gripped my forearms for support as she shook her head, her blonde ponytail swishing back and forth.
“No,” she gasped. “It’s not possible.” She leaned into me, and I held her as the first tremor quaked through her body. “It’s all my fault.”
