AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Prologue
Carter
I walked into Finnegan and Holmes Law Offices so happy I was practically whistling. Today was the day we signed the paperwork. Kane Construction, my late father’s business and legacy, was officially going to be mine. Well,ours. My twin brother, Elias, would co-own the business with me and would handle all of the numbers and papers and payroll… the boring accountant shit that he loved.
Our older brother, Luke, had inherited the business from our father when he died. Luke ran Kane Construction pretty well for about eight years, but everyone knew that his heart wasn’t in it. I respected Luke for stepping up for the family, his then-wife, and the business, but I couldn’t help feeling slighted. I was the one who actually wanted the business. I was the one who was actually good at it and liked the work. While Luke resented it, I was the one who was proud to head to the office every day and see my last name on the door.
“Mr. Kane, sign here, here, and… here,” Mr. Finnegan said.
Luke nodded and quickly signed where he was supposed to. When he was done, he sighed out heavily and smiled, a rarity for Luke. He wasn’t a smiling kind of guy. Not until recently.
The lawyer slid the same piece of paper over to me.
“Mr. Kane, if you will…”
I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed that pen and signed with a big flourish. Elias did likewise.
And, just like that, Kane Construction was finally mine.
Outside the office, Luke’s fiancée, Cindy, was waiting for him in his truck. She rolled down the passenger side window and kissed him before he even got in the car. I whistled at them and Luke gave me the finger, but still couldn’t tear his lips away from hers.
“Come on, let’s go celebrate,” I shouted. “Beers at Rook’s. My treat.”
I laughed. Luke hated beer.
But he finally pulled away from Cindy for long enough to finally say something to me about what had just happened between us.
“Thanks, man,” he said, offering me his hand to shake. I did.
“What are you thanking me for?”
Luke ran a hand through his hair, struggling for the words. “Dad’s legacy is in good hands and… I’m free now.”
“Good.”
“It always should have gone to you, you know.”
I smirked. I did know. But I was too happy to start digging up the past now.
“I think of all of us, you’re the most like him, Carter,” Luke said.
“That’s nice of you to say, but… I don’t think so.”
My father was a responsible, stand-up guy who married his college sweetheart in his twenties and had five children. Everything about him screamedfamily man.He was respected. Selfless. Justgoodin a way that I don’t think most people were anymore.
While I wasn’t Hank Kane, I was going to do this family proud. I’d done a hell of a job proving that I wasn’t a screw up. And that even though I dropped out of college, rode a motorcycle, and hated everything about the phrasesettling down, I was still a solid guy and could run a business.
“So where do we stand on celebrating?” I asked.
I tried not to sound too excited about the idea because I was pretty sure that Luke and Cindy were going say no. I’d bet they had to pick out Tupperware or curtains or whatever engaged people do.
“Anybody?” I wondered. “Bueller?”
“We can’t tonight, Carter,” Cindy answered. “Luke and I are meeting with my bosses at Farrelly Grove to talk about the wedding. Sorry.”
“That’s cool. Elias?”
I looked over at my twin brother, hoping he’d finally take a page out of my book and enjoy his life a little bit for once. Elias was probably itching to get back to work, even though it was four thirty in the afternoon on a Friday and, as far as I was concerned, it was the weekend. He shook his head and shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat.
