Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Carly looks up at me and gives me a reassuring smile. It doesn’t solve anything, but it sure as fuck feels good.
I notice Chance on his cell now, pacing the length of the room.
“I’ll come back,” I say to Mom. “I’ll fly them.”
“What? No. You can’t. The will says—”
“Jonathan Bridger can’t keep controlling our lives, Mom.”
“It’s a billion dollars,” she counters. “Even if the company goes under—”
“It won’t.”
“But with that money, does it matter?”
I stiffen and Carly steps back.
“Mom, do you want Sea-Air to win? Do you want the company you started to fail now because Jonathan Bridger, the guy who abandoned you when you were pregnant, dictates me being here even when he’s dead?”
“When you put it that way,” she says with a forced laugh.
“There’s got to be a way.”
“There is,” Chance interrupts. He’s done with his phone call and comes over.
I look to him, but I speak into the cell. “Hang on a sec, Mom.”
“Shankle says you can’t go back to Seattle,” he replies. “It’ll break the will.”
I’m not sure how this is remotely helpful and I’m about to say that, but he continues.
“But we can. Remember he said there were stipulations about us leaving? You, me, and Miles. Together.” He points between the three of us. “I know it’s ridiculous, but apparently our esteemed father said we can leave in the case of an emergency, though he didn’t define what an emergency was. Shankle says as far as he’s concerned this qualifies, but we have to go together, and only for a week at a time.”
Miles widens his eyes, and he smiles. “Fuck, yeah.”
I frown at both of them. “Can either of you fly a plane?”
Chance looks at me as if I asked him if he works for a circus. “Hell, no.”
Miles shakes his head.
“But you can,” Chance adds.
Miles steps closer. “Yeah. If what we’re hearing is all of it, we can help you find a new pilot while you’re taking those trips. One who isn’t a thieving dick.”
Chance’s smile spreads. “I’m happy to track down this Greg asshole and let him know there’s more than one Bridger now.”
I think Chance has a need to beat the shit out of someone. I’m glad it’s moved on from me to someone more… deserving.
“You two want to move to Seattle? I thought we’re supposed to run the ranch together. That we have to stay in Montana.”
“I didn’t say move,” Chance says. “Per Shankle, all we get is a week. Then we have to be back here to continue to meet the rules of the will.”
Carly nods. Doing this means a week away from her, but I don’t have much choice.
“You hear all that, Mom?”
“I did. It’s a start.”
”Then I guess I’ll see you soon. I’ll be in touch. You just take care of yourself, okay?” I end the call.
Carly stands next to me, her hand still in mine. “So you’re leaving…”
I pull her away from Chance and Miles so we have a bit of privacy. “Only for a week, sweetheart.”
“You might forget me in a week.” She looks down at my chest.
I tip her chin up. “That is not going to happen.”
She sighs. “I won’t forget you, for sure. I do have to go talk to my father.”
“So you can get the lowdown on the evil Bridgers.” I grin.
“Whatever he says, I know it has nothing to do with you, but…”
“But…you need to hear him out.”
“I do. I need to learn what he knows. I’d much rather go to Seattle with you.”
“God, I wish…” I kiss the top of her head and then I hand her my phone. “Program your number in. I don’t want to be out of touch with you for a second. You need me, I’m a call away.”
She adds her number and hands the phone back. I tap on her name and her phone rings in her pocket. “Now you have my number, too. Call me anytime, baby. I mean it.”
“I will. When are you leaving?”
“I have no idea. I have to talk to Chance and Miles. Tonight if possible, I suppose. If we can get a flight.”
Chance shakes her head, chuckling. “Did you forget already?”
I wrinkle my forehead. “Forget what?”
“We can leave anytime we want. We Bridgers have our own private jet.”
My jaw drops. Damn. He said something about a plane that first day when we all met, made some snide comment about training wheels.
Carly touches my cheek. “You, Austin, have your own plane.”
“Can we even use it?”
If Shankle says the three of us only get a small stipend each month, maybe there are rules for other things as well.
“The ranch trust has all the money it needs to run. The will’s stipulations are only to fuck with us,” Chance adds.
“What about the money being tied up because of dear old Dad’s EPA violations?”
“As far as I know, nothing has been frozen yet,” Chance replies. “Shankle didn’t say anything about it just now.”