The Touch Series Box Set

  "Shut up Derrick! Yes I can, I have incredible will power." I tell him grabbing his arm and flying off the bed.

  Derrick prepares the grill while I get the steak and veggies all set. I open a bottle of beer for him and pour myself a glass of wine. Once the grill is ready to go he takes out the food and I grab our silverware and plates.

  The back of Derrick's house faces a nicely wooded area so there is a lot of privacy. This really is a beautiful home and I was certain 127 Front St. would be the place he and Chloe would raise a family. I have no clue what life has in store for this pair, but I hope something great is in their near future.

  "Yummy, this food is delicious. Thanks again for letting me stay here." I say while chomping down on my last piece of steak.

  "Charlie you are family. I’ll always be here when you need me to be."

  "I really don't think Marc would’ve come to my place, but it’s nice to know that I am not alone."

  "Believe me Charlie; you have nothing to worry about. Marc will not be bothering you again anytime in the near future. In fact I called Natalie last night and she came and picked him up from Snides. Looks like someone had a lot of explaining to do when she got there. Let's just say she was not happy."

  "Well serves him right. I have no clue what he was thinking. He leads me on for years in a relationship I thought would last forever, then he fucks my best friend Natalie in my bed, and then expects me to fall at his feet?"

  I pull my head into my hands in frustrations.

  "Derrick. I don't know what I would’ve done if you and Riley hadn't showed up."

  "Well let's not think about it and just enjoy our relaxing night."

  I take a look at my watch and see that it’s already past seven o'clock. I feel a little knot begin to form in my stomach and I realize that its anxiety waiting to hear back from Riley.

  "You feel ok Charlie?" Derrick asks. "You look a little pale all of a sudden."

  "Yea I'm okay just a little anxious to hear from Riley. He's supposed to be meeting with his sister right about now."

  "I'm sure everything is going fine and he’ll call as soon as he gets back to his room."

  "Yea I know."

  "You want another glass of wine?"

  "Sure, why not." I tell him.

  Derrick and I sit out on the deck for about another hour and talk about some recent cases he is dealing with at the firm and a trip Chloe will be making to Boston in the fall.

  "This was a lot of fun tonight Derrick, we need to do this more often. I miss hanging out with you."

  "Me too. Well I am going to head up to bed and watch some TV while reviewing some case documents. You are more than welcome to hang out down here a little longer."

  "Nah, I’m going to head up to bed too. Hopefully Riley calls me soon so I can get some sleep tonight."

  Derrick and I give each other a hug good night, he locks up and turns down the lights while me and Manny make our way back up to Riley's room.

  I wash up, brush my teeth, and climb into Riley's bed getting under his covers.

  "Sweet dreams Manny, our Riley will be home soon!"

  I’m sitting at the restaurant in my hotel waiting on Emma. It's after 6:30 and I am beginning to worry that she is going to stand me up.

  I have so much on my mind right now. Between my sister, the bid I just sent out, and last night with Char. I need something good to happen and I need it now.

  Oh Char, I can't wait to get back home and be with her. Last night was a royal fuck up and I hope that douche bag stays far away from my girl.

  From what Derrick told me the guy has his hands full with his current girlfriend and will most likely be on his way back to Tennessee before the end of the day.

  I try to clear my mind with a deep breath and I rake my fingers through my hair when I see her enter the restaurant. She looks exactly as she did a few weeks ago when I left, just not as tired.

  I stand next to the table so she can see me. She finally catches me looking in her direction and raises her hand in a wave to say hello. She walks toward me and I can't help but feel butterflies seeing my big sister.

  "Hi Emma" I say putting my arms out for her.

  "Oh Riley, I’m so sorry. I miss you so much!" She says coming into my arms and I embrace her in a tight squeeze.

  "I know it has only been a few weeks, but it feels like I haven't seen you in years." I tell her letting her out of my arms and taking a seat at the table.

  "I know me too. I don't want this meeting to be awkward between us. You are my baby brother and I want to know how you’ve been since you left." She says sitting down across the table from me.

  "I agree! I am just glad you came." I tell her with a smile.

  We look so much alike that even though there is a 10 year age difference you can tell we are siblings. She too has brown hair and hazel eyes; traits that we both gained from our mom. She is tall and slender built just like me, which we got from our dad's side of the family. She is a very pretty woman and we’ve both come such a long way as we grew up.

  "So, Riley, I need to talk to you about something I found after you left. I know I should’ve called you and I probably would have built up the nerve to do so sooner or later, but there is some stuff you need to know. But first, and don't argue with me, tell me where you are and what you are doing up in Boston."

  I don't like the idea that I have to wait to hear what she has to tell me, but that is kind of how Emma always works her way into things. She finds something that you want and holds it till she gets the scoop she wants to hear.

  "Typical Emma." I say to her with a wink.

  "You know it, now spill." She says with a smile.

  "Well I moved up to Boston a few weeks after I came to see you. I’m living with a guy that had an add on Craig's List. I’m dating a girl I met at a mini-mart. And I’m working for a contractor." I tell her with the least amount of detail possible. After all she didn't say I had to tell her everything...right?

  "Well played Riley. I hope your short story really isn't as creepy as you just made it sound and I hope you are happy." She says looking right into my eyes. She too can tell how I feel just by looking at me like this.

  "Emma you don't need to worry about me, promise."

  Just then the waiter stops at our table and takes our order. Perfect timing, I think. Now I can find out what it is that she has to tell me.

  Once he walks away I go in for the attack.

  "So does Keith know that you are meeting with me tonight?" I ask.

  "Actually, no he doesn't. He doesn't even know what it is that I found. I have dwelled a lot about how things were handled after you left Riley. I’m embarrassed to say that while mourning Mom and Dad I treated you so unfairly. I let Keith walk all over the both of us so that he could fulfill his own need to run the business. Things are really going to change and I needed to tell you first."

  "Emma, what did you find that you need to tell me about?" I ask in a nervous tone.

  "Well, don't freak out ok?"

  With that comment I cut her off, "Emma you can't start a conversation off like that and not expect me to freak out."

  "Fine Riley, don't piss me off!" She starts. "So after you left I went to RPK's headquarters and tried to clean out Dad's office. Keith had been working in it the past few weeks and really didn't have the time to go through a lot of the paper work. So I decided I could do a little housecleaning for him. After a few days of sorting through file cabinets I found a key."

  "A key to what?" I ask.

  "At first I wasn’t sure, I didn't know. It didn't fit into any locks in the building and it looked too small for a house key so I started to ask around. Turns out it belonged to a storage unit not far from Mom and Dad's house."

  "What? Why would they have a storage unit when they owned a huge house and a business?" I ask completely confused by what Emma is telling me.

  "That's what I thought too. I went down later that night and checked it out. Riley, it was filled wit
h stuff that neither you or I would have ever known they had. I don't know what the hell they were doing with all of the stuff and why it wasn't at the house."

  I look at the intensity of her face and I can tell she is still shocked by the things she found. Her hands are starting to tremble and I’m getting a little worried to learn what it is she actually found in that storage unit.

  "Emma, what did you find?" I ask her with anticipation to my voice.

  "Well at first it was just big stuff like a bass boat, a motorcycle, some big tools to use on jobs, stuff like that. But then there was a lock box. A brand new lock box that still had the original labels on it and everything."

  I can see that she is starting to sweat and she needs to get out whatever the fuck it is that she found.

  "Come on Emma you are freaking me the fuck out, what was in the lockbox?" I say raising my voice.

  Her eyes look up into my own and she tells me, "The deed to the business, the land, the building, everything belonging to RPK Contracting."

  "Ok so what is the big deal, we had all of that with the will." I tell her like she didn't already know.

  "No Riley you don't get it. It was an updated deed of everything and it all has your name on it."

  My mouth drops to the table and I can hardly breathe.

  "Emma, what does that mean?" I barely can get the words past my lips.

  "Riley it's all yours. RPK Contracting is yours."

  Holy Fuck! RPK Contracting is mine...

  I wake to the ringing sound of my cell phone. Shit, shoot, crap where the hell is the damn thing. I finally pull it out of the covers down by my feet. I look at the screen and I see it's Riley.

  "Babe, you ok?" I ask

  "Yea, did I wake you?" He asks.

  "Mm-mm." I mumble trying to get myself to a sitting position on the bed.

  "Sorry, I can call you back in the morning." He says.

  "Hell no mister. I’ve been waiting to hear your voice all day long. What time is it anyhow?" I ask him.

  "It's a little after midnight."

  What? Oh wow! That must’ve been some long ass conversation with Emma.

  "How did everything go tonight?" I ask hoping he will tell me instead of me having to pry it out of him.

  "God Char, I really wish you were here with me right now." He says with a sad tone to his voice.

  "I know, me too babe. But the good news is this time tomorrow I’ll be back in your arms." I tell him trying to pick up his mood. Even though I have no clue what has him so distraught.

  "Yea, I can't wait."

  What the hell? The anticipation is killing me and I need to know what happened tonight with Emma, but I can't keep asking him. Can I?

  "Do you want to talk about it?" I ask again, hoping he doesn't get the sense that I’m being too pushy.

  "Meeting with Emma went a lot better than I expected. In fact the entire trip down here as been nothing but great."

  "That's good!"

  "Yea. Kind of have some stuff that I have to deal with now down here that I really don't know what to do with."

  "Oh yea. Like Emma stuff or Taylor & Sons stuff?" I ask.

  "The Taylor & Sons bid will be decided upon by tomorrow afternoon. I have a meeting with the guys I spoke to today at noon. My flight doesn't leave till four, so I’m going to go over to meet Emma till then."

  "That's great Riley, so things really did go well between the two of you." I say with excitement.

  "Meeting with Emma went really well, it was good to see her again. But she gave me some news that still has me a bit in shock."

  "Oh no, what kind of news Riley?"

  "Emma recently found some stuff down here of Mom and Dad's that we didn't know about. There isn’t too much stuff of any real importance to us now with them gone expect a few documents."

  God why is he making me drag this out of him? Damn it Riley just tell me already.

  "I see. What kind of documents?"

  "Char?" He says my name as if he is asking permission to continue the conversation.

  "Yea Riley." I reply.

  "RPK Contracting is mine." He says in a whisper.

  I am not quite sure I understand what he is trying to tell me. I thought his parents will states that RPK Contracting went to Keith and Emma.

  After a brief silence he continues. "It seems that Mom and Dad transferred the land, the building, everything to do with RPK Contracting to me on my 25th birthday."

  "Riley that was almost three years ago, why didn't you guys know about it?"

  "We don't know Char. Emma is just as stumped about all of this as you and I are right now."

  "Wow!" I say almost breathless.

  I understand why Riley is acting the way he is and why it was so hard for him to come out and tell me. He must still be in some state of shock. I don't even know how to process, let alone how he’s dealing right now.

  "This is great news for you Riley. This means that RPK Contracting is yours. The family business is all yours like you wanted."

  "But what if I don't know if it’s really what I want anymore?" He asks sounding so forlorn.

  "Look, I don't think you need to make any big decisions right now or tonight. The way I see it, the business can run as it has been until you decide what is best for you. I’ll support you no matter what."

  "Even if it means I have to move back to North Carolina?"

  Oh god, I didn't think about that.

  "I am not worried about that right now. I just want you to get that bid tomorrow, get things situated with Emma, and come back to Boston tomorrow night. Ok? Now please get yourself a good night sleep. I know that you have a lot on your mind, but you need your rest too."

  "Ok babe. I love you Char!"

  "I love you too Riley, sleep well!"

  How can I lose him when I have just found him? I can feel myself begin to panic. I need to remain calm, I don't know what’s going to happen, he could sell it, or run it from up here, or shit...what is he going to do? Wow! I need to remove my worries about my future with Riley and just be supportive of him. God this is going to be hard.

  So much for falling back to sleep now.

  Emma and I talked a lot about the news she shared with me while we ate dinner. She told me that she wants me to do what is best for me and that she’ll understand whatever decision I make.

  I never thought this would happen. RPK Contracting wasn't something that was on my radar. But for some reason or another Mom and Dad found it was important enough to them for it to one day be mine.

  I just don't know what to do with all of that right now. I don't know what is the right or wrong decision to make.

  After dinner with Emma I walked her out to her car and made plans to go and talk with her at the storage unit tomorrow after my meeting.

  The news of RPK Contracting actually being mine is still a bit of a shock, but nothing major has to be decided right now.

  With all of this weighing on my mind I decide to take a drive. I make my way over to our old house where my family used to live. I sit in my car just reminiscing about all the great things my parents did and gave to me and Emma. We were such a loving family and as kids we never had to want for anything. We weren't totally spoiled but at the same time we were well taken care of by both Mom and Dad.

  I hate that they are gone and I miss them both more every day. I would give anything to have them back here with us and running things like they were before. Everything happens for a reason and there is a plan out there for each of us. It’s just tough to understand why this is happening to me now. I thought things were working themselves out so well in Boston.

  I have quite a decision to make and I’m going to need some guidance to help me straighten it all out. Till then I will just take it day by day and see what happens.

  Driving back to the hotel I start to think of my life in Boston. I picture Char with her long, dark brown, wavy hair. Her big, brown almost black eyes. Her smile, her laugh, and just the way her slight touch
sends millions of shock-waves through my entire body. She is like no one else I’ve ever met.

  Since the first day I laid eyes on her at the mini-mart she had my attention. Between her cocky little attitude about the paper, the way she acted around me at Derrick's that night at dinner, and every other time we’ve been together since. She is the woman I am meant to be with. She sees through me regardless of anything bad I may have done and brings out the good in me. She has made me realize so many things in the short time that we’ve been together.

  I know that she is my present and my future. Whatever happens I have to make sure she is with me by my side. Without her I’m not sure what I would do. Her look, her voice and her touch; she consumes me and I would be lost without her.

  I need to get home to her. She needs to know how much she means to me that no matter what happens she’s everything to me.

  A little after midnight I stroll back into the hotel. I enter my room and get myself ready for bed, but before anything I have to call Char. I have to tell her what happened tonight with Emma.

  I didn't realize how hard it would be to tell her what I found out tonight. It was as if I was dreading the way she would respond to the news, but Char was encouraging and supportive. Like she’s been from the start, she is there to help me pick up the pieces and start anew.

  I set my alarm to wake up early enough to pack up and check out of the hotel before meeting with the clients. Tomorrow is a new day and one that I look forward to being a promising one.

  Getting this bid could mean big things for us at Taylor & Sons and that is exactly the attitude I want to have going in to meet with them.

  I shut down the lights in the room and lie down in my bed with one last thought on my mine...Char.

  My alarm wakes me and I feel a little groggy from not having a full night's sleep. The conversation with me and Riley from last night springs into my mind and I’m instantly saddened with the thought, I could lose him.

  He has taken in a large part of my heart and I don't know what I would do if I lost him. I’m going nuts with him gone only a few hours, how will I be able to handle him out of my life for good?