Page 33 of The Lie That Stole Christmas

Chapter eleven

Carter

Thescentofgingerbreadpermeated the air.Normally, Carter would hurry to the kitchen and snag a cookie from Tiny, but he had something he needed to deal with that couldn’t wait.He ran up the stairs and took long strides down the hall.Once he reached Bill’s office, he didn’t even bother to knock.He marched into the large office and tossed the bag onto his desk.

Bill glanced up from the paperwork he was reading over, eyebrow arched.“That was a little aggressive.”

“You need to tell them.”

“Tell them what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.I know you’re sick.”

He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands over his chest.“The only way you would know that was if you’ve been snooping through my desk.”

“You left it smack in the middle.You were practically begging me to look.”

“Who else knows?Ashley?”

“No, which is why you have to tell her.I have my own—” He ran a hand through his hair.“I mean, it’s not my place, and I don’t want to lie to her.”

“Hurts to lie to someone you love.”

His head snapped toward his boss, and while he tried to keep his composure, the speed of his shock was too obvious to ignore.“That’s neither here nor there.”

“I’d say it’s very much here, and you can’t continue to ignore it.My Lily always said, ‘if you let a problem fester, it will eat you alive.’”

“Which is exactly why you should be taking her advice.You have to tell the family.”

“So no one else knows?”

“Ms.Porter, as if you didn’t know.She saw the same envelope.As far as I know, she’s only discussed it with me.”Carter paced, coming to a stop in front of the desk.“Is this why you faked your death?You didn’t think the truth would get them here?”

“The truth would have made some of them dance with joy.I’m worth more to them dead than I am alive.”

“Only because you pushed them away.”

Bill’s jaw tightened, the lines around his mouth deepening.“I gave those children everything.”

“You gave them money.It’s not the same thing.”

Outside the windows, snow blew across the grounds of Winterridge, softening the world below while the tension inside the office thickened.

Bill diverted his gaze to the fire crackling in the hearth.“You think I don’t know that?I was never grandfatherly or fatherly.That’s why they had Lily.”

“You offer more than money.”

He swatted his hand at Carter, but Carter held his ground.

“You’ve always done right by me, and I’m not talking about the job.I’m talking about sneaking me cookies when my dad wasn’t looking, giving me advice, and when I was old enough, offering me a scotch after a particularly bad day.You have your moments, even if you are an asshole ninety percent of the time.”

“Other people have been fired for less.”

“You’d never fire me.”

“No?”

“No, because you like when I tell you the truth.I don’t tiptoe around you and your feelings.You need me, and whether or not you want to believe it, your family needs you.”