Page 42 of Tanner

I take a giant spoonful of soup and crackers and eat. “As soon as I get home, we’re going straight to Fisherman’s Wharf.”

“Hell yeah. Crab Station.”

“No way. Nick’s Lighthouse’s chowder is better.”

“We’ll hit up both.” He grins and sits back in his seat within his office. “So, you are excited to come back, right?”

I shrug while taking another bite as thoughts of Harper run through my head. “Absolutely.”

He sits up, placing his elbows on his desk, and looks straight into the screen. “Why don’t I believe you?”

That’s Austin for you. Always there to call you on your shit.

I put my spoon down and run my hand over my chin. “Let me ask you a question. And don’t get your panties in a twist, okay?”

He doesn’t nod, just stays stern-faced.

I continue anyway, “What if we did sell the company?” I see his jaw twitch on the screen. “Just hear me out. Mom started this company because it was her passion. Her dream. She built it up for us. Well, she’s not here anymore, and we’re supposed to live out something that was hers. Maybe part of her dream was for us to sell it and use the money to live out our own dreams. Our own passions.”

A surge of nervous energy washes over me as Austin stares blankly at me.

“She said you could be persuaded,” he bites.

“Fuck what Missy said. This is me and you. Brother to brother. If I’m going to give up everything, then I need to know it’s for the right reasons. I have to see it’s not because you and Bryce are in some pissing contest with Dad.”

“My stream’s longer.”

I half-smile. “Seriously, man, is this all worth the fight? Is it worth Missy trying to have you arrested for illegal street racing just so they can absorb your shares? I hear your days and nights are starting to blur—and not in a good way.”

He runs a hand through his thick brown hair and sighs. His eyes dart up as his nostrils flare. “I don’t know what’s worth anything anymore. I fought in a war and didn’t have as much anger as I do every day in the halls of this building.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Wouldn’t you be happier, taking the cash and opening your own legal racing circuit? A track of your own, maybe a franchised team? I don’t know … anything other than drinking through your days and racing away your nights.”

Austin pauses. His gaze looks down toward his hands as he purses his lips. His head bobs as if he’s recalling a memory.

“I don’t race for the reasons you think I do, Tanner. And I’m not mad because of this building. I’m angry for things I can’t explain. Not to you. Not Bryce.”

“Then, who?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer. That far-off look is back on his face, and so is that half-smirk.

“You met a girl.”

His attention is back on me. “The only girl I’ve met recently is a pain in my ass.”

I let out a laugh. “Whatever you say.”

No longer hungry, I push my bowl away and lift the phone to get a better look at Austin. He’s in his office, wearing a suit, and his hair is combed back. I can see Alcatraz out the window over his shoulder.

Austin sits up and looks at me seriously. “You were young when Mom died, so this company and the love that it stands for doesn’t impact you as much as it should.”

“I hate when you play the age card.”

“At fourteen, you were just getting a taste of what she did on a daily basis.”

He’s right, and he’s wrong. I might have been younger than them, but the memories of my late mother are strong. I just wish I had more of them.

“Just don’t do anything rash without talking to us. Promise me,” he says.