Golden Rule (Kings of Cypress Pointe Golden Empire #1)

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Blue

M y stomach is in knots, just like it’s been all afternoon. Ever since meeting with Dr. Tyler, actually. I want so badly to see the appointment as a step in the right direction, but that’s been tough. Especially knowing the phone call he plans to make to my last specialist.

That one, tiny detail could unravel everything.

If I could turn back time, I’d force past-me out of bed. I’d force her to contact the therapist as suggested and to stick with it. But back then, I didn’t see the point. I told myself I was done with this. No more treatment, no more heartache, no more trying and failing. But then we moved home, and that seemingly minor adjustment changed our perspective.

A deep sigh puffs from my lips as my thoughts swirl, leaving me with zero mental bandwidth for anything else. I’m scheduled to meet with the new contractor now that I’ve finally closed on the building for the youth center, so I shoot him a quick email to confirm that I’ll see him at ten a.m. tomorrow, then I shut my laptop.

An urgent knock at the front door is the only thing that stops me from spiraling. I’m on my feet the next second, thinking the gate must’ve been left open, but then I look through the peephole. Immediately, I realize the visitor is one of a small few I actually texted the access code to after we moved into the new house. A squeal leaves my mouth, and I can hardly get the door open quickly enough.

“Oh, my God! Hunter!”

Those words have barely left my mouth when I throw my arms around his neck. He laughs and drops his bags to the porch.

“That’s gotta be the best hello I’ve gotten all year.”

I step back to look at him, feeling relieved that he seems to be thriving. His dark-blond hair is freshly cut and even styled on top, which is new for him. I don’t remember him caring this much about his looks. His beard’s grown out a bit more than the last time I laid eyes on him, too, but it’s still neat. He’s looking more and more like Uncle Dusty these days, just a younger version. He seems… well… which allows me to breathe a sigh of relief. It means he’s likely not homeless. It’s just that he’s so elusive these days, secretive about how he’s doing, where and how he lives, where he works. As a result, I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time worrying about him, filling in the blanks of his life with my own assumptions. And, usually, those assumptions are of the darker variety.

But as I stare at him now, seeing him smiling as he stands before me in the flesh, I’m just happy to have him home.

He laughs when I grab him into another hug. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I don’t get an immediate response, so my first thought is that he’s in some kind of trouble.

“Your text,” he says. “Guess you could say I sensed that you needed me to drop in for a bit.”

He says that so casually. Like it’s nothing that he sensed my anxiety and dropped everything to be here. My eyes fall closed, thinking about the message he’s referring to. It was just a quick text that I copied and pasted to all our loved ones last night, asking them to send good vibes before this morning’s appointment with Dr. Tyler. It was enough to inspire Joss to suggest that we have a family dinner here tonight, so everyone can show their love and support. But apparently the message also inspired my brother—the recluse—to come out of hiding.

“Thank you.” I squeeze harder, and he lets me.

“You and Scar had to face a lot on your own while I was away. No way in hell I was about to let that happen again.”

I didn’t need another reason to cry today, but here I am, tearing up.

I let him go and step back, finally letting him inside the house. “I can’t believe you hopped on a plane and came all this way just to check in.”

“More like hopped on a bus, but… what are big brother’s for, right?”

He sets his things down again, then peers up. I follow his gaze to the gigantic chandelier hanging above.

“Shit, I heard you upgraded, but I didn’t realize you guys went all flashy on me.”

I roll my eyes as I lock the door, knowing the part about West and I upgrading came from none other than Scar.

“Shut up. It’s just a house.”

Laughing, Hunter shoots me a look. “The fuck it is .”

I give him a few seconds to take it all in. Finding our dream house was the cherry on top of getting back to our roots, and we didn’t skimp. From the coded gate at the end of the long drive, to the large, statuesque fountain in the front yard, to the sheer size of the home itself, it’s safe to say this was our grandest purchase to date.

“Damn,” he says, and I smile despite feeling a bit self-conscious. But then the feeling fades when Hunter’s gaze locks with mine. He doesn’t speak, but I know what he’s thinking. He’s trying to reconcile how we grew up with nothing, and that somehow turned into living like this.

It’s one of the many reasons I wake up grateful every morning.

“Want to take your bags up to one of the spare rooms? You can take your pick of the four,” I offer. “We haven’t furnished any of them yet, but we’ve got an air mattress with your name on it.”

“Thanks, but I’m not staying.”

I’m pretty sure my face gives away my disappointment.

“I’ll be in town for a while, and I don’t want to be in the way. Although… I’m pretty sure that’d be next to impossible seeing as how this place looks like a damn hotel,” he adds with a smile, looking around at the size of the house again. “But I already worked things out with Dusty. I’ll be crashing on his couch.”

I make a mental note of the fact that he asked our uncle instead of our father, but I won’t bring it up. There’s so much sordid history between those two, it would take a lifetime of therapy to get through it all.

“Well, that sucks.”

“If I’d been able to call you first, I’d take you up on the spare room, but I wanted to surprise you.”

My frown fades, slowly turning into a smile again, because it’s a great surprise, actually.

Hunter pushes his bags out of the way, and I gesture straight ahead toward the living room.

“Want to sit?”

“Is there a dress code? Because I left my suit jacket in the Uber.”

I laugh, slapping his arm as we start walking. “Stop being an idiot.”

“Just making sure I don’t piss off management.”

I’m still smiling when he lowers onto the couch. I move my laptop from where I left it when I hopped up to answer the door, then drop down on the opposite end.

“So, the appointment was today, right?”

I nod. “It was.”

“Everything went okay?”

To most, it wouldn’t be a big deal that my brother is asking these questions, but Hunter notoriously avoids all personal conversation. He’s never been one to handle the emotions of others very well, so I appreciate him stepping outside his comfort zone.

“Things went… as good as I could’ve expected.”

“But?”

He knows me well.

“But… aside from getting the go ahead to start testing, it still feels like we’re in limbo.”

“I know you hoped for more reassurance, but in my book, getting the jump on testing is a step in the right direction. I know this is important to you guys, and it’s important to me too, but you’ve gotta just take this shit one day at a time, Bluejay.”

I smile a little, loving how simple he just made this all seem. “Yeah. One day at a time.”

He settles deeper into the couch, and I still can’t believe he’s here.

“So, while I’m grateful you’ve decided to grace us with your presence, I’ve got questions.”

A grin that, again, reminds me of our uncle, curves his mouth. “What kind of questions?”

“Like, why the heck are you so hard to get a hold of these days?”

His smile remains, but there’s a distant look in his eyes. “You know, just keeping busy.”

“Too busy to pick up the phone every once in a while?”

I don’t mean to get on his case, but… I worry. He’s refused help from everyone who’s offered it, and with his checkered past, it’s always in the back of my mind that he’ll slip back into what’s easy, patterns of behavior that took him away from us for so many years. My only comfort is that, hopefully, his time behind bars might actually be a deterrent from going back to his old life at all costs.

His gaze lowers now, and I question whether I’ve said too much.

“Tell you what,” he says. “Promise I’ll start picking up when I have something to say other than I’m still just working odd jobs, or that I’m still bouncing around from one cheap motel to the next.” He ends the statement with a forced smile he probably thinks masks the pain and embarrassment behind it, but I see right through.

“I think I speak for everyone when I say that none of that stuff matters to us, Hunter. No one’s judging your life but you. But I wish you’d just…”

“Stop, Blue.”

My mouth snaps shut, and I’m so frustrated that he always does this, cuts me off at the heels when all I want to do is help him.

“I’m not taking any more handouts from you. I appreciated you and West helping me take care of my court fees, but… I can’t take anything else.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

We lock eyes and he sighs, a clear sign of his frustration. “Both.”

We’ve reached a stalemate, and it’s apparent we’ve inherited our stubbornness from our father. Only, I’m in no mood to bicker with him. Not when he’s come all this way. Not when I actually appreciate his company this afternoon.

So, I concede.

This time.

“You should stay for dinner.”

“I can’t stay, but I can come back,” he says. “Just need to check in with Dusty, then shower.”

“Deal. Scar and the whole crew will be here. I’ll check in with Dad, too. He probably doesn’t have plans tonight.”

Hunter pulls a face that says it all, but he speaks up to clarify just in case I missed the hint.

“It’s your house, so I’m not telling you what to do or anything, but my last conversation with Mike didn’t go all that well, so I’d rather not see him anytime soon.”

I bite my tongue, fighting the urge to tell him that, while I totally respect his feelings, I also know that if they never try to work things out, they never will work things out. But… I get it. He’s dealing with things in his own time. Hell, some might say that I took my sweet-ass time forgiving our father, too, so I’m in no position to judge.

“Sure. Just Scar and the crew.”

He smiles again, then stands, straightening the sleeve of his t-shirt over the colorful ink covering his arms.

“Be back at six?”

“On the nose,” he promises, and I walk him to the front door.

Today has had its share of unexpected twists and turns, most of which felt like setbacks. But this one, having Hunter show up out of the blue, has made the earlier disappointment in Dr. Tyler’s office seem a little less important.

And according to Hunter, that’s what big brothers are for.