Chapter 8
“Idon’t think this is a good idea,” Shaw said, eyeing the diner with some trepidation.
Shit.
Eli watched him closely. He’d lost a lot weight and there was a sunken look to his face. As well as dark marks under his eyes. He looked like he’d been through hell and back.
Which is exactly what happened.
And now he had the nightmares to accompany the terror he’d gone through.
Who could blame him for trying to find a way to numb his feelings and memories? Eli sure didn’t. But some people would.
Shaw had disappeared for some time after his discharge from the Navy. He’d stopped answering their messages and calls, forcing Eli and Kellan to go looking for him.
When they’d finally found him, he’d been a mess. Eli had been scared that he wouldn’t make it.
But some time spent with Duncan’s calm demeanor and Laken’s sweet caretaking was definitely helping.
Well, they’d thought it had been. Until the other night when they’d gotten a call in the early hours of the morning that Shaw had tried to harm himself. They’d rushed to be with him. And they’d stayed with him for the past two days, requesting more leave so they could take care of him.
Duncan, Laken, and Remington couldn’t do it all. Hopefully, their other brothers would turn up soon to help.
Their youngest brother, Joe, was still at college studying to be a doctor.
Wyatt and Carson were both working on oil rigs.
They were the oldest two of the Jones brothers.
Followed by Kellan, Eli, and Duncan. Then Remington, Shaw and Tucker.
No one had been able to get hold of Tucker.
The last time Eli heard from him he was in Costa Rica taking photos of the wildlife.
Fuck.
Kellan would have to try to track him down. Last, was Pierce and Joe. Joe was in college while Pierce was part of a band that was touring the UK currently. He’d be home as soon as he could too.
They weren’t always that close. There were over eighteen years between Wyatt and Joe. But in the house they’d grown up in, they’d had to stick together to survive.
Their father had been a complete asshole and it was only because of the oldest ones taking care of the youngest that they’d all survived.
Survive, yes. But thrive?
No.
Kellan had had the worst relationship with their father who hadn’t liked anyone who seemed different. Kellan hadn’t been into sports like Duncan, Wyatt, and Carson. And he’d been smaller back then. Weaker.
Of course that had all changed. Kellan hit a growth spurt at eighteen and he’d also hit the gym.
There’d be no way their father could push him around now.
“Maybe you are right,” Kellan eyed the diner.
“We’re going in,” Eli said tiredly. “I need coffee. And not that decaf shit that Duncan served up.”
Laken was pregnant and the rule in their house was that if she was drinking decaf then so was everyone else.
No doubt Duncan got some decent coffee at work.
“This place has never seemed sanitary to me,” Kellan said.
Dear God. He was never going to get them in the door. He just wanted some coffee and to get Shaw to eat something. Duncan and Laken had left early this morning for a scan at the hospital.
So they’d decided to have breakfast at the diner.
All right . . . he’d decided to have breakfast at the diner. He’d pressured the other two into coming with him. Shaw needed to get out of the house.
He’d had a really bad couple of days. They were taking shifts so that Shaw was never left alone.
But it had been a tough forty-eight hours and he was glad they were out the other side.
For the moment.
Shaw’s gaze was clearer and he was no longer trying to hurt himself.
That didn’t mean they could take their eyes off him. Duncan had to work yesterday, but after this scan he had a few days off. Which would free the two of them up.
“Come on,” Eli said. “The two of you need to socialize more. There is nothing wrong with the diner.”
After breakfast, Eli wanted to stop by the sheriff’s office to talk to Jake.
He felt terrible that he hadn’t called or left a message for Arabella about breakfast, but they’d lost track of time.
Since then, his calls to Arabella had gone to voicemail and the only answer he’d gotten to his messages was very brief and to the point.
Jake said he’d talked to her and that she was all right, but the bastard wouldn’t tell him anything else.
It worried Eli that he hadn’t heard from her. What if she was ill? Hurt?
That was it. As soon as they had breakfast he was going to put some pressure on Jake and if he wouldn’t help, Eli would have to get Kellan to track her down.
Walking into the diner, Eli glanced around for a free table. There were several since it was still so early.
As they walked over to a booth, he stilled.
There she was.
Sitting in a booth, calmly sipping on a coffee.
Thank God. Relief hit him hard. Then it quickly morphed into anger. Why hadn’t she replied to his messages?
“Eli,” Kellan warned as he stormed toward her.
“What’s going on?” Shaw asked.
“Eli is about to lose his mind,” Kellan said with a sigh.
“He is? Why?” Shaw asked.
Eli ignored them both and placed his hands gently down on the table, leaning over. Arabella glanced up, looking startled.
The fatigue on her face was quickly replaced by a haughty mask. Her eyebrows rose slowly as though she was asking him what his problem was.
“You.”
“Um. Me?” she asked, now looking confused.
“Why haven’t you been answering my messages?” he demanded. “Or my calls?”
“I texted you back.”
“All you said was, ‘I’m fine.’ That’s not a proper reply.”
“I’m sorry, are you giving me lessons in messaging etiquette?”
“Yes, I am! Since you don’t seem to have any idea how to have a proper conversation. If someone calls, you answer. If someone texts and says where are you? Then you tell them.”
“Um, not if you hardly know them, they’re kinda bossy, and think they are in charge. Oh, and they skip out on a date that you had . . . not a date-date,” she added hastily. “But you told me to be there and then you weren’t! And now you’re mad at me for not answering your messages and calls.”
Fuck. She wasn’t wrong.
He ran his hand over his face, feeling exhausted. How did he explain the mess that was the last twenty-four hours without giving away Shaw’s secrets?
“Actually, that would be my fault,” Shaw said.
Surprise filled her face. “Shaw?”
Eli blinked down at her for a moment. She knew his brother? Then he turned to look at Shaw. How?
“Hi, darlin’,” he said with a tired smile.
“Are you all right?” she asked immediately, worry filling her face.
“I’ve been better, won’t lie. You think we could sit?” Shaw asked.
She eyed Eli and Kellan for a long moment and he braced himself for her rejection. To his surprise, she nodded and moved over. She might have expected Shaw to sit next to her, but Eli took that spot. No way did he want her trying to leave before he talked to her.
Besides, he wanted to sit next to her.
Eli was . . . drawn to her. He wasn’t sure why. She wasn’t the type of woman he was usually interested in. Mostly, he went for extroverts. Women with lots of energy and confidence.
Kellan didn’t really have a type. In fact, he’d never dated a woman on his own. They’d shared women before and that seemed to work better for Kellan.
But nothing long-term.
It had only been about play and sex.
Nothing more.
Women tended to find Kellan’s cold demeanour . . . off-putting. Although plenty of them were interested in changing him.
Fuck that.
Kellan didn’t need to be improved. He just needed someone who would understand him.
Arabella shot Eli a questioning look, moving over even further until she hit the wall at the other end of the bench seat.
Eli spread out until he was touching her. Shaw raised his eyebrows, but he just shrugged.
“Must you take up the whole seat?” she asked dryly.
“I’m a big guy.”
She snorted. “With a big head.”
He grinned and winked at her. “I could make a rude observation right now, but I won’t.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “I said Shaw could sit here. I didn’t agree to you two sitting here. I’m not sure I want to have breakfast with either of you since you stood me up for the last one.”
Eli winced.
“Eli messaged you when he could,” Kellan told her.
“Yes, he did. You didn’t.”
Kellan watched her with interest. “You wanted me to message as well? Why? That doesn’t seem logical when I would have just said the same thing.”
“Feelings aren’t always logical, brother,” Shaw told him.
Kellan nodded. “Oh, I know. My life would be far easier if they were.”
“How do the two of you know each other?” Eli asked.
“Yes,” Kellan said. “How could you have met her? I thought you hadn’t left Duncan’s in days?”
“Oh, we met years ago. Had a wild night in a bar together. There were drinks, bad dancing, and threats of spankings,” Shaw said, with a small smile.
Eli gaped at his brother in shock. “What the hell?”
“Why would you threaten to spank her?” Kellan asked Shaw. “What did she do?”
“Hey!” Arabella said. “Maybe you should be asking him what he did.”
Both Eli and Kellan were now gaping at her. She’d threatened to spank Shaw? Was she a Domme?
No. She couldn’t be, could she? She certainly didn’t give off that vibe. But maybe his instincts were off.
But, no. He didn’t think they were.
And Shaw might not be a Dom, but he also wasn’t a sub. Unless he was keeping it quiet, Eli didn’t think that his brother had ever been interested in BDSM.
So what was going on?
Then she made the best noise he thought he had ever heard in his life.
She laughed.
He’d barely seen her smile. There was an air of sadness around her that could have something to do with her father’s death. But it felt like more than that. As though she’d been sad for years with no light in sight.
And here she was giggling. And then another miracle happened. Shaw joined in. His brother grinned, then he let out a single huff of laughter. It might sound like very little to someone else.