CHAPTER 2
Joanie
I’d just finished dinner and was putting away the dishes when I heard the knock at my door. Frustration worked its way down my spine as I considered the fact that in all the years I’d lived in Lilyfield, I’d never been bothered twice in one day. I’d moved to a house outside of town to make sure I wasn’t easily accessible to people. I hadn’t counted on anyone moving into the property next to mine, though. It’d been empty since before I moved to town.
I wiped my hands on a dish cloth and tightened my ponytail before pulling open the front door. The urge to scream when I saw the twins standing there was still present, but I bit it back and crossed my arms over my chest. “Decided not to break in this time?”
“Daddy said he would take away all of our toys if we broke in again. It’s not worth it.” The left twin thrust out her hand at me. “I’m Maggie. You can tell it’s me because I have a freckle right here on my nose.”
“And I’m Macey. I don’t have a freckle on my nose, but I do have one of my butt.” The right twin shook my hand after her sister and then they mimicked my pose of arms crossed over chest and stared at me.
I was feeling slightly out of sorts at having two children introduce themselves better than most of the men I’d ever dated. “Okay. Well, I’m Joanie. Thank you for knocking this time.”
Maggie pulled a folded piece of paper out from behind her back and thrust it at me. “Here.”
I took it and gently unfolded it, terrified of it being a glitter bomb, or something worse. Instead, it was a handmade card with a messy note on the inside apologizing and asking me to come over for their fire. I reread it and then looked up at them. “What kind of fire?”
“The bon kind,” Macey grinned. “Daddy and Uncle Smith built a big fire and we’re going to roast marshmallows. We only get s’mores if you come with us, though.”
Frowning, I looked over my shoulder at my couch, where I’d planned on curling up with a book. “I don’t know. Your Daddy should probably just give you the s’mores.”
“You don’t think we told him that?” Maggie sighed. “He was so mad at us for scaring you. He’s never going to give us s’mores without you. Please, Joanie! Please!”
I groaned. “I shouldn’t. You two scared the crap out of me. You know you’re kind of creepy when you just stand together in silence, right?”
They both shrugged. Macey reached out and took my hand. “Please, Joanie. Daddy is going to stay mad at us if you don’t come. It stinks when he’s mad at us. He’s so grumpy. He just stomps around with his big feet and he growls like a bear. Don’t make us live with a bear, Joanie!”
I let my head drop back and stared up at the darkening sky. “Fine. Fine, I’ll come, but you two owe me. I have a feeling you two know all about calling in favors. Let’s go. I want to be back before it gets too late so I can still have a few hours of reading before bed.”
“You’re grumpy, like Daddy.” Maggie saw my expression and rushed on. “In a good way!”
Ignoring the slight, I pulled my door shut behind me without bothering to lock it and followed them across the field between the two properties. Thankfully it’d been mowed recently because I’d slipped into pajama shorts after my shower and my legs were exposed to everything that would’ve been crawling in the normally tall grass. My tank top left my arms exposed, but I could already smell the Citronella candles burning from their property. I’d maybe survive the night without getting covered in mosquito bites.
When the fire came into view, I saw it was in a fire pit in the middle of a circle of chairs. Only two of the chairs were occupied and that was by the two men in my bathroom earlier. I didn’t know if I’d been expecting wives or girlfriends, but I’d definitely expected more than just the two of them.
“Daddy! We got her!” Maggie took off at a sprint when we got closer and Macey ran with her, leaving me to join them a few seconds later.
Their father stood up from where he’d knelt in front of the girls and shook his head. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what the girls said, but you didn’t have to come over here. I’m sure you had enough of us earlier.”
I froze and felt my cheeks burn. I really didn’t like those girls. “I heard you were withholding s’mores unless they got me here.”
He cut his eyes to his daughters. “Go inside and clean your room.”
“But, Daddy,” they both whined.
“Go.” He turned back to me as they slumped away. “I’m sorry. I would say they’re not usually troublemakers, but that would be a lie. You’re more than welcome to join us if you’d like. Since you’re here. There are no s’mores, but we have ice-cold beer.”
I thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. “I could use a beer, actually. I won’t bother you for long, though.”
“Just because the girls invited you before we could doesn’t mean you’re a bother.” He held his arm out for me to take a seat beside the fire and then handed me a beer from a cooler next to his chair. “I’m Bear, by the way. This is Smith.”
I laughed out loud and covered my mouth when I realized how rude it was. “Sorry, sorry. The girls were mentioning you’re grumpy and growl like a bear. So, hearing that your name is Bear… I wasn’t expecting it.”
Smith, the green-eyed flirt, pointed at Bear with his beer. “They weren’t lying. This guy is as grumpy as they come. The name is real, though. I’ve known him since I was a kid and it’s always been the same.”
Bear grunted. “Those girls are a pain in the ass some days.”
A giant form came bounding out of the house and I saw it was Mack a few seconds before he joined me in my chair. We both tipped over backwards but I managed to keep my beer from spilling as I hit the ground. Mack’s tongue was instantly all over my face and in my ears as I laughed and struggled to get away from him.
“Mack! Jesus Christ.” Smith pulled his dog off me and then flipped my chair right-side up with me still in it. “You’ve got grass and shit all in your hair.”
I took a long pull of the beer and laughed again. “This has been a wild day.”
“I swear my kids and his dog aren’t always so insane. Once they get to know you, they’ll calm down a bit.” Bear sighed into his beer as he sat back down and ran his hand through his hair. “We owe you a colossal gift for the shit you’ve been through today.”
Mack sat in front of me and put his head in my lap, looking up at me with his huge eyes, and I couldn’t help myself. I made a sweet noise at him and put my beer down so I could fully scratch him behind his ears and cuddle his face. The encouragement had him climbing into my lap again.
“Mack! Get down!” Smith was still standing behind me so he easily pulled Mack out of my lap. The two of them compromised with Smith pulling another chair right up next to me for Mack to climb onto, which he did immediately. “I’ve never seen him react to someone like this. I think he likes you better than me and I’m starting to feel a little offended.”
I realized Smith was picking things out of my hair and looked up at him. “Leave it. I’ll get it out later.”
“It only feels right to get it out since my dog caused it to be there in the first place.” He wrapped his fingers around the base of my neck and leaned in. “Hold on. Just a few more.”
I stopped breathing at the feeling of his rough fingers on my sensitive skin. In a flash, I was thinking of how long it’d been since a man had touched me and about how tense I’d been over the last year with Chase hovering all over the place.
Smith let his fingers trail down my shoulder as he stepped away. “There. Looks like I’ve got everything out.”
I swallowed around the thickness in my throat and nodded. “Thanks.”
Mack stretched his head across both arms of our chairs to rest his chin on my lap. I stroked his head, using the feeling of his thick hair as a grounding agent.
“So, you’re Joanie.” Smith sat down next to Bear and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Chase has mentioned you a few times and it’s interesting to put a face to the name.”