Chapter Two
Brooke sat back in the somewhat broke-down limo. It
was more of a town car. Roomy, but certainly nothing like the limos she
sometimes got to ride in when she was following the boss around. Before Mark
had taken over, she’d worked for a nice woman who had been a true mentor to
her. She’d treated Brooke like someone she was teaching, and that meant taking
her to a lot of meetings and letting her share in the experiences.
Mark had shut that shit down and told her that her place was
in the office making sure things worked well for him. He’d shrank her role to
that of barista and errand girl, but hadn’t minded stealing her designs.
“Air okay for you, Miss?” Bobby asked from the driver’s
seat. The seventeen-year-old had shown up exactly where she’d asked him to and
had been politely on time.
She’d wanted to avoid her brothers knowing she was spending
her first night home at a bar they would consider disreputable. Even though she
knew when they were younger they’d spent plenty of time at Hell on Wheels.
“Bobby, you know my name is Brooke.” She knew her brothers
made fun of this service the twin genius menaces of Bliss were providing, but
she kind of liked it. They’d tricked out the sucker. Oh, on the outside there
were a couple of dents, and the bumper was obviously from another car, but
inside they’d put some lumbar pillows and installed LED lights. There was a
tray with bottles of water and snack cakes straight from The Trading Post. No
one in NYC would ever think to stock up on snack cakes.
They were delicious.
“I am keeping a professional distance, madam customer,”
Bobby said as he turned onto the highway that would lead them up to Hell on
Wheels.
She sighed. She knew how to get the kid to talk. “I already
tipped you on the app.”
Yeah, they had their own app, and she was certain they’d
programmed it themselves. The Farley brothers were known for two
things—shenanigans and their ridiculously high IQs.
He took off the cap he was wearing. Flat cap. Also known as
a newsboy. This one was oddly elegant, done in herringbone. He wore slacks and
a button-down, but she’d noticed he hadn’t traded his sneakers for loafers.
“Cool, because I have so many questions.”
“No.” She was the one who had tipped. “I have questions.
It’s been six months since I got some real gossip because my sister-in-law is
surprisingly not as forthcoming as one would think, and Callie’s been busy. I
heard Sawyer is living with someone now. Two someones.”
He nodded, their eyes meeting in the rearview mirror. “Yeah,
and she’s the coolest teacher in the world. Ms. Sabrina Leal. And Wyatt’s cool,
too. I think he likes it here. Especially since the kids stopped kicking him in
the shins after he asked Ms. Leal to marry him. Sawyer did, too. Wyatt’s
running the business part of the bar now. I got a lot of advice from him on how
to keep the books for our business, and I helped him with the math on his
taxes. He said he thought we were clever to see a need in the community and
fill it. Though I guess there wasn’t much need since you’re the first ride
we’ve had in a week. Turns out most tourists rent cars.”
Of course they did since the nearest major airport was three
hours away. “I met her at the Christmas party. So you like her? I know Sawyer
seems difficult, but he’s a nice guy down deep.”
Bobby got serious. As serious as Bobby ever got. “He
couldn’t possibly do better than Ms. Leal. She’s…she’s the best. Will and I
thought we would have to skip college, but Ms. Leal helped us get all the right
paperwork and she found teachers online to help us with the advanced
mathematics and science we need to get into a good program.”
She’d always thought those boys belonged in the Ivies. “Tell
me you’re going to MIT.”
A grin flashed. “I think we’ll do our doctorates there, but
we’re starting at Yale. I still can’t believe we got into Yale. I’ve never been
east of Kansas.”
Oh, if she hadn’t had a good impression of Sabrina Leal
before, she had one now. “I’m happy for you, Bobby. You will love it, and the
best part is how nice it feels to come home.”
She picked up another snack cake. See, she never got sugar
back in New York. Everyone was on a diet, so she thought she should be on one.
Which sucked because it wasn’t like she was the model.
“Do you like to come home?” Bobby asked.
“I do. I love seeing my brothers and Rachel and the kids.”
“They have a lot of kids.”
She nodded. “I think this is the last, though. Both of my
brothers got the snip.”
Though she was worried about them. They’d seemed
disconnected tonight at dinner. Like they were going through the motions.
They’d passed the kids around and everyone had done their part, but there had
been a fundamental lack of the sexual chemistry that had always defined them.
Even Max had seemed physically disconnected.
Of course Rachel had been pregnant four of the last seven
years, so there was that.
“I know. Max told everyone horror stories about it. Do you
really think Doc did it without any pain killers? Max said it was like a loose
tooth. Doc wrapped a string around his balls and tied them to the door and then
slammed it shut. I don’t think it’s supposed to work that way. I think that’s a
castration. Does he still actually have balls? Or is it smooth down there?”
She rolled her eyes and vowed to get that rumor out there.
Her brother more than deserved to be thought of as Bliss’s Ken doll. “Doc Burke
is a professional, and we’re lucky to have him. I assure you he used all of the
latest techniques.”
Bobby was quiet for a moment, and she noted that there was a
package marked beet treats. So Mel had weighed in on the new business. He’d
probably advised the kids to test any unknown traveler. “I would have come up
to the house, you know. I’m a real good driver. I’ve been driving my dad’s
truck since I was fourteen, and mostly Sheriff turned the other way. I’m sure
he breathed a sigh of relief when we got our driver’s licenses. Did you not
want them to know you left? Is this what they would call a clandestine
meeting?”
“No.” She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t asked her brothers for
a ride. Or to borrow the car. They would have been happy to let her drive the
extra SUV they kept in a garage, but she wanted to keep her options open.
Was she thinking about picking up a guy at the bar?
Had she been thinking about it from the moment she’d seen
those brothers standing there like two man cupcakes she wanted to swallow
whole?
It wouldn’t be the Kent brothers. It probably wouldn’t be
anyone at all, and she definitely wouldn’t be taking him home with her since
she currently resided in a 300-square-foot tiny home not far from the big house
where her family was likely getting ready for bed.
“Let’s just say I wanted some privacy. Not that I’m planning
anything,” she replied. “I want to keep my options open, and if my brothers
know I’m out, they’ll wait up. By the way, can I schedule a ride back?”
“Uh, I have a curfew.”
She snorted. Definitely not in New York anymore. “I’m
meeting some friends. I’m sure they can take me back. So everything is the same
here?”
“Besides all the babies and the school and the new store and
the new deputies? One of them is Ms. Leal’s sister and she’s living with the
new guys.” He huffed. “There’s actually a lot of new stuff when you think about
it.”
“Anything to worry about?” She’d discovered the Farley
brothers knew more than a lot of the adults around town imagined, and they were
willing to talk. Those boys loved to gossip, and they had ears everywhere.
Literally. They’d created a device that amplified sound and had gotten caught
eavesdropping from afar many times.
Just last Christmas she’d found out Rachel was pissed off at
her brothers for forgetting her birthday. Luckily in advance. Rachel had
complained to Callie and Nell that her husbands
hadn’t planned anything for her birthday, and Bobby had gone into detail about
how Rachel’s pregnancy hormones were making her a little on the murdery side. Brooke had thought maybe her brothers were
just planning a surprise.
And then she remembered they ran a business and had three
kids under seven, with one on the way.
Yeah, she’d saved the day that time. Max and Rye had time to
put together a surprise party and give their wife a signed set of her favorite
romance novels.
So she checked in.
The idea of that family breaking down wrecked her. She
counted on coming home to happy families so she could at least believe happily
ever after could happen.
“So Jen wants another baby, but Stef isn’t sure he can
handle her being pregnant again. He had this whole like heartfelt conversation
with your brother about it. Rye. Not Max.”
This was what she was here for. What no one understood was
that she often played fairy godmother. Quietly. From behind the scenes. “What
did Rye say?”
“That Jen was strong, and he needed to man up. It was one
thing to not want another kid, but he shouldn’t hold Jen back if it was about
his own fear.” Bobby nodded as though he agreed. “It was a real nice
conversation. Nell is worried that she’s added to the world’s overpopulation,
but Henry tells her this baby is going to be the sweetest, kindest girl in the
whole world, and that she’s a gift.”
“Oh, that’s sweet.” She was happy little Poppy was getting a
sister. Though she supposed Poppy wasn’t so little anymore. Nell still hauled
her around, but the kid was definitely a full-sized toddler.
“Also, Max is real upset about his bloodwork, but Rye’s
cholesterol was actually worse than his, so they are both on diets and they
both sneak in wings at Trio. If you need pocket change, they can be
blackmailed.”
“Good to know.” She sighed and asked the question she truly
wanted the answer to. The question that had been running through her brain
since the minute she’d seen them in the diner. Probably before, if she was