Chapter 21
AXEL
Fucking hell. Of all the people we could run into on our first trip into town, it just has to be Sheriff Fucking Donnelly.
She’s been suspicious of our family since we first showed up nearly two decades ago, and she takes every chance she can get to poke her nose into our business.
And it’s only gotten worse in the last ten years since she took over her uncle’s role as sheriff.
For the most part, she’s harmless, but she can be like a dog with a bone when she gets a whiff of something even remotely rotten.
Gray is already out of the truck, her brown eyes cold and flat the way they always are whenever she and the sheriff square off. “Reese. Don’t you have some roadkill to be scooping up or something?”
Reese cocks a dark brow and meets my sister’s glare head-on. “Do you know something I don’t know, Grayson?”
Lips curving up in a smile colder than the snow surrounding us, Gray lifts a shoulder in a careless shrug. “Can’t imagine there’s much else for you to do around here, considering how much time you devote to hassling me and my brothers.” Gray looks over, her smile fading. “Is she all right?”
“She didn’t fall,” Reese supplies, and for once it feels like she’s actually on our side rather than the mortal enemy she’s been determined to paint herself as since we first arrived. “I think it just scared her a bit, is all.”
Lanie trembles in my arms, whether from the cold or lingering fear from her near-fall, I’m not sure. Either way, I want to get her inside and away from the sheriff’s prying eyes, so I give Reese a curt nod. “Thank you for catching her. Gray, we’ll be in the bookstore.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Trusting she’ll follow when she’s ready, I turn and head for the bookstore, Bram walking along beside me. “I’m sorry, Ax. I couldn’t reach her fast enough.”
“It’s all right, Bram. I’m not mad at you.” Inside the blessed warmth of Bram’s favorite store, I head to the right, toward the single-stall bathroom at the front of the store. There, I set Lanie on her feet and gently pull away so I can examine her.
“Are you hurt anywhere, baby?” I ask as I run my hands over her, and Lanie shakes her head.
“No, Daddy. The nice lady caught me so I didn’t fall.”
That may be the first time I’ve ever heard anyone refer to Sheriff Donnelly as nice, and the thought nearly makes me snort with laughter. But my Little girl has been very naughty and laughing now will make her think it’s okay for her to defy me.
Rising to my feet, I cross my arms and stare down at my naughty Little girl. “What did Daddy tell you about getting out of the truck, Melanie Brynne?”
“Umm… I don’t remember.”
“Really? Perhaps Daddy’s belt would help your memory.” I tap the buckle of my thick belt, and have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing when Lanie’s eyes go comically wide.
“No, Daddy! I remember, I remember! Um, you said to wait for you to come let me out.”
“That’s right. So why didn’t you wait?”
“I was just excited. I’m sorry, Daddy.”
Goddamn, I wish she wasn’t so cute when she’s in trouble. It makes it hard as hell to actually discipline her. “I have half a mind to put you over my knee right here in this store and spank that naughty bottom until you can’t sit right for the rest of the day, Melanie Brynne.”
“Daddy, no! I’m really sorry, I won’t do it again, I promise!”
“You really promise?”
“Yes, Daddy, I really, really promise!”
I pretend to think it over. “All right. But you will listen to me and your Uncle Bram and your Auntie Gray the rest of the day or I will find somewhere nice and private to spank you and you’ll lose out on your treats. Am I making myself perfectly clear, little girl?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Good girl. Let’s go find you some books to take home.”
We step out of the bathroom just as the front door of the store opens and Gray walks in, her expression dark. Of all of us, she butts heads with the sheriff the most, and there’s a running bet between me and all my brothers as to whether they end up killing each other or fucking each other first.
“You get things sorted with Reese?”
Gray’s expression somehow darkens even further. “For now.”
There’s worry behind her words that tells me we’ll need to talk when we get back to the house.
But neither of us wants to say anything that might upset Lanie, so I force a smile for my babygirl’s benefit and look down at her. “Why don’t we go help Uncle Bram pick out some new books?”
“Okay!”
Seemingly oblivious to the tension between Gray and I, despite it being thick enough to cut with a knife, Lanie takes off in search of her Uncle Bram.
“I already texted the others, let them know I’m calling a family meeting after Lanie goes to bed.”
“Good.” And yet, I can’t shake the nagging feeling that our run-in with Donnelly is just the beginning of the shit storm coming our way.
“Hey.” Laying a hand on my arm, Gray looks up at me, her eyes flashing with determination. “We’ve got this. No matter what, we aren’t letting anyone take that Little girl from us.”
Lanie
“But Daddy,” I whine, holding up the giant chocolate heart that’s nearly as big as my head. “You can’t deny a Little girl chocolate! It’s inhumane!”
Arms crossed, Daddy raises a dark brow, but his beard twitches enough to tell me he’s fighting back laughter. “I never said you couldn’t have any chocolate. I said you couldn’t have two pounds of chocolate.”
“Aw, c’mon, Ax.” Plucking the giant heart from my hands, Uncle Bram grins and gives one of my braids a gentle tug. “It’s almost Valentine’s Day. You’re supposed to spoil her on Valentine’s Day.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day next month, Bram.”
“Close enough,” Uncle Bram shoots back with a grin.
Daddy narrows his eyes. “Bram, if you buy her that chocolate…”
“Can’t hear you over the sound of what an awesome uncle I am,” Uncle Bram sing-songs as he makes his way to the register.
Sighing, Daddy shakes his head. “Fine. But when she makes herself sick on all that candy, you’re sitting up with her all night.”
Uncle Bram winks down at me. “Worth it.”
Between the candy Daddy has already let me pick out, the heart Uncle Bram bought for me, and the fudge Auntie Gray swears is for her even though she let me pick out all the flavors, we leave the store with closer to five pounds of candy.
The back of Daddy’s truck is already full of bags after our trip to the bookstore, the toy store, and a cute little boutique where Auntie Gray insisted on buying me three new sweaters and a cute new pair of sparkly pink boots, and I’m not really sure how we’re all going to fit inside.
“Heading back up the mountain?”
Spinning around, I wave at the woman leaning against a stone column in front of the post office. “Bye, Sheriff Donnelly! Thank you for making sure I didn’t fall!”
The pretty sheriff returns my wave, one corner of her mouth kicking up in what could graciously be called a smile.
“I like her,” I declare as I turn back around to face my family.
Auntie Gray quickly smooths out her expression into a bright smile, but not before I catch sight of the glare she was sending Sheriff Donnelly’s direction.
It’s not the first time I’ve noticed how annoyed my Auntie seems by the sheriff’s very existence, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why.
“Auntie Gray?” I ask when we’re all tucked back into Daddy’s truck.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Why don’t you like Sheriff Donnelly?”
In the rearview mirror I watch Daddy and Auntie Gray share a look.
“I have no problems with any of Forbidden Pines’ law enforcement.” Her tone is breezy, but in a way that sounds more like she’s trying too hard to sound unbothered.
Curioser and curioser.
“But every time you see her you get this look on your face.” I try to imitate her earlier glare, drawing my brows together and pursing my lips. “Like you just smelled something bad.”
Daddy’s deep laughter rumbles through the cab. “She does make that face, doesn’t she?”
“She does! And I don’t understand because Sheriff Donnelly smells like Christmas and wildflowers all rolled into one.”
“I do not make any kind of face. And if I do, it’s just because Reese Donnelly has been a pain in my ass since the day we met.”
“But you just said you don’t have any problems with the police here. Did you tell a fib, Auntie Gray?”
Uncle Bram reaches over to tug at my braids again. “Can I see your new toy? Since someone was begging to leave the bookstore before her poor Uncle Bram finished his shopping and he had to miss out on the toy store?”
He’s distracting me. I don’t know why, but something deep in my gut tells me he’s trying to distract me from the Sheriff Donnelly question.
That same something tells me that if I keep pushing, I’m more likely to get a hot bottom for my troubles than actual answers, so I let Uncle Bram distract me, giggling happily like I’m not trying to figure out some big family secret as I reach into the bag from the toy store and pull out the set of plastic dolls.
“Daddy wouldn’t buy me the house though, because he said it wouldn’t fit in the truck.
” I roll my eyes more for their benefit than mine.
“I tried to tell him you wouldn’t mind spending the night in town, Uncle Bram, but Daddy said it was rude to give your seat in the truck to my toys. ”
Uncle Bram’s brows draw together, but just like when I rolled my eyes a moment ago, it feels like he’s doing it more to play along than because he’s actually annoyed. “That would have been very rude, little girl.”
I push my bottom lip out in a pout and widen my eyes as much as I’m able. “But Uncle Bram, don’t you want your favorite niece to have everything her little heart desires?”
“Aw, hell. Turn around, Ax. We need to go buy a house.”
Laughter echoes through the cab of the truck as Daddy and Uncle Bram argue the merits of him giving up his seat for the giant dream house I secretly do really want.
In the end, Uncle Bram promises to bring me back with his SUV to get the house and even more candy, despite Daddy’s glares and grumbling threats.
I’m still not sure what the deal with Sheriff Donnelly and Auntie Gray is. But one way or another, I’m going to find out.