Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Leif
I stomped around the front yard, sprinkling grass seed using the hand spreader. I knew Lake probably wanted me to be a little more delicate, but I wasn’t in the fucking mood to care.
I wasn’t in any mood.
I had no idea what I had done to Brooke other than be myself. I didn’t know why she’d pushed me away as she had. Perhaps that was the problem. Maybe, just like before, she wanted nothing to do with me.
Oh, she might’ve liked that date and enjoyed that kiss, but that was it.
Because she had pushed me away.
And yet, I had to have done something. Brooke wasn’t irrational. She was the most rational person I knew. That meant it had to be me.
The dumbass who kept feeling a pull to a woman who clearly didn’t want me.
“Are you just going to growl at the flowers?” Nick asked from the front porch.
I flipped him off, then cringed as I looked around the neighborhood, worried that a kid had seen me do that.
“Very adult of you. I don’t see any kids out, but if they’re watching from the front windows, Lake will get an angry call about the big, bearded man scaring the innocent children.”
“She will just have her father show up, and then the parents will swoon over Uncle Liam again.” My uncle was a former model turned best-selling author. His books had been made into blockbuster movies, and most people knew his face.
Lake had been embarrassed as a kid when the parents and even some of the teenagers had swooned over her father, but now she was capitalist enough to use that to her advantage. And her father loved her enough to go with it if it meant annoying people and keeping them off Lake’s lawn.
“You could just take your shirt off and do the same, you know,” Nick stated, winking at me.
I scowled. “Stop hitting on me.”
“You’re like my brother. I would never hit on you, even though you are hot. The only other man in that house right now is Sebastian, and he’s way too young for me and is practically married to that girl.”
I snorted. “They do seem to be pretty serious, but he likes her, and I like Marley, too. You know there is someone else in that house. Just saying.”
Nick narrowed his eyes. “I may like any gender, but I’m not going to date your cousin.”
I raised a brow. “Which cousin are you talking about?” I teased.
“You are a jerk. You know I’m never going to date Lake. She’s just so…Lake. Plus, she’s taken.” He practically grumbled the words.
“What do you mean by that?” Lake asked, and I cringed again as Nick stiffened and turned slowly to see Lake standing in the doorway.
“That you’re taken? I thought you were dating that Zane guy.” Nick raised his chin.
“His name is Zach, and yes, we are dating.” She scowled before swallowing hard.
I wondered what that was about. Was it about her animosity towards Nick?
Or maybe she and Zach weren’t doing well.
I didn’t know, and it wasn’t like Lake told me things when it came to dating.
Oh, she might want to get all the information out of me and who I dated, but she never told me anything.
Her siblings probably knew more than I did, and there was an age gap there.
But that was Lake for you. She didn’t like to spill anything about herself, even though she pretended she was an open book.
“I was talking about what do you mean she’s just so Lake. How is Lake an adjective?”
“You know exactly what I mean,” Nick snapped before he walked past her, and she quickly darted out of the way so he wouldn’t crowd her in the doorway.
She glowered at me and I raised my hands up in surrender.
“Don’t glare at me. I have no idea what the hell is going on with him. And I don’t know what he means by that. Other than the fact that you two do not get along, even though you guys decided to go into business with me. That’s not awkward at all.”
“Nick and I get along. As friends. At least, we should be. We always have been. I don’t know why he gets so disgruntled whenever I’m around now.”
I wasn’t going to touch that with a ten-foot pole.
“Either way, thank you for reviving that part of the lawn that got screwed up with those anthills. I missed that big rain when I was out of town, and I didn’t have time to worry about it myself.”
“You do realize that our family has an entire landscaping division that can handle this for you.” I quickly put everything away in the shed next to the house and followed Lake back inside.
“I know. I just don’t like having to take up their time.”
“It’s not like you wouldn’t pay them. They’re a business. Yes, you would get the family discount, but we all decided not to do things for free for each other for things like that. Not when we didn’t want to feel like we were taking advantage of anybody, even though we totally aren’t.”
I didn’t give my family free tattoos, and I didn’t get free construction work from the other arm of the family.
Nor did I get free surveillance equipment from my cousins that were starting up a security firm.
Yes, the discounts we got were ridiculous, and we worked at cost as much as we could because we loved each other, but we were all business people and knew that we had rules for a reason.
“I know, I know. I just like doing things myself.” She shrugged, and I faltered, remembering how Brooke had said that.
“What is it with you guys? Why can’t you just ask for help?
I don’t understand it. Yes, you can do things on your own, but it’s not your responsibility to do everything on your own by pushing others away who are clearly there to help with no strings attached.
It doesn’t make any sense to me. You’re just kicking yourself in the shin instead of actually letting someone help you. ”
Sebastian and Nick stared open-mouthed as Lake narrowed her gaze at me.
“I’m going to assume that has to do with somebody else, and you are not yelling at me in my own home after I allowed you to take care of the seeding even though I said I could handle it myself.
You’re the one who did it, and I didn’t stop you.
I didn’t jump on your back and try to strangle you down to the ground so you wouldn’t be able to do it.
No, I said thank you, and I cooked dinner so that we could all eat together while discussing business.
So, why don’t you tell me why you’re acting like such an asshole? ”
I swallowed hard, then looked at Nick and Sebastian, who just shook their heads. Nick quickly took a sip of his beer while Sebastian did the same with his soda.
“Thanks for helping,” I called out.
Nick snorted. “I thought I was the one digging my own grave, but it seems like you are chugging right along trying to beat me.”
“You’re both getting on my nerves. I’m just now remembering why I work with women-owned businesses and not with my damn cousins.”
“You’re not my cousin,” Nick corrected Lake.
She flipped him off. “No, I’m just Lake. Too much of something for you.”
Sebastian whistled between his teeth before he went to the crockpot. “Why don’t I serve everybody this delicious meal that Cousin Lake made.”
“Suck up,” I mumbled.
“Hell yeah,” Sebastian said with a laugh. “You guys are getting her all riled up.”
“Oh, so I’m a woman, therefore, I get riled up?” Lake asked, even though her eyes were filled with laughter.
“Oh good, I seem to enjoy putting my foot in my mouth like the other two. At least we’re consistent.”
“Write this down for when you get married to Marley. When you continually eat your own foot, dig your own grave—whatever metaphor you want to use—just shut up. Say you’re sorry and move on.
Things are so much easier when you just admit that you’re grumbly for no reason.
” Lake reached out and hugged Sebastian, and it surprised me that Sebastian was so much taller than her.
He was a man, no longer a kid, easily above six foot like the rest of us, and broadening out with muscle nearly every day.
There was a reason he was here with us for this business meeting. He might not have bought into the company yet, but he would. This was what he wanted with his life, and we wanted him here with us.
We went over financials and projections and made sure that our business was where it needed to be. Sebastian had input as well. He might not be a voting member yet, but we trusted him. And he was a brilliant kid.
It was the fact that he wasn’t a kid anymore that was startling to me. Many of my cousins were now old enough to drink and start new lives. Lake and I were no longer the only Montgomery adult kids.
It was an odd transition in our lives, but I was grateful for it. No more dirty diapers, daycare, and afterschool plays. At least not until our generation started having kids.
It was such an odd thought, considering it had made up my entire life since I had joined the family, but I liked it.
Of course, that just reminded me of who lived next door.
A woman who might not have to deal with dirty diapers anymore, but she still had to deal with daycare and perhaps afterschool plays and meetings.
Things she could do all on her own because God forbid she ask for help. Or at least take help if it was offered without any strings.
“Where’s your head at?” Lake asked, pointing at me with her fork.
I looked over at her and shrugged. “Probably where it shouldn’t be.”
“At least you’re honest,” she said with a laugh. “Does it have anything to do with the fact that you haven’t told me how your date went with my neighbor other than okay?”
“It probably has more to do with him seeing her in the parking lot today and coming back inside like a lion with a thorn in his paw.”
“Shut up, Nick,” I growled.
“I don’t believe I will.” Nick turned to Lake and Sebastian and grinned. “I don’t know what happened, but he saw her out there and decided to practically run to her like a kid seeing candy in the window. And then he came back in grumbling and was an asshole. He hasn’t stopped being one since.”
“That’s it. Our friendship is over.” I narrowed my eyes at my best friend.