Chapter 15 #2
Sebastian laughed, then pushed away. “I meant from Uncle Austin. You’re fine, but your hugs need work.”
I push at his shoulder, laughing, as the three of us roughhoused playfully.
My mom came out of the back office and rolled her eyes. “Seriously, I leave the three of you alone for five minutes, and now you’re fighting.”
“You love me,” my dad said, and Mom laughed as the bell above the door jingled, and the woman who took my breath away walked in.
I swallowed hard, trying to get my thoughts in order so I wouldn’t drool. But that was really hard to do when Brooke was there, looking sunny and amazing, with her hand in Luke’s.
“Oh, my,” Brooke said, her eyes wide.
“Leif,” Luke called out and ran towards me. Brooke reached for him but missed, so I went around the counter and scooped Luke up in my arms.
“Hey there, buddy. You’re looking smooth in that sweater.”
Luke beamed. “Mom picked it out.”
“She did a good job.” I looked over Luke’s head at Brooke. “Hi.”
“Hi.” She clutched her hands in front of her, nervous. She looked behind me at my family, who was staring, grins on their faces.
I cleared my throat and knew it was time to stop hiding her in our bliss and confusion. “You know everybody here, but let me do introductions anyway,” I said as I kissed the top of her head, holding her close.
“Okay, Luke, that is my mom, and dad, and my cousin Sebastian. Everybody, this is Luke and Brooke. You’ve mostly all already met, but now it’s not in a stressful situation.”
My chest filled with pride as Luke waved to everybody and then scrambled down so he could go and say hello to Sebastian. Sebastian picked the kid up, settled him on his hip, and proceeded to hear all about Luke’s day.
Brooke just laughed and came forward. “Well, we see where we place in terms of hierarchy here,” she said dryly.
“It’s the Montgomery boys. You just can’t help it.” Mom came out from behind the counter along with Dad, and she hugged Brooke tightly.
“It’s good to see you. I was trying to give you space because I didn’t want to overwhelm you. We Montgomerys tend to do that.” She winked, and Brooke laughed. “However, we’re ready for the next phase, so here it goes.”
“Now I’m worried,” Brooke said, her eyes wide as she looked at me.
Mom waved her off. “Don’t be. We’re just inviting you to a Montgomery dinner.”
Sebastian whistled between his teeth, and I narrowed my gaze at him as I looked over at Brooke. “It won’t be all the Montgomerys. Not even close. Literally just my immediate family. No extra cousins, aunts, and uncles.”
“Hey, that’s not nice,” Sebastian whined.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Sierra said dryly. “I was thrust into the lion’s den of Austin’s seven siblings. Since Leif only has three siblings, you are getting off easy here.”
Austin Montgomery snorted. “I feel like I should apologize for that, but I can’t. I like my family. And I promise my parents won’t be there either, even though they want to meet you.”
Brooke’s eyes widened, and she laughed, looking at all of us. “I know that Nick told Leif that he needs to get me a family tree so I can get all the names right. I thought he was kidding.”
“You’ll be fine. I still mess up,” Mom said with a laugh.
Brooke rolled her shoulders back. “Okay, dinner sounds good. I wanted to invite you guys over for dinner at my place anyway, just to say thank you.”
The reasons why were left unsaid, and I knew it was because Luke was there and probably because nobody wanted to mention the subject.
“We can do your place next. This is fun. I can’t wait. You’ll have to tell me any allergies you have.” Then my mom went still. “And if you like cheese. These are things I need to know.”
Brooke threw her head back and laughed. I just grinned as Luke clapped and Sebastian chuckled. “Oh, I know all about the Montgomerys and cheese. I hear that, along with tattoos, are your favorite vices.”
“Guilty,” Dad said, deadpan.
“I love cheese. As does Luke. Right, buddy?”
Luke smacked his lips together. “Cheese is the best.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” my dad said as he held up a hand. Luke looked at it curiously before he high-fived it, and my dad grinned.
As Mom and Brooke talked a bit more, I went over to listen to Sebastian and my dad joke around with Luke. I stayed quiet, watching them, and swallowed hard.
This felt right, like a family. I didn’t want anything to break it. I couldn’t. That meant I needed to deal with one last thing before I could take that next step. Only I wasn’t sure exactly how to do that.
* * *
My parents left before too long, Brooke and Luke leaving soon after, which left me alone with Sebastian while we waited for Nick to show up to work.
“I hear there’s a Montgomery dinner in order,” Nick put in as he set his stuff down at his station.
I glared over at Sebastian. “It’s been like ten minutes.”
Sebastian shrugged. “I only texted Lake. She texted the rest of the family group chats.”
I pulled out my phone and cursed at the twenty-nine notifications. “My God.”
“It’s a big thing, bringing a girl and her kid over for dinner,” Sebastian said sagely.
“My family is going to give me gray hair,” I said with a laugh and then froze as someone else walked into the shop.
He looked different, and yet the same. Twenty years had passed, but I had looked up his picture once I was notified of his release so I would be able to recognize him.
Gray hair, strong jaw, thick nose. He was big now because he had used the prison yard to stay in shape.
He still looked mean and smarmy and like the man who had made my life hell when I was a kid.
And then he was taken away, and Mom died, and I ended up with Austin. In the end, it all worked out, but I never wanted to think about him.
Or fucking look at him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as both Nick and Sebastian stood up. They both had clients, regulars who looked up and narrowed their eyes, noticing the tension. This was my place of business, and I didn’t want this to be a big thing, but I wasn’t sure what else to do.
“I just wanted to see where my kid worked.”
“I’m not your kid. Mom never married you. You’re just some guy she was with. Then you were in prison. You need to go now. This is my place of business, and I don’t want you here.”
Did I sound calm? Because I didn’t feel calm.
“I just thought you owed me. Don’t you think you owe me? You have all of this while I was sent to prison. Doesn’t really seem fair.”
“You were sent to prison for your own actions and decisions that had nothing to do with me.”
“Yet you have such a good life, but where would you be without me?”
“You have nothing to do with who I am. You need to go.”
“Maybe I should go see that girl, the one that just left here with the pretty hair and eyes. What about that little kid? Your mom was about that age when I met her. You were about that kid’s age, too. Brings back memories.”
I moved forward, my fist flying out without even thinking. But then Nick was there, holding me back.
“This is just what he wants,” Nick whispered in my ear.
“Got yourself a boyfriend holding you back, too? Well, I knew things got weird in your family. I didn’t realize that you were one of them.”
I pushed forward, but Nick held firm. “Get your hate speech and dickishness out of here.”
“That’s just fine. If you’re not going to help me, maybe she will. She looks rich. I’ll see what she wants to do to help a poor man.”
“Stay away from her.”
“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. She reminds me of your mom. Be nice to see her.”
Then Roger walked out, and I sucked in a breath, my gaze going fuzzy.
“You need to call the family,” Nick whispered as their clients got up and came forward.
Brett, a big man and construction worker that worked with my family, narrowed his gaze. “You need to call your parents. Seriously, at least let them know. And the cops.”
“Brett’s right,” Jared put in. He was a fireman, worked long hours, and was one of Nick’s regulars.
“I’m fine. I can handle it.” Even as I said the words, I knew they were a lie. I ran my hands over my hair, then growled. “I need to go.”
“Are you going to go talk to your dad?” Nick asked, anger in his gaze.
“I will. When I see them. I need to go find Brooke first.”
“Make sure she’s safe,” Sebastian said, his voice quiet.
“You want me to talk to one of my friends down at the precinct?” Jared asked.
“I’ll figure something out.”
“Leif,” Nick said, the disappointment and anger in that one word evident.
I let out a breath, the clock ticking loudly in my head. “Fine, I should talk to the authorities. So they at least know he’s harassing me. But I need to talk to Brooke.”
“We can do that. Come on, I’ll go with you,” Jared said.
I shook my head. “No, I can do this.”
“And I’m going with you,” Nick said.
“Well, our tattoo artists are going, it looks like I’m coming, too,” Brett put in.
“I’ll stay here and hold down the fort.” Sebastian put in.
“I’m taking up your days,” I said, shame crawling up my spine.
“No, that man came in and harassed you, and from what it sounds like, he’s probably on parole. So let’s see what we can do to keep your family safe.” Jared nodded tightly before getting his things.
“What the hell does he want from me?” I asked as Nick glared.
“He wants everything he couldn’t have before because he’s a bully. And I know all about bullies, Leif. We’ll fix this. But you have to stop trying to handle it on your own. You have to stop trying to hide the stress from your family.”
“I just don’t want to hurt them,” I said, my voice breaking.
“Then don’t. But you’re not going to get hurt because of that asshole. So come on. Let’s go.”
I let my best friend, and two men I hardly knew, walk me out the door and right back into my past.
It was my present that kept echoing in my head.
I needed to keep Brooke safe.
Even if I made the wrong choice in the end. The only choice I could.