Thirty-Six
Branwen
One would think that a four-year-old who had played nonstop on their own personal playground for four straight hours would sleep longer. But the excitement of waking up this morning to find she had a child’s fantasyland in the backyard had been too much. After a nap that had lasted only one hour and thirty minutes, she was up again, ready to return to the outdoors.
Jayda was coming out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of what looked like hot wings, some chips and dips, and meatball sliders.
“Do you need help?” I asked her, as it seemed she had her hands full.
“Well, there is another tray in the kitchen. It’s not this full,” she said, sounding reluctant.
I wasn’t her employer. There was no reason for her to make two trips when I was right here with perfectly good hands that worked.
“I’ll get it,” I replied.
“If you’re sure,” she called out, but I was already headed inside the kitchen.
She’d been busy in here. There were several things happening. Cookies looked like they were in the works. What was going on? Why all this food?
Taking the tray back out to the hallway, she stood there, holding hers as she talked to Stevie about her playset and assured her that Maui was outside, waiting on her.
When she saw me, she nodded her head for me to follow. “These are going outside. I have some sunflower butter and jelly roll-ups for Stevie when she’s ready to eat. I wasn’t sure what she would eat from all this.”
“What is this for?” I asked her.
“Pregame day. Football is back. The guys have some friends over to watch it.”
I wondered if Stevie going out to play would be okay. The playset was far enough away and out of sight from the patio with the way it was placed, but if Linc and Luther had friends over, I wasn’t sure if we should be coming and going.
It had been different today.
Linc hadn’t come in my room last night when we returned, but simply said, “Good night,” and left after laying a sleeping Stevie in her bed.
This morning, I had been prepared for him to ignore me again, but he’d spoken to me. Granted, it was formal and polite. Nothing more. He acknowledged my existence, but he didn’t try and interact with me as more than Stevie’s mom. When he told her about his surprise outside, he asked me to come with them. While she played on it, he asked me if there was anything that could be dangerous on it or that I was uncomfortable with. It had been weird. I didn’t know what to think about it. When he was acting like I didn’t exist, then I at least felt like there was something there under the surface. This had seemed…detached.
We reached the patio door, and Stevie rushed to open it and hold it. Jayda thanked her for being such a good helper, which made her beam. Following her out the door, I winked at Stevie, and she giggled like we had a secret.
A loud male curse and something about calling Oz was the first thing we were greeted with. I focused on Jayda for directions instead of the men gathered out here.
“Just put it over on the counter. I’ll handle the rest,” she told me.
Stevie rushed over to pick up Maui, who was at Luther’s feet. She bent down to pet him, then turned to look at Linc. Leaving Maui where he was, she walked over to Linc, glancing at the other men with uncertainty. Linc picked her up and placed her on his right knee. Nervously, I watched while Linc talked to her, and she nodded her head, causing the blonde curls to bounce.
“This is Stevie,” he told them.
There were three new faces that I hadn’t met. Luther I obviously knew.
Linc glanced back over his shoulder. “And this is her mother, Branwen.”
It seemed I was getting introduced this time.
“Ladies, this is Mal, Jonas, and Hale,” he informed us, pointing the bottle of beer in his hand in the direction of each one as he said their name.
All three men were attractive. They had the Southern wealth vibe about them that reminded me of the men on Yellowstone . I would guess they were all between forty-five and fifty-five maybe.
“You copied and pasted, didn’t you, darlin’?” One of them grinned at me, leaning back on the sofa with one booted foot resting on his knee.
“Lucky for her, she didn’t get her daddy’s ugly mug,” the one with the most salt-and-pepper hair and pale gray eyes said.
I believe that one was Mal. I wasn’t sure exactly if that was right. Linc had introduced them so fast and pointed from one to the other, and I didn’t want to say their names in case I got it wrong. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need to address them.
“My dad is not ugly,” Stevie said defiantly, sitting up straight, as if to challenge the man.
Linc smirked. “Seems the prettiest girl in the state of Mississippi believes otherwise, Mal.”
“You put damn Disney World in the backyard for her,” the one that I thought was Hale said. “You are a king in her eyes. Don’t let it get to your head.”
“We all know I’m the best-looking one,” Luther drawled, and then his eyes swung to me. “Ain’t that right, Branwen?”
My eyes widened. I was not getting in this conversation. I especially wasn’t going to give Luther any wrong ideas. I’d already seen some of his penis.
“Fuck, Luth, Jesus,” Mal said, reaching over and shoving him on the arm while chuckling and shaking his head.
I felt like I had missed something they all seemed to find amusing, except Linc. His jaw was clenched, and the veins in his neck were standing out.
“Mommy, my dad is the most handsome, isn’t he?” Stevie said, turning to look at me.
Why, Vivi Lu, are you bringing me into this?
“Stevie, sweetheart, don’t do that to your momma,” Luther drawled. “God knows he’s barely spoken to her today…” He trailed off. “She doesn’t want to defend him.”
An embarrassed flush rushed up my neck.
“For Christ’s sake, Luth, when he has you by the neck again, I’m not stepping in to stop him,” the one I thought was Hale said.
Luther only flashed me a wicked grin, then turned his eyes back to the television.
“I don’t know how he lives with your ass,” the third one, speaking for the first time, told him. He’d be Jonas, if I was right about Hale.
“I own half the house,” Luther drawled. “He ain’t got a choice.”
Linc whispered something to Stevie, and she smiled, then hopped down from his lap to hurry over to me. “Let’s go play on my new swing set,” she told me, then bent to scoop up Maui, who had followed her.
He was ready to get rid of us, and I didn’t blame him. I wanted to get out of this situation too.
“It was nice to meet all of you,” I told them before letting Stevie start to lead me away.
“You too, darlin’,” Mal called out.
We were almost around the corner of the tree line when I heard one of them say. “Holy fuck, Luther wasn’t exaggerating. Jesus, Linc. If you’re gonna knock one up, that’s sure one I don’t blame you for.”
A pleased smile tugged on my lips, and I hoped Stevie hadn’t been listening. Her vocabulary was getting larger—and not in a good way.
“Shut up, Hale.” Linc’s voice sounded like an angry growl.
“She’s young too. I didn’t know she was that young. Damn, man. Whew. Beauty and youth. What did Levi think about her being so young? Is he older than her?” I thought that might be Mal.
“She is older than Levi.” Linc sounded pissed. “She looks younger than she is.”
“Eh, let’s not forget that she was a little girl when you were already married and had a kid,” Luther piped up. “I might have only been a teenager back then, but I remember her. She followed you around, worshipping the ground you walked on.”
I hadn’t realized Luther had been in Ocala back then. He’d never mentioned it. I tried to think back, but I didn’t remember him.
Whatever else was said after that, I could no longer hear them as I kept going. Stevie was basically pulling me in her attempt to run to her new playset. Linc had wanted to outdo the one that I had wanted to get for Hudson’s backyard. He’d succeeded far beyond any expectation. My jaw had dropped when we walked out here this morning.
There was a round teak sofa with cream cushions and a canopy that came over the top for shade, along with the playground that he called a swing set. Two tall, skinny teak tables stood on either side to hold drinks. I walked over to it and slipped off my sandals before climbing onto it and stretching my feet out in front of me. The furniture came apart into four pieces, making a curved sofa; two small, padded benches; and a round one in the middle to use as a seat or perhaps a table. But when pushed all together, it was large enough to stretch out on like a bed. I preferred it this way.
Maui began running toward someone about the time I heard footsteps, and I turned to see Jayda carrying a glass of lemonade and a child’s cup, which I assumed was filled with the same thing.
“I thought you might need drinks,” she said, placing them on the table to my left.
“Thank you,” I told her. “I meant to grab something from the refrigerator out here, but—” I stopped.
“But the guys were talking shit, and you wanted to escape,” she finished and gave me a knowing look. “I don’t blame you. Unfortunately, they will be here until late. More could also stop by. The younger guys most likely. The other two older men in the fam—uh, circle of friends won’t show up. Fender is more uptight, and he rarely comes here for game nights. He spends more time with Gannon, who has Parkinson’s, and it’s progressed to the end stages from what Linc says. They are close, and it’s been harder on Fender; plus, he lost his youngest son two years ago in a shooting. He’s not been the same since.” She said all this as if I knew who in the heck she was talking about.
But I listened. This was Linc’s world, and I wanted to know about it. These would be people in Stevie’s life.
“Anyway, it’ll probably be Hale’s oldest, Ransom, and Mal’s oldest, Locke, who stop by, if any of them do. Jonas’s oldest is the bookie among them, and he will be working all night. The younger crowd…well, from what I’ve heard, there are topless women—mostly strippers from Glow—and light drug use involved. But I guess they won’t be doing that at Cash’s house anymore. Not with Bane married and the baby.” She shrugged. “I’m rambling. I’d better get back to the kitchen. I have cookies to put in the oven and Rice Krispies treats to make.”
“Thank you for the drinks. I’d help you if I didn’t have Stevie wanting to live on this, well, whatever it is,” I said, waving a hand at the massive structure.
She grinned. “It is something else. She’s loving it though.”
That she was.
Determined to go back outside and tell Linc good night before going up to bed, Stevie went out onto the patio, and I had to follow. When I had brought her inside for dinner and a bath, they had all been wrapped up in the game, and Linc hadn’t done anything but nod and wink at her. Facing them again seemed exhausting because I never knew how Linc was going to treat me.
Stevie opened the door and went running out to him, wearing her Bluey pajamas and slippers. Her blonde curls were still damp and hung longer in the back because of it. Linc had moved from beer to whiskey, and there was a cigar in his mouth. When he saw Stevie, he put his glass down and immediately put the cigar in an ashtray, then shoved it toward Mal to move it away from her.
She scrambled up into his lap. I stayed silent as I waited by the door.
“There is plenty of room here if you want to sit,” Luther told me, patting the space between him and Mal.
Mal repressed a grin and shook his head, as if Luther was crazy.
“I’m good, thanks,” I replied. “She just wanted to tell him good night.”
Luther waved at the table full of food. “Get something to eat. No rush.”
Linc appeared tense, as if he was afraid I’d take him up on it and invade the party.
Not something I want to do, bud. Chill.
“We ate in the kitchen with Jayda,” I replied.
Mal let out a small groan and closed his eyes for a minute.
Hale chuckled, and Luther grinned wickedly. I was missing something here.
“What the fuck is wrong with y’all?” Jonas asked, frowning at them.
“I’ll explain later when the little ears have left,” Luther told him, then glanced back at me with a glint in his eyes that made me nervous.
The door opened behind me, and I turned, expecting to see Jayda, but instead, two younger men walked outside.
One had dark brown hair, cut short, but there was a hint of a curl to the flipped-up edges that could be seen from under his cowboy hat. His face was chiseled with a firm jawline and a cleft in his chin. The stubble on his face looked like he hadn’t shaved in a week.
The guy behind him was taller, maybe even six-five, with a slightly lighter shade of brown hair and a beard. He didn’t wear a hat, but he looked like he’d just walked off a ranch or maybe a calendar shoot for sexy cowboys. When his eyes met mine, he did a complete up and down of me, and then the corner of his lips quirked.
He reminded me of the one I believed was Mal. That would make this one his oldest, Locke. Which, if Jayda was correct, the other would be Ransom.
“How much did you lose on the Patriots game?” Mal asked them.
“Not a fu—” The one I was almost positive was Locke stopped before finishing the word as his eyes landed on Stevie sitting in Linc’s lap, looking up at him. “Not anything. Didn’t bet on them.”
“I’m down three grand. Oz’s ass has already called to taunt me about it,” the other said as he picked up one of the sliders from the table. “Y’all always have the better food.”
Locke held out his hand to Stevie. “Hello, Stevie,” he said formally.
She looked at his hand, then back at Linc, who smirked, then nodded. Slowly, as if not sure she was okay with this, she reached out and placed her much smaller one in his, and he gave it a shake.
“I’m Locke. It’s nice to meet you. Gathe has told us all about you.”
Her eyes lit up at the familiar name, and then she swung her eyes to me. “He knows Gathe, Mommy!”
I nodded, smiling at her enthusiasm.
“And I’m Ransom, Goldilocks,” the other one told her, then stuck a chip into his mouth.
“And that is Branwen,” Luther said. “These are Hale’s and Mal’s boys. Ransom belongs to Hale and Locke to Mal.”
Both of the younger men turned to look at me.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, feeling awkward and on display.
“Than did not exaggerate,” Ransom said. “Shocker.”
Linc cleared his throat and stood up, holding Stevie in his crooked arm as if she weighed nothing. “I’ll go tuck this one in,” he said to the men, then started toward me.
I couldn’t tell if his expression was angry or not. But he didn’t look happy.
“Where’s the puppy?” Luther asked.
Grinning at his concern over Maui, I looked back at him. “We just took him to his bed for the night.”
He looked disappointed, and I wanted to laugh. I wasn’t sure if Maui was Stevie’s or Luther’s anymore.
“Night!” several of them called.
I gave a small wave, then followed Linc inside, not sure what to expect from him and wishing he didn’t tie me up in knots so easily.