Chapter 12
TWELVE
Rain
“Hey, Erin! I got some hungry, sleep-deprived kids here who want sugar!”
Herding the kids through the back door of Crack One Open and into the kitchen, I made sure the door was shut tightly. I’d promised to fix that for Erin for months, but the season had started and, well… “Chaos Reigned” wasn’t the Devils’ motto for nothing.
Erin popped her head through the swinging door to the café, and I could tell by the look on her face that she was more than a little happy to see me.
“Oh, thank god. I thought I was going to have to close. Can you please grab those trays and bring them out here? Game mornings are always insane, and Davi called off sick, and Mary’s car wouldn’t start so she’s going to be late.”
Then she disappeared back into the front room, the tail of her thick braid the last thing I saw before the door flapped closed.
Maddy looked at me like a deer in the headlights. Krista had already disappeared through the door into the café. She’d become a fixture here and knew her way around. Maddy, of course, had no idea that Erin ran on caffeine and sugar and this place hung together by a very thin thread that any little deviation in routine could break. Apparently that thread had been snipped sometime this morning.
The kitchen looked like it’d been caught between two ravening packs of dogs. Sugar and flour coated every surface. The scent of cinnamon hung heavy in the air and the scent of warm yeasty rolls made my stomach rumble.
But first things first.
“Maddy, can you grab that tray over there? I’ll take these two. Sorry, I know you didn’t sign up to work for your breakfast, but I promise it will be worth it.”
Without a word, Maddy grabbed the tray I’d pointed to, loaded with cinnamon rolls, while I picked up the two holding donuts and spinach-cheese croissants. And opened the door to a mob scene.
Since we’d come in the back, I hadn’t realized how utterly chaotic the café was. Most of the opposing team loafed around at tables, drinking coffee and shoving various pastries in their mouths. Several people, who I recognized as the other team’s booster club, huddled in a group near the door, while the line at the register wound all the way around the room.
Erin looked more than a little frazzled, her usually perfect braid nearly undone while she took orders from multiple people at the same time.
Right.
“Maddy, hon, put that tray on the counter for me. I need to…” I sighed. I didn’t know what I needed to do first. Even for me, this was a mountain to climb.
“I can take that bucket with the dirty dishes into the back.” Maddy shrugged. “If you want.”
I wanted to hug her, but I was pretty sure she wouldn’t appreciate that. “You are a lifesaver. Thank you.”
Without another word, Maddy grabbed the bin and took it into the kitchen, leaving room for me to put the other trays down before I started combining trays in the display counter.
The next half hour flew by in a rush of fulfilling orders for Erin, who ran the register. Maddy, bless her, took several bins of dirty dishes back to the kitchen and filled the utensil trays and napkin holders a few times, while Krista entertained the line with her bubbly personality.
When the last of the line had finally been dealt with, and there were only a few people left at the tables, Erin threw her arms around my shoulders and squealed just a little. Then she turned to Maddy and, before I could say anything, gave the girl a quick squeeze.
“Oh my god, thank you so much.” Erin’s fair complexion was flushed and her hair had escaped most of her braid. “I think my head would’ve exploded if you hadn’t walked in when you did. It’s like everyone decided they needed a cinnamon roll and coffee this morning. Maddy, you and Krista take whatever you want and have a seat. I’m going to make you two some of my special hot chocolate.”
While Krista whooped and made a beeline for the scones, Maddy grabbed a cinnamon roll and sat with Krista at one of the tables that was relatively clean.
“You need to hire more staff.” I crossed my arms over my chest and gave Erin the look I usually reserved for my brothers when they didn’t listen to me. “Are you ready to let me help you with that?”
Erin and I had been discussing this for a couple of months. But between her schedule and mine, we hadn’t been able to find time to talk about it in depth.
“I will if you say yes to the bookstore.”
The look she gave me while she dropped huge dollops of whipped cream on top of two mugs of her homemade hot chocolate was a challenge, as if she knew she had me. And she probably did.
Oh hell, I should just admit right now that I wanted to go in with her on the bookstore. Because I did. I really did.
“Just think what we can do when with this space when we tear down that wall.”
She gestured to the wall dividing the café with the empty storefront next door. It wouldn’t be such a huge project because at one time, these two spaces had been one big space. The building had been split into smaller spaces in the fifties, with half going to the radio station and the paper and half going to the bakery and café. The radio station and newspaper took up the second floor of the building, but the front space held remnants of the history of the building. I could already imagine that area filled with bookcases and cozy little nooks to read.
I sighed as she took the mugs to the girls, who were munching away on more sugar than they should reasonably consume during one morning, but they’d earned it.
And I’d earned the double-shot latte I’d been trying to avoid because I’d already had more than enough caffeine today. So I took the one Erin made for me before we took seats at the counter, far enough away from the girls that they couldn’t hear our conversation. Not that they were listening anyway. They’d raided the stash of books Erin kept for kids by the door, and Maddy and Krista were paging through a Christmas book.
“So,” Erin said when she sat down next to me. “You ready to say yes?”
“ If we do this,” I looked Erin in the eyes, holding back a smile, “I’m going to handle staffing.”
The smile Erin gave me acknowledged the fact that she’d won me over. It was broad and toothy and so freaking excited, I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Whatever you say.”
I shook my head but couldn’t hold back my smile anymore. “Okay. I’m in.”
Erin squealed again and started to do a little seat jig. “We’re going to have so much fun.”
“But… you know I can’t really give any time to this until after the winter carnival. And neither can you. You promised you’d help wrangle food stands this year.”
“And I’m definitely keeping my promise. But this is so exciting!”
The bell over the door chimed, and Erin’s attention flashed away. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened, and I sighed, because I only knew one person who put that look on her face.
Shit.
I turned to find Rebel talking to Maddy and Krista, and the guy even had a smile on his face. But I knew where he’d been and who he’d been with, and I wanted to know what had happened between him and Brian.
He and Erin had had a rocky relationship since she’d moved here. Her relentlessly sunny outlook on life had rubbed up against his perpetual grump since the moment they’d met. But this was not the relationship of romance novels. They genuinely didn’t like each other.
Which was hard for me because I loved both of them. Erin was the sister I’d never had. And Rebel was the brother I had to love harder because he was harder to love.
“Hey, would you keep the girls occupied for like ten minutes out here? And can I use your back room?”
“Sure, but only if you’re gonna rip him a new asshole, and you tell me all about it later.”
I smiled and nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Then I walked over to Rebel, smacked him on the shoulder, and said, “Follow me.”
Rowdy and Rocky let me get away with a lot most of the time. Rebel, not so much. But he waved a hand at the girls and trailed along after me to the tiny office off the kitchen.
I rounded on him as soon as the door was closed.
“I want to know what the hell is going on with you and Brian. You’re acting like more of an ass than normal and…” I sighed. “You’d been acting more like a normal human lately. But then Brian arrives, and you become a dick again. What the hell’s going on with you?”
My brother sat his ass on the edge of the desk, both hands gripping the edge, knuckles going white
“You telling me he hasn’t told you?”
“He hasn’t told me shit about this,” I waved my hand in the air, “situation. Whatever the hell this situation is. You’re my brother. You fucking tell me.”
Reb’s mouth flattened and he shook his head. “It’s still none of your business, Rainy. It’s my business. And he stuck his nose in where he shouldn’t have. But you know what, I got it off my chest, and we’re done.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Did you do it with your fists?”
He looked me in the eyes. “The guy doesn’t have a scratch on him.”
“Then why do I think you punched the shit out of each other?”
“Maybe because you can do that with words. And once you get it out of your system, it’s done. At least, it is for me. But you should know you can’t trust him. Not with anything that matters.”
I shook my head. “Reb, you’re my brother, and I love you. But you’re pissing me the fuck off. Just tell me what the hell happened.”
His head tilted back, and he looked me in the eyes. “And if I’m not ready to tell you? Are you gonna give me the benefit of the doubt?”
I groaned, just a little. “Jesus, it’s been nearly a decade. Don’t you think it’s time to bury the hatchet? And I don’t mean in his head.”
“Trust is a hard thing to restore.” He shook his head. “Look, I know I can’t tell you what to do with your life?—”
“Not that you don’t try.”
“—but I just don’t want you to get hurt. That’s all. And I don’t trust him not to do that.”
Rebel had a look on his face I didn’t normally see. Usually, he sneered or grimaced. I rarely saw the guy smile anymore. Very rarely was it anger. I think that would be easier to handle sometimes.
This made my heart ache, because Rebel was hurt. He was covering it under a hell of a lot of angst, but whatever was going on with Brian, it hurt.
“Don’t you think I can take care of myself?”
He actually cracked a little bit of a grin. “You’re my little sister. Of course, I don’t think you can take care of yourself. I think it’s why I was born before you. It’s my fucking life’s mission to make sure you’re safe and happy.”
And here was the Rebel that made me laugh, the one I wanted to strangle with my own hands and give him a wedgie and hug him until he wasn’t always so fucking miserable.
“Jesus, Reb. What the hell am I supposed to do with you?”
“Make my life fucking easier until he’s gone.”
I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t going to not be friends, or more, with a man I’d had a crush on forever just because it would make my brother’s life easier. Because Rebel was going to make it his mission in life to make sure Brian left as soon as possible.
And I wanted him to stay.