Chapter 6
B randon checked his rearview mirror, his stomach tightening when he saw he hadn’t lost Duke.
Of course he wouldn’t, not on this dirt road, only going thirty-five miles an hour. But still, he’d hoped.
You told them it was going to be a rough go , he reminded himself. But talking about the homestead and it’s disrepair of it was a far cry from actually seeing it.
Brandon knew, as he had done this drive onto the homestead once before. He made the turn, the bright October sun lighting the morning ahead of him.
Here we go, he thought as he once again checked his mirror.
Duke made the turn as well, and Brandon returned his gaze out the front windshield.
Then he wouldn’t be able to see his brothers’ reactions.
Duke, as grumpy as he was, wouldn’t be able to hide his real feelings, and Dawson certainly wouldn’t hold back.
Brandon didn’t need to see anything on their faces before they could conceal it.
He trundled down the road, where tufts of grass grew between the tire tracks. Ignoring the chaos around him on all sides, he gave Lenore’s cabin a cursory glance and kept going, having half a mind to ram his truck straight into the cabin at the edge of the trees.
His cabin.
Of course he wouldn’t do that, as the cabins were the only structures on the homestead that didn’t look one breath away from falling down.
He pulled around in a big U-turn and then backed in so that his tailgate would open right to the bottom of the steps. Duke did the same beside him.
As he’d discovered, Brandon owned more than he thought. Not only that, but Zona and Caroline had put together several boxes of things for him to bring to live on his own—towels, sheets, cleaning supplies, a new set of dishware and utensils, and lastly, a homemade blanket.
Arizona had said, “So you won’t miss us too much.”
She and April had come with Dawson and Duke to help Brandon move in today, leaving the rest of Duke’s kids at the ranch—and Caroline with her and Dawson’s two small children at Hidden Hills as well.
Nerves pounded through Brandon’s veins as he killed the engine and dropped to the ground. He looked over to the second truck and found Dawson looking around in complete disbelief. The back door of the king cab truck opened, and April emerged.
“Wow, Uncle Brandon,” she said. “This place is….”
Brandon waited for her to go on, but April seemed at a loss for words. That had never happened before, that Brandon knew of. If he hadn’t known before the homestead was a complete wreck, he would’ve then.
After another couple of moments, the other doors started to open and Brandon’s family emerged from their state of shock.
“This is it,” he said, gesturing to the cabin. Maybe if he kept his back to the rest of the homestead, it would transform itself into a thriving piece of land by the time he turned around.
“This is ridiculous,” Zona said.
“Zona,” Duke muttered under his breath, though he wore the look of an angry bull himself.
“You sure you want to do this, brother?” Dawson asked. “Look at it.” He faced out toward the homestead, and Brandon reluctantly turned to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
“I’ve seen it,” he said. “I know it’s rough.”
“This is way beyond rough,” Duke said.
“This place should be condemned ,” Zona said. “A woman lives here?”
Brandon rolled his eyes. “We don’t all grow up on billion-dollar ranches, Zona.” With that, he walked around the front of his truck to get to the back, as Dawson and April were blocking the narrow alley between the two vehicles.
“I know that,” Zona said, her familiar red-headed fire emerging. She said something else to Duke in a much quieter voice, and he whispered back to her.
Brandon ignored them both, something awful and dangerous pounding through him now. They didn’t have to live here. He did.
Why did they care?
Because they care about you. All the ire fled from his blood as April joined him at the tailgate and picked up the nearest box.
“What’s it like inside?” she asked.
“About the same,” he said. “I did say you wouldn’t want to come today.” He kicked a half-smile in her direction, couldn’t quite meet her eyes, and turned to go up the front steps.
He opened the door and took the box he’d picked up into the kitchen. Lenore had been here in the cabin, as there had definitely been things removed from it.
It had been built as a rectangle with a short, ten-foot wall extending from the door, partially separating the kitchen from the living room.
The pantry pushed past the mouth of the hallway that led back to the two bedrooms, the bigger of which stood on the right side behind the living room, the smaller across from it, with a bathroom and linen closet in the hall.
The cabin had a back door too—straight back from the front door and down the hall—with a huge back deck that spanned the width of the house, just like the front deck did.
It faced the trees, and Brandon had known the first time he’d set foot on that back deck that he would take this job and live on this homestead, no matter how dilapidated it was.
He moved out of the way as April put her box on the counter too, and together they surveyed the living room. It held windows along two walls, a single couch, a vintage trunk, and a TV cabinet with doors that actually closed.
“It’s not bad,” April said.
“No,” Brandon murmured, as boot steps sounded on the porch and entered the house.
Dawson carried two boxes in. “These say ‘bedroom’ on them,” he growled.
“Straight down the hall,” Brandon said. “Only door on the right.”
Dawson went past him, and that started Brandon directing everyone as they brought in his belongings. Before long, they had a pile of boxes in the kitchen, a stack in the living room, one in the bathroom, and a bunch in the bedroom.
The linen closet had been emptied and cleaned. A naked queen bed stood in the bedroom. The bathroom had all the necessities—except a shower curtain. Brandon found himself returning to the kitchen after giving everyone the tour.
“It’s got a sink,” Duke said, practically on top of him. “I thought you said there was no water.”
“There’s not,” Brandon said.
“Then why do they have a shower and a toilet?” April asked.
“I don’t know,” Brandon said. “Maybe there was water at one time.”
“Yeah, ‘cause that’s not a compost toilet,” Dawson said. “It’s a regular flushing toilet.”
“I’ll have to ask Lenore about it.” Brandon reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocketknife. “Let’s get things unpacked,” he said. “Unless you guys can’t stay. I’m sure I can manage it.”
He half-hoped they’d go, while at the same time, he never wanted them to leave. His feelings made no sense, as Brandon had wanted to live alone for a long time now.
“We’ll help you.” Duke moved into the living room to slice open the top box there.
“I’ll start with your bathroom and linens,” Dawson said. He moved off to do that, and Brandon figured he could move things around if his brothers put something somewhere he wouldn’t have chosen.
Together, he and April got everything unpacked in the kitchen and broke down the boxes. “I want to keep these,” he said. “I’ll need them when I move back home.”
“I can put them in the closet in the second bedroom?” April suggested.
Brandon gave her a smile and a nod. Duke had unpacked the pillows and blankets and arranged them on the couch to make it look like a real human being lived there. He set up the TV and placed the end table and lamp on the right-hand side of the couch, where Brandon liked to sit.
“This is nice, brother,” he said. “At least you’ll have this to come home to.”
He smiled as Brandon moved to break down the boxes that had been emptied. He handed them to April and went into the bathroom to see that Dawson had laid out his toiletries and hung a shower curtain—even though there really wasn’t any water in the cabin.
Brandon had tried it when he’d come for his interview, and not a drop had come out of any of the faucets. There did seem to be plumbing, however, and the water was definitely a mystery he needed to figure out sooner rather than later.
For now, he turned his back on the waterless bathroom and continued into the bedroom. He found Dawson had made his bed with his beloved dark gray sheets and a bright blue and gray comforter. As he watched, Dawson straightened from plugging in the lamp.
“There’s no electricity,” Brandon said. “Or rather, everything runs on batteries. I’m not sure how this house will have power.”
“Well, good thing you brought lamps and a TV,” Dawson said dryly as he turned to face him.
Brandon reached up and ran his hand down the back of his head, already feeling the tightness in his neck. “I know it doesn’t make sense to you,” he said. “But?—”
“Doesn’t have to,” Dawson said quickly. “It’s fine, Brandon, and you know how to get home.”
He met his brother’s eye, a smile softly curving his mouth. “Maybe just for a shower,” he said.
Dawson chuckled. “You can do that at Duke’s.” He pulled Brandon into a hug and added, “Seriously, brother. Come anytime. For whatever you need.”
“Where’s my mom?” April asked.
Both Dawson and Brandon turned to face her. “I don’t know,” Dawson said. “I haven’t seen her for a while.”
Brandon met April’s eye, and the younger woman looked down the hall. Brandon suddenly knew where she was, and he led the charge out of the bedroom.
“Duke,” he called, though he arrived in the living room only a couple of steps later. “Where’s Zona?”
“I don’t know,” Duke said, still sitting on the couch, now scrolling through his phone. “Hey, you’ve got service out here at least.”
“So you can call if you need paramedics,” Dawson muttered.
“Or maybe just if you want me to bring you a hamburger,” April added.
Brandon grinned at her. “Where do you think your mom is?”
“I know where she is,” April said, her gaze drifting to the front door.
Brandon looked that way too, where the door stood wide open. It didn’t matter, because the cabin didn’t have air conditioning or heat. He would have to build a fire in the potbelly stove in the corner to heat the place this winter, and in the summer?
Well, he wouldn’t be there then, thankfully. Because a place without air conditioning in the brutal Texas heat? No, thank you.
“My guess is she’s at Lenore’s,” Brandon said.
“I didn’t see that big picnic basket of food she packed,” April said.
Brandon’s heart started to thump in a weird way. “So she took that next door.”
“That would be my guess,” April said, frowning. “Now we’ll make the drive home, and then back again, to give you another round of food.”
“I’m fine,” Brandon said. “I know my way to the grocery store.”
“You’ve met my mom, right?” April asked.
Duke burst out laughing. He got to his feet and said, “Nice try, brother. Zona will never leave here if your fridge isn’t full of food.”
“Yeah, well, the fridge doesn’t work,” Brandon said.
“She’ll stock the shelves instead, then.” Duke rounded the couch and headed for the front door. “We better go make sure Zona’s behaving.”
“I second that,” Dawson said, and he followed Duke out of the house.
“You guys should let me talk to her,” April said, rushing after them.
Brandon stood in the cabin alone now, marveling that in only a couple of hours, they’d unpacked everything he owned and set it up where he was going to live for the next three months.
No, he didn’t have electricity or running water, but the cabin had good bones. It possessed a nice spirit, and if Brandon could stop his family from completely embarrassing him….
He might be off to a good start here at Lenore’s homestead.