17. On the Brink of Rational
Chapter 17
On the Brink of Rational
They spent the next day making phone calls, prowling the internet, and driving by Neve’s clinic to see if the lab folks had finished up yet. They came up empty on pretty much each task. Retail stores might be open for Black Friday, but every other business seemed to be shut down, including the County Crimes Unit.
Shane was off somewhere doing something that prevented him from answering his phone. Aside from getting updates about Neve’s clinic, Reece wanted to pump him for information about Diane and her little boy. For now, he and Neve existed in a vacuum.
On their way to Reece’s parents’ house, Neve placed a call to Dr. Bunting and put it on speaker.
“Dr. Embry, I am so sorry to hear you’ve experienced another troublesome episode at your clinic.” The vet’s voice was stiff, and Reece’s mind wandered to Neve’s warmth and how it washed over her patients and their owners in reassuring waves. Neve could put anyone at ease. Hopefully, Dr. Bunting showed a similar demeanor to her own clientele.
“Thank you, Lark.”
“Ah, I’d prefer to be addressed as Dr. Bunting, if you don’t mind. I worked hard to earn that degree, though you wouldn’t know it to speak with my family.”
Neve exchanged a wide-eyed look with Reece. What was this lady’s problem?
“I’m s-so s-sorry, Dr. Bunting,” Neve stammered, and Reece felt a pull deep in his chest. “I meant no disrespect.” She paused to clear her throat, an awkward beat of silence passing. “In light of the clinic’s latest, um, setback, I was hoping you’d be kind enough to accommodate my patients.”
“Anything you need, Dr. Embry” the vet’s crisp tone clipped over the phone’s speaker, “Just send them to me. You may reassure them they will be in the very best hands.”
Despite the woman’s off-putting manner, Reece was relieved on Neve’s behalf and told her so after she ended the call. “Is she always so uptight?”
“Pretty much, though she’s never slapped me down for being informal before. She takes her title very seriously. Obviously.”
“Obviously,” he agreed. “And what’s with the crack about her family?”
“No idea.”
He stroked his beard. “Well, at least you’re covered now. It’s good of her to take on your load.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Neve wrapped her arms around her middle and stared out the window.
“You’re not convinced. Why is that?”
Her mouth moved side to side. “It’s just … I haven’t sent many people to her, but I’ve heard from one or two that they don’t like her bedside manner. If she talks to them that same way, then I totally get it. Fancy education aside, people around here respond much better to a more casual vibe.”
“True, though it doesn’t mean she’s incompetent.”
“No, but they’ve also told me they’re not sold on her skill set. Bottom line, they’re not comfortable going to her. It makes me a little nervous to send more of my patients to her clinic. ”
Neve’s clients were probably spoiled because she’d been their vet forever. “Nobody likes change.”
“I guess you’re right. Oh well. Not much I can do about it now.”
They were cruising down the highway in Reece’s truck, little beads of snow bouncing off the windshield. A familiar mile marker came into view, and he took a turn on a dirt road that wound through a thick stand of pines. When they emerged, his parents’ log mansion came into full view.
“It’s always so pretty and peaceful here,” Neve sighed.
He slid her a sidelong glance. “Are you ready to face the music?”
“I’m hoping there is no music, that the gang kept our secret to themselves.” She pointed an accusing finger at him. “Except you’re still wearing your wedding band! Aren’t your parents going to notice?”
“Oops, I forgot. And yeah, Mom will notice for sure. I’ll slip it in my pocket before we go inside.”
Except he couldn’t get the damn thing off. He was still struggling with it when the door opened, revealing his mother beaming at them. She pulled Neve in for a hug, and he shoved his left hand deep in his pocket and skirted around the two women while Neve shot him a death glare over his mom’s shoulder.
“Soap,” he mouthed. His brothers called out greetings as he ducked into the guest bath. “Be with you guys in a sec.”
He managed to work off the ring over a swollen knuckle and eyed it closely before dropping it in his pocket. Tiny writing inside the band stopped him short: Best 1/2 of Couple #3 .
Oh shit! Had the ring come that way, or had they somehow managed to get it engraved? Did Neve’s band say something too?
“Fuck me!” he groaned aloud. He narrowed his eyes at his reflection. “This is getting more unreal by the minute, and you need to get a grip, dude.”
Shaking off his latest discovery about their wild night, he strolled casually toward his brothers and father in the kitchen, accepting the cold brew his dad shoved at him.
Charlie gave him a shit-eating grin. “So.”
Shooting his brother a warning glare, Reece took a long, cool drink. “So. You tell Mom and Dad what you did yet? ”
“He sure did,” his mother sang from somewhere. “I can’t believe you crazy boys! Two weddings, and I wasn’t there for a single one!” She wedged herself beside him.
Two weddings. Reece’s shoulder muscles unwound and dropped several inches. His brothers and sisters-in-law had kept their word—so far. Reece draped an arm around her waist and pulled her in, dropping a kiss on her hair. “It’s okay, Mom. You didn’t miss much. And don’t forget you get to host the reception. That’s the best part anyway.” He turned toward Noah. “So what’s happening at the tavern?”
“Not much today, but honestly, it couldn’t have happened at a better time, what with the place being closed while Hailey and I are away on our honeymoon.”
A better time for you, maybe. Me, not so much. Reece needed a place to live that wasn’t under his parents’ roof.
Reece swung his gaze to Charlie. “Are you handling things for them while they’re gone?”
“Nope. The missus and I decided on a last-minute vacation of our own.”
“They’re going to Puerto Vallarta. Isn’t that romantic?” their mother chimed in. “Dad and I agreed to coordinate repairs at the tavern. Where are you staying, Reece?”
“Uh, Neve has a spare bedroom and offered to put me up there for a night or two.”
“Well, we have spare rooms here too, don’t forget.” No, he wasn’t likely to.
She shuffled away, taking their dad with her and leaving him alone with his brothers. “Thanks for not saying anything to the folks,” he mumbled.
Charlie broke out in an idiotic grin. “About what?”
“Come on. You know.”
“What? That you turned a twofer into a threefer?” Noah quipped. “Mom’s gonna be pretty upset when she finds out you didn’t share that little detail.”
“Because that ‘little detail’ is going away and won’t matter. So she’s not going to find out, right?” Reece growled.
Charlie mimed locking his lips and throwing away a key. “Not from this boy. ”
“Neve and I didn’t mean for it to be a threefer. We were drunk off our asses and don’t even remember exchanging vows.” Or getting rings engraved. “I mean, is it even binding?”
They both nodded like bobbleheads.
Noah rocked back on his heels. “You signed up for the same package we did, so I’m pretty sure it’s official.”
“Why didn’t someone stop us?” Reece sputtered.
“Didn’t look like you wanted to be stopped, which was only confirmed by that not-for-prime-time kiss you laid on her afterward. Didn’t know you had it in you, bro.” Noah smacked Reece’s arm with way too much cheer. “Dude, this was gonna happen eventually.”
“What was gonna happen?”
“You and Neve. Your dumb ass was just too damn stubborn to admit it.”
“What happened to you spouting about her and Cantrell being the perfect pair?”
A devious grin spread over Noah’s face. “I was trying to get a rise out of you. Apparently, it worked.”
“Fuck that, and fuck you.”
Noah gave him two thumbs up. “That all you got, bro? Your tits really are in a twister over this.”
Reece refrained from stuffing his fist into Noah’s face. “Neve doesn’t want it either! She’s more freaked about it than I am,” he hissed. His brothers traded disbelieving looks. “Look, it was a stupid, drunken mistake that one of you should have put the brakes on.” He leveled them each with a hard stare.
They returned his warning with smug smiles. “Like you’d actually listen to either of us,” Noah chuffed.
“I’m not kidding. Neve’s hell-bent on figuring out how we untie the knot, but we can’t get a hold of anyone until Monday.” Exactly why Reece was shifting the motivation completely onto Neve’s shoulders escaped him. He was as eager as she was to undo their mistake.
“I take it things went pretty badly after you got back to your room, huh?” Charlie quipped. “Too much whiskey keeping your dick from doing its job?”
“Oh, shut the fuck up! That’s not what I’m talking about. We didn’t even try to get it on. ”
Noah gaped at him. “Seriously? Why not? You do like women, don’t you?” He put up his hands. “And there’s no shame in admitting you’re not ready to have your V-card punched, if that’s what’s holding you back. I’m sure Neve would be very gentle with you. Just sayin’.”
Reece puffed out an exasperated breath. “Yes, I like women, and no, I don’t have a V-card that needs punching. Not that it’s any of your fucking business, asshole.” He looked over both shoulders. “Neve is like … I’ve known her my whole life. It would be like doing the dirty with my sister, and that’s just … wrong.” A little voice told him his statement didn’t hold a lick of truth. When he’d believed she and Charlie had something going, he’d more or less prepared himself to look at Neve as an eventual sister-in- law . But lately, the word sister was not what came to mind when he looked at her.
Noah raised a skeptical eyebrow. “First off, she’s not your sister. Second, you may not remember, but the rest of us do. You weren’t looking at her like a sister the other night, dude. More like she was a prime cut and you hadn’t had a meal in weeks. The kiss says it all. Check the video.” He motioned toward Reece’s pocket.
Charlie hooked a thumb toward Noah and chirped, “What he said. And you weren’t handling her like a sister either. I’d call it more of a mauling.”
Reece’s mouth slackened, closed, and dropped open again. Noah and Charlie looked at each other and exchanged shit-eating grins.
Noah folded his arms across his chest. “So you’re saying nothing happened when you got back to your room?”
“Nothing happened.” Except that we tore up my bed before winding up in hers stark naked. Yeah, nothing happened.
“No wonder she’s hell-bent on divorcing your ass!” Charlie barked.
Reece cringed at the mention of the D-word. “Would you keep your goddamn voice down?”
“No one can hear.” Charlie kept running his mouth. “Let me get this straight. You ask the girl you’ve known your entire life to marry you—who’s perfect for you, by the way, even if you are too dense to see what everyone else knows—you stick a fucking rock on her finger that costs as much as a house in some parts, promise to love her till death do you part, then take her back to your room and … pass out?” He threw his head back and howled with laughter .
Christ, Reece’s baby brother was irritating. He was also one of Reece’s two closest friends. Noah was the other, which was an unfortunate truth at this particular moment. Maybe he needed to find himself some new BFs. In Vermont. “Something like that, yeah.”
Charlie rapped him on the head with his knuckles. Hard. “What is the matter with you, bro?”
“That hurts!” Reece cocked his fist back with no real intention of letting it fly, dropping it when Hailey called them to dinner.
Noah gave Reece a playful shove. “Mom’s going to ask us all to share what we’re thankful for. I can’t wait to hear what you come up with.”
“This is going to be good,” Charlie agreed.
The only comeback Reece had in him was “Fuck you.” Not only did it sound lamer than the last time he’d said it, but it didn’t accomplish a damn thing—except give his brothers more ammunition to hurl at him. He kept his mouth shut as he followed the two idiots to the dining room.
Neve’s hands flitted over the silverware beside the fine china plates, straightening the shiny pieces so they lined up just so. Her obsession with the perfect arrangement might have been OCD, but it was more likely her nerves. When Marilyn had asked her to set the table, she’d jumped at the chance to give her hands something to do so she wouldn’t bite her nails to the quick. With the boys huddled around the TV watching football and Marilyn and Joy prepping food in the kitchen, Neve had also welcomed the moment to still her jumpy mind.
She had been in the Hunnicutt house countless times before—she’d even set their table before—and she had never been uncomfortable, but right now she was dancing barefoot on virtual hot coals while holding on to a whopper of a secret. Her gut churned with Reece’s and her deception. His mother had always treated Neve like a real mom, but if she knew, Neve doubted she’d be as kind and welcoming as she’d been when they first arrived.
Marilyn Hunnicutt was a rare gem. Welcoming, warm, and generous, she was unaffected by the wealth that had been passed down to her. The salt of the earth, she was the sort of woman every girl dreamed of having as a mother-in-law, and the complete opposite of the stereotypical bee-otch portrayed in so many movies and books. Since she’d been a little girl, Neve had always imagined Marilyn being her mother-in-law someday. Now she actually was, but the poor woman had no idea. And if she did? Neve shuddered as she pictured all that sweetness and affection icing over like Bedrock Creek in winter.
The very real possibility physically hurt Neve’s heart.
Hailey sidled up beside her and set down a crystal wineglass, oblivious to the fact that she’d bumped the fork Neve had so painstakingly arranged. Neve picked it up, buffed it on her sleeve, and laid it back down carefully. If Hailey noticed, she didn’t let on—probably because she was too busy grinning her Cheshire cat smile.
“I hear you two are living together now.”
Neve kept her head down, moving on to the next place setting. “Where did you hear that?”
Hailey began counting off on her fingers. “From Dixie, who heard it from Luanne, who heard it from Germaine, who was at the rec center directing the placement of ice blocks and saw Reece moving his bags into your house.” Her grin broadened. “The small-town wireless is efficient in Fall River.” She dramatically tapped her cheek. “Oh, and there was speculation about yours and Reece’s marital status.”
Neve abruptly stopped. “You didn’t say anything, did you?” she hissed.
Hailey’s offense at the question etched itself in her features. “Of course not! I’m on your side.” She looked over both shoulders and lowered her voice. “But Neve, being on your side means I want you to be happy. You’ve always wanted to marry Reece, right? Why not run with it?”
Neve didn’t have girlfriends or family to confide in, so when she’d first met Hailey and they’d hit it off, she’d been happy to fill that empty spot with her new friend. Hailey was genuine, like a real sister, but right now Neve was questioning her wisdom in confessing every frickin’ secret she’d ever had—including the one that, before now, had been her biggest: her lifelong love for Reece Hunnicutt.
“I can’t run with it . He doesn’t love me—not that way. We agreed we’re getting an annulment. ”
With a wicked gleam in her eyes, Hailey did a silent hand clap. “Then jump that man’s sexy bones, and there won’t be an annulment. You’ll have to get a divorce instead, and that’ll give him time to fall in love with you.”
Neve’s mouth swung open. “No! That’s wrong on so many levels.” She ignored Hailey’s frown of disappointment. “Look, as much as I love Reece, I never wanted to marry him on a whim in Las Vegas, and I certainly don’t want to trap him. If by some miracle he were to decide he wants to marry me, he’ll need to want it as much as I do.”
Hailey’s hands went to her hips. “Girlfriend, he did want to marry you. That’s why you’re in this pickle barrel, which, in my humble opinion, should be a pot of honey instead. You struck the jackpot—no Vegas puns intended.”
“Yeah, and he was drunk as a skunk on his hunky ass. He had no idea what he was doing.”
Hailey shook her head. Setting the table was all but forgotten. “I disagree. He absolutely knew what he was doing. He’s the one who came up with the idea, and he pushed it. Hard. You re sisted, and he per sisted. I’m not kidding.” She flung her arms out for emphasis, nearly knocking over a wineglass. Neve led her several steps away from the table. “My theory is that all the alcohol did was strip away his inhibitions and allow him to go after what he really wants.” She gave Neve’s shoulder a light poke. “And that, Doc, is you . I think you know me well enough to know I’m not a material girl, but omigod, that ring! That should tell you all you need to know.”
Neve loved Hailey’s optimism, she really did, but her friend was wrong, wrong, wrong. And she told her so.
Hailey’s eyes rolled to the ceiling and back again. “So what are you going to do? This secret is too juicy to stay quiet much longer.”
Neve’s panic bubbled up. “It will if none of us says anything. We’re the only six who know—besides Elvin and Alma.” Realization bashed her over the head, and she clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh no. Leo knows too.”
Hailey’s blue eyes bugged out. “You told Leo?”
“He called, and I had no choice! I couldn’t lead him on. I can’t date him right now. Besides, I need fewer complications until Reece and I get this … situation fixed.” Neve deadpanned, “And generally speaking, having a boyfriend on the side while you’re married to someone else is a huge complication.” Neve hadn’t recognized the parallel to Chelsea until this very moment.
Hailey nodded. “You’ve got a point there. Does Reece know you told him?”
“Yep.” Neve puffed a breath that fluttered the hair on her forehead.
Now Hailey’s expression turned sympathetic. “You do realize that Leo knowing is a whole other sort of complication.”
Neve nodded. “Yes, and he cut me off before I could beg him not to say anything. I probably should have a follow-up call and swear him to silence.”
“I hope it works.” Hailey pulled her in for a hug. “I’m not sure how long you can keep the cat in the bag.”
Neve hugged her back. Fiercely. “Me neither, but I’m sure going to do my damnedest.”
How in the hell was she going to get out of this mess without causing an even bigger one?