Chapter Six
Britt sat in a chair in front of the desk Otis Calvert used when visiting the auto shop, waiting for him to return.
She’d been filling out insurance paperwork when Otis apologized and said he needed to run out to his car, where he’d left one of the pages in a folder on the front seat.
As she waited for him, a loud commotion outside caught her attention.
Hoping nothing was wrong, she hurried to the door leading directly to the side of the garage, afraid Evelyn was hurt or something.
But the sight she found surprised her, then made her smile.
Apparently, Chad’s other brothers had arrived.
There were four men rolling around on the ground in front of the main house, play-wrestling, as their mom walked toward them.
She’d leaned against the doorjamb and watched the reunion, trying not to feel envious of the obviously close relationship between the siblings.
She’d never had that. Her mom had been too busy working to even make dinner most nights.
In the sixteen years since Britt had graduated from high school and moved out, she’d tried countless times to forge some sort of mother-daughter bond, only to fail miserably.
Her mom was judgmental. And bitter about how her own life had turned out.
She’d chosen one bad relationship after another, and she wasn’t shy about letting her only daughter know Britt was going to turn out just like her mom had.
Britt hadn’t gone to college, had been forced to work two jobs to pay for a tiny apartment when she left home.
She’d worked in retail her entire life, and while she was good at it, she didn’t particularly love it.
What she really wanted was what she’d never had—a family. A big one. A loving husband who worked alongside her to support their children and didn’t resent every bite of food they put in their mouths, or every small expense that came up while raising them.
That’s how her mom had been. She may have kept a roof over their heads, but she’d resented every penny she had to spend raising a daughter—and it affected Britt to this day.
Remembering the last conversation she’d had with her mom, when she’d told her she was moving to Maine with Cole, was painful. Her mom had laughed—a low, mean, bitter sound—and said that Cole was going to fuck her over, warning Britt not to come crawling home for a handout when it happened.
Which was the main reason she hadn’t bothered to call her mom when Cole had done exactly as she’d predicted.
Britt wouldn’t get any sympathy from her own flesh and blood.
And even though she hadn’t taken a cent from her mother since the day she’d turned eighteen, Britt still felt the need to prove that she could make it on her own. That she could be successful.
She’d failed spectacularly at that until she’d met Chad.
She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he interacted with his brothers. They looked similar, but if he and Zach were any indication, they were probably all very different, personality-wise.
When Chad suddenly looked in her direction, Britt ducked back into the office—only to find Otis standing in the doorway leading into the shop, watching her. She desperately hoped the blush on her cheeks wasn’t as obvious as it felt.
The older man’s next words made her forget all about her embarrassment.
“All Austin’s money went to his wife.”
Britt blinked. “Pardon?”
“If you’re thinking to snag one of the Young brothers for his money, for Lobster Cove, it’s not going to happen.”
Irritation instantly spread throughout Britt. “I’m not looking to date anyone ,” she stated.
“That’s good. Because the money in this place isn’t liquid. It’s not as if there are millions of dollars in the bank. It’s all tied up in the real estate and investments.”
Britt did her best not to get upset. This wasn’t her business. Hell, it wasn’t Otis’s place to discuss the financial success or failure of Lobster Cove with a new employee.
Otis Calvert had been introduced to her as one of Austin Young’s best friends.
He had been working for the family for around two decades, managed the investments and the financial aspects of the various businesses, acted as the human resources representative for the employees, and did the taxes for Lobster Cove.
He was invaluable to the running of the organization, and it seemed clear to her that he was a trusted and invaluable member of the Young family.
But seeing the slight scorn on his face right now made Britt extremely uncomfortable.
The man was sixty-eight years old but looked younger.
He was Chad’s height, around six feet, and still muscular.
He obviously took care of his body. He had blue eyes and grayish-blond hair that could use a cut.
Every time Britt saw him around Lobster Cove, he was in dress slacks and a button-up shirt with a tie.
He didn’t fit into the relaxed atmosphere around the place.
He also seemed to enjoy the power and responsibility he’d been given.
But more than all that ... he simply gave her the creeps. He reminded her of one of her mom’s ex-boyfriends. He had a shifty look in his eyes that made her want to immediately leave whatever room he was in. It made no sense, because everyone else seemed to love him.
Deciding she was being unreasonable and she needed to get over her ridiculous feelings about him since he’d be around a lot, she did her best to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Still ... listening to him talk so openly about the Young family finances made her skin crawl.
“Well, I’m sure Evelyn is going to be around a very long time, so it’s a moot point anyway.
” She tried to keep her voice level and not let her irritation show.
It suddenly occurred to Britt that she was alone with this man, essentially a stranger, and he was definitely strong enough to overpower her.
It was best to sign whatever she needed to sign and go about her business.
“Just making sure you don’t go gettin’ ideas in your head that you can get with one of our boys. You won’t be the first woman to put them in your sights, and you won’t be the last.”
Full-on anger now threatened to overwhelm her. “So ... what? You think they’re all going to be single forever? That they’ll never settle down, get married, have families?”
“I’m sure they will. But it’ll be with someone local, not an outsider who cons her way into the family.”
It was taking everything within her not to lash out at this asshole. This was the man the entire family thought walked on water? “What else do I need to sign?” she asked brusquely.
Otis stared at her for a moment, then handed over the paper he’d gone out to his car to grab. He sat, then pulled a pair of readers out of his front pocket and perched them on the end of his nose as he mumbled under his breath while sorting through the rest of the papers.
Neither of them spoke as she read and signed the necessary documents.
When she took the time to read each and every paper that was put in front of her, Britt ignored the irritated sighs coming from Otis.
She didn’t care how long this took. She wasn’t about to sign anything she hadn’t thoroughly read first.
Everything seemed to be in order, and when she was done, even though she was irritated with the man, she was proud of herself.
She’d managed to land on her feet, thanks to Chad and his mom, and she would work hard to keep up the good reputation Lobster Cove had nurtured with locals and tourists alike.
She left the office through the auto body shop, making a point to stop in and say a quick hello to Walt and Barry.
They were already hard at work in the bays.
She didn’t want to be a nuisance, since they were obviously busy, and left soon after to head to the smaller guesthouse.
She planned to work on pulling weeds in the backyard while the guests were gone for the day, to clean it up a little and make it look even nicer for the next renters.
Time got away from her as she lost herself in the monotonous yet somehow cathartic work.
A bell ringing caught Britt’s attention, and she had no idea what it meant.
Looking at her watch, she saw it was one o’clock, later than she’d thought.
Her belly growled, and she realized the bell probably was a way to let anyone who wasn’t at the main house know that lunch was ready.
Britt could imagine that it got a lot of use when the Young brothers were kids. She could picture them running around Lobster Cove, playing in the water or in the woods, and dropping everything to run to the house for lunch or dinner when the bell pealed.
Walking around the guesthouse, she smiled when she saw Evelyn standing on the front porch, waving at her. She quickly headed toward the house to join her. Evelyn looked happier than she’d seen her since the day she’d arrived.
“My boys are here!” she said as soon as Britt got close enough.
“I saw.”
“Knox is too skinny. Poor thing was never much interested in cooking and has probably been living off boxed crap and microwave meals. I made a huge lunch for everyone ... sandwiches, fruit, homemade chips, and chocolate cake for dessert.”
Britt’s mouth watered. “Homemade potato chips?” she asked as she climbed the porch steps.
“Uh-huh. I slice potatoes really thin, season them up, then bake them in the oven. They’re so much better than anything you can get in the stores these days. Come on, I want to introduce you to everyone.” Evelyn hooked her arm in Britt’s and towed her toward the front door.
For a moment, she considered pulling out of Evelyn’s grasp and running away, but that would be stupid.
She was nervous to meet the remaining Young brothers.
She’d sensed an obvious unease from Zachary and was afraid the older brothers would think the same as Otis—that she was there to somehow harm their mother and their family legacy.