Chapter Six #2
To her surprise, the second she walked into the kitchen, Knox turned and gave her a huge smile. She knew who was who, of course, because Evelyn had shown her tons of pictures of her sons, bragging about them and sharing hilarious stories about each of them as kids.
“So, you must be Britt.”
“Uh ... yeah, that’s me,” she said uncertainly, her gaze searching out Chad for reassurance.
He was standing in the corner of the kitchen, his hands filled with a large bowl of the homemade chips Evelyn had bragged about. He gave her an encouraging grin just as the man who’d greeted her stepped into her path—and hugged her.
She was even more surprised at the exuberant greeting, but she didn’t pull away.
The oldest brother, Lincoln, smacked Knox on the back of his head and exclaimed, “You can’t go around touching women without their permission!”
Britt was immediately released and staring at the man’s smiling face.
“Sorry ’bout that. I’m Knox. We’ve been hearing how amazing you are from Mom all morning.
She says that you’ve taken over the cleaning of the guesthouses and doing the laundry and stuff.
Thank God, because cleaning up after the guests is the worst job ever.
Did she tell you about the time she went in to clean after a family had left and discovered they’d apparently adopted an injured raccoon they’d found in the woods? ”
Britt gasped in surprise.
“No lie. They’d put it in one of the two guest rooms, along with a ton of pine needles, I guess as a bed or something.
But apparently it wasn’t as injured as they’d thought, and it went crazy being locked in that room and destroyed it.
There was raccoon shit and piss everywhere—and I mean everywhere .
The bedding was trashed, the walls had claw marks from where the raccoon had tried to climb them, and the damn thing was practically rabid, it was so desperate to escape. ”
Britt was speechless.
“Mom and Dad had to break the window—because of course it was locked, and they weren’t about to enter the room anyway and get clawed to death or bitten—to give the poor thing a way to escape.
It took all of us a week to scour and air out that room.
That’s the year they implemented the no-animal policy for the rentals.
Anyway, my point is ... we’re all grateful that you’ve taken over the cleaning of the rentals. ”
Britt smiled at him. “You’re welcome?”
“We’ll help if something like that happens again, though,” Chad reassured her as he put the bowl of chips in the middle of the table. “We wouldn’t leave anything like that for you to clean up by yourself.”
“Of course we wouldn’t,” Evelyn said. “Britt, this is my third-born, Knox. He was in the Coast Guard, and now he works as a contractor for them.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Britt said, holding out her hand.
Knox took her hand and instead of shaking it, leaned over and kissed her knuckles. “My pleasure to meet such a pretty young woman.”
“Cut it out,” Chad griped as he knocked his shoulder into his brother’s—hard—making him drop Britt’s hand as he did his best not to fall onto the floor.
Chad’s oldest brother rolled his eyes and held out his hand to her. “I’m Lincoln. Heard you ran into a bit of bad luck. You’re good now?”
Britt shook his hand and felt relief spread through her. She didn’t read any negative vibes coming from the brothers. “Yes. Your mom has been awesome. And Lobster Cove is ...” She struggled to come up with an appropriate word that would explain how she felt. “Everything.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Now that the introductions are over, let’s eat!” Evelyn ordered.
Everyone shuffled to the large table just off the kitchen, and Britt couldn’t help but smile as all the brothers reached for the food their mom had laid out. She found herself sitting next to Chad and was surprised when he took her plate and filled it for her.
“Just wanted to make sure you got some,” he told her when he placed it back down in front of her. “I know my brothers, and if you’re too polite around here, you’ll starve.”
She laughed a little. “I can see,” she said as she watched the other men pile their plates high.
Lunch was eye opening. Britt already knew that Chad and Zach had a great relationship with their mom, but seeing Evelyn with all her sons, and the affection everyone shared openly and without reservation, was beautiful.
There was a lot of laughter and good-natured teasing, which had Britt grinning like a fool.
And the food ... it was obvious it was made with love.
Which sounded silly, because food was food, but somehow it seemed to taste different this afternoon.
And watching Evelyn interact with her sons made Britt realize what an amazing group of men they were.
They’d understood that their mom needed them after their dad’s death.
They’d left their homes, jobs ... their entire lives to move back to Maine simply because it was the right thing to do.
Yes, them being here would be a huge help around Lobster Cove, but they could’ve simply hired more help to take care of the place.
Though that wouldn’t have kept Evelyn from being lonely.
She was very used to being around men, had been for most of her life here at the family home.
Britt had the humorous thought that Lobster Cove should’ve been named Alpha Cove instead .
.. the Young brothers certainly fit that bill.
“What’s the plan for the rest of the day, now that we’ve determined what needs to be done for the roof?” Chad asked.
“I’m tired,” Lincoln said bluntly. “I’ve been driving for three days. Thought I’d head to my new place and get settled. Maybe take a nap before coming back here for Mom’s chicken and spinach casserole and biscuits.”
“Can you drop me off at my apartment?” Knox asked. “My truck is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, but in the meantime I’m without any wheels.”
“You can take Dad’s truck if you want,” Chad offered.
“Or my Corolla,” Britt blurted. She blushed as everyone turned to look at her. “I mean ... I know it’s old, but Walt looked at it and said it’s safe.”
“Appreciate it,” Knox told both his brother and Britt. “But if Lincoln can chauffeur me around for a little while longer, I’ll be good until tomorrow.”
“You coming back tonight?” Evelyn asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Knox reassured his mother.
“Good.”
“If you guys are all good, I’m gonna go and scope out the competition for my lobster shack,” Zach said.
“I still can’t believe you actually bought a freaking lobster shack,” Lincoln said with a shake of his head.
“It’s gonna be the place to eat in Rockville. Mark my words,” Zach boasted.
“I have no doubt whatsoever. You’re amazing in the kitchen,” Knox told his brother.
“I’m not sure how much that compliment means coming from the man who burns ramen noodles,” Zach joked.
Knox threw his balled-up napkin at his brother.
“Enough,” Evelyn warned. “The last time you started something at the dinner table, mashed potatoes ended up on my ceiling.”
Everyone chuckled.
Britt found that she’d been smiling so much, her cheeks hurt. Being a part of this was such a novelty ... a family who loved and supported and teased each other. And she liked it. A lot.
“Get on with you then,” Evelyn said as she stood. “Dinner’ll be around seven.”
Everyone else stood as soon as their mom did, and they all started grabbing plates and dishes. Chad took Evelyn’s plate out of her hand. “We’ve got this, Mom. You cooked, we clean.”
The more Britt was around this man, the more she liked him. She couldn’t remember one time that Cole offered to do dishes after she’d made dinner for him.
She was shooed out of the kitchen, and she wasn’t exactly sure what she should be doing while the guys cleaned up. She grabbed a cloth and wiped down the table while they joked and laughed in the kitchen.
The house felt happy. Looking over at Evelyn, Britt saw that she felt it too. It had probably seemed very empty and a little scary, being in this house by herself after her husband passed away.
When the dishes were done and the kitchen was clean and tidy once again, the three brothers made their way for the door. Knox and Lincoln told her again how nice it was to meet her and how glad they were that she was there, and then they and Zach headed outside.
Britt was sure they’d probably talk about her and her situation when she wasn’t around, but that was all right. She understood their need to protect their mother from anyone who might want to take advantage of her.
That was the last thing on Britt’s mind. The longer she was around the Young family, the more she wanted to be around them ... and the more protective she felt of Evelyn herself.
“You ready?”
Turning, Britt looked at Chad in confusion. “For what?”
“For that tour I promised you. Of the secret trail.”
She’d forgotten about that. “Oh, sure, if your mom doesn’t have anything she needs done right now?” She looked over at Evelyn, who was shamelessly eavesdropping.
“No, no, you two go on. I need to go through some of Austin’s things.”
“Mom, I thought we agreed that you were going to wait and let me help with that,” Chad said with a small frown.
“I know you want to protect me from any hurt, but I need to do this on my own, Chad. I miss your father with every molecule in my body, but I refuse to pretend he never existed. I like seeing his things and remembering our good times. Heck, even our bad times. I’m okay.
Having you home, and your brothers, and having you here, Britt .
.. it all helps. A lot. But sometimes I just need to sit and cry.
I’ll be fine. You two go on, do your thing. ”
“If you’re sure,” Chad said skeptically.
Evelyn walked over to him and put a hand on his cheek.
“I love you, son. There are times I look at you and your brothers and I’m amazed at how much of your father I see in you.
That’s a good thing. He lives on in all of you.
You’re his true legacy. One he was very proud of.
And he’d want me to move on. It hurts to see his clothes in our closet and his things on the bathroom counter.
Everything has to be sorted through to figure out what needs to be given to charity, what I want to keep, and what can go in the trash. And I need to be the one to do it.”
Chad hugged his mother tightly, then pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders. “We’re here if you need anything. A shoulder to cry on, help with sorting through things, carrying bags.”
“I know and appreciate it. Go on, you two. I should warn you, though, that trail hasn’t been used in a while, and the ticks have gotten worse over the years. Make sure you do a thorough tick check when you get back.”
Britt held back a shudder. She hated ticks. They were the worst . What was even the point of them? Bloodsucking leeches. Yuck.
“We will. Love you, Mom,” Chad said as he kissed her forehead. Then he turned to Britt. “You ready?”
“Um ... can we use some bug spray before we go?”
He chuckled. “Of course,” he said, holding out his hand.
Britt stared at it for a beat, thinking about the warning Otis had given earlier.
She’d told him that she wasn’t interested in dating, but staring at Chad’s hand had her belly doing flip-flops.
She wanted to take it. Wanted to feel his skin against her own.
Getting closer to him probably wasn’t the best idea, but she apparently had no willpower when it came to this man.
She put her hand in his and felt tingles shoot up her arm when his fingers squeezed hers gently.
They walked out of the house hand in hand, and she couldn’t remember being more excited. This man ... she had a feeling he could either crush her spirit and grind it into the dirt, or give her a life she’d only dreamed about.
She hoped it was the latter.