Chapter Seventeen #3
Shivering with the memories of the split second when she realized they were going to crash, Britt closed her eyes and felt Chad’s arm tighten around her.
He hadn’t left her side. Not even for a second.
His mom had been in the room next to hers, and yet he hadn’t left Britt to check on her.
He’d relied on his brothers for updates.
The last few hours had been stressful and scary, and Britt wanted nothing more than to be home.
She hadn’t spoken any more about what happened to any of the Young brothers, and no one had asked.
But the time was coming when she’d need to explain more about her claim that the CR-V had lost both its steering and its brakes.
Knox pulled up as close to the front steps of the main house as he could get, with Lincoln on his tail, their mom in the front seat of his truck.
They all entered the house, and Lincoln turned on lights as Zach headed to the kitchen, hopefully to whip up something to eat.
Britt was starving, as the fries she’d had earlier had long since digested.
Everyone was quiet and subdued as they sat down to eat at the table.
The grilled cheese sandwiches Zach made were the most delicious thing Britt had ever tasted.
She had no idea what he’d done to the bread or the cheese, but they tasted gourmet and nothing like the ones she’d made for herself in the past.
“So ... brakes and steering?” Knox finally said after everyone had eaten.
Britt sighed and nodded. It was time, and honestly, she was glad. She didn’t want anyone thinking she was just a bad driver and that’s why she’d gone off the road.
“The car felt ... off on our way back from town, but nothing I could put my finger on. The steering just felt a little sluggish. It wasn’t until we were on that back road that I suddenly stopped being able to steer at all.
We were heading for the curve, so I put my foot on the brakes, but the pedal just went all the way to the floor, and nothing happened.
I couldn’t stop, couldn’t steer out of the curve, so I didn’t have time to do more than lean over and grab Evelyn before we were bumping down the embankment toward the water. ”
“Thank you for that, honey,” Evelyn said, reaching out and taking Britt’s hand in hers.
“Of course.”
“Thank goodness you remembered the window breaker,” Zach said.
“It was the first thing I thought of when we hit the water,” Britt said.
“It’s so weird, because the boys looked over the car right before we left,” Evelyn mused.
Chad straighten next to her. “How did that come about?” he asked his mom.
“Camden came to the house and said he was worried because he saw some fluid on the ground under my car, and he asked if he could take a look at it,” Evelyn explained.
Every muscle in Britt’s body tightened at hearing that. Chad had pulled his chair close enough to hers that their thighs were touching ... so she felt it when his body did the same.
“Who worked on the car?” Chad asked, his tone dark.
“I don’t know. Why?” Evelyn asked.
“Yeah, why? What aren’t you telling us?” Lincoln asked, narrowing his eyes at his brother.
Chad sighed. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you guys about this. It’s going to come as a shock.”
“As much of a shock as our mom and Britt almost dying because someone might’ve tampered with their fucking car? I doubt it,” Knox bit out.
“Knox. Language,” Evelyn scolded in her familiar way, but she didn’t sound all that upset.
“Spit it out. Was it Camden? Did he do this?”
“Apparently.” Then Chad went on to explain everything —Britt’s suspicions after what she’d found, his meeting with Otis, his belief that their family friend was stealing from them.
Tension filled the room when he was done. No one said a word, each clearly trying to process what they’d been told.
To Britt’s surprise, it was Evelyn who broke the heavy silence.
“That bastard ! I’ve always wondered how Austin could work so damn hard every year, and yet we were barely breaking even.”
“Mom—” Lincoln started, but she put a hand up.
“I’m tired. I’m sore. And I’m pissed. I need some time to think about this. Who’s arranging for my car to be towed, and who’s going to look into it to see if it was tampered with?”
This assertive woman was a surprise to Britt. Evelyn was usually so mild mannered. And admittedly, she was more than a little relieved that she hadn’t been made out to be the bad guy here, since she was the one who’d first brought her suspicions to Chad.
“I’ll take care of the car,” Knox said.
“Linc and I will look at it when it gets here,” Zach said. “And if anything seems hinky, we’ll call the police so they can file a report.”
“Do we really think Otis did this? Or more accurately, convinced his son to tamper with Mom’s car?” Lincoln asked.
“He wasn’t happy with my questions today,” Chad answered. “If he thought he was about to be found out, or if his money train was ending, he could’ve been desperate enough to try to put our attention elsewhere.”
Everyone was quiet as they considered that. Even Britt was having a hard time wrapping her head around a family friend doing something so awful as trying to hurt—or even kill —the matriarch of the Young family, just to get the attention off himself and his illegal activities.
Evelyn pushed her chair back, and Zach, Knox, and Lincoln were immediately on their feet, reaching out to help her.
“I can walk,” she snapped. Then she sighed. “Sorry, I’m just stressed. I appreciate you all being here and staying at the hospital with me. Britt, thank you for saving my life today. I mean it. If you hadn’t been there, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to get out of that car as fast as we did.
“Everyone, go home. Get some sleep. Things are going to get shaken up around here very soon, but we can’t do anything tonight.
Tomorrow, we’ll regroup and discuss next steps.
And no one will do anything without me being involved.
This is my home, and if I’m being stolen from, it will stop. Immediately. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Of course.”
“We won’t do anything without your say-so.”
Everyone spoke at the same time, and Britt was even more impressed with Evelyn than she was before ... and that was saying something, because she was already damn impressed with the woman.
Knox held out his elbow for his mom, and she allowed him to walk her toward the back of the house to her room.
“Evelyn, do you need any help getting ready for bed?” Britt called out.
“Thank you, child, but no. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”
“You good?” Lincoln asked Chad.
“Yeah.”
“You were going to tell us today about your meeting with Otis, right?” his oldest brother asked.
“Of course. After we’d finished up with the rental, I was going to sit you all down so we could come up with a plan.”
Lincoln nodded, then jerked his head toward the door. “Come on, Zach. Want to come to my place tonight to crash?”
“Yes.” The one word was firm and almost ... eager.
Britt had a feeling the brothers would be up late into the night, figuring out a plan that they’d then bring to their mom for approval before executing. The brothers’ time in the military had guaranteed they wouldn’t go into any situation without a plan A, plan B, and probably a plan C, as well.
She looked over at Chad, wondering if he felt left out, if he would’ve preferred to be going with his brothers to talk about their options. But she found him staring right back, and all she could see in his eyes was concern ... for her .
“You ready for bed?” he asked quietly.
Britt nodded.
Chad helped her to her feet, then urged her toward the stairs.
“I’ll clean down here and lock up,” Knox said as he returned from the direction of their mom’s room.
“Appreciate it,” Chad told him with a small chin lift.
Britt found herself in the hallway bathroom before she could blink.
“Take your time. I’ll be in our room.”
She didn’t know when his room had become “our” room, but she wasn’t going to complain. “Okay.”
By the time she’d stepped through the door, she was dead on her feet and barely able to keep her eyes open. The stress of the day, and especially the last few hours, had caught up to her. Britt didn’t think she’d be able to string two coherent words together.
Of course, Chad noticed. “In,” he said, standing by the bed and holding up the covers for her. Britt climbed into bed and sighed in contentment as her body was finally able to relax.
“I’ll be back in a bit. Sleep, Peach.”
“Thank you for being there today,” she murmured.
“Nowhere else I would’ve been,” Chad said as he leaned down and kissed her temple.
That was the last thing Britt was cognizant of before she fell into a deep healing sleep, content in the knowledge that she was safe. That Chad would protect her from Otis and Camden sneaking in to try to hurt her or Evelyn.