Chapter 8
Rowan opened the door to Harper’s Bar for Nellie. Inside was exactly what she pictured a small-town historic bar to look like. The long bar was polished wood and with leather stools all around it.
The front of the bar was filled with tables. The back of the bar had billiards, darts, and a giant television that could be seen from every seat in the bar. It was warm, cozy, and full of energy.
“You must be Nellie!” A woman rose from one of the tables and hurried over to her with a friendly smile on her face.
“Nellie, this is my sister-in-law Waverly. She’s married to my brother Kane, who is coming this way now,” Rowan introduced.
Waverly surprised her with a hug. “I was so excited to hear I'm getting a new sister!”
Rowan made a choking sound next to Nellie. “Who told you that?”
“Damon,” Waverly said, looking completely unfazed, “And I brought you and your sister some clothes.”
Kane shook her hand as Waverly went off in search of her bag of clothes. Before Nellie could get more than a couple of words out though, more people surrounded them.
“Oh my gosh!” a woman in the prettiest pink, white, and green sundress said, clapping her hands together.
“Damon was so right. Our new sister is so pretty! I have just the dress for you to wear to Bex’s party tomorrow.
Hi. I’m Maggie and that big, hulking man behind me is my husband, Hunter Townsend. ”
“And I’m Natalie,” the other woman said, hugging her right after Maggie. “The other big, hulking man is my husband, Stone.”
“Meu Deus! A sister who can make sure Rowan eats. My heart is full.” Suddenly she was hugged by a petite, curvy, smiling woman.
“Damon said you were a good woman and lord knows Rowan deserves a good woman. I’m Jordana, and the guy who looks almost identical to Rowan is my husband, Forrest. They’re twins but, as you can see, my husband is much handsomer. ” She winked at Nellie and grinned.
“I got clothes for my new sister!” Nellie hadn’t even gotten a word in before another woman was holding a bag of clothes.
“I’m Bexley but everyone calls me Bex. I couldn’t believe it when Damon told us we were getting another sister!
Also, I’m an FBI agent and I’m working on your case with Peter.
He’s my boss. Now, tell us all about yourself. ”
A sharp whistle sounded and the bar went quiet. Nellie turned as Rowan pulled his fingers from his lips. “Just so we are clear, Nellie is not my wife. You’re probably scaring the crap out of her with all this sister talk.”
“Yet,” Damon’s deep voice broke into the silence. “She’s not your wife . . . yet.” Damon approached them with a duffel bag. “Is your sister here?”
Nellie took a breath and shook her head. “Well, do you mean Sue Ellen or the astounding number of sisters-in-law I suddenly have, thanks to you?”
Damon looked amused. “You’re welcome. I’m just cutting out all the bullshit and getting to the point.”
“That has to be your sister,” Waverly said, looking over Nellie’s shoulder.
Nellie turned to see Gator walking into the bar with Tally on his hip and Sue Ellen next to him as she held James Avery’s hand.
“Aunt Nell!” Tally screamed and Gator put her down so both kids could run to her. They were talking a mile a minute about all the things at Mr. Gator’s house.
“He put up a rope swing for us,” Tally told Nellie as she threw her arms around Nellie’s neck.
“And I helped him make it!” James Avery said, his voice full of excitement she hadn’t heard for a long time.
“We swung high and Mom was nervous, but Mr. Gator promised we were safe. It was so much fun!” Nellie hugged James to hide the tears forming.
She looked up and saw her sister swiping at her own eyes.
Both kids froze and clung to Nellie with their little fingers tightening on her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Damon standing beside her. The kids’ eyes were huge as they took in the big black boots, the tattoos, and the glare she was learning was just Damon.
“James Avery, Tally, this is Dr. Townsend’s oldest brother, Damon.”
Damon squatted down next to Nellie and held out his hand for James. James swallowed hard and shook it. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
Damon smiled warmly and the bar echoed with the sudden intake of breath from women in every corner of the room.
“Call me Uncle Damon.” He winked at James and then turned to Tally.
“Gator said you were a princess, and so I brought you something.” Damon opened his bag and pulled out a whole princess outfit, crown included. “Every princess needs a crown.”
Tally’s mouth dropped open and her eyes lit up. She let go of Nellie and threw her little arms around Damon’s neck. “Thank you, Uncle Damon!” Damon handed her the outfit and ruffled her hair before Tally ran to show her mother.
“And I heard you were brave and battled an alligator. My brother, Rowan, told me he’d never had a braver boy as a patient before,” Damon said seriously to James. “So, I thought you deserved something special.”
Damon reached into his bag and pulled out a little basketball hoop that would go onto the back of a door and a small basketball. Nellie pursed her lips as James lit up. He loved basketball, but his father wouldn’t let him play. It wasn’t a sophisticated sport like golf.
“Thanks, Uncle Damon!” James grabbed the ball and hoop before running to show it to his mother then running back to thank Damon again.
“I have one more thing for you, James. Rowan told me you wanted to be a basketball player.” James nodded as Damon reached into his bag, but this time pulled out an adult basketball. “You see this?” Damon asked, pointing to a signature. James nodded.
“That’s my name!” James said, pointing to the ball.
“That’s right. It says, I can’t wait to play basketball with you, James. And it’s signed by Quad Clemmons.”
Nellie lost her battle and swiped at her eyes.
She’d told Rowan that Ingram wouldn’t let him watch basketball, so she always taped the games and she would watch them with him.
Quad Clemmons was his favorite player in the whole wide world.
Rowan hadn’t said a thing, but he’d sent a text.
He must have texted Damon who had made both children feel welcomed, loved, and accepted in under five minutes.
“Thanks so much, Uncle Damon and Dr. Townsend,” James told them both with a huge smile on his face.
“I think you can call him Uncle Rowan,” Damon said with a wink.
Nellie saw her sister looking at her in amazement.
They’d need to talk for sure. However, that talk would have to wait as the door burst open and so many kids ran into the bar that Nell lost count.
They all called out hellos to the Townsends and to Gator and surrounded James and Tally.
A pretty woman and a handsome man with a slight limp, who must be her husband, hurried in behind them with bags in each hand.
“Hi. I’m Lyle,” one of the young boys said to James. “Do you want to play?”
Poor James looked so confused, yet excited. Damon smiled at them and grabbed the basketball hoop. “Why don’t I put this up in the back and you can play?”
“That would be great, Uncle Damon!”
Lyle looked at James and smiled. “He’s my Uncle Damon too. That means we’re family! Come on, Leo, let’s play basketball with our new cousin.”
Nellie watched as the three boys took off talking a mile a minute as they followed Damon. However, that left Tally standing there staring after her brother. Before Sue Ellen could even say anything, three girls, ranging from teenager to eight or so, came up to Tally.
The eldest squatted down and smiled at Tally. “I’m Lacy, and these are my sisters, Leah and Lindsey. That’s a really pretty princess crown. Do you want to play princesses and have a tea party?”
Tally looked up to her mom, her eyes huge with happiness. “Can I go play, Mom?”
Sue Ellen couldn’t speak, so she just nodded. The girls took Tally by the hands and one of the people at the bar leaned over and grabbed a pitcher of water and some glasses for them.
The new woman dropped the bags and had Sue Ellen wrapped up in a hug before Nellie could get to her sister.
“Hush now. We look after each other here in Shadows Landing. I’m Lydia and this is my husband, Landry.
He’s holding our youngest, Lennie. Our oldest, Landry Jr, and our third born, Levi, have just joined the other boys to make sure the ball doesn’t end up in someone’s beer.
We brought clothes for Tally and James too. ”
“And some toys,” Landry said, holding up another bag.
“And we don’t want you to think that we forgot about you,” Waverly said approaching Sue Ellen with the rest of Nellie’s new sisters. “We have clothes and toiletries for you too.”
“I brought you my favorite Brazilian face cream. It melts away the stress. Hi, I’m Jordana Townsend. Your new sister-in-law.”
Nellie groaned as the introductions poured in for Sue Ellen.
They all introduced themselves as brothers or sisters-in-law.
Finally, Gator moved in with two men and a woman.
He looked nervous as he approached Sue Ellen.
Nellie recognized the two men. They were the ones who had set up the tea party for the girls.
“Sue Ellen, Nellie,” Gator said after clearing his throat. “These are my best friends, Turtle and Skeeter. And then this is Skeeter’s girlfriend, Dr. Mary Halbert.”
Mary rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to call me doctor.”
“You earned it,” Gator said fondly.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Skeeter said, holding out his hand for both of them to shake. Suddenly he and Mary looked to the right for a moment and smiled. “The ghosts said that you’re finally home here. Welcome to Shadows Landing.”
“I’m sorry, did—” Nellie started to say, but Sue Ellen elbowed her to be quiet.
“That’s very nice of the ghosts,” Sue Ellen told them. “We appreciate the warm welcome.”
Okay, what was going on with her sister? There were no such things as ghosts. Nellie shivered as a cold wave went down her spine. Or maybe there were.
“I’m Turtle! Did Gator tell you about my pecker?” Suddenly, a dick pic with an actual turtle on it was in Nellie’s face. “I brought Tank for the kids to meet.”
“I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Nellie said, glancing back at the photo of his dick.
Turtle reached into a satchel he wore crossbody and pulled out a turtle. “Do you think he’ll scare the kids?”
“Oh, that’s Tank,” Nellie said, a moment before her sister elbowed her again.
“I think the kids will love him,” Sue Ellen told Turtle. “Thank you for bringing him. They had always wanted pets, but—”
“But you’re here now and you can decide what you do and don’t want,” Gator whispered to her.
“Hello, everyone!”
“Who is that? She’s stunning,” Sue Ellen whispered.
“She’s Rowan’s sister, Olivia. She’s married to the sheriff and she’s a badass lawyer,” Nellie whispered back.
Olivia greeted everyone and then stopped before Sue Ellen and Nellie. “Sue Ellen, this is Olivia. She said she was going to ask about getting you a new attorney. Olivia, this is my sister, Sue Ellen Faust.”
“Hopefully I’ll be Sue Ellen Hale again soon.” Sue Ellen held out her hand and Olivia shook it.
“Well, I got you the male equivalent of me, but with family court experience,” Olivia said. Her confidence was cocky, but it was probably earned. “Matthew Williams will be taking the case.”
Both Sue Ellen's and Nellie’s mouths dropped open in shock.
Matthew Williams wasn’t just known in Charleston, but all over the South.
He never lost a case. Ever. “I tried to set a meeting with him, but his first secretary wouldn’t even put me through to his executive secretary and laughed when I asked to speak to a paralegal.
I didn’t have enough money to pay the retainer,” Sue Ellen told Olivia.
“The retainer has been covered,” Olivia told her. “And Matthew never says no to me.”
“That retainer is twenty-five thousand dollars,” Sue Ellen stuttered. Several of the Townsends, and even Gator, were suddenly interested in other things.
“Well, you’re practically family,” Olivia told her as if it were nothing. “Now, we will meet with Matthew the day after tomorrow. He’s gathering all the paperwork and we will hit the ground running.”
“That’s Saturday,” Nellie blurted out.
“Yeah, we don’t really take days off when a favor like this is called in,” Olivia told her with a wink. “Now, has Turtle shown you his pecker yet?”
“Yeah,” Nellie told her. “You could have warned me about that.”
“Oh, where’s the fun in that?” Olivia smiled innocently. “And here’s Peter Castle,” Olivia told them about the man walking into the bar. “He’s the head of the Charleston FBI. And it looks like he brought reinforcements.”