Chapter 26
Three of Matti’s brothers showed up the following morning to install a security system.
From what Matti said about Aiden’s twin, Dylan, working undercover for the FBI, he might never meet that brother.
They’d arrived early and Matti was still asleep, which was fine.
Her family was important to her, and he wanted to get to know her brothers.
“I’ve got coffee going.” Ryan headed for the kitchen with three big men on his heels.
“Whose day is it to keep an eye on the doc?” Aiden said, looking at Ryan over the top of his coffee cup.
“Because?” Ryan asked. There was a teasing tone in Aiden’s voice, so he wasn’t exactly worried, but he also wasn’t exactly thrilled that three intimidating men had their eyes on him.
“One word,” Cal said. “Sister.”
Aiden nodded. “Yup, that. Don’t break her heart. We know where to bury a body so it’ll never be found.” He leaned his head toward his brothers. “He’s shaking in his boots. Think our work here is done,” he loudly whispered.
Ryan rolled his eyes. “You’re a funny guy, Aiden.”
“Already told you that.”
“In all seriousness, we owe you big for protecting Matti and Sam,” Cal said. “I don’t even want to think about how that would have gone down if you hadn’t been here. Sorry about the black eye.” He glanced at the brace on Ryan’s wrist. “And your hand.”
He almost said, “It was nothing,” but he supposed it wasn’t. Maybe even a little heroic and not something he ever thought he’d think about himself. “My eye and hand will heal. I’m just glad I was here, but I’m sorry I let him get away.”
“We’ll catch him and hopefully soon,” Wyatt said. “Let’s get this alarm system installed, so we can go try to do just that.”
Between the four of them, they had the system installed in all but the primary bedroom by the time Matti appeared. She stopped at seeing three of her brothers. “Why are you all here? Did something happen?”
“Something sure did,” Aiden said, going over and hugging her. “You now have an alarm system. We just have to finish up in your room.”
“Should’ve thought to put one in when all this started,” Cal said.
Until recently, Red Grove had been a safe place to live. Half the population didn’t bother to lock their doors or their vehicles. In the last few months, that was changing, and Ryan didn’t at all like seeing those kinds of changes in his town.
Matti’s gaze ran over the four of them, stopping on Ryan. “Did you know they were going to do this?”
“Wyatt and I talked about it yesterday morning. With everything going on, I forgot to tell you.”
“Well, thank you.” She lifted onto her toes and kissed him.
“Ack!” Aiden said. “None of that in front of your brothers.” He gave an exaggerated shudder. “Gross.”
“What he said,” Wyatt said.
“Ditto,” Cal said.
She laughed and kissed him again. “They should know better than to tell me something grosses them out.”
Ryan grinned. “We can kiss some more and maybe they’ll leave.
” As an only child, he’d never experienced having a sibling, or in Matti’s case, a handful of them.
He was a little jealous of the fun they seemed to have with each other, the teasing and giving each other a hard time but all in fun. Their closeness.
It was then and there that he decided he wanted a big family, and wasn’t that a surprise?
When he’d thought he would marry Cassie, they’d been undecided if they even wanted children, and if they decided to, it would be no more than two.
Now, he wanted kids running all over the house. He wondered if Matti wanted children.
“Since Sam isn’t in the guest bedroom, I assume he’s in yours?” Wyatt asked Matti.
“Yes. He was afraid to sleep in the room where the man tried to take him. I don’t want him to make a habit of that, so maybe having an alarm will ease his mind.”
Ryan didn’t want Sam sleeping in Matti’s room either. That was his place to sleep…among other things he liked doing with her in her bed. “I’ll get him up.”
As he stepped into the room, Matti’s phone chimed.
He walked to the charger on her dresser, and seeing Dylan’s name appear on the screen, he picked it up.
Leaving Sam to sleep a little longer, he carried her phone to her.
As he handed it to her, he saw that her three brothers had their phones out. He leaned into her to read the screen.
Dylan: Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me Matti’s house was broken into?
Aiden: Bro, thought you left the chat.
Dylan: You put me back in, bonehead.
*Aiden Colton has removed Dylan Colton from the chat*
*Cal Colton has added Dylan Colton to the chat*
Ryan laughed. Yep, he wanted children who messed with each other the way the Colton kids did.
Kelly: What???? When? Are you okay, Matti?
Matti: Yes. All okay.
Kelly: We need a secret dinner.
“A secret dinner is us six and no parents,” Matti explained.
Matti: Yes! It’s been too long. D, when can you get away?
Matti: Dylan? Still here?
Dylan: Checking something. Tonight?
Kelly: Works for me.
Matti: I’m in. Bringing a friend.
She glanced at him and winked, then she looked at her brothers. “Tonight good?”
“I can make it,” Aiden said.
“Count me in,” Cal said.
Wyatt lifted his thumb. “Me, too.”
Matti: We’re all in, so secret dinner at the secret place. 7 work?
Dylan: Yup
Aiden: Forgot what my twin looks like, so this is good.
Wyatt: Dylan? Nothing to say to that?
“And, he’s gone,” Aiden said.
“We’re lucky he agreed to come to dinner,” Matti said. “I know it’s not easy to get away when he works undercover so much, but I miss seeing him.”
Ryan wondered at the relationship between the twins. Were they close? Looked alike? Dinner was going to be interesting to see the dynamics of all six siblings together.
* * *
The secret place turned out to be The Brewery, a beer garden on Main Street that Ryan had passed by many times but had never been to.
“Their craft beers are excellent,” Matti said as they approached.
Ryan held the door open for her. “Looking forward to trying some.”
After stepping inside, he scanned the interior.
The place was big, and the owners had gone for an industrial look with exposed pipes painted black and large sheet metal air-conditioning ducts.
He thought the tables were whiskey barrels with round steel tops.
The tall stools were chrome legs with black leather seats.
A long bar ran across the back of the building and on the right side of the room were three huge beer tanks.
“They make their beer on-site?”
“Yes. They have a brewery building behind this one, but they are also making beer in the tanks you see in here.”
It was all pretty cool. He really needed to get out more, discover other places like this in his town.
Until Matti, he’d been content to work the long hours and not do much else other than eat and sleep.
Now, having had a taste of a different kind of life, he wanted the new experiences and he wanted them with Matti.
“I see Kelly and Cal.”
He followed her to the back of the room. Three of the barrel tables had been pushed together, and when they reached them, he bumped fists with Cal. “Long time no see.”
Cal laughed. “Yeah, like what? Ten hours?”
“About that.” He smiled at the woman who was watching him with a curious glint in her eyes.
The first thing he noticed about her was that, unlike Matti’s untamed curls that tended to bounce around her head, she had highlighted brown hair that was long and straight.
He liked Matti’s hair better, thought hers was sexier.
“Kelly, this is Ryan. Ryan, my sister, Kelly.”
“Great to meet you, Kelly,” he said. “Matti told me you’re her favorite sister.”
“You’re funny,” Kelly said. “I’m probably going to like you, but I’ll reserve judgment for now. You look like you went three rounds with Mike Tyson.”
“I know, but what’s important is that I won.” He caught her lip twitch and relaxed. It surprised him how much he wanted all of Matti’s siblings to like him. He had one to go, and he suspected that Dylan might be the toughest to win over.
“Where’s Sam?” Cal asked as Ryan took a seat next to Matti.
“With Mom,” Matti said. “I told her that Ryan and I wanted to go out to dinner and she was all over Sam spending the night with her. She even has him calling her Nana.”
Cal frowned. “Is it safe for them to be alone?”
“Wyatt’s got patrol sitting in her driveway until he gets there. He’s spending the night.”
“That’s good,” Cal said, relaxing back in his seat. “Speaking of, he’s here.”
Ryan glanced over to see Wyatt walking toward them.
“Where’s my beer?” Wyatt said as he slid onto a stool.
Cal snorted. “What? We look like waiters to you?”
“We told our waiter we’d give our orders when everyone’s here,” Kelly said.
“Okay, we’re all here, so let’s order.” Wyatt picked up a menu. “I need a beer and I’m hungry. Been a tough week.”
“Uh, maybe you haven’t noticed, but the twins aren’t here yet,” Matti said.
Wyatt peered at her over his menu. “They don’t count.”
Matti punched him. “Don’t be an ass.”
Wyatt lowered his menu and grinned at her. “It’s so much fun to rile you up, baby sister. And so easy to do.”
Matti stuck her tongue out at him, making Ryan laugh.
Yes, this was what he wanted. A handful of kids riling each other up.
He’d need a wife for that, and his gaze fell on Matti.
He could almost see it, chasing a little girl with Matti’s wild curls around the house while Matti tried to wrangle their brood of trouble-loving kids.
Her eyes locked on his and when she smiled at him, his heart fluttered and whispered, “I think I’m in love.”