Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Owen
“Those steaks were killer. Well done, Chef,” Gus says, patting his stomach.
“The real thanks goes to Knox for hitting the butcher, and to the rest of you for bringing the sides. I’m always happy to spark up the grill.”
“You just like wearing your Slap My Ass apron. You’re hoping one of us will take you up on it.”
“What can I say, Knox? I like what I like.”
“Glad to see age and wisdom haven’t changed you. You're just as ridiculous as you’ve always been.” Ryan chuckles, lifting her glass in my direction.
Ryan hasn’t been around much since she left for college, and it’s good to have her home. Her presence makes Daisy happy, so it makes me happy.
“I know. Right? No need to change perfection,” I say with a wink to everyone’s favorite ginger.
Charlie lifts her glass in front of her, examining it like it’s a piece of art. “Is it me, or is this wine freaking fantastic?”
“It’s good, but it’s also your first glass in close to a year, so I’m sure it’s going down nice and smooth for you,” Mia says amused. “You’re gonna sleep real good tonight.” She points at Cal. “Daddy, I sure hope you’ve got some bottles in the fridge cause you’re gonna be on night watch.”
Cal leans in and kisses his wife’s temple. “With pleasure.”
Not counting Sunday dinner, tonight is the first time all eight of us have been together for a meal since baby Grace was born, and it’s been nice. Except for the side-eye I get from Cal anytime I step within two feet of his sister. Anytime he’s ready to talk, so am I. I’m done pretending.
Knox brought steak, Angus picked up sides, and Cal hit up Dawson’s bakery for everyone’s favorite peanut butter cheesecake, per his wife’s orders.
I don’t think I’ve ever hosted everyone at my place, and it’s the first time I’ve used my dining room table for something other than a holding spot for my recycling before it goes out to the bins in the garage.
Turns out I like having a full house.
I’ve been waiting for the conversation to turn dark, but we’ve stuck to happy things like the baby, our moms on their cruise, and town gossip. But the clenching of Cal’s jaw says all good things must come to an end. He’s sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
While Charlie passes out cheesecake, her husband finally boils over, and says, “You lied to us.”
He doesn’t say who he’s speaking to, but his glare is fixed on the injured woman across from him. The room goes quiet, waiting for him to elaborate. And elaborate he does.
“You didn’t tell a little white lie; you kept your attempted murder from us!”
“I didn’t lie to you. I lied to Charlie.”
“And you swore her to silence until the next day to tell me. So, you lied and waited two days to tell your family what happened and where you were.”
“I needed time to deal with the seriousness of my situation without you bulldozing your way into it. I. Needed. Time.”
Cal stands, his face turning red. “Time? There’s a psychopath out there threatening your life and fucking with the ranch, and you needed time?”
“Hey, now,” Angus says, standing and clapping Cal on the shoulder, but Cal brushes him off.
“We’re all stressed and freaked out about what happened to our baby sister, but yelling isn’t gonna help. You need to relax, man,” the eldest McKinnon says calmly from his seat.
“Relax?” Cal’s glare takes a tour around the table, looking each of us in the eye. “How can you all be calm? We have private security at our homes. The ranch is being fucked with. And you want me to chill?”
I get it. He has a wife and daughter to protect. He’s scared and tired. I know him well enough to know he doesn’t mean things the way they’re coming out.
Daisy huffs out a breath. “If this is your way of saying you were worried about me, I thank you for your concern, but you aren’t my father and you don’t get to talk to me this way.”
“She’s right,” Charlie says, wrapping her arms around Cal’s middle. At her touch, his shoulders relax, and a little of the anger drains from his face. “We’re both tired from sleepless nights on top of everything that’s going on.”
“And I’m sorry for not sharing the whole truth about my fall or where I was.”
“It was selfish.” Cal’s voice shakes, but the words don’t come out with the same vitriol.
“It was. But sometimes keeping the whole truth from your family is more important than the wrath they’ll bestow upon you later.”
Cal looks at me like I should back him up, but I won’t. She was wrong to keep things from them, but I am Team Daisy.
Always will be.
I meet his glare. “Not sure why you’re looking at me.”
“Since when don’t you have something to say?”
“Well, I understand both sides. You know I didn’t want to keep the situation from you.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have broken my promise to your sister and called the three of you over here to fill you in.
But she’s staying in my house, so I think you know which side I’m on.
That being said, I would suggest you don’t raise your voice in her direction again. ”
“Excuse me?” Cal bristles.
“Dude, I get that you’re mad. You have every right to be. But we’re all working as a team now. We’re on the same page, and the most important thing is that Daisy is alive and well. But she is still healing, and your yelling at her isn’t doing anything to help her concussion.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch the girls smiling at my response. I don’t acknowledge them, though. This is as close to an argument that I can recall Cal and I having since we were kids, and it’s tying my stomach up in knots.
When he doesn’t reply, I add, “When it comes to her safety, I will protect her with my life, and you know that.”
My best friend nods and takes his seat.
“We’re all on the group chat,” Knox says.
“Each house has security. If anything seems off or if we spot someone we don’t know creeping around, the first thing we do is notify the guys on the security detail.
The second step is to message the group.
No more secrets. No more keeping each other out of the loop. We all agree, yeah?”
Sounds of agreement ring around the table, and then Knox wraps up the conversation. “Good, now everybody eat your fucking cheesecake.”
“God, big bro. So bossy.” Daisy sticks her tongue out at him, but I know she appreciates him stepping in.
“You have no idea,” Ryan says, and the table erupts.
“Ry, I’m trying to eat my dessert. I don’t need to know that kind of shit,” Angus says, pushing his plate away for about half a second before diving back in.
“He’s right. What you two do in the bedroom is your business.” Daisy pretends to throw up. “That’s too far, girl.”
It may turn her stomach to hear about her brother bossing her friend around in the bedroom, but I know she loves it when she’s with me.
It takes every bit of my self-control not to look in her direction.
But when the girls all direct their attention back at Daisy with eyebrows lifted and smiles that say they know she likes it that way, my mouth falls open.
She fucking told them.
Hell yes, she did! And she better have told them it’s only me she likes it with and that she never wants another man to make her come ever again. I mean, why even bother with the rest when I’m all hers.
Ryan’s comment was what the group needed to lighten the mood, and from there we’re back to our regular fun shit-talking while we devour our cheesecake.
The girls hang out in the kitchen doing dishes while the guys huddle around the fire on my back porch while I clean the grill.
“My gut tells me whoever cut the fence is a local. I think they paid someone who knows their way around Goose Hollow,” Cal says.
“I agree, but who?” Gus asks. “Do we have any disgruntled farmhands or any employees who left the store on bad terms, Cal?”
“Dusty Armstrong is the only person who left the store on bad terms. He was an asshole to clients and disrespectful to the female employees, so I let him go.”
Dusty Fucking Armstrong.
This is gonna piss the three of them off, but I think we may have our guy.
“So, Dusty might be someone we want to look into.”
They all look at me, silently waiting for me to go on.
“The same day Daisy met the asshole from Boston, she had a run-in with Dusty at one of her job sites. She put him in his place, and I may or may not have paid him a visit, encouraging him to keep his distance. He didn’t take it kindly. Especially since Devon let him go soon after.”
“So, I fired him,” Cal states pointing at himself. “Daisy put him in his place, you emasculated him, and then he lost another job. I think it’s safe to say, he wouldn’t hesitate if someone offered him cash to mess with us.”
“The problem is we have no proof,” I say.
Cal goes quiet looking off into the distance.
“On another note,” Knox says, shifting the conversation. “Did the cameras get installed at the ranch this afternoon?”
“Affirmative. All the buildings are now covered. Your team at Lotus has been great. It’s pretty impressive how fast they got the guys up here,” Angus confirms. “I’m setting up a couple more cameras at the bar tomorrow.”
“Knox, we can’t thank you enough,” Cal adds sincerely. “This security can’t be cheap. Do I even want to know what this is gonna cost us?”
“I’ve got it, brother,” the rock star replies.
Gus steps in. “No, seriously. You just got back; you don’t need to pay for all of this.”
“I’m happy to help. Besides, I’m selling my Manhattan penthouse and moving to my cabin in the woods. I’m not gonna have any overhead. I want to do this.”
Both brothers give their thanks to their big brother, but he turns his attention to me.
“Swift, thanks for taking care of our little sister. We appreciate it.”
Cal’s gaze narrows on me, and I meet his stare. Neither of us speaks. I’m sure questions are brewing in his mind, but he knows now isn’t the time.
The back door opens, Gracie’s cries fill the air and Mia’s head pops out. “Wrap it up, boys. Cal’s girls are ready to go home.”
“We were just on our way in,” he says, still eyeballing me.
It takes Knox grabbing him by the shoulders and guiding him inside to break his stare. “Bro, you need to relax.”
We all pile inside and say our goodbyes, but Cal can’t seem to let whatever’s bothering him go. He stops at my open front door, looking around me to his sister. “You're welcome to stay with us.”
“Thanks, but I’m good here.”
“What the actual fuck?” he whispers to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Stepping in, I remind him she still needs to see the doctor before her concussion is cleared, and she can drive again.
“We can get her to her appointments,” Cal counters.
Mia crowds Cal in the doorway. “Owen not only has the week off, but this is the safest place for her to be.” She pushes him out the door and sends us a wave over her shoulder.
Once we’re alone again, we simply look at each other from across the room. I’m not sure what she’s thinking, but I’m thinking about how much I enjoyed hosting our friends and family together.
Drawn to her, I saunter in her direction, stopping before she’s close enough to touch. “The girls seemed keen on you staying here.”
“They did.” She smiles.
“And you told them about our history?”
“I did.”
“How much did you tell them?”
“Everything?” she answers, scrunching her nose like she may have told them too much.
“What exactly does everything mean?”
“Well, I told them about all our times together, but I didn’t tell them every naughty detail.”
“So, you didn’t tell them you like me to take control?”
“You mean did I tell them how bossy you are between the sheets? No, I did not.”
“Only with you.”
“Right back at ya, big guy.”
I could make a joke about her calling me big, but I have more pressing matters on my mind.
“And did you tell them how you feel about me? About us?”
“I told them I haven’t been as brave as you about sharing my feelings.”
“And if you were going to share your feelings, what would they be?”
“Wow, look at the time.” She fakes a yawn, stretching her arms above her head, giving me a glimpse at a sliver of her stomach, but her blinding smile distracts me. “It’s getting late. I believe I have a prize to redeem.”