Chapter 2 #2
“I forgot how short you were,” I said, trying to push the darkness from my mind.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m taller than Briar.”
“Well, she’s not here, is she?” Teagan’s eyes filled, and I cursed. “What? What did I say?”
“Just thinking about who else isn’t here.” She looked across my open-concept kitchen into the dining room, and I sighed.
Malcolm. That’s who wasn’t here.
Bodhi’s twin brother, the rock star of the family, literally.
A drummer prodigy who had made us all so fucking proud.
I still couldn’t quite believe that it had been over three years now.
Three years since Malcolm had died in a bus crash while he was on tour.
A bus crash that had nearly taken Briar out along the way.
Briar had come back to Ashford Creek to heal and had ended up needing her future husband more than she needed us, and I understood that.
We Ashfords knew how to remind others of their own darkness.
“I love you, Teagan,” I said as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
“Love you too, you oaf.”
“Why am I an oaf?”
“Because I don’t have a crush on Rune.”
“The more you say it, the more I feel like it’s real,” Finnian teased.
“I’m going to throw this avocado seed at you.”
“If you do, then you have to clean up the mess,” Sterling said as he took the plate of lettuce and tomatoes from me. “Go sit. We’ll handle this.”
I sighed. “Okay, but don’t you dare get out the yellow cheese. You know the rules. No yellow cheese when we make Tex-Mex in this house.”
We grumbled about it, but I just laughed, taking a seat at the long table that I had pried out of Bodhi’s hands when he had finished making it.
“I do like family dinners,” Finnian said after a while. My belly was full, and I had another beer in my hand. I’d only had two, but I wasn’t planning on anymore. I did not need to get drunk tonight, not when I knew one of Dad’s old friends had spotted him in town. Somebody needed to be alert.
“You only like it because you didn’t have to pay for it.” Teagan shook her head, a smile playing on her face.
Finnian gave a mock gasp. “Hey, I’m a single father of two. I need to save money.”
Teagan rolled her eyes and I sat back and watched the show. “You say that as if Promise isn’t the best ex-girlfriend in the world who co-parents with you in an organized way to the point that it scares me.”
My brother shrugged before digging into his food. “True, I love Promise, and I’m so glad she’s my daughters’ mother. But I’m also relieved that we figured out this whole co-parenting thing after a rough patch.”
“Is she going to open that bed and breakfast when she gets through college?” Teagan asked.
Finnian nodded. “That’s the plan. There used to be one up Heritage Street, and I know she’s is+ looking at the deeds now along with her family’s help.”
“That would be a great place for it. And you’d help her fix it up, right?” Teagan asked as she played with the rest of her food.
There was something going on in my little sister’s head, and I would figure it out. I would figure it out with all of them. I just hated the fact that I couldn’t fix everything for them.
“That’s the plan. Once I finish this program, I have to go through an apprenticeship. But I’m going to end up with all of my certifications. The town needs my special hands,” he said as he wiggled his fingers.
“More like spirit fingers,” Sterling teased under his breath, and I growled as Finnian lifted a chip to throw it across the table.
“We are not children, no food fights in my fucking house.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Finnian said with a roll of his eyes.
How the nicest and yet most sarcastic one of us ended up a father of two, I would never know. Because the man was one of the best fathers I’d ever seen. He didn’t have a blueprint for it, though, considering our father, so I was just damn happy that Finnian was figuring it out.
“So, did you see who’s back in town for the week?” Finnian asked again, and I tried not to look too alert. After all, my brother was talking to Sterling and Bodhi, not me.
“I cannot believe that Felicity’s already twenty-one. Wasn’t she just in braces?”
“You say that as if you aren’t only eighteen months or so older than her,” Teagan said dryly.
“And those eighteen months count. We’ve seen worlds since then.” Finnian rolled his shoulders back, looking like the pompous jackass he sometimes pretended to be.
“She’s almost done with college. What do you think she’s going to do after that?” Teagan asked.
Finnian took a big bite of his food and thankfully swallowed before answering. “No clue. Though with Rune here, and her parents, she might want to come back.”
“Why would she come back to Ashford Creek?” I asked, my voice low. “There’s nothing for her here.”
Bodhi gave me a look that I couldn’t read, or rather, I didn’t want to read, so I ignored him.
“There’s plenty in Ashford Creek and we’re growing yearly,” Sterling said with a shrug.
“We might not be the center family anymore, with the town mayor in our pocket or growing the town’s population and lines, but the town itself is cleaning up and getting a good reputation.
Your brewery’s helping with that. With the addition of the bar and grill room put in, and maybe this bed and breakfast, we’re kicking ass.
” Teagan shrugged as if she hadn’t tried to cement our family into this town once again.
“Not to mention your gift shop,” Finnian said with a grin.
“It’s not my gift shop. I only manage it,” Teagan said as she continued not to eat her food. What the hell was going on with her?
“I’m thinking about maybe coming back to town after I finish culinary school,” Sterling blurted.
I blinked and set my fork down. “What? Why?”
“The town could use a higher-end restaurant. You know, for the tourists that don’t want to stay in the resort town. Summit Grill is great, as are the diner and bakery...”
“The bakery’s shit, and we all know it,” Bodhi grumbled but didn’t elaborate.
Nobody needed to. Not with the owner and the way she constantly annoyed the fuck out of everybody in town.
And frankly, her baked goods didn’t rise to the occasion.
I could not believe I just said that own pun in my head, and I was grateful I hadn’t said it aloud.
Finnian would never let me live it down.
I leaned forward, focusing on my brother’s words. “Restaurants are hard to maintain. It’s not just knowing how to cook.”
Sterling nodded, and I was grateful that he had taken my words at face value and not heard any underlining rudeness. Because I believed in all of my siblings. The fact that any of us had lofty dreams to begin with surprised me, considering how we had grown up.
“I have plans. I promise. I’m not going to throw all of my savings into a restaurant and bail right out the gate. I’m going to learn along the way and then come back to town after school and get it done. The town needs it.”
“Well, I run more than two businesses at this point, so I don’t mind helping with whatever you need,” Teagan said with a grin.
I nodded. “You run part of my brewery, Bodhi’s business, and you pretty much do everything for the fucking gift shop, even though the owners treat you like shit. And I know that you help Rune out sometimes.”
“While you’re crushing on him,” Finnian teased and ducked when Teagan threw her chip.
“Seriously?” I snapped.
Teagan glared at each of us. “I’ll clean it up.”
Wincing, I squeezed her shoulder. “No, I’ll clean it up. I started the Rune thing. I’m sorry.”
Teagan raised a brow, and I probably shouldn’t have offered to help clean that up. Because that meant she would wonder why I had pushed the whole Rune thing.
I was going to hell.
Again.
“Either way, if you come up with a business plan, we’ll look at it.”
I still had a shit ton of money because I had friends who knew how to invest, and I wanted my siblings to succeed.
Even if I knew they wouldn’t take my money at face value.
No, they’d fight to pay me back. And that’s why I was so damn glad I had raised my kids better than my dad had tried to raise us all.
By the time we were finished cleaning up, my phone buzzed, and I looked down at the readout.
Rune: Can you go and check Felicity? She had a hangover all day, despite how much water she had. I need to head to Summit Grill, and I don’t like the fact that she’s alone.
My dick perked up at the idea of seeing Felicity, and I needed to tone it down.
What the hell was wrong with me? I was over a decade older than her. I was a lecher. A crude old man.
Not really. But enough.
Me: Sure. Anything for the kiddo.
Rune: I can’t believe she’s twenty-one now. She’s an old lady.
Me: Don’t let her hear you calling her old.
Rune: Truth.
“Everything okay?” Teagan asked, a frown on her face. “We were going to make dessert and play video games until we decide that we’ve kicked your ass long enough.”
I rolled my eyes. “I need to check something out for Rune real quick, but I’ll be right back.”
“Leave a love letter from Teagan!” Finnian called out, and I threw my head back and laughed as Teagan ran out of the room and jumped on Finnian’s back. They wrestled to the ground, and Sterling threw his elbows in, protecting his twin and his sister at the same time.
My family was full of menaces.
“What’s really going on?” Bodhi asked, his voice low.
I swallowed hard, not wanting to worry my brother for no reason. “Felicity was hungover from her birthday, and Rune wants me to make sure that she’s doing fine. He doesn’t like leaving her alone, and her parents are out of town.”
“She’s staying with Rune, then? Interesting.” Bodhi took another sip of an Ashford brew, and I shook my head.
“Rune’s my best friend.”
“Yes. He is.”
And with that subtle remark, Bodhi turned on his heel and went to end the play-fight in the living room.
I grabbed my keys and phone and told myself that I was doing this because my best friend needed help.
Not that I wanted to make sure that Felicity was okay.
I was a damn idiot.
By the time I got to Rune’s house, I told myself I would be five minutes and then go home. There was no reason to stay.
I needed to stop thinking about Felicity as a woman. She just needed to be a blob. A blur, if you will. Because my dick got hard whenever I thought of her, and that was fucking ridiculous.
I knocked on the door, confusing myself since I usually just walked right in. But now Felicity was here, and that felt wrong somehow.
She opened the door quickly, her eyes bright. She didn’t look like she had a hangover. No, she didn’t look sick at all.
Instead, she looked like my worst nightmare.
Tiny shorts that barely covered her ass, and I was pretty sure I could nearly see her pussy. An even tinier T-shirt that showed every inch of her boobs, as well as her hard nipples since she wasn’t wearing a bra, and pink toenail polish.
That’s all she wore.
Dear God, this was my test. This was my battlefield. My testament.
And I was going to fail it all.
“Callum! I didn’t know you were coming over. I was just getting in the shower, and I’m grateful that I heard you knock on the door before I did.”
Felicity. In the shower. Soapy.
There was no way I was going to be able to hide my hard-on for much longer.
I cleared my throat. “Rune wanted me to check on you. Make sure you weren’t hungover.”
Felicity rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. The four Ls left, and I think he wants to just make sure that the house didn’t get completely destroyed when he was gone.
But you can tell Mr. All-High-and-Mighty that I cleaned up after them, and the house is spotless.
I’m going to shower, make some soup, and go to bed early.
Yes, I had a headache this morning, but I’m fine.
He kept me properly hydrated. And oh, you’re still standing on the porch. You should come in.”
There was no way in hell I was going inside if she was going to shower. No way in hell.
“No, it’s fine. I was just checking since he asked. I got to go back to the house. The family’s there.”
“You drove all the way out here on family dinner night just to check on me?” The confusion etched on her face would’ve been cute if I wasn’t so careless with everything that I did these days.
“Rune asked. He’s my best friend.” If I kept repeating that, it would help me remember. Why were her shorts so tiny?
She blinked at me and smiled. “Yeah, he is. Well, I’m going to bed early, and the four Ls are at the hotel now. They wanted a bit of mountain city life before they headed back to school. But we have dinner plans tomorrow if you want to come by and visit.”
“I have work. Lock the door behind me. And don’t open doors for random men anymore.
” The growl in my voice bit, and when Felicity’s face paled, I could have kicked myself.
But if I made her not like me, it would make this whole thing easier.
Instead, I turned on my heels and went back to my truck, grateful when I saw her close the door behind me.
I was just like my father. Careless. Cruel. Careless with my feelings, careless with whatever the hell was going on with my dick and its reaction to Felicity.
And if I didn’t rein it in, I was careless with my anger too.
I wasn’t going to become my father.
And that meant I had to try harder to stay away from Felicity.