Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
NASH
W e all ended up over at Julie’s at the same time. She was standing on the porch smiling as we all filed in. It was just like years ago when all was right on this ranch. “Nash, give me that baby.” She reached out and took Lottie from me and walked into the house as I held the door open.
“Phil, I smiled as he came out of the kitchen.” I shook the man’s hand and smiled at him. His tight smile led me to believe he needed a friendly face.
“All right, everyone, sit down.” Julie said as she held Lottie close to her. “I didn’t plan on doing this before supper, but here we are.” She reached out for Phil’s hand and he took it.
“Phil and I have been seeing one another for a few months. As most of you know, we’ve always had a nice time together and things progressed and we’re in love. I hope you can all accept us being together.” They both sat down and the table was quiet. I watched Kipp and could see his wheels turning, but he stayed silent.
“I think it’s great Mom.” Lark said as she picked up the bowl of potatoes and let the spoonful splat on her plate. She looked up at her mom and smiled.
“Yeah Mom, I mean Phil’s a good-looking guy. Good thing you scooped him up.” Tayla grabbed a roll and pulled it open. Awkward silence hung in the air as cutlery scraped on plates and food was passed around the table.
Julie’s eyes shifted to Fallon and I. “It was her,” I said, pointing at the gorgeous woman sitting beside me and I felt like there was a collective inhale by everyone else around the table. If it was anyone else, it would have been funny.
Fallon turned and smacked me on the chest. “Seriously? It took you all of five seconds to sell me out.” She frowned at me and shook her head. “Sorry Mom, you know what it’s like talking to those two.” She motioned to Lark and Tayla.
“Yeah, no, they didn’t grill you, you blurted it out.” I quipped as I stabbed my fork into a piece of the roast beef on my plate, refusing to look at Fallon. I should have paid more attention to where her knife was because I might just get it in the thigh.
“Nash, I don’t think you’re helping yourself.” Phil said, as he tried to hide a chuckle while putting roast beef on his plate. Fallon glared at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh. She was always trying to be so fierce, but I knew she was loving being back with this crazy group.
Kipp had stayed silent and broody though supper and I desperately wanted to know what he was thinking. “How many of you knew this was going on?” He asked as he wiped his mouth, before throwing the napkin on his plate.
“Hey, we only found out this afternoon.” Lark said, holding her hands up in surrender. Tayla nodded beside her.
“I’ve known since I gave birth to Lottie,” Fallon said quickly. Because if she said it faster, it might not quite sound like betrayal? I knew my him and he’d be hurt we all knew and didn’t say anything.
“Found out that night too, man,” I said, leaning back, absentmindedly putting my arm behind Fallon. Realizing I’d eaten far too much and wanted to groan but I stopped myself.
Kipp turned to look at his soon to be wife and arched his brow. Nora bit her lip as she tried to smile at him. “A while.” Her eyes darted from him to Julie, and Julie nodded. “Since it started.” She winced. If he was a cartoon, steam would have been coming out of his ears. He looked up at Griff, Linc and Ryder and they all shook their heads. Even if they did know it was probably better that they said no. My best friend was hanging on by a string and it wouldn’t take much for it to snap.
Kipp’s chair scraped along the floor of Julie’s dining room as he stood. Not saying a word, he walked out of the house. I didn’t hear him stomping down the steps, so he must have stopped. Much quieter, I moved to my chair and stood from the table.
Julie was also heading out of the house. Gently, I put my hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “I’ll talk to him.” Julie looked up at me and nodded. Glancing at Griff, Ryder and Linc, they all followed me out to the porch.
There was a soft snow falling and off in the distance a cow or two moo’d at the moon. Nothing was more quiet than a winter night in Montana, but I swore you would have heard a pin drop on this porch tonight. I needed to break the tension. “Well, can’t say this is the nicest night to be porch sitting, but I suppose it will do.” I shoved my hands in my pockets and stood against the wall of the house, hoping to absorb some of the heat from inside that escaped through the poorly insulated home.
“My sister slept with my best friend, and my mom is dating the man I rely on for information. How did I lose control of this family?” He slammed his fist on the post supporting the roof and snow slid off in one large sheet, landing in a tuft all over the steps of the porch. He turned back to me, and I saw a fire in his eyes I hadn’t seen for a while. Not since we’d stopped our “security” team. Not many people knew the true nature of our business was intimidation, rescues and the secure return on property and investments. We weren’t repo men, but that was the closest description we had.
“Well, Fallon’s twenty-eight, and your mom’s well, your mom, so I’m pretty sure they don’t need you controlling them.” Linc said as he grabbed a shovel from beside the door. I had to agree with him, but I knew better than to voice it. Linc was the levelheaded one of this group. What he said was usually all we ever needed for logic.
“I can’t think of anyone better for your mom than Phil.” Griff said, shrugging as he paced. He had his arms crossed tightly across himself, and he was hunched over. I imagined he was trying to keep warm. “Look, I know we had to get Phil out of a dangerous situation when he was undercover, but he hasn’t gone back to that life. I don’t think he even had a blip off the straight and narrow since.”
“He hasn’t.” Ryder added. Of course he would know. He’d kept tabs on Phil for a long time, making sure his old life didn’t come knocking. Being a PI had its advantages, but Phil had gotten in too deep on a case and was seconds away from meeting his maker. Had his sister not contacted us worried when he hadn’t checked in, the man wouldn’t be holding Julie’s hand now.
I watched Kipp’s shoulders relax slightly. “I’ve already apologized for going behind your back about Fallon, so I don’t think we need to keep bringing that up.” I shoved my hands in my pockets, keeping my arms tight to my side, trying to preserve some body heat, but I also wanted to look unaffected by his words.
He took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m an ass.”
“Yes, you are.” The screen door slapped against the wall as Fallon, Tayla, Lark, and Nora walked out of the house. Fallon was leading the charge, and I wasn’t surprised. “Our mother has been through hell and back and you’re out here ready to have a pissing contest because she’s seeing your friend? And Nash says I’m immature.” She smacked my chest with the back of her hand again as she talked.
“He what?” Kipp turned and moved closer to me. I didn’t move. I knew there was no reason to. Kipp clenched his jaw and stared at me.
“Nothing, god, put your dick away and go talk to our mom,” Fallon said as she pushed him. He wasn’t expecting it and tumbled over his enormous feet. He tripped down the stairs and landed in the pile of snow Linc had cleared from the steps.
Nora laughed, bent down to make a snowball and threw it at Kipp. “That was for acting like a child.” She laughed and as she turned, Kipp hit her in the back of the head with his own snowball. “Oh, now it’s on, big man. I suggest you start running.” She made another one and hit him square in the face this time, and chaos ensued.
Laugher filtered through the night around us and by the time Julie came out to the porch and shouted we were all covered in snow. Julie and Phil looked at the scene before them. “Are you finished?” She arched her brow. “Because if you are I have hot chocolate ready and yes Nash, there are marshmallows.” Her frown turned into a grin.
“I’ll go get the towels.” Phil said, shaking his head.
“How does he know where the towels are?” Kipp asked. We all groaned, and Nora took his hand.
“Come on big man, I’ll explain it to you.” Sputters of muffled laughter couldn’t be stopped, and we all began to laugh at Kipp’s expense.
“I hate all of you.” He brushed the snow out of his hair and walked up the steps with his arm around Nora. Reaching out, I took Fallon’s hand in mine. She looked down at us and I smiled. She didn’t pull away and didn’t stiffen at my touch. And tonight we’d felt like a team, a family, something I’d been missing for too long.