Chapter 7
“I’d feel better if everyone stayed a safe distance from anything that looks remotely dangerous,” Beau said to his brother, practically flooring Ivy.
Didn’t he want the help? Wasn’t it best to have as many eyes on this situation as possible?
Wouldn’t having more minds and thought processes help figure out how best to approach the strip mall be a good thing?
Eyebrow arched, she studied Beau.
“I get it,” Kade said. “You want to wrap everyone in bubble tape, but that’s not how a family should work.”
Beau’s muscles tensed underneath her fingertips. It dawned on her that he might not consider himself part of this family. Was Kade extending an olive branch? He seemed like he genuinely wanted to help.
“Everyone will get in the way,” Beau said. “Too many cooks in the kitchen.”
Ivy’s jaw almost hit the floor. She withdrew her hand, stood up, and started pacing. “What do you mean? How can you refuse?” She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it back from her face, and wrangled it into the rubber band she nearly always kept on her wrist.
Kade stood. “I’ll be in the office if anyone needs me.
” He started toward the hallway. “Just an FYI, though, the rest of the family is planning to show up this morning.” He glanced at his cell phone.
“In fact, they’ll start arriving any minute.
” He tapped the screen while using his forearm to hold the coffee mug against his body.
“There. I just let everyone know to come in the front door and meet me in the office.” His gaze shifted, bouncing from Beau to Ivy and back. “Let me know when you work it out.”
“We will,” Ivy responded when it seemed like a cat had Beau’s tongue.
The second Kade disappeared down the hallway, Ivy turned her attention to Beau. “What are you thinking?”
His face was unreadable. Not true. His gaze was fixed, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. The man appeared to be in shock.
Ivy walked right over to him and snapped her fingers not two inches from his nose.
He blinked, leaned back, and caught her hand in his.
The warmth, the electricity, shouldn’t catch her off guard at this point.
You’d think she’d be used to it by now. Nope.
A current strong enough to pull a swimmer out to sea pulsed through her wrist and up her hand, and that’s exactly how it felt, like dangerous water that could churn her upside down and then spit her out on the shoreline, her body broken and lifeless.
She sucked in air and took a step back. Beau released her hand. The world had tipped on its axis for a few seconds there.
“Why won’t you let your family help us?” she asked, forcing her thoughts to the present.
“I have my reasons.” His stoic expression warned her not to argue.
Too bad.
“Your reasons better be worth it because they could cost your mother and my father their lives.” She folded her arms across her chest, daring him to fight her on this.
“You think I want that?” Anger radiated from his tone and tense body.
“Then, tell me your reasons for being bullheaded because I don’t think either one of us is in a position to turn down free help.”
Beau sat there, silent, for what felt like an eternity. Then, he exhaled. “I think it’s a bad idea for me to get used to them coming to my aid.”
“Your brother said that’s exactly what you’ve done for them. You’ve shown up for your family, and that’s the reason you were shot.” Ivy would give her right arm to get her brother back, so she had no clue why Beau was being so stubborn about this. “Do you even know how lucky you are?”
“Lucky?” More of that anger dripped from his tone. “You think being the bastard child of a millionaire rancher makes me lucky? You think growing up without a father makes me lucky? You think growing up with a mother who suffered from a mental illness made me lucky?”
Ivy wished she could reel her words back in based on his response.
Her own mother had suffered from mental health setbacks after Eric had been born.
Her father had battled his demons. Her family wouldn’t be filed under the category of “perfect” by any means, but they’d done their best. Her parents had loved each other.
They’d loved their children. Ivy might have felt neglected and alone once all the attention had gone to Eric, but she’d known deep down that her parents loved her.
Had she tried to be the perfect person to gain their attention? Their approval?
Yes. It was clear to her now that many of her actions had been aimed at winning their approval.
So, no, she had no clue what it was like to grow up in Beau’s situation.
She could relate to being shoved into the shadows after Eric had been born, if not growing up there.
At least Ivy had experienced fifteen years with her parents before their lives, much like the ocean current, had been churned upside-down.
Beau’s life? She couldn’t imagine how awful it would feel to be someone’s child without belonging to a family. To feel the weight of responsibility for an adult who was supposed to take care of you instead of the other way around.
Reality gut-punched her.
She did know what that felt like. She’d been older—fifteen instead of a young child.
Maybe the two of them had more in common than she’d realized.
“Lucky was definitely the wrong word choice,” she said, joining him at the table and keeping a seat between them. It was just enough space to tamp down some of the electricity crackling between them.
“You think?” He issued a sharp sigh. “I shouldn’t take out my frustrations on you. Forget I just said that.”
His reaction had hurt her feelings more than she cared to admit. Caring meant watching every word she said and walking around, afraid to step on landmines, like she had with her parents.
Damn.
Ivy shoved those thoughts aside, unable and unwilling to process them when she needed to stay focused on finding her father and bringing him home safely.
“We never really explored how our parents might know each other,” she said to Beau, changing the subject. “Are you from Austin?”
“Yes.”
“Is that where you grew up?” she asked.
“In and around, depending on how much money we had. Sometimes, it was on the street.”
Shit.
“That must’ve been hard,” she said before she could take the words back. Of course, it was hard. She wished every child had a stable home and family. Hers had been turned upside-down, but not before she’d known what family life was. It was shocking that Beau had turned out so…normal.
Normal?
This man was most definitely not normal.
He was extraordinary, grounded, and intelligent.
He had a spark behind his eyes that lit a fire inside her.
He was magnetic, and she could scarcely force her gaze from the sharp angles and hard planes of a face too beautiful for his own good. Correction, for her own good.
“It wasn’t easy.” He stared at the rim of his coffee mug.
“My father has gone through drinking bouts, like I said before,” she said.
“What about your mother? Did she drink? Would she have shown up at an AA meeting?” Austin had a population of close to a million, not including the surrounding cities.
Downtown could feel like being trapped in an ant farm, with people crawling all over each other.
What were the odds their parents had frequented the same haunts?
Slim to none.
Then, how were they connected?
“My mom would never set foot in an AA meeting.” Beau took a sip. “She would never admit to her drinking being a problem or something she needed to seek help for.”
“That rules out AA.” Where else could they have met? “Where did your mom like to go?”
“We’re probably focusing on the wrong thing. Maybe we should try to figure out a way to check phone logs. Can we request a call and text log from their carriers?”
“I tried to do that once for my father.” She shook her head. “Carriers are very strict about that sort of thing. I was told that I needed explicit consent or a subpoena. We’d have to bring in the law.”
“Who will just file a missing person’s report and move on,” he said.
“You’re not wrong about that.” She should know. She’d filed one for her father not once but twice.
How many more times would she have to file a report before they took action?
Reality said they needed help. Why was it so damn hard to accept it from Beau’s family?
Family.
He was still getting used to the word. As much as he shouldn’t blame Kade and the others for Beaumont’s actions, it was hard not to lump them all into the same category.
They’d done the same thing to him. One look in the mirror told him the reason.
Beau was the spitting image of his father.
The fact pained him to admit. The evidence was indisputable.
Beau let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “I’m not going to be stupid about this. You’re right. We need the help, so I won’t refuse.”
“And you’re going to be okay with that?” she asked. Those violet pools studied him.
“I want the same thing you do,” he said. “We’re on the same team here.”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
“I’ll figure it out,” he said.
The look of relief on Ivy’s face said he’d made the right call.
“We need to come up with a plan,” he said.
“One that keeps you far away from danger. You’re not healed.”
“I’m not going to sit here and do nothing while everyone else risks their lives if that’s what you’re suggesting.” His stubborn streak was a mile long, and he fully intended to dig his heels in.
“No one said you had to,” she said with more than a hint of defensiveness in her tone.
He hadn’t meant to cause it.
“I just wanted to be clear about my contribution,” he said, trying to clarify his intentions.
“I’m crystal clear.” She stared at him. Perhaps, she’d looked right through him. “For your information, I’d call in the National Guard if it meant saving our parents. Just so you and I are on the same page.”
“Got it.” What could he say? He was being a jerk, and she was brave enough to call him out on it. “Then, we’re on the same team.”
“I really hope so, Beau, because I was beginning to like you.”
Damned if those words didn’t leave a bruise.
She poured a second cup of black coffee and then joined him at the table. “What kind of plan did you have in mind?”
“Let’s get the others in here first so we don’t have to repeat ourselves.” He tried to stand so he could get breakfast, and immediately sat back down. Gravity was hell on wheels today. The nausea was worse. Coffee on an empty stomach had not been his brightest idea.
“What do you need from me?” Ivy asked.
“I got—”
“No, you don’t. And it’s okay, Beau. Let me help you. And, if not me, then who should I call?”
As much as he appreciated the fire in her eyes, he liked it much better when it wasn’t directed at him. She was right, though. With his injuries, he needed to accept his condition and let someone else pitch in.
“I need food, and it kills me that I can’t get it for myself or for you. There’s probably something ready to heat in the fridge, and if I haven’t been too much of a pain in the ass already, I’d appreciate it very much if you wouldn’t mind throwing a container in the microwave.”
“Done.” Ivy stood up and went to work as Chloe knocked on the wall before entering the kitchen.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
“Of course.” Ivy walked over to Chloe and offered a handshake after introducing herself.
Chloe’s gaze shifted from Ivy to Beau and back. He didn’t have to know Chloe well to realize what she was thinking. With all the recent marriages and engagements in the family, it wasn’t hard to guess how anyone would interpret the situation.
“Nope,” he said to her as she walked over.
“What?” The fake look of innocence was a real kicker.
“You know what I mean, and nope,” he said again, like that would make it truer.
“Whatever.” Chloe rolled her eyes as she sat down. She looked Beau up and down. “You look like shit.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help it.
Chloe had always been the no-nonsense type. He appreciated her for it because it meant he always knew where he stood with her. Everyone did. There was no guesswork when it came to his sister. Beau was still getting used to having one of those.
“Thank you…?” he said. It was more of a statement than a question.
“Can’t blame me for calling it like I see it,” she said.
Ivy laughed. The humor broke through the heavy cloud that had been sitting thickly in the room. It was a welcome relief.
“Do you want to tell me why you’re refusing our help?” Chloe asked. She’d always been one to get right to the point. “Or should we just stay quiet and offended?”