6. Reed
Reed
“I’m here. What’s so important?” Jasper drops down into the chair at my kitchen table, looking more frazzled than usual.
He’s a workaholic and never takes a day off.
It’s a problem we all have. Our parents ingrained a strong work ethic in each of their children, and none of us learned a work-life balance.
That’s the rub of living on a ranch. There’s never much time off because there’s always something that needs to be done.
Jasper is the brains of the family. He graduated high school a year early and attended an Ivy League school, graduating with his law degree two years earlier than most people.
To all of our shock, he decided to come back home to practice law instead of going to a big city where the biggest money is made.
I rub the stubble on my jaw, hating that I have to add more to his workload. “I have a problem and need your help.”
Jasper raises a dark eyebrow. “Did you get arrested in Vegas?”
I shake my head and chuckle. “No, not this time.”
He glances down at his phone before giving his attention back to me. “Then what could you possibly need me for?”
I lean forward and rub my hands together. This is such a weird conversation, one I never thought I’d have. “I may have gotten drunk and ended up married.”
Jasper rocks back in his chair, staring at me with wide eyes. “Wow. You sure do go big. Who’s the lucky lady?”
“A city girl from Chicago.”
“And you need me to erase it?”
I nod. “We were both so drunk we didn’t know what we were doing.”
“I don’t have a license to practice in Nevada.”
“And?” I ask, knowing nothing about how the law works.
“And it means I can’t handle your case, but I can make some calls and find someone who can file the appropriate paperwork for you.
A lawyer licensed in Nevada will have to file.
Most likely, one or both of you will have to appear in front of a judge in Vegas to finalize the dissolution of the marriage. ”
“We can do that,” I assure him. “Just help me get the paperwork done, and I’ll owe you something big.”
“You may regret that,” he tells me.
“The divorce or the favor?”
“The favor,” he replies.
I laugh and wave him off. Jasper lives in a high-rise, so his favor won’t be digging a ditch or laying a mile-long cement driveway. But the man doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. How he grew up on a ranch without getting a little mud on him is beyond me.
“You’ve done some crazy shit, but this may take the cake,” he says.
“I know. I don’t know what the hell happened.”
“And the girl? She must be something if you married her.”
I think about Amelia. Her pretty smile. Her quick wit. The way she made my heart beat a little harder when she leaned into my personal space.
“I was drunk,” I repeat. “But she is that.”
“You sure you want to get divorced?”
I stare at him without any doubt. “I don’t even know her.”
“Did you tell Ma?”
“Fuck no. She’d lose her shit,” I say as the screen door opens and slams shut.
“Yo! Your favorite brother is here,” Lee says as he strides into the kitchen with his dirty-ass cowboy boots still on. “Who would lose their shit about what?”
The man has superhuman hearing. I think it’s because he’s the youngest and has spent his life listening to our conversations.
If he didn’t eavesdrop, he didn’t know what the hell was going on.
He learned at a young age to keep his eyes and ears open at all times.
But the problem with that is that he learned to tell all our secrets too.
“Nothing,” I mutter.
He opens the fridge and grabs a beer, not even bothering to say hello to Jasper. “Well, if he’s here—” he points the beer at Jasper “—then I know it’s something big.”
Lee isn’t known for his book smarts, but the man isn’t stupid by any means.
Instead of going to college, he decided to stay here and work the ranch.
He believes in a hard day’s work, getting his boots dirty, and the importance of the family business.
I’m the same as him in that way, except I never felt the connection to the land or the ranch as he does.
I always wanted more, but I never wanted to leave my parents holding the bag.
“You know what’s big?” I ask him, sneering down at the mud he’s left on my freshly cleaned tile. “Your mouth.”
Lee wipes his mouth with his arm. “When I was younger. Now, I keep my mouth closed. Secrets are too big to spill now, and Ma doesn’t take them as well as she used to. Bigger secrets mean over-the-top and emotional reactions.”
“Uh-huh,” Jasper mumbles as he picks up his phone.
“Do you sleep with that damn thing in bed with you?” I ask him.
“No. I shut it off at night. It’s the few hours when I truly get peace.”
“Hey,” Lee interrupts, flinging his arms out. “Anyone going to tell me what the hell is going on?”
I glance at him for a moment and say, “No.”
“Assholes,” he hisses before he chugs the rest of the beer. “I know plenty of secrets.”
“That’s great, buddy,” I tell him as I cross my arms, studying my little brother. “But you’re not going to know mine.”
“Did you get into some legal trouble in Vegas?” he asks, leaning his ass against the counter as he mimics my upper body posture. “I heard shit is crazy there.”
I let out a loud sigh, wishing my family didn’t just drop by whenever they felt like it. But since everyone works on the ranch, except for Jasper, and we all live here too, privacy is nonexistent. “No, I didn’t get arrested. I know how to behave.”
“You’re the most boring brother. Utter disappointment on the fun scale.”
I glare at Lee. His dark hair’s sticking out from under his cowboy hat. He’s grown like a weed in the last three years, now towering over me and damn near everyone in the family, with the exception of our father. “You need a haircut,” I tell him.
“Killjoy,” he mutters as he moves his fingers across the slightly curled tips near his ears. “And the ladies love the longer locks. I’m keeping them.”
Lee looks like my father and me, while Jasper takes after our mother with his dirty-blond hair and blue eyes. He looks like a cousin more than our brother.
Jasper stands and snatches his phone off the table. “I have to run. I’ll take care of that for you.”
Lee clicks his tongue. “I knew something happened.”
“Shut it,” I tell him without looking in his direction.
Jasper straightens his suit and tie, always having to look immaculate. “I have to be in court in an hour. I’ll text you later, though.”
“Thanks, man. Appreciate your help,” I tell him with a dip of my chin. That’s the closest thing to affection we have with each other. Neither one of us has ever been the touchy-feely type.
“Text me too,” Lee adds.
“No,” Jasper tells him with a pointed stare. “I have too much shit to do.”
“I’ll send you booby pics,” Lee offers.
“Grown men do not use the term ‘booby pics,’” Jasper tells him with a shake of his head.
Lee grunts. “Killer racks. Great tits. What should I say?”
“If I want to see tits, I’ll see them in person and not in a photo. I’m too grown for that shit, kiddo,” Jasper responds as he strides for the back door.
“I love strip clubs. When you wanna go?” Lee asks, not catching what Jasper’s saying at all.
“Don’t like those either,” Jasper says as he walks out, ending the conversation.
I chuckle and shake my head. “You’re obsessed with breasts.”
“Are you an ass man?” my brother asks as he takes the seat Jasper just vacated.
The door opens, and for a moment, I think Jasper forgot something. But I’m wrong. My three sisters stroll into my house, again, like they live here too.
“We brought eggs and some stuff from the garden. We’re distributing it early today, before it gets too hot this evening,” Brinley says as she sets down a giant crate of greens on my counter. “I have to get back to the store soon too.”
Brinley opened an organic market in the center of town.
Our parents gave her a few acres to grow vegetables, and whatever else she has going on over there, to feature in her store.
It’s done better than any of us expected.
Who knew there was such a big customer base for something anyone can do on their own land.
“And we missed you,” Cora adds, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek. “Did you have fun?”
Cora’s the second eldest girl, and two years ago, she opened a bakery and coffee shop next to Brinley’s market. My sister has been obsessed with coffee since she was a teenager and would always brew concoctions in our parents’ kitchen, using us as guinea pigs.
Frankie, the youngest of the girls, sets down a basket of eggs next to the crate of greens. “The chickens were busy while you were gone, Reed.”
Frankie hasn’t figured out what she wants to do in life.
She bounces between Cora’s coffee shop and Brinley’s market, helping them when they’re in a pinch.
Her true love is music, specifically the guitar, which our parents bought her as a birthday gift when she was thirteen.
So far, plucking the strings has never paid her bills, and until it does, she’s not going to be living up to her potential.
“They always are,” Brinley adds. “So many eggs.”
Cora bumps my arm with her hip. “So, Vegas? Tell me everything,” she says, sliding into an open chair. “Was it fun? Did you lose your inheritance?”
“Our inheritance,” Frankie corrects her. “It’s getting split six ways, and Reed’s too smart for that.”
Sure. I’m too smart to gamble away all my money, but not smart enough to stay out of the quickie wedding chapels. “I lost fifty bucks.”
Lee whistles. “Big spender.”
“Why is no one working?” I grumble, hating having all the attention on me, unlike Lee.
“It’s lunchtime, and there’s a storm rolling in. The perfect time for a break and to catch up with our brother,” Frankie explains as she opens the fridge, pulling out another beer.
“Brothers,” Lee corrects Frankie.
“Vegas was good,” I tell them.
“Why was Jasper here?” Cora asks, drumming her fingers on the table. “He ran out of here like his ass was on fire.”
“He’s taking care of something for Reed. I’m putting money on Reed getting arrested in Vegas,” Lee answers.
I growl at my brother and point at him. “See. Big mouth.”
Lee snaps at me like a rabid dog. “I didn’t give away any secrets.”
“Because you don’t know any,” I remind him with a pointed glare.
“Well, something’s going on. Jasper doesn’t leave the city in the middle of the day for no reason,” Cora says. She knows everyone’s business. She’s as bad as Lee, but she can keep a secret, unlike him.
“I didn’t get arrested. He’s working on something else for me,” I tell them, but that’s about all they’re going to get. “And before you ask again, it’s none of your business.”
Cora rocks back. “Well, well, well. Someone’s in trouble.”
“See?” Lee throws his arm out toward me. “I said the same thing. If Jasper’s here, there’s trouble because he’s the law.”
“He’s not the law, goofball. He’s a lawyer,” Frankie explains and rolls her eyes.
“And what’s lawyer start with, Frankie?” Lee asks with a cocky grin on his face.
“You really are a moron,” Brinley tells Lee. “Mom and Dad had one too many.”
Our parents told us their plan was always to have six children, and they followed through. Brinley was first, followed by Jasper, me, Cora, Frankie, and then Lee.
“Shut up, Brin. I’m as smart as a whip,” Lee tells her.
“Whips are objects. They’re not smart or dumb,” she corrects him. “Unlike you, little brother.”
Lee gives Brinley the middle finger. “I don’t know why I love you guys. You bust my balls every chance you get.”
“That’s what siblings do. Buck up, buddy,” Frankie tells him. “Do you know how much shit Reed gave me growing up?”
I lift my hands. “I didn’t do a damn thing to you, Frankie.” I’m lying, of course. I terrorized all my sisters.
Frankie’s lips twist, and I can damn near see her reliving some of the things I did to her. Things I’m not proud of, even if they were funny in the moment. “You put worms in my bed.”
“Typical boy shit,” I tell her. “It’s not like I put spiders in your bed.”
Frankie turns her icy blue eyes on me. “You wouldn’t be breathing if you’d done that.”
Although my siblings are a pain in the ass more times than they’re not, I think about Amelia and the fact that she’s an only child.
What would that be like? I can’t imagine not having the five knuckleheads around all the time to drive me insane.
My childhood would’ve been depressing as hell without them too.
“What’s wrong?” Frankie asks when I suddenly become quiet.
“Nothing.” I shake away my thoughts about my wife.
“You got sad there for a second,” she adds. “Worried about jail?”
“What?” I ask.
“Jasper. You were arrested,” she says. “Just cop to it, and we can be done with the secrets.”
“I did not. Man, you guys think that poorly of me?” I ask, glancing around the kitchen at my three sisters and little brother.
“Yes,” they say in unison.
“Damn,” I mutter. “I wasn’t arrested.”
“You did something,” Cora replies.
I sure as hell did, but they will never find out.