Chapter 23
Trevor
Idon’t know who in the hell this Doug guy is, but he’s gonna need to get the fuck out of here. I don’t like the way he tried to pressure Maren the other night, and I sure as hell don’t like the way he’s pressuring her now.
I do recognize that makes me a hypocrite, but that’s an issue for Bert to deal with during our first appointment next week.
Now that I’m thinking about it, I should probably start setting some money aside.
I don’t know how much my brothers pay him, but I’m going to assume my sessions will have a surcharge.
The guy who just tried to get Maren to move in with him looks me over, the frown on his face making it clear he’s as thrilled with my presence as I am with his. “Who are you?”
“Still none of your business.” I pull Maren closer, half expecting her to shove me away.
Instead, she leans into me, looping both arms around my waist as she continues talking to Doug. “Ignore him. He’s just grumpy because someone stole my strap on.”
It takes everything I have to keep myself from reacting. I love when Maren throws punches, and that was one hell of a punch. I’m kind of proud of her. Definitely impressed.
But I don’t want to laugh it off in front of this guy, so I decide to lean into the game. Tipping Maren’s chin up so her eyes meet mine, I give her a wink our audience can’t see. “I’ll order you a new one, Mistress.”
Maren’s lips twitch, like she’s having as hard of a time keeping it together as I am. “Make sure you get the next size up.”
“Will do.” I lean down, pressing a kiss to her mouth. “Let’s get you packed up.”
I don’t like that this guy showed up, but it does appear his presence will make this process a little less difficult than I anticipated. No part of me believed Maren was just going to jump into my home. I knew this woman would fight me tooth and nail. She always does.
But I also know she will do anything for her sister. And whether she wants to admit it or not, it’s not safe for Zara here. Not to mention the kid’s probably going to be terrified to go to sleep knowing how easily someone was able to get inside.
There’s no way to hide what happened from her. Even if she wasn’t in the back of the van, Maren can’t explain away how all their televisions and devices went missing. The reason for the dent in the front of the refrigerator. Why they no longer have a coffee table.
Moving into my place just makes sense. I have enough room for all of us, and Maren will now have an entire group of people around to help her out. Including three of her best friends. Every night can be girls’ night.
I probably should’ve pitched it that way from the start.
Tucker strides over, his expression easy-going. But I can tell by the look in his eyes, it’s all an act. Everything he’s doing right now is calculated. Designed to be unintimidating to put everyone else at ease. I’ve seen it a million times. Usually right before he starts some shit.
“How’s everything going?” Tucker drops a heavy hand on Doug’s shoulder, using the grip to angle him away from where Maren and I stand. “Did I hear you say you live down the street?”
I immediately take the opportunity my brother has provided, moving Maren away and leading her into Zara’s bedroom, where my mom and dad are sifting through the mess.
“They better catch whoever came here before I do.” My mother collects a pile of Barbies that were dumped out of a bin, carefully stacking them back inside. “What sort of monster does this to a little girl’s room?”
Maren stiffens beside me.
I understand where my mother’s coming from. I completely agree with her. But while Maren seems to feel more casual than I do about this—and her mother’s involvement—I’m sure it’s still a sensitive subject. One she likely doesn’t want to get into right now.
“How is it coming along in here?” I try to change the trajectory of the conversation. “Do you think we can get all of this packed up and loaded in the trucks before two?”
It’s almost eleven now, so I know that’s going to be cutting it close. But if anyone can make it happen, Deidre Bradshaw can.
“Are we trying to stick to a schedule?” As I’d hoped, my mother is immediately distracted from her earlier question by the excitement of a challenge. “Do you want to have everything moved by two, or just Zara’s things?”
“Primarily Zara’s stuff.” I have a fully furnished bedroom waiting for her at my place, but I want Maren’s little sister to feel as at-home as possible. “Maren and I can get what she needs later tonight after we finish up at the petting zoo.”
Maren’s head snaps my way, her expression confused. “We can’t still go to the petting zoo.”
“Of course we can.” I gesture at where my mother is now fully engrossed in her mission. “My mom and brothers have this under control. I promised Zara she could pet animals, and I’m not taking that back.” I force in a deep breath as I look around at her destroyed room. “Especially after this.”
“I can’t ask your family to do this.” Maren grabs a trash bag from the roll my mother brought in. “I genuinely can handle this. It’s not a big deal.”
“I don’t doubt you can handle this.” And obviously has before. More times than I probably want to know about. “But it is a big deal, and so is the promise I made to your sister.”
I’ve broken plenty of promises in my life. About dinners and movies and dates. I felt bad about it each time. But it had to happen. Plus, those were promises I made to adults. Breaking a promise to a kid is something I’m just not going to do. Especially not Zara. We’re best friends.
I have the bracelet to prove it.
Gently, I take the bag from Maren’s hands and pass it to my dad. “If anything strange happens, or they have any questions, they’ll call us.”
I assumed Maren would struggle the most with me essentially forcing her to move in with me, but that might have been an incorrect assumption.
The most difficult part might actually be allowing someone else to help her.
After spending a lifetime only having herself to count on, it’s possible Maren doesn’t actually know what to do when she’s not completely on her own.
It’s another thing she’s going to have to get over. And not because of me.
My mother is capable of allowing space for others to acclimate to our family’s climate. She did with Ruth. Was so careful not to overstep or pressure the single mom. But that was a very different situation. One where my mother didn’t know the full scope of the problems Ruth was facing.
She’s seeing Maren’s issues firsthand, and has already been tiptoeing around dragging Maren into our fold for months now. There’s no freaking way she’s going to slow her roll after this.
Especially after meeting Zara.
I take Maren by the hand, leading her away as she continues trying to argue her case. It’s a futile pursuit. I know it. She knows it. Because at the end of the day, she will do anything for her sister.
Including letting my family help her.
Begrudgingly.
I pause to check in with my brothers while Maren goes to chat with Brooke and Ruth. I watch as the women converse, each one occasionally throwing glances my way.
“They’re talking about you.” Toby smirks. “Or plotting. Could go either way.”
“Probably both.” Walker scans the trio. “I’d be worried if I was you.”
“Nah.” Tucker tips back a bottle of water he helped Toby rescue from Maren’s upturned fridge. “Ruth loves her job too much to risk it by murdering you.” He swallows down another mouthful of water. “And she’s the organizer out of the group, so if she’s not on board, you’re safe.”
“Maren’s organized.” I look around the trailer making it appear otherwise.
“This place is normally clean as hell. And she doesn’t only manage Brooke’s schedule, she also has to keep track of her sister’s.
” I meet Toby’s eyes, smiling a little as I say, “And that little girl is way busier than your wife.”
“That’s not shocking.” Toby lifts up a wrist. “Zara and I became best friends when I went to check on her and see if she needed anything.”
I stare at the handmade bracelet my brother is wearing. “Are you shitting me?”
Titus grabs Toby’s forearm, dragging it closer so he can inspect the jewelry. “That’s nice, man. I’m gonna see if she’ll give me one too.”
“You can’t all be her best friend.” I’m not jealous that Zara so easily added another friend to our new group. That would be dickish.
But I really fucking hope it’s only because he pointed out that he owns a swimming pool.
“I bet we can.” Tucker tosses his empty bottle into one of the piles. “If for no other reason than to piss you off.”
“It doesn’t piss me off.” Genuinely. I want Zara to have as many people loving her and looking out for her as possible.
I just maybe want her to know I’m the one at the front of the line, standing right next to her sister.
“I don’t have time to argue about this.” I glance over to find Maren, Ruth, and Brooke are all now looking my way. “We have tickets to take Zara to a petting zoo, and I don’t want her to miss out on it because some fucking lowlife decided to break in.”
“We’ve got this under control.” Tucker sobers a little. “I’m real good at moving women out of unsafe places.”
At this point, it’s becoming a bit of a family tradition. Technically, Mariah moved on her own, but both Brooke and Ruth came to the Bradshaw estate under duress, and at the urging of one of us.
It worked out pretty fucking well for them, if you ask me. And us. Brooke and Ruth have been enormously helpful at McKinley Security Systems. Plus, we now have a pool and Birdie to keep us entertained.
After giving my brothers a few final directions, I leave them to it and go collect Maren, urging her away from her friend group in a polite way I hope won’t increase my chances of ending up in a hole somewhere.
Everyone in my family has opinions about the kind of man I am, so it’s likely Ruth and Brooke have reservations about Maren and Zara staying with me.
Eventually, they’ll figure out those reservations are unfounded.
I’m not who I am out of choice. I live the way I do out of necessity—because I don’t have any other options.
I manage to get Maren behind the wheel, taking the seat beside her before punching in directions for the petting zoo.
As we drive, I check in with Zara, who has been happily playing on her tablet—thank God Maren brought it when they came to my house, so she didn’t lose everything she loves—and eating snacks while her sister and I surveyed the damage.
“How are you doing, Z?” I watch her face, trying to gauge her reactions. “Sorry that took so long.”
“It’s okay. I got to meet lots of new people.” She swipes across the screen before turning to face me. “This is Uncle Toby.”
Maren’s eyes snap to the rearview mirror. “Did you just say Uncle Toby?”
I maybe should have seen this coming. Ever since Mariah had the twins, my brothers have been obsessed with being uncles.
They fight over who’s going to be the favorite, constantly attempting to one-up each other.
I know Toby thought he had it in the bag with that swimming pool, but it’s Walker who Birdie’s ended up liking most. That could be why Toby’s trying to get his hat in the ring early with Zara.
“That’s who he said he was.” Zara swings her portrait toward Maren. “Does this look like him?”
“If I look at that, we all die, remember?” Maren grips the steering wheel a little tighter. “But I’m sure it looks exactly like Toby.”
That appears to be all Zara wanted to hear, because she goes back to scribbling across her screen with the stylus, seeming pretty fucking unbothered over the events of the morning.
Which is way more than I can say for her sister. Unfortunately, I’m a little worried the events bothering Maren don’t have anything to do with the state of her home.
And more to do with my family.
We pull into the privately owned petting zoo, and Maren parks the van in one of the accessible spots, aligning Zara’s door with the side offering an additional few feet of space. As soon as the engine is off, I climb out and go to work, lowering the ramp and unstrapping Zara’s chair.
Once all her bags are hooked onto the back, we set off for the small hut serving as the entrance.
The young kid who takes our tickets gives Zara’s chair a weird look, and I consider gouging out his eyes.
But that would lead to a lot of paperwork, so I just give him a dirty look as we begin our trek around the large enclosures.
And it is a trek.
What appeared to be smooth, paved surfaces in the online photos, are actually rutted dirt paths. Zara’s chair does okay for a while, but as the elevation lowers, the dirt becomes mud, and it’s impossible to continue.
“I think that’s it.” Maren claps her hands, sounding perky in a way I’ve never heard her as she turns to her sister. “You ready to go get some ice cream?”
“But I didn’t get to pet the goats.” Zara’s little chin wobbles. “I hate my chair.”
“I’m sure we can find you some goats to pet somewhere else.” Maren’s tone is patient and gentle as she crouches down. “Maybe we can come back later in the year when it’s a little drier.”
Or, maybe I could just buy this place. Call the blacktop company who does the lots at McKinley Security Systems, and have them add pathways so every kid can enjoy it.
That seems like the most logical thing to do.