Chapter 2
The wall was shaking.
I had never been a morning person so it took longer than it should have to pull the covers off my head. The guest room in my brother’s apartment wasn’t where I wanted to be, but it had seemed like the best option after I lost my own place. I knew he wouldn’t say no. We were as different as brothers could be, but Van always came through for me.
He was the happy-go-lucky one, the perfect foil to my perpetually annoyed personality, so I’d figured living with him would beat living with my little sister or god forbid, my parents. However, when I’d made my calculations on the least offensive place to land after being made unexpectedly homeless, I hadn’t known about one vital factor.
A vital factor that my older brother was head-over-heels for.
My sleep fog had finally cleared enough for me to figure out what the bang, bang, bang on the wall was about. The sound was muffled, but I couldn’t escape the way my own bedframe shook from the vibrations.
Nothing like waking up to hearing your brother having sex in the other room.
After I was done gagging, I leaned over and pounded against the wall.
“Some of us are trying to sleep!”
It was quiet for a few seconds then I heard muffled laughter. A few minutes later the bedsprings started squeaking.
“I really need to move,” I grumbled before yanking the covers back over my head.
I thought fondly of the garage apartment I used to share with my girlfriend in town. Ex-girlfriend, I reminded myself. I had gotten lucky when I found that place. It had been perfect. Cheap. Close to town. And most of all, quiet.
Well, unless you counted the sound of Janelle screaming at me whenever she didn’t get her way.
After another round of laughter from the next room, I decided coffee had to be better than trying not to hear my brother and his girlfriend making up. Don’t get me wrong. I was happy for Van. Before they got back together, he’d been a mess and miserable company at the shop. He was the friendly one who handled customers at our family hardware store while I did the inventory and anything that kept me away from people. But the way he’d been acting the last few months, most of the customers had given him a wide berth.
Anything that would cause people to ask for my help had to be bad.
I opened my bedroom door just in time to see my brother’s naked ass going into the hall bathroom. His hips were bracketed by the pair of long, slim legs wrapped around his waist.
“My eyes!”
Beth squeaked in surprise and buried her face in Van’s shoulder right before he slammed the door behind them.
I slapped my palms against my forehead as I contemplated my sins. Whatever I did in a past life was clearly catching up with me this year.
“I seriously have to move.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was leaning against the fridge, watching the coffee pot desperately when Van made his next appearance. There were scratch marks all over his chest and his hair, a slightly darker brown than mine, was sticking out in every direction. I hung my head to hide my amusement.
“Morning, bro. A very good morning it seems.”
He gave me the finger before grabbing a bottle of orange juice out of the fridge and drinking straight from the container.
“Dehydrated?”
“Exhausted. God, that woman is a wildcat.”
I covered my ears playfully before turning back to the coffee pot.
Country Club Beth was definitely not what I would have envisioned for my brother, but he’d been completely wrapped around her stiletto since he met her at some business conference in DC a few years back. I was happy for him but a little worried about how quickly he’d fallen. Maybe I was just being overly cautious since my heart still bore footprints from my last girlfriend trampling all over it. It seemed to be an Evers family trait for the men to fall for women way out of our league.
Once Van was no longer dying of thirst, he fixed startling blue eyes on me. “How goes the apartment search?”
“Is that your not-subtle-at-all way of telling me to get out? Classy.”
He rolled his eyes. “Do I want to bang in the morning without your ear plastered to the wall? Yes. But I’m not kicking you out. Yet.”
“I appreciate the generosity. Nothing in town is affordable anymore. When did Violet Ridge get so expensive?”
“Ever since all these city folk started buying up all the real estate.” He said the last part quietly since Beth’s parents were part of the city folk in question.
“I guess I could go stay with mom and dad.”
We both shuddered at the thought. If I was traumatized by the sight of Van’s naked ass, the last thing I needed was to see my father’s. Again.
Yes, you heard right. The last time I stayed at home I caught my parents going at it on the kitchen counter. At least Van kept it in his room. Mostly.
Plus, he didn’t try to fix me up. I would rather walk around with a blindfold on than sit through another awkward dinner with my mom’s nail technician’s cousin’s daughter.
“I’ll get some earplugs.”
Van’s chest shook with laughter as he took another swig of orange juice. “Isn’t your friend Carter a real estate agent?”
“He’s either an agent or a broker. I can’t remember which.”
Carter had moved back to town recently to help his father recover from surgery. He’d been working remotely and driving back to Washington, DC, when necessary.
“Maybe he can help you find something outside of town. You’d have more room for all your stuff. Maybe even a studio where you could paint.”
He didn’t look at me as he said it, aware that it was a sensitive subject. The only reason Van knew I was still painting was because he’d seen my canvases when he helped me put some of my stuff in storage.
“Maybe. I’ll ask him the next time I see him.”
He shrugged. “There’s no rush. I’d rather you hang a little longer so you can find the right place than end up in another bad situation.”
“I thought the situation with Janelle was good. She seemed cool in the beginning.”
“They always do. Then the next thing you know all your shit is on the front lawn.” His eyes cut to the time on the microwave. “Hey, aren’t you scheduled to be at the shop this morning?”
“Is that the time? Fucking hell.”
I poured the coffee into a travel mug. The day was already a bust. I was late. I was hungry. And I still needed to shower. Then I thought about what had just happened in that shower.
Maybe I would shower at the gym later.
* * *
As soon as I cleared the door of Evers Hardware, my father looked up from behind the counter. His hair was naturally dirty blond and he had blue eyes, but other than that it was like looking at a middle-aged version of myself.
“You’re late!”
“Don’t ask!” I shouted back before heading for the back room where we had a small employee lounge.
Working for the family business wasn’t what I’d thought my life would be at twenty-eight years old, but it wasn’t a bad deal. I did the inventory for the hardware store and in exchange I could use the space to store the materials for my own business. Since I’d been working alongside my dad fixing things since I was a kid, it seemed like a natural fit to do odd jobs on the side. Before long I’d had so much work that it became a legitimate business.
A few minutes later, my dad pushed through the door and went to the coffee machine. He’d finally allowed me to upgrade it to a new one that didn’t scorch the beans.
“Son, I’ve been meaning to ask if you have time to do some work for the neighbors.”
“Of course. Which neighbors?”
“The Jeffries.”
I smiled. His next-door neighbors had lived here even longer than my parents and were one of those funny older couples who’d been together an ice age despite fighting constantly.
“Pearl wants one of those she-sheds she saw on TV. You know Hal is too old to build anything like that.”
“I’ll stop by this weekend.”
He nodded. “He almost called that company all the way over in Springfield until I told him you could do it. Give me some of those cards with your business name. I can pass them out at church.”
I pulled out the fancy business cards Tana ordered for me. It was stupid to have business cards in a town as small as Violet Ridge, but she’d insisted it was part of my “branding.” Whatever.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“What are you thanking him for?” Mom asked. She was wearing one of the plaid shirts she always said made her feel “handy” and carrying a pool inflatable.
She had some unorthodox ideas about how to compete with the big-box stores popping up in nearby towns. Dad wasn’t as adventurous when it came to our inventory, but she had a way of wearing him down. Ways I did not want to think about.
“I got him another job!” Dad crowed with delight. “He’s going to build one of those she-sheds for Pearl.”
“That’s nice of you,” Mom said before leaning down to kiss my cheek.
“It’s no big deal. It’s just business.” I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice. It wasn’t their fault that I’d rather be painting canvases than fences. They didn’t even know I was still painting. Van was the only one who knew. It was something I preferred to keep private. Not that the rest of my family wouldn’t support me. The opposite, in fact.
They’d all be excited and interested which would only make it worse if it didn’t work out. Especially my mom. She’d given up on her art degree when she got pregnant with my brother. It would make her so happy to think I was doing something with my art, and I wasn’t sure I could deal with the weight of her dreams on top of my own.
“Have you guys heard of any rooms to rent in town?”
Dad looked amused. “I thought you were staying with your brother?”
“I am. I was just wondering.”
He chuckled. “If the lovebirds are too much to handle you could just come home. Perfectly good room just sitting empty.”
“Like you and Mom are any better?”
Dad looked affronted. “Maria, how did we raise such prudes?”
Mom laughed. “He has a point.”
Still smiling at their predictable banter, I grabbed an extra Evers Hardware shirt and yanked it over my head. As they went back up front, I took a deep breath and tried to prepare myself mentally for another day of manning the register and answering questions in the event that my father was busy with another customer. After that, I’d go work on a side job repairing a fence before heading home. Then I’d watch some TV, eat whatever Van had in his refrigerator, and go to sleep. Just to do it again the next day.
There was nothing wrong with my life. It was a simple life but filled with good, honest work, friends, and family. Maybe it was getting dumped by my girlfriend or some sort of almost-thirty life crisis, but I couldn’t help wondering if this was it.
Was this all I could expect out of life?