Still Crushing on His Best Friend’s Older Sister: Cates Brothers # 2

by Kilraine, Lee

  “What?” Claire and Bonnie stared down at the cake in disbelief. “They’re gorgeous.”

  “They’re deadly.” Sherry took a second step back. “Wolfsbane, oleander, lantana, nightshade, bloodroot and hemlock.”

  “This is just like last year’s hot rod club all over again, isn’t it?” Lu squeezed her hands tight together in her lap. “I’m sorry, Sherry. I’m hopeless.”

  “Oh, honey, they appreciated the great detail work you put into the Mustang. They said you made it sexy and had every detail perfect, down to the tire size.” Bonnie nodded her head pertly.

  Claire’s eyes widened. “They just would have preferred it without the deer through the windshield and massive front-end damage. That’s all.”

  Lu’s head fell against the wall with a thunk. Her voice quivered. “I should be better than this by now. I mean, people deal with death every damn day. Why am I so…stuck?”

  “Lu, it’s perfectly normal. Don’t you worry your head about it.” Bonnie tucked a tissue in Lu’s clenched fist.

  Sherry stepped forward, nodding quickly. “Sure, Lu. The cake really is beautiful. I’m sure our members will get a kick out of the cake. I mean, deadly plants…how c-cool is that, right? Bonnie, just put this amazing cake on our tab.” Sherry closed the lid of the cake box, slid it into her arms, and backed carefully out the door. “Great cake, Lu. Uh, just great.”

  The bell jangled in the quiet bakery. Only the swish of the front door and the buzz of the overhead lights accompanied the bell.

  “I’m really sorry. I think it’s time for me to quit. It’s been almost three years and it isn’t fair for me to drag the business down with me.”

  “No. Lu, it’s because the anniversary of Joe’s death is coming up. It’s always hard for you. That’s completely normal. You just need to take some time off.”

  “Claire has that exactly right. Oh, I’ve got just the thing.” Bonnie leaned down under the counter, pulling her gypsy style, oversized quilted fabric purse up and onto the counter. She started rooting through it, tossing papers and items all over the space. “I know I put it in here somewhere.”

  Lu looked wide-eyed at the growing collection of items Bonnie pulled from her bag like she was a real-life Mary Poppins. Paperbacks, hair clips, baby rattle, a sandwich bag of neatly folded tissues, lip balm, the latest gossip tabloid, a hairbrush…a jar of peanut butter? She stood up to peek over Bonnie’s shoulder, sure the bag had to be empty. Nope.

  “Here it is!” Bonnie waved a creased travel brochure around in the air. “I found this in a magazine at the dentist’s office and thought of you, Lu. It’s a two-week Caribbean cruise for singles.”

  “Thanks, Bon, but I don’t think so.” She shook her head, unable to imagine a worse idea. Two weeks of “scheduled fun” with a boatload of drunk strangers. Yippee. She started handing Bonnie back the contents to reload her purse. “I know I need something, but not that.”

  “How about a fishing and camping excursion? You used to love—” Bonnie stopped talking when Claire coughed. “Oh, yeah, never mind. I just remembered the…um, the mosquitoes are real bad this time of year.”

  “You just remembered Joe and I fished and camped in high school all the time. It’s okay to say his name. I don’t want people to stop talking about Joe like he didn’t exist just because I’m...” She passed down Bonnie’s wallet, her lip gloss, the paperback book, and the tabloid. And little Ella’s baby rattle. “…stuck.”

  “Geez, I’m sorry, Lu.” Bonnie snatched the rattle out of her hand and tossed it in her purse. “I forgot that was in there from church.”

  “Don’t apologize, Bon! I’m so happy for you and Jimbo, I could bust.” She reached over and squeezed Bonnie’s hand. “I appreciate you thinking of me with the brochure and all, but I don’t need love. I had my once-in-a lifetime love. I’m just looking to get unstuck.”

  Her gaze landed on the tabloid’s full-color, front-page photo, and the breath seized in her lungs at the face staring up at her. The happy, laughing face of the last man to talk with Joe before he died. Her hand clenched around the tabloid, scrunching up the man’s smile until it disappeared into the folds. She looked up at her friends, but their faces blurred, as if they stood looking behind a rainy window.

  “It’s okay, Lu. Everyone understands.”

  But they didn’t. And how could they when she didn’t understand it either? She wasn’t the only person to ever lose someone. Or was this how it was for everyone? It sure didn’t seem like it. She pulled herself together and slid on a reassuring smile. “I know. I’m going to sit outside to get some air.”

  The bell tinkled as she swung the door open, leaving their hushed whispers inside. She slumped onto the bench in front of the bakery, lifting her face to the sunshine. How did they keep putting up with her? Hell, she was sick of herself. Sick of feeling stuck in this sucking sadness. She swatted the paper onto the palm of her hand so hard it stung. Serves me right. I’m a pain in the ass to everyone else, even if they’re too nice to admit it.

  The paper crinkled in her hands and she unrolled it, staring again at the smiling faces in the photo. Her eyes skimmed the headline: “World’s Sexiest Man off the Market.” It wasn’t the newly engaged movie star who drew Lu’s attention, though. No, it was his brother, standing next to him. Joe’s rifle squad leader, Staff Sergeant Tynan Cates. She’d never met the man, but she had a vague memory of Joe telling her his sergeant had a famous brother. He looked happy, his big, wide smile flashing up at her. Taunting her.

  He’d lost a few men in the firefight that took Joe. That had to be devastating, but here he was, laughing. Had she laughed at all in the last three years? If she had, she didn’t remember it. Of course that first year after Joe’s death was a blur. Some days still were. Some days were just going through the motions so the people who loved her could worry a little less. She couldn’t keep on going like this, though.

  How had he moved on? Did he know some trick? Have a great therapist? She wanted to know the secret. Maybe if she could talk to him for an hour, he’d tell her how he did it.

  “Hey, Lu. How are you?”

  She looked up into Joe’s eyes. What? She used her hand to block out the sun’s rays slicing into her vision. No. Not Joe’s. Joe’s older brother, Cameron. “Hey, Cam. I’m okay, just thinking I need a change.”

  “Say the word and I’ll help.” Cam sat down next to her, looking her over, searching her face. “It’s been hard watching you go through this.”

  Her gaze fell away from his as guilt smacked her down. Here she was, selfishly wallowing, while Cam had quietly sucked up the pain of losing his brother and moved on with his life. And he’d more than tried to help over the last three years. Every time she turned around, he was there for her. Lu shook her head and pointed down to the smiling face in the paper. “Hey, look who’s in the paper? I thought the unit was deployed overseas right now?”

  “They might be.” Cam shrugged and glanced down at the paper in her hand. “Sergeant Cates? He’s civilian now. He visited Ma about a year after Joe’s funeral, asking if there was anything he could do to help. He lives right over in Climax.”

  “I was thinking maybe what I need is closure. To force myself to hear the real details.” Lu knew she’d fold at the real details, but she figured Cam would think she was crazy if she said one look at Cates’s laughing face and, like a vision, she was sure the man held the key to getting unstuck. Maybe she was crazy. “You know, not the government’s sterile version.”

  “I don’t know, Lu.” His forehead wrinkled low and he tugged his ear. “It seems like that might be a step in the wrong direction, you know?”

  “I’ve spent three years blocking everything relating to Joe out—”

  “I know.” His eyes, too much like Joe’s, were warm and understanding. “We’ve missed you.”

  “I’m sorry. Anyway, it hasn’t worked.” She refused to let her eyes tear up. She bit the inside of her lip, focusing on the pain instead
. Her hands clenched into fists, crumpling the paper, the smiling face folding up like an accordion. “So, I thought I might go talk to Sergeant Cates.”

  Cam looked at the paper in her hands and shook his head. “Two years ago he looked a little rough himself and only repeated the military findings. I don’t think you’ll find any answers there, Lu.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. It’s a stupid idea. Maybe I just need to get away for a few weeks. That way, even if it doesn’t help me, at least Bonnie and Claire will get a break.”

  “Everyone understands.” Cam patted her awkwardly on her shoulder. “But I think getting away for a few weeks is a great idea. I could—”

  “I’m going to visit my Aunt Steph in Charleston.” Lu couldn’t let Cam finish. The last thing she wanted Cam to do was play martyr to help her. “She’s been on me for a while to visit and now feels like a good time.”

  But Lu knew she’d plot her trip with a detour through Climax, NC. Maybe Cam was right and Cates wouldn’t open up to Joe’s fiancée, but he just might open up to a stranger. All she had to do was figure out a way to be around him. She’d stay there long enough to see how former Staff Sergeant Tynan Cates had moved on with his life. She had nothing to lose.

  * * *

  Nine hours and forty-two minutes. A new damn record for how long he’d lasted in a suit, and Tynan Cates had hated every second of it. The jacket and tie were the first to go. He rolled the cuffs back and released a few buttons of his shirt until the choking feeling left him. The dress slacks and shirt would disappear as soon as he got back home, but he had a toast to make first. Because he didn’t keep alcohol at his house, it meant stopping in at Yadkin’s Depot for a drink.

  He winced at the idea of talking to more people. He’d spent the day doing that at the funeral, but wasn’t that the whole point of not keeping booze at his house? To force him out of the isolation he’d hidden in when he’d first gotten home from Afghanistan. He liked people just fine, but today had been a rough day. So he’d slip into the Depot, raise a glass to a fallen comrade, and then head home to solitude.

  The twang of an old country song and the light chatter of conversation washed over him as he entered the bar. Thank hell it was a weekday because that meant the crowd was light and the music mellow. His hope of parking himself at the polished oak bar was dashed when he saw his brothers’ fiancées motioning him over to one of the large round tables.

  Avery stood and gave him a hug and Delany patted his shoulder. They made room at the table, sitting him between them. Probably so they could grill him, but he grinned anyway. He liked his future sisters-in-law. They were both nicer than they were pretty, and that was saying something. His brothers had good taste in women, that was for sure.

  “I’m so sorry, Tynan.” Avery reached over and wrapped his hand in both of hers. “Why didn’t you ask one of us to go with you?”

  Delaney leaned into his space. “Yeah, you big dummy. You don’t need to be the strong, silent type around us.”

  “I didn’t tell anyone in the family. How did you—oh, the Grapevine.” He nodded, looking around for the waitress. “Figures.”

  “Well, actually, it was the clothing that gave you away.” Avery patted the turned-up cuff on his forearm. “Everyone knows there are only two things that get you in a suit and you look too somber for a wedding.”

  Cindee stopped at their table and slid a Guinness in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at her because it wasn’t his usual drink.

  “I saw the suit pants. Sorry about your buddy.” Cindee cleared her throat and nodded before heading back to the bar to pick up another order.

  Tynan lifted his beer. “To John Kyle. A hell of a soldier, but an even better man. Godspeed, John Kyle.”

  “Godspeed.” Delaney and Avery raised their glasses with him.

  Tynan ended the quiet moment with a shake of his head. “Okay, enough sadness. I had enough of that all day long.”

  “Are you sure you’re good?” Delaney slowed him down with a hand on his biceps while she tried to peer closely into his eyes. “Because I don’t want this to hit you when you’re all alone at three in the morning.”

  He grinned at her. “Who says I’m planning to be alone at three in the morning?”

  “You might actually try a relationship, you know.” Avery swatted him on his other arm. “That goes beyond the bedroom.”

  “Hey, it’s not my fault my brothers snatched up the best women first.” Tynan wrapped an arm around each of them. “Seriously, if I can find a woman as perfect as you two, I’ll grab her up and never let her go.”

  “Sure you will. You, sir, are a player.”

  “Well, he sure played me.”

  Tynan looked over to see that his date from the week before had paused next to the table. A date that didn’t end well. Oh hell. “Caryn. You’re looking beautiful, as alw—”

  “Rat bastard. No wonder you couldn’t perform. You were probably exhausted from spreading yourself around.” Caryn’s gaze raked over both Avery and Delaney before landing on him. “Player? Hell, you’re more like a gigolo. You’re welcome to him, ladies.”

  Tynan opened his mouth to say something as Caryn walked away, but Avery gave his forearm a warning squeeze. Probably smarter. He’d made a mistake and a nice woman had suffered for it. Not his plan at all.

  He reached for his beer but paused when he realized both women were looking at him as if he’d grown another head. “What?”

  “Nothing. Nothing at all.” Avery raised her eyebrows.

  “Unless there’s something you want to talk about.” Delaney waited expectantly. “I mean, we’re here for you, because there are some things you might not want to talk to your brothers about.”

  “I’m good. Nothing to talk about.” Talk about his sex life with his brothers’ fiancées? Were they kidding? He shook his head, maybe a bit too vigorously. The frowns on their faces told him it was time to leave. He glanced at his watch. “Whoa. Look how late it is.”

  “It’s not even nine o’clock, ace.”

  “It’s been a long day”—Tynan pushed back from the table and stood up—“and it’s going to be hard to get up early tomorrow.”

  “We offered to talk that over with you.” Delaney kept a totally straight face.

  “Very funny.” He frowned, then bent down and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. “Seriously, I’m fine. And I do have to get to work early. I’m starting the library reno tomorrow.”

  Avery snapped her fingers. “That reminds me. Sijan had to catch his flight back to LA, but he said to tell you he handled those interviews for you today, and he hired one of them to start tomorrow. The application is on your kitchen table. He said he left a message on your phone.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Tynan left a twenty on the table and headed out to his truck and home. He’d been hoping to hire a couple of new guys for this job, because the library was a total gut job. Bringing the electric to code alone was sure to be a pain in the ass. Plus, he had a bad feeling that too much of his time would be spent dealing with the town council instead of swinging a hammer.

  He’d escaped the bar without having a drink thrown in his face. Something he’d lived through once or twice, which wouldn’t surprise anyone who knew him. Sometimes he opened his mouth at the wrong time and said the wrong thing. He had a habit of saying whatever came to his mind. There were very few things he kept to himself, although he’d been hoping this thing with Caryn was one of them.

  He wouldn’t have blamed her one bit if she’d tossed a drink in his face, but he was fine not having that story go roaring through the Climax Grapevine. He had also escaped without having to discuss the details of his sex life with Delaney or Avery. He was chalking that up as a win. And one new guy on the crew was better than none, right?

  Leaning over, he grabbed his phone out of his glove compartment, where he’d stashed it before the funeral. He turned it back on and checked his voice mail. Three messages. The message from his brother Sijan, tellin
g him about the guy he’d hired. He could use more, but not with the budget the town council had allotted him.

  A drunk call from one of his squadron mates. Tynan had left before the drinking had started since he’d had a few hours to drive. Apparently, Wojciehowicz loved him, man.

  He saw a missed call from the veterans’ nursing home. Crap. He’d probably done something wrong again. Last time they’d called because while they appreciated him informing the veterans about STDs, they didn’t think the Victoria’s Secret catalogue was a necessary visual aid. Please. The men were old—not dead. And he’d promised to bring a Muscle & Fitness magazine for the ladies next time. Whatever.

  The final message was from his brother Kaz, telling him he now understood the dog’s name and they’d be over at Tynan’s waiting for him. Hell, he didn’t know what he was going to do about his new dog. He’d adopted him three months ago from the pound and the dog had become a regular escape artist.

  When he pulled onto his driveway, his headlights cut across the front porch and he saw both his dog and Kaz sitting at the edge of the steps. His dog hopped over to greet him, sitting down about ten feet from him, unsure but wagging his tail furiously.

  “You could have warned me, Ty. It took me an hour of looking to figure out he wasn’t hiding but had actually left my house. I’m still not sure how he got out.” Kaz stood up from the steps and moved down toward them. “He was halfway to your house by the time I found him. He moves pretty fast for a dog with only three legs.”

  “Sorry. He’s been showing up at my jobsite, and I thought he was escaping because my kitchen door lock is so old.” Tynan squatted down next to his truck and reached his hand out palm up for the dog to sniff, which he did cautiously before moving to nuzzle his head under his hand. “Hey, Houdini. We’re going to have to talk about this escape act of yours, buddy.”

  Houdini whimpered and licked Tynan’s chin. In the time he’d had the dog, Ty was amazed at his sweetness after all the poor dog had lived through in his short life.