Brothers of Miller Ranch Box Set

by Natalie Dean

  “Why no green?” Dani asked, looking around with a bored expression.

  Sophia knew that fashion wasn’t really Dani’s deal unless it was socks. The woman had a weird obsession with colorful and silly socks, ranging from multicolor neons to ones covered with cartoon characters.

  “It brings out the green in your skin tone. Not really what we want to emphasize.”

  Missy whistled. “Man, this stuff is such a science. I don’t know how you remember all of it.”

  Chastity shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been interested in it way back in the day, ever since the costuming from drama club.”

  “Wait,” Sophia said, eyes going wide. “You were in drama club? Did you do any shows with Bradley?” How did she not know that? If Chastity was involved with acting, maybe she would have insider knowledge about that part of Bradley’s life.

  “Oh no, he was a freshman after I graduated. My era was with the eldest three Miller brothers.”

  “Actually, I was the one who was in drama club with Bradley,” Keiko said, carefully sipping coffee through a long straw. “I think he was the one who figured out my unorthodox eating schedule and tattled on me. He was the only one who liked reading as much as I did, so we spent a lot of time together.”

  Sophia certainly hadn’t expected it, but a spike of jealousy lanced through her. That was incredibly silly of her. “Oh, did uh, something happen between you two?”

  Keiko took a long sip of her coffee. “Why do you ask?”

  “Aw, come off it,” Dani said, nudging her. “This is a shopping spree, not the time for you to analyze all our innermost secrets.”

  Keiko chuckled lightly. “Fine. If you’re asking if we dated or anything, I was completely uninterested in anyone at the time. All that mattered to me were calories and trying to keep germs off of all of my things in the middle of a building packed to the brim with hormonal teenagers.”

  “Yikes.”

  “Yeah, that about sums it up. But if he was the one who tattled on me, I owe him a great debt.”

  “Is that why you approached me in the church?” Chastity said like she’d just had a personal revelation. “Because you owed the Miller family a debt?”

  “No, I owe Bradley a debt specifically. You, I dunno, I guessed I just sensed that you were hurting in a way that was familiar to me.”

  “You sure are something, Keiko.”

  She took another long sip of her coffee. “So, I’ve heard. But I believe we’re here for shopping for intimates and other things, so how about that negligee store?”

  She pointed at one of the entrances that was all done up with fancy curtains, and Sophia could smell the perfume from where she was. Chastity must have seen the expression on her face, because she steered Sophia in another direction. “How about a manicure first? We abuse our hands enough on the farm, might as well pamper them while we’re here.”

  “I’ve never had a professional manicure before,” Sophia said, spotting the nail place Chastity was steering her too. “Is it fun?”

  “The good ones give you a nice massage,” Missy said, coming up alongside them. “You know, Chastity was the one who took me to my first professional manicure too. I’ve been addicted ever since.”

  The dark-haired Chastity snorted. “Addicted? You get them once every three months and only when I’m in town.”

  “Doesn’t mean I’m not addicted. I’m just busy.”

  Sophia let out a small breath, glad that she was rescued for a moment from the looming lingerie store. Suddenly, she was beginning to wonder if shopping was a bad idea.

  Too late to back out now, she supposed.

  The manicure experience was actually nice. It was relaxing, and they really did give a great massage on her hands and even up her forearms. The only real downside of it was that she got a text on her phone and couldn’t answer it until her hands sat under their weird UV light thing.

  Oh yeah, Bradley had gotten her a new phone on his family’s plan. She had fully intended on buying one of the nicer track phones out there but had been procrastinating. Having a phone was nice, but she also worried it was another way for her ex to hunt her down.

  But then, one day, a package had been sitting for her on Bradley’s couch when she went up to his office for lunch. She’d looked at him curiously, but he had pretended like it wasn’t even there, the sly dog.

  So now she had a shiny, very nice phone that was basically bigger than her hand. She had a new number, and she didn’t have to worry about minutes or limits on texting or anything. She also didn’t have to worry about any weird hacking mojo or police stuff considering the phone wasn’t in her name, it was in the Miller’s, and she doubted even her ex’s father would have that much clout. The Millers were kind of a big deal, and she was only beginning to understand what that meant.

  But in any case, having a phone meant being able to get texts, but she never really got any because the only people who had her number were the ones who she was around all the time anyway.

  So curiosity ate at her more and more until finally, she was able to pull her phone out.

  For a moment, she was afraid of the worst. But then she saw Bradley’s name sitting there at the top of the message. He must have programmed it into the phone before she got it, because she hadn’t put it in there yet.

  How’s the shopping going?

  Wasn’t that just the sweetest thing? The fact that he took the time to make sure she always had a way to talk to him made her heart melt in a ridiculous way. Geez, when had she become such a sap?

  We got our nails done.

  Haha, of course. That’s become Chastity’s go to when out with the girls.

  Before she could type a response, another text came through.

  What color did you pick?

  She smiled giddily to herself as she answered.

  Take a wild guess.

  …Pink?

  Instead of answering with words, she held the phone out and took a pic of her nails in front of her smiling face.

  You got it!

  They look pretty.

  She didn’t know what possessed her, but she quickly typed out a response. Do I look pretty?

  Always.

  She couldn’t stand it anymore. She set her phone down so she could kick out her legs a little, clapping quietly to herself. But of course her actions didn’t go unnoticed, and Dani sent her a curious look.

  “Did you just get shocked, or something?”

  “No, just happy thoughts.”

  “About your man?”

  Sophia knew their whole thing was fake, she really did. But she still couldn’t help but look down at her phone with glee. “Yeah.”

  “Good. You deserve to be happy. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah, I’m finally starting to get that picture.”

  “You know, it took me a while too. To let my walls down, to trust people. But when I did, I got Benji, so believe me when I say it’s worth it.”

  “Is it?”

  Dani smiled serenely, and it was probably the first time Sophia had ever seen an expression like that on her. “Yeah. It really is.”

  Sophia took all of that in and turned it over in her head, sliding her phone back into her hoody pocket. And she kept on thinking about it as the rest of the girls finished up and they headed into the lingerie store.

  But goodness, once they were inside of those walls, it was hard not to imagine wearing those skimpy and lacey things for Bradley. That made her feel a certain type of way that she hadn’t in a long time. A heated, intense sort of longing filled her and made her thoughts go all sorts of ways that she wasn’t used to.

  Eventually, Missy noticed her discomfort and declared that three of the sets they had picked out for her were enough and took her to the bathing suit section. But then it was time for them to try those on over their underthings, and Sophia was suddenly subject to a very fleshy fashion show.

  Geeze, all the women were so beautiful. It was no wonder why they’
d caught the Miller brothers’ eyes. Chastity was curvy with a soft little tummy that looked just right on her, her long hair framing her like some sort of princess.

  And Missy? Missy was basically a classic bombshell, all curves and feminine with strong arms and muscle lines down her thick thighs.

  Then there was Dani, who was exactly what all the boys she’d known back in the city would drool over. She had wide hips and a full backside that reminded her a lot of older art depicting women from long ago.

  Then, finally, there was Keiko, the slender one of the group, and she looked like a porcelain doll. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have much cleavage or thick thighs. She was flawless, and it boggled Sophia’s mind that the woman had once hated herself, once been so sick, that she couldn’t even eat.

  It was all so intimidating that she could only stand there in the changing room, three different one pieces laid out in front of her.

  “You know, I can’t believe the store has such a good plus-size selection,” Dani said from the other side of the door. “Normally, I can only find this sort of stuff online.”

  “Yeah, this is one of the few stores that’s pretty inclusive,” Chastity said from a few stalls over. “It was always too expensive for me to go into before, but, yeah, you know how it is now.”

  “Times have certainly changed,” Missy said. “Sometimes I catch myself doing something, and I marvel that two years ago, I never would have been able to even dream of anything like that.”

  “Yeah, the Millers are certainly a force of nature,” Dani added, finally coming out of her stall. “Sometimes it feels like I’m being swept up and I don’t know where I’m going to end up.”

  “Yeah, but it’s exciting, isn’t it?”

  “That’s one way to put it.’

  Sophia listened, her mind full, until someone knocked on her door.

  “Hey,” it was Missy’s voice. “You okay in there.”

  “Yeah. I just, uh, I guess I’m feeling a little self-conscious.”

  “Aw, why? You’re so pretty.”

  “Thanks. But I… I guess I don’t feel that way right now. It’s all a lot.”

  “Well, we’re all changed back into our street clothes. Do you maybe just wanna catch some lunch instead?”

  Sophia sighed gratefully, relief flooding her. “Yeah, I’d like that a lot.”

  “Oh, can we go to that Chinese place?” Keiko asked. “I swear, they have the fakest, most American food, but I love it so much.”

  Sophia hung the bathing suits on the hook of the door, still on their hangers. Swinging it open, she saw the four women looking at her with love and concern. That was right about when a thought hit her.

  She had friends.

  Real friends.

  She’d had some when she was younger, but the last time she remembered having a crew she could hand out with was when she was seventeen.

  That was a long time ago.

  “Yeah, I could go for some mall Chinese food,” she said.

  They all headed together there as a group, and that feeling of belonging flooded her once more. Strange to think that it had only taken one brave man in a small-town inn to completely turn her life around.

  She guessed fate was funny like that.

  Thankfully, there wasn’t a long line at any of the places in the food court, and they all scattered to find their favorites. Sophia, Keiko, and Dani all got the very American interpretation of Chinese food, while Chastity got some Tex-Mex and Missy loaded up on two burgers, fries, chicken nuggets, and a milkshake. Sophia had no idea where she put all of it. While Missy was broad with that Marilyn Monroe figure and biceps that looked like they could choke out a man, she wasn’t rotund by any means.

  But despite their separate taste, all of them joined up again and sat at one of the bigger tables. It was like the diner, only louder and with less emotional analyzing from Keiko. It was real nice, and Sophia felt her anxiety about the lingerie fade away.

  Or at least, it did until Chastity was suddenly looking at her far too intensely.

  “What?” Sophia asked, picking up a napkin and patting around her mouth to make sure she didn’t have sesame sauce or something like that on her face.

  “So, this thing with you and Bradley.”

  The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “You mean our engagement?”

  “Yeah. That.”

  She could tell that Chastity was trying to pick her words carefully, to not spook her, but that made Sophia tense up that much more. “What about it?”

  “Is it real? Or is it just some sort of thing that’s supposed to deter your ex?”

  Huh, there it was. Out loud and in the open for everyone to know. Sophia had always thought that someone would eventually figure it out, but now that it happened, she could only stare at her food.

  It had been so easy to pretend that what they had was real if no one else knew. To live in her little bubble of fake romance and charm. Now that someone else knew, everything was shattered to pieces in front of her.

  “It’s okay.” Missy reached over to her, her larger hand resting over Sophia’s. “I think the more important question is: do you want it to be real?”

  Sophia was still for a long moment, her brain clamoring loudly. When she could eventually speak, her mouth was so dry that she had to take a few gulps of her soda.

  “Yeah, it is. And yes, I do. Is that… stupid of me?”

  “How could it be stupid?”

  “It’s stupid because I’ve been running from a man since I was twenty, and I’ve fallen in love with the first man I’ve had prolonged contact with that isn’t my ex. And if it’s not stupid, then maybe it’s desperate. Or naïve. Or, I dunno, something.”

  “No, honey. No, it’s not.” Chastity reached forward too, her hands resting over Missy’s. It was a little stack of sisterly support, and Sophia could feel herself tear up already.

  Geez, when had she gotten so sappy? He would have never allowed it. He couldn’t stand tears. Said that they were a weapon to manipulate him.

  But she didn’t have to worry about stuff like that anymore. She was safe.

  Keiko’s voice was kind as she draped her arm over Sophia’s shoulders. But then again, when wasn’t she kind?

  “I’ve known Bradley for a long time, and we both read books because we were looking for something that we were missing. Things we found in the pages that weren’t in the real world. He looks at you the same way he would look at a really good book. Like it was exactly what he was missing, and he finally found it. That’s not something you can fake.”

  “I don’t know about that…”

  “I do. Trust me. I’m good at reading people.”

  Sophia managed a faint chuckle. “Yeah, I have first-hand experience of that.”

  A snapping sound drew Sophia’s attention, and her gaze automatically flicked to Dani. The normally pale woman was a bright and angry red. The plastic fork in her hand was snapped right in two, that must have been where the sound came from, but her gaze was decidedly over Sophia’s shoulder.

  “What…?”

  “We should go,” she said firmly. “We should go right now.”

  “Whoa, Dani. What bee got up in your bonnet?”

  But Sophia knew. She didn’t want to believe it, but deep down, she knew exactly what Dani was looking at that way.

  Or rather, who.

  She jumped to her feet, grabbing her purse and bags to race off, but then he called out to her.

  “Sophie!”

  She froze in place, her heart hammering in her chest. For a moment, she had no idea what to do and she just stood there.

  But unlike all those other times, she wasn’t alone. All four of the women made a protective circle around her, tensed like they were ready for battle.

  Because that’s what it was, wasn’t it? A battle. Her nemesis, her mortal enemy, had finally showed up for the confrontation that she’d managed to dodge for so long.

  “I’m calling the poli
ce!” Chastity said. They were starting to get looks from the other folks in the place, but none of the women seemed to care. Her ex really must have been desperate, to try to approach her in such a public place. “You stay there!”

  “I have a right to see my own fiancé!”

  Suddenly something snapped within Sophia, and a fire blazed within her. Or maybe that fire had always been there and she just had never given it enough fuel to become the inferno it wanted to be.

  “I am not your fiancé!” she cried, whirling to him. She was so tired of running. Of being scared. Of acting like an animal that was being hunted by some big, bad predator.

  Unlike he’d always tried to make her believe, Sophia knew she wasn’t actually weak. She wasn’t useless. She was a woman and a human and so many things.

  “You do not own me. Nor do you have any say in what I do. Do you understand me?” she stepped out of the protective circle of her friends; voice raised.

  He actually had the gall to look surprised for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

  Sophia clenched her fists at her side. “You are nothing to me but a bad memory. So get out of here and leave me alone!”

  He advanced on her, just like she guessed he would. “Being around all these rich folks has messed with your head. They’ve confused you, gotten your thoughts all twisted up. But you know you don’t belong in this world with them. They’ll just keep you around as long as you’re a novelty and then pitch you out like always.”

  He took a step towards her, trying to play up that charm that had first taken her in. But she had someone in her life who was actually charming, so she saw through him like glass.

  Her ex continued talking, spewing his lies, “Come on now, Sophia, who’s always been there for you? Protected you? Provided for you? I’m the only one who understands you, keeps you out of trouble.”