Once again she was picked up and carried to the bed, placing her in the middle while Adam climbed onto the left and Brett to her right. Brett had moved so she was resting her head on his chest while Adam spooned behind her. It had only been a few minutes when the soft snore of Adam sounded behind her and Brett’s breathing evened out. The silence started to eat at her. She was falling for two men who made her high school life hell along with their friends, but they didn’t know it was her. They slept with Ellie, but Evan was still there. They were the same person, she just needed to figure out who she really was, and she prayed that in the end it didn’t cost her everything.
Chapter Ten
The following morning had seemed normal but Brett could tell something was bothering Ellie. Did they scare her off with sleeping with them both? Some women didn’t like that, she didn’t stop at any time, and she encouraged them both. Adam made breakfast and they all sat down like a happy little family, eating, before Adam had to get dressed and head into work. He had a client coming in at nine and he couldn’t be late.
“Well I need to head home and check on Dad. He is going to be a little worried, I forgot to call last night. I can give you a call later, or should I call the company and ask for you? I’m not sure what the protocol is when working with someone directly. Normally I would just call and they would send whomever over.” He could tell she was nervous because she started rambling.
“You can call me, or text. I’ll put the request in at the office and then come out. I can set the crew up and such.” He just had to know, it was eating at him. “Peaches, are you okay? We didn’t scare you last night, did we?”
The look she gave him told him that wasn’t it and she was shocked by the question. “Oh God! No, Brett. What we did last night was well, amazing. I’m not ashamed by it at all. Why would you think that?”
He covered her hands with his. “You just seem kinda jumpy, like something is bothering you. Is it your dad, the work on the shop?”
“Yeah, I haven’t told my dad yet. I want to look into options for him first before I do anything.”
“Well when you do, make sure Adam checks them out before you do anything. He may be family law, but he can do just about anything in those law books.” He kissed her forehead and he could see her already calming down some.
“You’re right, well I’m gonna head home and change. I’ll text you later, okay?” He nodded and walked her out to her car, but not before kissing her, reminding her she was theirs. Theirs. He had never felt so possessive until now. She was theirs, and he would do anything to keep her that way. Ellie smiled sweetly at him before she left and drove home. He had a couple minutes before he had to head into work. But the anticipation of seeing her again, even if it was in a work capacity, made him look forward to the day’s events. He had meant to ask her to dinner again tonight before he got sidetracked, but he’d make sure when he saw her this afternoon to do that.
*****
Evan drove home making it inside before her dad was even up. Sneaking quietly into her room, she let the emotions out. She had started something with both of them, but it was based on a lie. What would they do? She had started to see what happened, but she never expected them to be different from her past. Tears flowed, but not because she was upset, or pitied from the mess she was in. No, she was mad. Mad at herself, mad that she did this to them, that she had even agreed to dinner. She was a gluten for punishment and it was going to bite her in the ass. Stripping out of the clothes she had on, she wrapped herself in her black and white polka dot robe and slippers, moving into the bathroom. She needed to wash before trying to figure out what to do.
Not to mention talking to her dad. He needed to know what was going on. It wasn’t right what was happening, but she also knew the insurance company needed someone to blame and since the cops said it wasn’t the idiot’s fault, they would blame her dad. His insurance rates would go up, and to add to the pile of shit they would only pay for some of it. Letting out a sigh, she washed and allowed the tears to flow some more. She would have to sell the shop, or could she just do some cutbacks and use some of the money on her dad? Determined to sit down and talk to him, she finished washing and made sure her face was dry so her dad couldn’t tell what was bothering her.
In her room, she dressed in jean shorts and an old ratty t-shirt. She had planned on working on the shop today, though she didn’t know how much. Heading into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, she saw her dad sitting in the living room eating some muffins she had gotten the other day at the store.
“Hey, pumpkin, how was your night?”
“Pretty good, how was yours? Anything interesting go on?”
“Nope not too much. Well except the insurance called me yesterday wanting to know what I was going to do about the accident. Made me wonder what they were talking about. Guess what I did next.” He smiled at her with a look of “you wanna tell me and come clean or do I have to continue.” He had perfected it over the years, and she knew she was busted.
“Look, Dad, I didn’t want to tell you right away. I’m sorry. I didn’t lie, honest. I was trying to figure out how to handle this situation before I broke the news.”
“But the thing is, Evangeline, I am the parent in this situation. I was also the one hit by the car, and it was my truck that was hit. Don’t you think I didn’t realize what could have happened? I can handle this. As it sits, I have talked with an attorney about doing a civil suit. He thinks we can win. I am meeting with him in two days to get the ball rolling, but it could take some time. I’m not one to roll over just cuz they kick me. Do you understand me?”
Evan felt herself being chastised for trying to look out for her dad, but it seemed he had already known.
“Dad, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. How are you going to afford the lawyer? I can use some money I have for the shop or even…”
“Enough. I got this. If I need your help, I will ask. Understand. You have your own life to live and you have been dealt a crappy hand growing up, and I’m sorry about that, but I will not let this stupid thing affect your future. Do you hear me? Now you get your butt into the shop and I will call you if I need to.” She nodded in agreement. It seemed that she wasn’t too old to be told what to do. Kissing her dad one last time, she also made sure to hand him the report the sheriff gave her about the case. Getting back into the car, she just prayed that the lawyer was good enough to actually win this one for them.
*****
Adam listened to his client go on and on about how their ex-wife wanted to take their children out of the country for a year so she could take a job. The father, who he was representing, didn’t feel it was necessary since the children were only eight and five. He wanted to keep the kids at home and be practically raised by the nanny. Either way Adam was getting annoyed by these stupid cases. He intended to help the dad, because even though the dad was an idiot and a workaholic, he had been the stronger parent for the children. They would be starting school in the fall and uprooting a child that young and moving them when it suited the parents wasn’t the best situation. He was happy when his phone buzzed distracting him for a moment.
“Graham,” Adam answered.
“Mr. Graham, your next appointment is here. Should I have her wait?”
“No, it’s okay. Just give me a minute and I will be right out.” Adam thanked his last client and practically pushed the man out of his office. He was annoying and he knew his next one was more sensitive than others.
“Come on back, April.” He followed the sweet woman who had come to him asking for help after leaving the police station. Her ex-boyfriend had stalked her and their two-year-old child. He was currently working with them to help find a place for them to start over. He had taken this case on as pro bono. She had offered to pay him several times, but he had seen the bruises firsthand. He handed her the papers with the location, and a job was already set up. It was in the middle of nowhere, but the police were monitoring her ex right now, and if he
messed up, he would end up in jail.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Graham. I promise, if there is anything I could do to pay you back for helping me. Please let me know,” she said between tears.
“You just take care of Milo and yourself and I will call it even.” He kissed her cheek, walking her out. Heading back into his office, he was already tired. Only half the day had gone by, and he had so much to do. Brett had texted him to let him know he would ask Ellie over for dinner tonight. He knew something was bothering her. Maybe it was her dad’s case. He made a note to ask her later about that tonight.
There was something about her that he couldn’t put his finger on that called to him. They had gone to high school together, he had brought up the reunion, and she had dismissed the subject without an answer. He might have to pull out his yearbook, but then again that would require going to his parents’ house. God, he had hated high school. Both he and Brett tried to live up to everyone’s standards. He had been dating Amanda at the time, even though she annoyed the hell out of him. Her constant shopping, granted in his young teens he was happy she put out, but it was nothing like Ellie. He was a stupid kid and if he could re-do it all over again, he would. He treated so many people like crap. He did okay in school, but if it wasn’t for his parents’ name, he didn’t know if Brett and he would have gone to college. He didn’t care about school, he thought he had money, a hot chick who slung leg when he wanted, and with his name, he never got in trouble for anything. God, he was a moron.
He looked at the plague hanging on his wall with a picture of him and his brother when he passed the bar. It had been a good day. His parents didn’t show up to the small party a few of his friends threw, but it ended up being better that way. They were still mad at his choice, but when he had stupid clients come in, he questioned it too. However, with April and cases like that, he was happy to do it. He had even helped kids who were in the wrong place/wrong time simply because their parents didn’t have the money to buy them out of the situation.
Heading to the coffee maker, he poured another cup and wondered for a split second what Brett was doing. He was to meet Ellie at her shop. Closing his eyes, he tried to relax before diving back into the paperwork that was growing by the minute.
*****
Evan looked at the shop and was happy to see the plumbing was going to be an easy fix, along with the back part of the shop. The front, well it needed a whole lot of work. She was now very grateful the previous owners also had a small shop in it because that made the lay out so much better. With a text already sent to Brett about a good time to come, well when it was convenient to him. Taking a broom, she started with the small tasks of sweeping. It would help her see more of the areas that needed work. Once she was satisfied that the floor was as clean as it would get without mopping or replacing it, she started wiping down the windowsills and areas that had the most dust. A knock on the window startled her. Glancing up, she saw Brett waving by the door. Walking over, she unlocked it and let him inside.
“Hey, peaches, hope you weren’t waiting long for me. I also brought some lunch. Wasn’t sure if you were hungry or not, but I figured we could work and eat.” The smell of the deli sandwiches filled her nose. At the same time, her stomach grumbled. Unable to hold a laugh back she nodded and locked the door once more before showing him to the back room. She had brought an old card table and two chairs with her. Sitting down at one and Brett taking the other, he slid out the food. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I went with a safe choice and picked turkey and cheese. If you don’t like that, you can have mine, it’s ham.”
“No, turkey is fine, thank you.” She opened the wrapper and they proceeded to eat.
“This place isn’t that bad. The way you described it, I was expecting a lot worse. I can see the classic charm in it and once I’m done, this will be amazing.” They talked about some of her ideas and what would work and what wouldn’t. By the time they were sated from the food, an hour had passed.
“So let me get some measurements and I can work something out. I will get you the quote tomorrow if that works for you?”
“Wow, that fast, huh, works for me.” She watched as Brett went to work pulling out paper and measuring the walls, and looking at the structure of the building before once again writing numbers down. He asked her about flooring and shelving units. His attention to detail made her realize he really did have a passion for his work. All these years she had thought he was just some weird player in high school. Adam had had the steady girlfriend, while he bounced from girl to girl, well the ones with boobs and skirts.
“I think I’m all done. Again I will work on this and hopefully get you the numbers of everything and set up a schedule for the project.” Evan watched as Brett put things back into his small bag and turned to her. “I was hoping that maybe you might want to have dinner with us again tonight.” Oh Crap, her heart just dropped. She didn’t know what to do. It was all moving so fast, and well she needed to tell them. Maybe if she could wait and take it a little slower. Yeah, she could tell them she wanted to take it slower. It would give her more time to figure out what to do.
“Brett, I really want to, but I need to work some more here, and I want to slow down a little. Can we do that? Maybe sometime next week we can have dinner. Is that alright?”
“Sure, Ellie, that’s fine honey. I understand, things have been moving faster than normal for us too. How about I call you tomorrow and we go from there okay?” She nodded, but it wasn’t enough for Brett. He stalked forward, dropping his bag at her feet before taking her face between his hands, kissing her with everything he seemed to be feeling. She didn’t know if this was goodbye, or something else so she pushed everything she had into the kiss as well. Her hands held onto his waist as he deepened the kiss. His tongue gave her no way out. When both of them were breathless, only then did he pull away. “Don’t pull away from us, peaches, we will go slowly for you and for now. But we aren’t going anywhere,” kissing her sweetly once last time before he headed out the door.
Locking the door behind him, she could not help but feel like shit. “For now you won’t let me go, but once you find out I’m a nobody from a trailer park you made fun of, you will go running.” Letting a sigh out she went back to work, trying to forget the ache in her chest.
Chapter Eleven
Normally Brett would worry that Ellie hadn’t called, but when he spoke with her on the phone about the price, she actually seemed pleased. However, she had yet to accept their dinner offer, or even lunch in over a week. He had sent a crew over to her shop to start with a layout. Today he was going to stop by and try to see her. Adam had done the stop-by the last two days and each time he just missed her. He was starting to develop a complex that she was using them, so he was going to find out what was really going on. Pulling into a parking space across the street, he waited until he knew she was in the shop. Brett watched, feeling like a stalker as she pulled in and exited the car. She was sporting about what he was used to seeing her in when she came to work. Blue jean shorts, a ratty t-shirt and today was pigtails, that he had to admit looked sexy as hell on her. Crossing the road, he called her name making her stop and turn to him. She seemed shocked by his presence.
“Brett, hi, what are you doing here? Did we have a meeting and I forget?”
“No, not at all, peaches, but I wanna talk, let’s head inside okay?” She seemed to realize that people could hear them.
Ellie unlocked the door and let him inside before shutting it behind them waiting for him to start talking.
“How come you have been avoiding us?”
“What? I’m not avoiding you, I have just been busy.”
“Okay, I get that, but why won’t you go to dinner with us, or have lunch?”
“Look, Brett, I don’t know. I mean, argh, I don’t know what I am saying right now. I feel like I’m all over the place.”
“Fine, then let’s have dinner. We can keep it casual and go the Dirty Dog Tavern. It’s Friday an
d they have a live band and everything. Please, Ellie. Just a burger and beer. We can pick you up even. Just give us another chance.” Brett watched as the various emotions ran across her face while she played with her hair. She was truly thinking it over, that was a good sign.
“Fine, but I will drive myself there. About seven? Does that work?” A small plea on her face told him that she was willing to at least try.
“I’ll take it, peaches. See you at seven.” He bent quickly and gave her a chased kiss on the lips before he let himself out. Chuckling to himself, he sent a text to Adam letting him know the plans for tonight. He could use some good news right now. Seems that his work was turning into a bunch of craziness and their dad had called asking them to do him a favor. So glad that he didn’t have to deal with that, he climbed back into his truck, whistling to himself as he drove to work.
It had been a long time since he had been this happy. Things came easy for Adam, and even though they were fraternal twins, he didn’t have the same charm as Adam. He did his best when he could, but there was always the need to fit in, and he became the badass that people know. Adam was the party one, while he enjoyed a good fight. That’s how he got into construction. Being part of a campus fraternity he got in a fight with someone, he can’t even remember who or what it was about, he was sent to do community service. He started to help people build houses and saw the difference he was making. It was a revelation to him. He used his aggression to work on various projects and just like that he changed his major and went into something that fit him better. Again, it was against his parents’ wishes, but in the end, they paid because they didn’t want to look bad to their friends. Now both he and Adam were happy with how things had turned out in their life, and if they could possibly make something more permanent with Ellie, things couldn’t get better than that.
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