The Ransome Brothers_A Ransom Novel

by Rachel Schurig

  “It’s locked?” Reed cries.

  I gape at my brothers. “We did not lock our niece in the house alone.”

  “Shit, shit, shit,” Cash moans. “Go check the other doors!”

  Reed and I take off through the garage door while Cash presses his ear against the locked door. I’m not smiling when I come back. Neither is Reed.

  “I’m moving to Canada,” Cash moans when he sees our faces. “Daltrey is going to kill me.”

  “I think you need to worry more about Daisy,” I say.

  “Oh, and you think you’re getting off the hook?”

  “I was helping Reed with the stroller!”

  “Everyone shut up!” Reed calls, pressing his ear to the door. “She’s not crying. She’s strapped in her swing, so she’s safe. We just need to get in the house.”

  “How are we going to do that?” I ask.

  Cash eyes the door. “I bet I can kick that down.”

  “Let’s start with something less extreme,” Reed says and Cash looks a little disappointed—kicking down doors probably sounds like just his kind of fun.

  We follow Reed as he walks around the house, trying windows until we finally find one open in the back.

  “That’s pretty high,” Cash says, looking up at it.

  “Yeah, if you’re a shrimp.” Reed looks over at me. “You’re the skinniest. I’ll boost you.”

  “I’m not the skinniest,” I argue. “You’re way skinnier than me.”

  “Yeah, but I’m taller.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  Reed scowls at me. “It would be harder for you to boost me than for me to boost you. And you’re skinny enough to get through that window. So shut your mouth and get over here. Unless you want Rose to be stuck in there alone, scared and—”

  “Oh, fine,” I grumble. “You don’t have to bring the baby into it.”

  Cash and Reed both cup their hands to make me footholds then boost me up the stucco wall.

  “Jesus, you’re heavier than you look,” Reed mutters.

  “You want to do this?” I ask, scrambling to reach for the window. I bang on the screen a few times until it pops off then throw it behind me.

  “Watch it!” Reed yells, ducking and nearly making me lose my balance.

  “You’re going to have to get me higher,” I tell them.

  “Do you have any upper body strength?” Cash grumbles, struggling to raise my legs higher. “I would have already pulled myself in by now.”

  “Except you wouldn’t have even reached the ledge because you’re so short,” I shoot back, finally managing to pull my arms through the window. I look down into Rose’s nursery. That hardwood floor is going to feel just great when I inevitably slip and break my neck.

  “Nice view, Len,” Cash says, smacking my ass, which is hanging down the side of the house with my still-kicking legs. “You know I can totally pants you right now.”

  “Do it and I’ll tell Sam exactly how well this day went,” I call over my shoulder.

  “Just get in the damn house, Lennon!” Reed barks.

  I sigh, pulling myself through and somehow managing not to tumble six feet to the floor. Once I have my legs through I twist around and bring my feet close enough to the floor to let go. “I’m in,” I call through the window.

  “Come open the door,” Cash yells.

  “Should leave his ass out there,” I mutter, heading down the hall to the living room. Rose is sitting in her swing, right where we left her, smiling at me.

  “It’s a good thing you’re so cute,” I say, unstrapping her and pulling her into my arms. “I don’t scale walls for just anyone.”

  Cash is pounding on the door from the garage now. “Let’s go see the drama queen.”

  I open the door, ready to step out to join them, but Reed pushes past me. “Gotta pee.”

  “And I could use a beer,” Cash mutters, following him. “But I’ll settle for a bottle of water.”

  “Does it always take this long for your parents to get you out of the house?” I ask Rose as we follow them back toward the living room. She blows a raspberry right in my face.

  Once the boys come back to the living room, we’re finally ready to go—with the baby this time. But before we can take more than a few steps back to the garage, the front door opens, revealing Daisy and Daltrey. “Hey!” Daisy calls, voice bright. “How’s my girl?”

  Daltrey stops in the doorway, frowning at Reed and me. “Why are you here?”

  We meet Cash’s gaze and his eyes are pleading. “Oh, you know how we are,” I say. “We heard Cash was babysitting, and we got jealous.”

  “Yeah,” Reed agrees, running a hand through his hair. “Jealous.” He glances down at one of the extra bags of diapers, quickly kicking it behind the couch so Daisy won’t see.

  “Did you play with your uncles?” Daisy asks, taking Rose from me. The baby reaches up and smacks at her cheeks, making her laugh. “Did you have fun?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Cash says, trying to sound nonchalant. “She had tons of fun. Nothing bad happened. Everything was cool.”

  Daltrey crosses his arms, glaring at Cash, obviously not buying it.

  “I was sure you were going to call,” Daisy says, oblivious as she bounces her daughter around, kissing her cheeks and the top of her head. You’d think she’d been gone for days, not mere hours. “She had an upset tummy this morning, I hope her diapers weren’t too bad.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” Cash mutters.

  “Maybe you should go make sure you have all of your things,” I tell him, raising my eyebrow meaningfully. “From the bathroom?”

  His eyes widen as, I assume, he remembers the mess we left after her bath, and he takes off down the hall. “The bathroom?” Daltrey asks, arms still crossed.

  “We gave her a bath,” I say quickly. “She got a little messy after her diaper blow out.”

  Daisy makes a sympathetic face. “You should have called!”

  “Cash handled it,” Reed tells her. “Total pro.”

  She beams at Cash as he comes back into the room. “Reed said you did great!”

  Cash raises his eyebrows at his older brother. “Uh, yeah. She was easy, you know. Piece of cake.”

  “See,” Daisy says. “You can totally do this! You’re a natural.”

  I make sure not to meet either of their eyes, knowing I won’t be able to keep a straight face if I do.

  “I guess we’ll be off,” I say, shoving my hands into my pockets. “See you guys at rehearsal tomorrow?”

  We say goodbye to Daisy, Daltrey, and Rose before heading out the front door. Once it shuts behind him, Cash leans against it, sighing deeply. “I really owe you guys one.”

  “That you do little brother,” Reed says, slapping his back. “Why don’t you start by buying us dinner?”

  “And beer,” I add. “Lots and lots of beer.”

  As we start down the lawn, the door opens behind us, revealing Daltrey. He watches us for a moment before he speaks. “Why, exactly, is there a screen out in the nursery?”

  We all look at each other with wide, panicked eyes.

  “A bee,” Cash finally says, his voice strangled. “There was a bee in the house so I opened the window to shoo it out. Must have knocked the screen out. Sorry, man.”

  Daltrey narrows his eyes, clearly not sure if he should believe it. “All right,” he finally says. “I’ll put it back in. Thanks again for babysitting.”

  “No problem,” Cash says in that same strangled voice.

  We wait for Daltrey to go in again. Once the door closes, Reed bursts into laughter. “You know what Cash? I actually think you’re going to be great at this.”

  “Are you insane?” Cash asks gesturing at the house. “That was a disaster.”

  “Yeah, but I kind of get the feeling a huge chunk of parenting is just bullshitting your way through until you figure it out. And when it comes to bullshitting…” Reed puts his arm around Cash’
s shoulder, leading him down to the street. “You’re a goddamn champ.”

  Daltrey

  Ten years ago

  I keep trying to catch Daisy’s eye, but she won’t look at me. I hate that she feels awkward around me. We never feel awkward around each other. Then again, we don’t usually make out in closets with half of our class waiting outside the door.

  I stifle a groan, shoving my hands into my pockets, wondering, for about the hundredth time tonight, what in the hell I was thinking. I kissed Daisy. My best friend since we were five years old. At the time it felt like I didn’t have much choice. She was sad, thinking no one wanted to kiss her, and I reacted. I hate it when Daisy is sad.

  I had no idea how much more I would hate it when Daisy feels uncomfortable with me. It’s never happened before. But I’m pretty sure she’s uncomfortable now.

  “Your brother is late,” she finally says, hopping up and down a little the way she does when she’s cold.

  “What?” I ask, trying to pull my mind away from the obsessive thoughts of what we’d done a few hours ago.

  She looks over at me, smiling, and I suddenly wonder if all the awkwardness is just in my head. She looks pretty okay right now. “Cash,” she says. “He’s late.”

  “Right.” I run a hand through my hair. Great. Now I’m being the awkward one.

  “You okay?” Daisy asks, peering at me.

  “What? Sure. Fine. Little cold.”

  She gives me a weird look and I stifle another groan. I’m definitely being awkward. Luckily Cash chooses that moment to pull up in front of the house in the beat-up old Chevy he shares with Reed. Through the window I can see that Lennon is in the front seat, which means I’ll be sitting in the back with Daisy. Why does that thought have my stomach flipping? What in the hell is wrong with me?

  “You coming?” Daisy asks over her shoulder, her fingers already on the handle of the back door. I nod, telling myself to stop being such an idiot, and go around to the other side.

  “Hello young lovers,” Cash says, the moment we’re both inside, and I finally let myself groan out loud. I should have known he was going to act like this—he is Cash, after all.

  “Don’t be a dick,” Lennon mutters, turning back to look at us over his seat. “You guys have fun?”

  “It was okay,” Daisy says, shrugging. “Most of the kids in our class are idiots.”

  Cash turns around too, a fake-stern expression on his face. “There wasn’t any drinking at this party, was there, young lady?”

  Daisy rolls her eyes. “Give me a break, moron.”

  “Hey now,” he says, grinning at her. “You might want to be nice to the guy with the wheels.”

  “You’ve had your license for a whole three months, Cash,” she says. “You gonna stop bragging about it any time soon?”

  “Doubtful,” Lennon says.

  “Next time you can all walk,” Cash mutters, finally putting the car into gear. “Like I don’t have better things to do than chauffeur your underage asses around all night.”

  “So sorry we interrupted your date with your hand,” Daisy says, making Lennon howl with laughter. Even Cash has to chuckle a little at that one.

  “Daisy you’ve been hanging out with us too much,” Lennon says. “You’re starting to get a crude mouth on you.”

  “Please,” she says, tossing her hair over her shoulder. I catch a whiff of her shampoo as she does, the flower scent familiar, my stomach doing that stupid flipping thing again. “Like I care what a bunch of stupid boys say.”

  “What’s your problem?” Lennon asks, peering over the seat at me again. “You haven’t said a word since we got in the car.”

  “He’s being totally weird,” Daisy agrees. “He was like this before you got here.”

  Okay, so I definitely imagined her embarrassment before. Apparently I’m the only one being all awkward and uncomfortable, while Daisy is acting like nothing happened at all. I’m not sure why that bothers me so much. It isn’t like I want her to be uncomfortable around me.

  But I also really don’t want to be the only one affected by what happened in that laundry room.

  I realize belatedly that they’re all looking at me, even Cash from the rearview mirror. I shift in my seat. “I’m fine.”

  “Some chick diss you at the party?” Cash asks, a smile already tugging up his lips.

  “What? No.” I can tell he’s about to start laughing. “Shut up, Cash.”

  Daisy gives a little shudder next to me. “I hope you’re not worked up over any of those girls.”

  “Why not?” Cash asks, his eyes on mine in the mirror. He looks even closer to laughter. “I mean, don’t you want Daltrey to get a girlfriend?”

  I know exactly what he’s doing. My brothers think it’s hilarious to tease Daisy and me about our friendship. His meaning is obvious—why wouldn’t Daisy want me to be with someone else? Unless, of course, she wants to be with me herself. Ha ha. So hilarious.

  Apparently she gets his meaning too, because she rolls her eyes again. “Of course Daltrey should have a girlfriend if he wants one. But all the girls at that party are friends with Joanie. Which means they’re all terrible. Daltrey can do much better.”

  That has a nice warm feeling spreading through my chest, so much so that I don’t even mind the way Cash’s eyes are dancing with amusement.

  Cash pulls up to the curb in front of Daisy’s house. “Thanks for the ride,” she tells him, reaching for the door. She turns back to look at me over her shoulder, her familiar smile making my heart pound. “Thanks for before,” she says, her voice soft enough that my brothers can’t hear. Before I can manage to do more than sputter incoherently, she’s opening the door, reaching up with her other hand to rumple Lennon’s hair. “Bye, Len.” And then she’s gone, leaving me in the quiet car with my brothers.

  Cash waits until she’s inside before pulling away from the curb and into our driveway next door. “Nice job there, Dalt,” he says as he parks.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You didn’t even say good night to her!” He shakes his head, like he’s disappointed in me. “You’re never going to get with that if you don’t get some game, buddy.”

  “Shut up, Cash.”

  I pull open my door and stomp into the house, wanting nothing more than to get away from him. Of course I find Reed sitting in the kitchen when I come in from the garage. Because heaven forbid I actually have five seconds away from one of my brothers.

  “What’s up?” he asks, not looking up from the bowl of cereal on the table in front of him.

  “Not much,” I mutter, making my way to the door. He looks up then, his eyes narrowing at me. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing!”

  Okay, I might have yelled it a little loud. But God, I’m sick of my brothers. Reed’s eyebrows go up as Cash and Lennon come in behind me. “I take it you didn’t have fun at the party?”

  “He’s acting weird,” Cash tells Reed. “All sullen and whiney. I think Miss. Harris must have been flirting with someone else at this shindig.”

  “Cash, would you fucking shut up?”

  His eyes go comically wide. “Nice language, little brother. You kiss Daisy with that mouth?”

  I launch myself at him before I even have time to consider that he has three years and twenty pounds on me. At least I’m taller now, a fact that pisses him off to no end. I manage to get a good punch in before Lennon grabs me by the shoulders, pulling me away.

  “Chill out, Dalt!” he yells, while Cash wipes his mouth, a murderous look on his face.

  “What’s your problem?”

  “Why do you have to be such an asshole?” I yell. “It’s one thing to rag on me all the time, but you don’t need to tease Daisy.”

  “When did I tease Daisy?”

  I shake my head, pulling away from Lennon. “You were being an ass in the car and you know it.”

  “And Daisy was giving it right back to me,” he says. “Bec
ause that’s what we do. You’re the only one being a little puss.”

  “I hate you.”

  He just laughs “Just tell the girl you like her.”

  God, he’s such a dick.

  “Don’t you have a date?” Reed asks Cash, his voice even, like he barely noticed I just punched our brother hard enough to draw blood. A tiny amount, but still.

  “I do,” Cash says, completely smug. “Because I don’t wimp out around girls like some people.” He twirls the car keys in his hand. “You need a ride somewhere?” he asks Reed.

  “Nah, James is picking me up in a while.”

  “Then I’ll be on my way.” He hits me hard on the shoulder as he passes. “You’re welcome for the ride, ass.”

  “Yeah, thanks a lot, Cash,” I mutter, wishing I’d gotten a second punch in.

  “Rehearsal at eleven,” Reed calls to his retreating back. “Don’t stay out all night.”

  “Sure thing, Dad,” Cash calls over his shoulder.

  “You wanna play some video games?” Lennon asks me as he pulls a pop from the fridge.

  “No,” I snap, and he raises his eyebrows.

  “Cash might be an ass,” he says in that soft way of his. “But you are acting kind of weird.”

  “I’m fine.”

  He shrugs, heading to the living room. “If you say so.”

  I stop for my own pop before going up to my room but Reed stops me before I can even shut the fridge door. “What’s up with you?”

  I close my eyes. “Nothing.”

  I can feel his gaze on me from the table. “You hungry?”

  Honestly, I’m starving. We had pizza at the party, but that was hours ago. I’m in the middle of another growth spurt, and Daisy says it’s freaky how much food I can pack away at any given point. And thinking about her has me feeling weird all over again.

  “Sit down,” Reed says, standing and crossing over to the cabinet in two strides of his long legs. He pulls down a bowl for me, grabbing the cereal before coming back to the table. “Get the milk.”

  I get the milk from the fridge before collapsing into a chair while Reed fills a bowl and slides it across the table to me. “Off brand cheerios,” I mutter. “Yummy.”