Brendon continued to watch the dogs as though he didn’t want to look at people, which concerned Sawyer a bit. It wasn’t a secret that Brendon had been a little screwed up since Braydon had hauled ass out of town and stayed gone for a solid three months before finally coming back. Sawyer didn’t know the whole story, but whatever it was, Brendon wasn’t over it entirely. His moods were still up and down these days, but mostly down. Considering Braydon and Jessie were now in the process of establishing a relationship—without Brendon—Sawyer had to believe that was part of it.
“He went to get food. Said somethin’ about pickin’ up chicken noodle soup for you.”
Sawyer stood at the stove, waiting for the water in the teakettle to boil while he watched his mother. He noticed how her eyes softened when Brendon told her where Curtis had gone. Those two were something else. Sometimes Sawyer had a difficult time understanding how two people could spend the majority of their lives together and still appear as though they never wanted to spend a minute apart.
After a few minutes, the kettle began to whistle and Sawyer went to work getting his mother’s tea ready.
“Have you been back to the hospital today?” Lorrie asked.
Sawyer glanced over to see she was looking at him.
“I have not. Figured they’d want a little privacy. They’re comin’ home tomorrow,” Sawyer told her.
“That’s what I heard. Mom and baby are doin’ well. I hope I can get to feelin’ better so I can go see Kate,” Lorrie said.
“I’m sure they’re gonna need some help around there. Travis is gonna be a nutcase by the time the week is up.”
Lorrie chuckled, reaching for the mug of tea when Sawyer set it on the table in front of her. He then took one of the vacant chairs at the table and studied his brother for a moment.
“So what’s got your boxers all pinched up?”
Brendon lifted his gaze and glared at Sawyer.
“I’m good,” Brendon told him, and Sawyer saw it for the lie it was.
“Jared’s gonna be out of town for a few days. I’m gonna head things up at the shop. You cool with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Brendon asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Thought maybe you’d like to be the boss for a few days,” Sawyer mentioned.
“Oh, hell no. Sorry, Ma,” Brendon said quickly. “No way. Not me.”
“How come? You gonna spend the rest of your life bein’ a foreman?”
“That’s the plan.”
Sawyer noticed Lorrie was watching them both intently, following their conversation silently.
“Well, if you wanna give it a shot, just let me know. I’m actually kinda glad to be back for a few days.”
“Back where?” Curtis’s voice boomed in the otherwise quiet house as he walked in the back door.
Sawyer peered over his shoulder to see his father carrying two plastic sacks. He immediately got to his feet to help him.
“I didn’t know you were gonna be here, boy,” Curtis told him.
“No worries, Pa. I’m good. I ate a couple of hours ago.”
“Nonsense,” Lorrie said. “There’s plenty of food for everyone. If I know your father, he got fried chicken since he didn’t think I’d be up to watch him eat it.”
Sawyer glanced at his father, huffing out a laugh when the old man had the decency to blush. He went to retrieve the food, and sure enough, there was a bucket of fried chicken.
Brendon finally stopped acting like a bump on a log and made quick work of emptying the bags and grabbing plates and silverware before returning to the table. He still didn’t make much eye contact, but he didn’t hesitate to dig in when Curtis told him to.
“I saw your truck up at the vet today,” Curtis said by way of conversation after they’d all started eating, including their mother, who was enjoying the chicken noodle soup Curtis had obviously picked up at the diner before grabbing fried chicken.
Sawyer looked right at his father, casting him a look that said Really, Dad? Here?
“Somethin’ wrong with Buster?” Lorrie asked, looking down at the dog.
“Nope, he’s perfectly fine. A little ornery, but fine.”
“You stop by to check on Kennedy?” Curtis asked, getting right to the point.
“I took her food.”
Brendon’s head slowly swiveled around until he was looking at Sawyer.
“What?” Sawyer asked in response to the look.
“You took her food? And she didn’t fire warnin’ shots to keep you off the property?”
Sawyer laughed. “No, she didn’t.”
“I guess we must’ve worn her down last night,” Brendon said.
“She mentioned y’all went on and on about Travis’s football.”
Brendon smirked, turning his attention back to his food.
“You takin’ care of things while Jared’s out of town?” Curtis asked, just as quickly changing the subject as he’d done when he brought up Kennedy. Sawyer knew his old man did it on purpose. Although Lorrie was the one who liked to meddle in her sons’ love lives, Sawyer knew that Curtis didn’t have a problem spurring her on.
“Yes, sir,” Sawyer told him, dishing more fried okra onto his plate. “Is he gonna keep stayin’ here when he gets back?”
Lorrie was the one to answer. “They’re gonna stay in Kaleb’s old house.”
“That’s a smart idea,” Sawyer replied.
“Who’s ‘they’?” Brendon asked, his fork halfway to his mouth.
Sawyer looked at his mother and father, waiting for one of them to answer. Curtis spoke up.
“Jared’s goin’ to pick up his boy.”
“His boy?” Brendon’s confusion rang in the simple question. “I thought Derrick wasn’t biologically his?”
“That don’t mean he ain’t his boy,” Curtis said simply, snatching another piece of chicken from the bucket.
“I’m confused,” Brendon stated, sitting up straight and looking at his father.
“Doesn’t take much,” Sawyer whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Shut up,” Brendon said without heat. “Seriously. Jared’s gonna go and get his son, who isn’t really his, but now he is.”
“That’s pretty much the gist of it, yes,” Sawyer answered. “He’s adoptin’ the boy.”
“His ex couldn’t handle him or what?”
“Somethin’ like that,” Sawyer said, not wanting to go into what he thought about Jared’s ex-wife. Especially not with their mother sitting at the table.
“Well, boys,” Lorrie said softly, “I think I’m gonna head back to bed. Hopefully I’ll kick these allergies by mornin’ so I can go hold my newest grandbaby.”
“Night, Ma,” Sawyer called to her when she got to her feet. “We’ll take care of cleanin’ up.”
She nodded as she moved around the table, hugging Brendon and kissing the top of his head before doing the same to Sawyer and then finally to Curtis.
When she was out of the room, the three of them went back to eating. And they didn’t stop until they couldn’t move from the table. It was then that Brendon announced, “Not it,” with Curtis chiming in a close second.
Which meant Sawyer got left with cleaning up the mess.
Oh, if the ladies could see him now.
BRENDON DIDN’T MOVE from the kitchen table when Sawyer took over the chore of cleaning up the dinner mess. He just didn’t have enough energy to do much of anything, which was why’d he’d planted his ass at his parents’ kitchen table as soon as he walked in the door.
He could sense both his father and his brother watching him, probably wondering what his problem was. He prayed they didn’t bust out the questions because he honestly didn’t want to talk about it. The funk he was in didn’t make it easy to have a conversation, and hopefully they realized that. Ever since last night, when his buzz finally wore off, he’d fallen back into the depression he’d been battling for the last few months, and it seemed to be getting worse.
<
br /> He knew it was his own fault, brought on by his own fears, but he couldn’t seem to shake it. No amount of smiles or fake laughs were helping. The only thing he wanted—which was also something he knew he shouldn’t want—was to see Cheyenne. Yes, that was a ludicrous thought, even he knew that much, but he’d grown tired of fighting it a while back.
For whatever reason, seeing Sawyer with Kennedy at the hospital had cemented something for Brendon. He knew that his brother was well on his way to developing the same sort of relationship with her that his other brothers had recently found with their significant others. Which left Brendon odd man out. And it had been that morning that he’d felt the all-consuming, bitter loneliness take hold of his heart and squeeze.
It wasn’t enough that Braydon and Jessie were moving forward, leaving Brendon to fend for himself, but now Sawyer was heading down that road, too.
“You wanna talk, boy?”
Brendon looked up at his father. He shook his head in response. He really didn’t want to talk. There was nothing to talk about. He knew that getting over himself was something he would have to do on his own and there was no reason to drag everyone else down in the process.
“I heard they’re puttin’ the renovation of Cheyenne’s house on hold,” Sawyer offered from across the kitchen.
“Why’s that?” Brendon asked without thinking.
“With the baby here, Kylie won’t have time to deal with it, and apparently Cheyenne is okay with that. The tour with Dalton and Cooper has wiped her out, and she’s lookin’ for a little downtime.”
How the hell did Sawyer know so damn much about Cheyenne? It was a question that burned on the tip of Brendon’s tongue, but he didn’t bother to ask it aloud. He didn’t want to know the answer.
“What’s Jess gonna do?” Curtis asked, obviously talking to Sawyer.
“I haven’t heard,” Sawyer replied. “Maybe she can come help out at the resort or somethin’.”
Brendon didn’t contribute to the conversation, allowing his father and brother to talk around him. His mind had drifted again to thoughts of Cheyenne. He couldn’t help but wonder where she was, what she was doing, and who she was doing it with. If she wasn’t on tour, did that mean she’d gone home? And if so, where was home?
For the first time in a really long time, Brendon found that he actually cared about the answers to those questions. More importantly, he found that he actually cared about something, period. Namely, Cheyenne Montgomery.
chapter EIGHT
By the time Tuesday afternoon rolled around, Sawyer was ready for the weekend again. With Travis and Gage out on paternity leave for the foreseeable future and Jared still in El Paso taking care of business, Sawyer found himself running back and forth between the resort and the Walker Demo office, trying to keep up with all the balls he was juggling as well as dealing with his mother and her big plans for Christmas.
Needless to say, Sawyer hadn’t had much time to go see Kennedy and he feared her thoughts had drifted to the worst about him. Granted, he was basing that on his own history, not on anything she’d said or hadn’t said to him. Because, again, he hadn’t had the chance to see her, which he fully intended to rectify in just a little while.
But first he needed to head down to the play area and see how things were going. There was a rumor that things were heating up down there, which was a little surprising for a Tuesday. He knew that their guest list was increasing with the holidays approaching, a handful of newcomers stopping in to check out the resort now that they had some vacation time set aside for the end of the year.
Leaving Buster with Kaleb, Sawyer made his way through the offices and into the main part of the resort. Sure enough, it wasn’t a rumor that their attendance had increased. The play area was fuller than he’d seen it ever on a weekday, and a significant amount of play was taking place.
“Hey, man,” a deep, familiar voice sounded from behind him, causing Sawyer to turn around.
He found himself face-to-face with Luke McCoy, cofounder of Club Destiny, a well-known fetish club in Dallas, as well as a good friend to the Walkers.
“Well, well, well. I didn’t know we’d invited trouble this early in the day,” Sawyer joked, taking Luke’s hand and giving it a firm shake.
“Well, you know how it is. We like to show up when you least expect it.”
“How’re things goin’ with Devotion?” Sawyer inquired. It’d been a while since he’d had the chance to chat with Luke, especially face-to-face. A year or so ago, Luke had encountered some issues with his other club—Club Destiny—and had separated the bar from the secret fetish club that was open to members only. Since that time, Devotion had grown in members and last Sawyer had heard, things were looking up for Luke.
“Good. Maybe not as well as you’re doing here though.”
Sawyer followed Luke’s gaze around the room. It was still hard to believe there were so many people there, many of whom Sawyer had never seen before. It seemed that for the last few weeks, they’d had a significant amount of familiar faces in the place, but today, it looked as though Zane might’ve gone on a mission to bring in new folks.
Shit.
Speaking of new folks, Sawyer’s gaze landed on a very familiar person. Two of them, actually. They were somewhat hidden in an alcove, but Sawyer didn’t need to be a detective to figure out just who they were.
“Is that . . . ?”
“Jeff Endsley. The sheriff of our mighty fine town,” Sawyer finished for him. “What the hell is he doin’ here?”
“I invited him.” Sawyer turned to see Kaleb standing beside him. “Technically, Mack requested the invite, and apparently he brought Jeff along with him.” Kaleb turned to Luke. “Luke, how’re you?”
While the two men said their greetings, Sawyer kept his eyes pinned to the pair in the corner. That was when he saw . . .
“Are they . . . ?” Kaleb stopped midsentence.
“Together?” Sawyer mentioned. “Looks that way.” He wasn’t sure that was completely true, but based on how close they were standing, he’d say it was a damn good assumption.
“Damn,” Luke chimed in.
“Who’d a thought,” Kaleb whispered.
Certainly not Sawyer, that’s who. His eyes weren’t playing tricks on him as he watched Mack and Jeff walk through the main play area, toward the section of the hotel that contained the private rooms that guests could utilize during their stay. They weren’t doing anything other than walking beside one another, but even Sawyer could sense the attraction between the two men.
“Did you know they were . . . ?” Luke asked.
“Gay?” Kaleb questioned. “I had no idea.”
Sawyer didn’t respond because he didn’t know what to say. How the hell had either man been on this earth that long and not let on that they were gay? Not that Sawyer gave a shit about their sexual preferences—to each his own and all that shit—but still . . . It just didn’t seem feasible that they’d managed to make it this far in life and no one knew.
He wondered whether Kennedy knew. Surely she did. And honestly, now that Sawyer thought about it, it explained so much. But it also presented other questions, such as where Kennedy’s mother was. If her father was gay, then how . . . ?
“Well, I gotta get back to the dog,” Kaleb informed them. “Sawyer here left me dog sitting and I pawned him off on Zane for a little while. Good to see you, Luke. If y’all are in town for a few days, maybe we can all get together for dinner.”
“Works for me,” Luke told Kaleb. “We’ll be here through the weekend. Hannah’s staying with Sierra’s mother, so we figured we’d take a short vacation before the holidays kicked into full gear.”
“Are you gonna have time to stop by and see Travis?”
“Sierra wouldn’t let me miss that,” Luke said sheepishly. “So, yeah. We’re gonna stop by and see the baby. If I’m not careful, Sierra will be knocked up by the end of our stay.”
Kaleb laughed. “It’s in the water, I’m
tellin’ you. Anyway, I’ll work on putting somethin’ together for dinner,” Kaleb said. “Catch ya later.”
Sawyer turned his attention back to Luke, trying not to think about the two men who had surprised him with their attendance at the resort.
“Well, I better get back to Sierra and Cole. They’ll leave me out if I’m gone too long. And if she’s gonna get pregnant again, I’m gonna be the one doin’ the honors.”
Sawyer laughed, imagining Cole and Sierra getting busy somewhere else in the club. It wasn’t hard to imagine because Sawyer had been around the threesome several times and it seemed that they all three managed to get in time together whenever they could. Based on what he’d learned from Travis on the nature of that sort of relationship, it was every man—or woman—for himself when it came to finding time in a day to spend with the person you loved.
Not much different from a couple, Sawyer realized.
“All right. Have fun,” Sawyer told him.
“I certainly plan to,” Luke replied with a wicked gleam in his eyes before he turned and made his way to the main doors that led to the lobby.
When Luke walked away, Sawyer headed toward the hall that would lead to the administrative building. It was the same hall that Mack and Jeff had headed down because ultimately it broke off into another area. He was halfway down the hall when he heard voices coming toward him. As he passed the attached hallway, he found himself looking into the sheriff’s concerned eyes.
Yeah, Endsley, not sure it’s a secret anymore, Sawyer thought to himself. Before he could turn away, the two men put several feet between them after Jeff turned and said something to Mack.
Without a second thought, Sawyer started in their direction, noticing the anger reflecting in Jeff’s gray eyes the closer he got.
“Hey,” Sawyer greeted when he was within a few feet of them both.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Mack said quickly, the guilt in his tone belying the words.
“There’s nothin’ for you to be worried about,” Sawyer assured Mack before looking over at Jeff. “What y’all do here is between the two of you. It’s no one else’s business.” Neither man said anything, so Sawyer continued, “I’ll just be on my way. Hope y’all will enjoy your stay.”
Sawyer Page 9