Holding On

by Jill Sanders

  She was shocked when she noticed a flower growing in the flower bed between the garage and the back door. It took her a moment to realize what it was.

  “What’s wrong?” Trey asked, his hands loaded down with bags of groceries.

  “That.” She pointed, frowning down at the green sprout sticking out of the dirt.

  He glanced over the top of the bags and chuckled. “Don’t they have daffodils where you come from?” He started to move past her, but she stopped him.

  “When did it become spring?” She glanced around and suddenly realized spring wasn’t just in her flower bed, but everywhere in her yard. “It’s only March.” She frowned.

  “April,” he corrected. “Tax Day, remember?”

  She frowned. Of course, she knew it was April. After all, she’d spent the last few weeks faxing paperwork to the CPA that handled McGowan Enterprise’s taxes, not to mention pouring over hers and Trey’s taxes in the evening between classes and tests.

  “I remember, it’s just… time is flying by so quickly.” She opened the back door for him.

  He leaned in and set the bags down, then gripped her hips and pulled her close.

  “Time flies when you’re having fun.” He kissed her, and she melted against him. “And when you’re with me.” He turned and picked up the bags and walked into the kitchen to set them down. “Don’t worry, we still have a few more snowstorms in our future before summer gets in full swing.” He started to put the groceries away, moving around the space comfortably and looking good doing it as well.

  “How about chicken enchiladas for dinner?” Trey wiggled his eyebrows. She felt her stomach growl.

  “I have a test,” she answered. Her frown caused him to smile.

  “I don’t. You go up, get ready, test hard, and I’ll get cooking.” He walked over and kissed her again. She wondered what she’d done before he’d come along and if he would always make her melt with just one kiss. When he broke the kiss, he nudged her towards the stairs.

  “Good luck.”

  She climbed up the stairs, tossed her work clothes into the hamper, and glanced around their room. Trey wasn’t as tidy as she was, but he was a good deal cleaner than her brother had ever been. His shoes sat at the base of the bed, and a jacket and some jeans were tossed over the chair on his side of the bed. Then again, there was a pair of her panties and a bra over the back of her chair. He had peeled them off her the night before. Her body heated at the memory of what he’d done to her.

  Changing into a pair of shorts, she frowned at her pale legs and replaced the shorts with leggings, promising herself she’d spend some time in the sun that weekend to work on her tan. Grabbing her laptop, she moved to the window seat in the hallway and logged in.

  She heard her brother’s truck pull in the driveway halfway through her test. She had just answered the last question when she heard shouting. Glancing out the window, she saw her brother pull back his fist and punch Trey directly in the face.

  She must have screamed, because her brother looked up, giving Trey a chance to grip her brother’s fist so it wouldn’t fly towards his face again.

  By the time she ran out into the yard, barefoot, Trey was shoving her brother towards the garage stairs.

  “Go sleep it off,” he said, turning to catch her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, flying into his arms, her eyes scanning his face. There was a red mark under his left eye that would probably become a black eye by the morning.

  “I’m fine.” Trey sighed. “I’ve been sucker-punched loads of times before. I have two brothers, remember?” He was trying to joke with her, but she wasn’t laughing.

  Her eyes burned into her brother, who was standing at the top of the stairs, glaring down at them.

  “What’s your problem?” she called up to him.

  “Fuck off,” he said softly. Then he turned and slammed the door behind him.

  “Darla broke it off with him,” Trey said, gently pulling her back into the house. “You’re barefoot.” He nudged her to sit down on the bench by the back door, then gently wiped the mud from the bottom of her feet with a towel from the dryer.

  “How do you know that?” she asked, looking down at his blonde curls. She enjoyed pushing her fingers into the softness and loved the way each curl wrapped around her fingers as if hugging them.

  “The entire town knows it. I heard it at the grocery store.” He shrugged.

  “Why did he punch you?” she asked.

  “I was there.” He helped her up. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

  “Trey.” She stopped him from walking away. “I’m sorry.”

  “For?” He blinked down at her. “You need to stop apologizing for Brent.”

  “He’s my…” She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed.

  “What?” He waited. “Responsibility?”

  Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “Brother,” she finally answered.

  “I don’t apologize for Tyler or Trent’s fuck-ups.” He leaned closer and kissed her. “Besides, he punches like a girl.”

  She chuckled and followed him into the kitchen.

  * * *

  Trey lay in bed at night with Dylan wrapped around him, her breath gently floating over his chest, causing the little hairs there to sway with each of her exhales. He hated lying to her about Brent.

  Well, he hadn’t fully lied. It was true that it had gone around town that Darla had broken things off with him a few days back. But the reason he’d approached Brent was the four missed days of work and Brent’s refusal to answer his calls to find out why he was missing work.

  He and his brothers had agreed to talk to him personally, before doing something as harsh as firing him. Of course, Brent had made himself scarce the past few days. When he’d heard the truck pull up, he knew it might be his only chance to confront him.

  He’d approached it like any boss would. He’d mentioned the missed days and asked if there was anything going on that he could help with.

  Brent’s response had been to yell at him and throw a sucker punch to his jaw. Trey had thrown his own punches, but without his fists.

  “You’re fired unless I see your ass at work bright and early tomorrow morning. Your pay will be docked for the time you missed,” he had added.

  “Bullshit,” Brent had challenged. “I’ve got sick leave.” He had almost toppled over as Dylan had rushed from the house.

  He had kept her mind off what would no doubt be a black eye come morning by talking and finishing dinner. He asked about her test, talked about his family, anything to keep her apologies for her brother at a minimum.

  After dinner, he’d taken her upstairs and occupied her in the most pleasurable way possible. Touching her, kissing her, was like magic. Each time he slid another piece of clothing off, it was like unwrapping the best gift ever.

  When his cell phone buzzed, he had just drifted off to sleep. He reached over for it without waking Dylan, but Dopey was now stirring, which meant he was probably going to have to let the dog out or allow him to jump up on the bed.

  “Yes?” he asked after seeing Tyler’s number.

  “We’ve got more problems.” Tyler sounded pissed.

  “Where?” He gently nudged Dylan aside, thankful she was a heavy sleeper.

  “The new site.” His brother covered the phone and spoke to someone else. “Better hurry.” His brother hung up.

  When he jumped out of the bed, Dopey climbed up and laid down in his spot.

  “Keep it warm for me.” He tucked the blankets around Dylan. “Watch out for her.”

  He pulled on his jeans and was just putting on his boots when Dylan sat up.

  “What?” She blinked a few times, looking around.

  “Sorry.” He rushed to her side. “Problems at the site. I’ll be back soon.”

  “I can…” She started to get out of the bed, but he stopped her.

  “No, go back to sleep.” He nudged her, and she fell back into bed. “I’ll be back s
oon.”

  It took almost half an hour to get to the site. When he arrived, his brother’s truck was parked on the hill, behind Mike’s police cruiser.

  “What’s up?” he asked, pulling the jacket around him more tightly.

  “Looks like someone’s blown up our trailer.”

  “What?” He glanced around and noticed all the shards of wood where their new construction trailer had been parked less than a week earlier. “Damn it,” He ran his hands through his hair. “We just bought that trailer.”

  “Looks like we’ll be buying another one,” Tyler added dryly.

  “Did the video show anything?” He turned to the area he’d helped his brother place the cameras.

  “That’s what I needed you for. You have the passcode for this one, not me.”

  He groaned. “I forgot.” He pulled out his phone and logged into the app. It took longer than usual since their wireless hub had been blown up, and he had to use his data plan.

  They all stood around in the truck’s headlights and watched his phone screen. A black blob raced across the screen, then stopped just in front of the trailer. He flicked the screen and zoomed in for a better look.

  “Son of a…” he heard Mike catch himself.

  “Carl.” Tyler sighed and started pacing.

  “The son of a…” He glanced up and took a deep breath. “SOB doesn’t look much like he has only a few weeks left to live.” He watched his uncle crawl under the trailer and set the charges, something he had been trained to do years before Trey or his brothers had been born. He used his thumb to fast-forward to the moment the trailer blew, making sure the old man had cleared the area before everything went up. The screen timer showed that the trailer blew about five minutes after his uncle left the site.

  “We’ll bring him in.” Mike turned to go.

  Tyler surprised him by saying. “We don’t want to press charges.”

  “The hell we don’t.” He shoved his phone into his back pocket.

  Tyler walked over and leaned close to him. “Think about it. How bad would it look for us to put a dying man in prison? We’ve got insurance and can have a new trailer out here by the end of the week.”

  “Tyler, he—”

  “Thanks, Mike. We’ll deal with this family matter ourselves.” Tyler reached over and shook the man’s hand.

  “Suit yourself. If you need anything…”

  “Thanks.”

  They both watched Mike jump into his patrol SUV and maneuver his way around Trey’s truck.

  “Okay.” He turned to Tyler. “What gives?”

  Tyler glanced at his watch. “It’s late, let’s talk over breakfast. How about we meet at the Moose at ten?”

  “Ten?” His eyes narrowed. He knew as well as Tyler did that ten was late enough that most people will have come and gone in the diner, giving them the entire place to themselves.

  “Sure, whatever.” He turned to go.

  “Trey,” Tyler called out. He turned and looked over his shoulder at his brother. “Keep this under wraps for now.”

  “Whatever.” He shook his head and drove back home.

  When he crawled back in bed with Dylan, he had to nudge Dopey until the dog made room for him.

  “Everything okay?” Dylan asked, sleepily.

  “Yeah, go back to sleep.” He kissed the top of her head and lay there listening to her soft breath as she slept. His mind refused to shut down. He was beyond pissed. He almost vibrated with it.

  When the sun hit him in the morning, he figured he’d gotten less than a few hours of sleep. He rolled out of bed, showered, and dressed before Dylan had a chance to open her eyes.

  “I have to go in early. I’ll see you at the office later.” He kissed her and thought about crawling back in bed with her. Instead, he pushed away and, after letting Dopey do his business, climbed into his truck to drive up to his uncle’s place to get some answers.

  When he stopped at the end of his uncle’s driveway, he was slightly surprised to see the patrol car blocking the dirt road.

  “Mike.” Trey nodded to the man leaning on the hood of the SUV.

  “Trey.” He glanced at his watch and chuckled. “You’re late. I had a twenty on you arriving before six.”

  Trey sighed. “Tyler put you up to this?” Mike nodded and met him at the side of the car. “You’re not going to let me pass, are you?”

  “Nope.” Mike smiled. “Tyler says he’s the head of the family and as such…” Mike stopped when Trey let out a string of bad words. “Don’t let your mother hear you talking like that.” Mike chuckled.

  “Yeah.” He stormed back to his truck.

  “See you later,” Mike called after him playfully.

  He drove angry and when he pulled into the gravel driveway at his brother’s new house, he let the tires lock for a split second. Before he could get out, his brother was on the front porch, fully dressed, smiling at him.

  “Mike call?” he called out as he stormed towards the front. When Kristen and little Timmy came out the front door, his anger dissipated completely.

  “Damn it, don’t hide behind your woman’s skirt and a new baby.” He nodded to where Kristen stood.

  Tyler glanced over his shoulder and laughed. “She’s not wearing a skirt, and I’d never hide behind anything.” Tyler stepped off the porch. “What did Mike do? Clock you?” His brother frowned and nodded towards Trey’s shiner.

  He’d forgotten about it and realized that last night at the site where their trailer had been it had been too dark for Tyler to see the damage Brent had caused.

  “Don’t change the subject.” He stepped up to his brother. The two of them stood eye to eye. For many years he’d had to look up to both Tyler and Trent. Now they were finally equally matched in weight and height.

  “Don’t make me knock you on your ass in front of my wife,” Tyler warned.

  “I’m old enough to handle things myself,” Trey added.

  “Sure, you are,” Tyler agreed, “but family matters—”

  “Are just as much my business as they are yours.” His eyes narrowed.

  “As head of the—”

  “Fuck that,” he said softly so Kristen didn’t hear. “That’s bullshit and you know it. Mom’s head of the family.”

  “I’m glad we agree on this point.” His mother’s voice came from directly behind him.

  Trey had a moment to wince before his ear was pinched and tugged until he was looking down into his mother’s angry brown eyes.

  “I taught you both better than to cuss and cockfight like this, and in front of the baby, too.” His mother dropped her death grip on his ear and rushed up the porch to take the baby from Kristen’s arms. She turned back around to the two of them. “I think we can all go inside and have a decent family discussion now.” She turned and walked into the house as Trent’s truck pulled into the driveway.

  He didn’t know what upset him most. The fact that his family knew him so well or the fact that they had changed the meeting time and place without telling him.

  He sat in a chair at the kitchen table stewing, until his mother settled the baby in his arms. Suddenly, all the anger drained from his body.

  “Now,” Tyler said a few minutes later, “since we’re all here, I guess we won’t have to meet at the Moose later today.” He turned to his mother. “I’ve filled everyone in on what happened last night, and we need to hear a few options on our next course of action. Then we’ll vote.”

  Kristen walked up and took the baby from his arms. “He needs to be changed.” She smiled down at him. He was about to argue that the kid was fine, but then the smell hit him, and he gladly handed the baby up to her.

  “He should be rotting in a cell until he croaks,” Trent said softly. “What if he’d done that when someone was there? If he had set a timer…”

  “But he didn’t,” their mother said.

  “He could have.” Trent narrowed his eyes. “It’s obvious after last night that he’s the one that
set the trailer on fire and almost burned Trey alive. What if he gets it in his demented mind that one of our homes should be his next target?”

  They all heard a gasp and turned to see Kristen hugging the baby to her chest.

  “Sorry.” Trent sighed. “I should have…”

  “No.” Their mother stood. “You’re right. I’ve been trying to justify his actions as just anger aimed at the school, but in truth, the school is all of us. It’s our baby.” She turned and smiled at Kristen, then back at the three boys sitting around the table. “As a mother, I don’t know what I would do if any harm were to come to you three. And now all of you have your own families, and I think that you understand how it feels to be afraid for their safety. Carl is your father’s brother. They had a falling out years ago, and the man is obviously sick.” She sat back down. “I suggest we make a move to have him institutionalized.”

  “Vote?” Tyler said after everyone was silent for a while.

  In sync, four fists rose into the air. At the count of three, four thumbs were raised.

  “Then it’s settled.” Tyler stood. “I’ll see if Mike can help us make arrangements to take him into custody as soon as possible.”

  Trey stood up, but before he could go, Tyler laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Trey looked past his brother to where Kristen stood, rocking the baby.

  “You’re still my family,” his brother said softly, “always.” He held out a hand and Trey hesitated for less than a second before taking his brother’s hand in his own.

  “I’ve got to get to work. If you need my help cleaning up out on the site today, let me know.”

  “Thanks.” Tyler smiled and then turned back to his family.

  Trey drove into town, unsure of his next move. He glanced at the clock and sighed. It was an hour before Dylan was due in the office. He turned right at the end of the driveway and headed to his land.

  Seeing the black spot where his trailer used to sit was depressing. His brother’s tractor was still sitting there from the cleanup, so he decided to kill an hour clearing a place for the house he had always dreamed of.