by Sam Crescent
“Where are you going?”
“I need to go and check something out.” Markus started walking in the direction of the house.
“Seriously, out of everything I could do today, I’m looking at a falling-down house.” Shaking his head, Brant jumped out of the truck anyway.
He caught up with Markus in no time at all.
“This is the suckiest way to spend the day,” Brant voiced his feelings.
“Do you want to go to the Dancin’ Donkey instead?” Markus kept looking down at the floor.
“What are you looking at?”
They stopped and his brother pointed for him. “Tire tracks and footprints. We’re a couple of yards from the house, but there are tracks here. How long has this house been vacant?”
Brant saw the unmistakable sight of footprints and tire tracks.
“You’d know the answer better than I.”
“I helped Tessie and her mother move out a month after the funeral. She never went back, as far as I know.” Markus rubbed his head, staring at the tracks.
“What’s the matter?”
Staring at his brother, Brant got a bad feeling.
“I’m calling the Sheriff. I’ve got a hunch about something.”
He watched Markus punch in the number in the cell phone. Not wanting to be around for the call, he moved closer to the house. He walked to the front steps leading up to the main door.
Images of meeting Tessie here to study invaded his thoughts. The damn yellow summer dress she wore when they were studying. He’d bought her the new one to make up for being responsible for the tear in the other.
Didn’t she remember that he was the one who made her climb over the metal fence that caused the tear?
He heard his brother on the phone and Brant made his way around the back of the house.
Memories of the summer with Tessie floated through his mind. He remembered taking her back home and putting her on his mother’s swing in the back yard. His mother loved sitting on a swing and having one of his fathers push her.
Brant used to spend hours watching his family.
He remembered her sneaking out at night to sit with him, watching the stars. They’d been good friends. Tessie never knew his true feelings and he never told her the truth. Sometimes Markus would be with them. Even with the ten-year age gap, Tessie wouldn’t criticize. She would sit between them, holding one of their hands and resting her head on either one of their shoulders.
In those moments, Brant would get lost, and he’d plan his future. Whenever he was around Tessie, time seemed to slow down and it felt like the three of them were the only ones who existed.
Glancing down at the floor, Brant frowned.
“Brant, where are you?” Markus called his name again and again. “Why didn’t you answer?”
“What did the Sheriff have to say?” Brant asked, staring down.
“He’s on his way over. It’s just him. No one else.”
“Markus?”
“Yeah?”
“Why is there a whole load of cigarette butts here?” Brant pointed down to the pile on the floor.
Moving out of his brother’s way, he let Markus get a good long look.
“I’m not liking this.”
Markus stood up and turned toward him. Brant saw the cogs working in his brain. His brother may not be good with words or numbers, but he certainly knew how to work out a puzzle.
“Okay, let me run this by you and tell me if I’m missing anything,” Markus said.
“Go ahead, I’m listening.”
Folding arms over his chest, Brant waited for Markus to continue.
“Tessie and her mother had to leave this place because they couldn’t afford to keep running it. They had debts, taxes, and a funeral to pay for. So, they sold this house and then moved in closer to town.”
“We know this.”
Markus held his hand up, shushing him. “We want to buy this house and what we know is, a week prior to Frank’s death, this place was simply handed over to someone else. The deeds were transferred and we’re having some difficulty locating who could be the cause. Now we come here today, during the week of the anniversary of his death to find tracks and footprints along with used cigarette butts?”
“Yeah, that’s what we know, but Lillian could have been here, Markus. The tracks, the smoke butts…doesn’t have to mean anything.”
“No, it doesn’t, but why do I feel it does?”
Brant looked at his brother and saw Markus spoke the truth. A hunch was exactly that, a hunch, but Markus was rarely wrong about something like this.
A car horn beeped in the distance.
Trevor Buttons, the Stone Valley Sheriff, had arrived.
Letting out a sigh, Brant followed his brother back toward the car. Glancing up at the house, he frowned. In the top right-hand bedroom, he was sure he saw a shadow moving.
He’d watched too many horror movies.
* * * *
The man watched from the girl’s bedroom window as the two men and the Sheriff walked away from the house. The rifle lay by his side, locked, loaded, and ready to take them out. Taking several deep breaths, he allowed himself the chance to move away from the window without being seen.
He hated it when there were close calls and for the last couple of days, everything was a close call. First, the lawyer getting in touch, asking about this falling-down house and then, an investigator on his tail. He knew all about Stone Valley and the two Stone men. Donald Mitchell also had an investigator on his ass and the last thing he, his boss, and the operation needed was an investigator.
If Frank Holland had done his job in the beginning, he would never have ended up dead. Frank’s death was on his hands, which he hated. Killing fathers and husbands was not in his job description. He had no problem killing criminals and others like him, but Frank wasn’t that kind of guy. Frank had been a family man who saw something at the wrong time, got pulled in, and then ended up being taken out.
Out of all the kills he’d caused, Frank was his only regret. Lillian was a cute woman and Tessie a sweet girl. Both women didn’t deserve the lives they’d been forced to live. Leaving two women alone in the world went against the grain as far as he was concerned. Patrick had a set of rules that he lived by. Right now, those rules were being torn apart.
Sitting down on the end of the bed, he pulled the cell phone from his pocket. He’d need to stop smoking and make sure he didn’t pull any more attention onto himself. Typing in the number he knew by memory, he pressed the phone to his ear and listened to the ring. Working for both teams was starting to stress him out. For five years he’d been working double time to bring the enemy down. He couldn’t let the entire mission go just because the Stone brothers were suspicious.
“Hi, boss, I know I’m not supposed to disturb you, but I got some bad news.”
Chapter Four
Tessie carried the table out to the front lawn. It was Sunday, and busy. The town was full of tourists and locals soaking up the sun and doing some shopping. Rubbing her hands down the dress, Tessie couldn’t help but feel a lump fill her throat. She couldn’t bring herself to throw any of the gifts away, especially the dress.
While looking at the plain yellow summer dress, she’d been struck by the last summer she spent in the one she owned before. She remembered the time she spent with Brant before their final year of high school and before he went away to college.
Clearing her throat, she walked back into the house. Her mother pulled out another tray of peanut butter cookies. The baked goods were spread over the sides, and some were in the fridge. Looking at them all, Tessie wondered if she should start putting a stop to her mother’s baking around this time of year. They never had a problem getting rid of the cookies, cakes, and breads, but her mother always spent more time baking than she did crying. If Lillian still loved Frank, which Tessie guessed she did, then why on earth did she bake instead of crying?
“How’s it looking out there?” Lill
ian asked.
“It’s busy.”
“Good. I’ve got a lot to get rid of today.”
Nodding, Tessie poured herself a cup of coffee and watched as her mother tried not to burn herself on a new batch of cookies.
“Mom, why do you bake?” Tessie asked.
For years, she’d kept the questions to herself, not wanting to impose on Lillian’s method of mourning.
She’d read somewhere that each person has their own way of dealing with the pain of losing a loved one. Tessie cried for such a long time she thought she wasn’t going to be able to stop. Her mother baked on the weekend of the anniversary.
“I have to bake. I need to bake, because as I’m mixing and concentrating on measuring, for once, I don’t have to think, and this time of year, I don’t want to think.”
Taking her coffee with her, Tessie nodded. “Okay, Mom. If you want to start bringing these out, I’ll stand with them.”
She wasn’t asking for money or anything. Sometimes people would give money, but rarely would Tessie accept it.
With her full-time job waitressing and not having to buy clothes, she and her mom didn’t need the extra money. They were getting by.
Tessie took a seat as her mother brought out all of the baked goods. Closing her eyes, she waited for the shadow to fall over her.
In no time at all, there were several people to serve. Lillian joined her and then they were in full flow. The cloud that usually hung over Lillian’s head was gone.
When they didn’t serve anyone, Tessie took the chance to look at her. Lillian had lost some weight and there were a few wrinkles around her eyes. For forty-five, her mother was a good-looking woman. There were years to go and she hated the thought of Lillian dying without knowing the love of a man. Her dad’s shadow was still in her mother’s eyes.
Lillian tensed.
Glancing up, Tessie saw Donald approach their table. He wore a suit like he did every day. Even with the heat, Tessie didn’t know how he did it. She was wearing a thin, yellow summer dress and she was sweating.
“Good morning, Lillian.” He waited until she responded before turning to her. “Tessie.”
“Hi, Mr. Mitchell.”
“Call me Donald. I hate Mr. Mitchell. It always makes me feel old.”
Tessie waited for Lillian to say something else. Instead, her mother left her alone.
Watching Lillian walk away made Tessie sigh.
“She doesn’t like me,” Donald said.
Turning back to face him, Tessie shook her head. “I don’t think that’s the case at all. You do know what this weekend is, right?” She wasn’t stupid. Tessie knew the town talked and someone must have told him what today meant to her mother.
“The great and powerful Frank Holland died. I know the story. Shit, sorry, honey. I get irritable when I don’t get what I want,” he said.
“And you want my mother.” She watched his cheeks flare as she realized his other mistake of talking. “Don’t worry about it. I think it would be good for Mom to see someone. The only problem is getting her to actually see you.”
“She doesn’t like me.”
“I don’t know. You’re the first guy I’ve seen her run away from.” Glancing behind her, Tessie let out a sigh. “Could you watch this for me and I’ll go and talk to her?”
When he nodded, Tessie left him to find her mother sat at the kitchen counter, taking deep breaths.
“What’s going on?” Tessie asked.
Lillian jerked, her eyes opening wide. “Who’s looking after the stall?”
“Donald is. I’ve come to see you. You left rather rudely and I wanted to make sure everything was all right.” Tessie moved closer and placed a hand on her mother’s back.
“Everything is fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Lillian moved away, grabbing another tray of biscuits.
“He likes you, Mom. Have you ever thought of giving him a shot? I know you love Dad and replacing him is not an option, but you’ve got to move on.”
Tessie stood waiting for her mother to respond.
“I’m not immune to love and to feeling, Tessie. I loved your father with all my heart and soul, even with his faults. He was taken from me too soon, and I can’t stand that.”
“I know, Mom. I love and miss Dad, too. Do you really think he’d want you to be alone for the rest of your life?” Tessie asked, trying to reach her mother.
“I don’t know what he’d think, honey. Donald Mitchell is a nice man, but we’re two different people, and what he wants, I can’t give him. Accept it.”
She watched Lillian walk out the house. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she wrapped her hair in a bun, ready to leave the kitchen.
The phone rang on her way out. Stopping to pick it up, she pressed the receiver to her ear.
“Hello.”
Nothing came over the line. Someone was on the other end, but no words were spoken.
“Hello, is anyone there?” Tessie asked again.
“Happy Anniversary.”
The phone was hung up.
Staring at the receiver, Tessie frowned. Was it some kind of prank call being nasty, or was it something else?
She didn’t understand. Shaking her head, she placed the receiver on the counter, then turned to leave.
Stopping at the doorway, she saw Donald talking with her mother. He seemed to be bringing her around or something. Looking past them, she saw the outlines of Markus and Brant. The two brothers who invaded her thoughts on a daily basis. They wore jeans and plain white T-shirts that emphasized their muscles.
Her pussy quivered with pleasure. The feelings evoked by these two men were more than she could have ever hoped for.
* * * *
Markus saw Tessie stood in the doorway, wearing the yellow sundress Brant had bought her. They’d picked out the color and style together. Seeing her in the dress was worth every cent they paid for it.
Walking toward the table, he saw her moving closer but staying far enough away for Donald to work his magic over Lillian.
When he got close enough, Tessie walked into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling the love he held for her consume him. Brant cleared his throat, gaining their attention.
Releasing her was hard work. He pulled away, then watched as his brother wrapped her in his arms. There was no jealousy, just a soul-completing calm that settled over him.
“Are you okay?” Markus asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.” He saw her look toward her mother. “I don’t know if she’ll ever be okay.”
Ruby approached the table, cleared her throat, and gave them a pointed look.
Markus glared at her, warning her not to say anything.
“What’s going on?” Ruby asked.
“Nothing.” Brant and Markus spoke in unison.
She chuckled and walked away.
“I hate this,” Tessie said, looking at her mother. Donald was still talking to her.
“Come with us. We’ll take you someplace,” Markus said. She gazed down at their joined hands.
Brant stroked her shoulder. “Trust us.”
“Mom, I’m going with Brant and Markus. I’ll be back later.”
“Take your time, honey.”
Keeping hold of her hand, Markus steered her toward the truck.
He helped her inside and waited for Brant to settle beside her before moving around to the driver’s side.
Starting up the engine, he pulled out of the street and was on the road heading toward their ranch. Taking her hand once again, he saw Brant do the same with her other hand.
“Thank you for getting me today. Mom is a little more morose than usual.”
“No worries, baby,” Brant said, kissing her knuckles.
Markus parked up outside and waited for Brant to help Tessie down. They both headed in the direction of the backyard. Even though they lived on a ranch and their parents did before them, their fathers installed a garden area complete with the swing.
They accessed it toward the side of the house and it was cut off from the rest of the ranch.
The garden was a small piece of heaven. “Wow, what is this place?” Tessie asked.
“Come and see.” Markus escorted her toward the swing. “Take a seat.”
She sat down and he moved behind her. Brant took position at her front. Markus was struck by memories of his parents doing this. The only thing missing was their children.
He started pushing her, slowly at first, and then speeding up, but not too far to put her in danger.
“This is amazing,” she said, shouting the words.
After thirty minutes passed he slowed down the swing so they could all hear each other.
Brant moved closer.
“I can’t thank you guys enough for coming to get me. I don’t think I could handle another bake thing. Mom does them every year, but this year felt different for some reason. I don’t know.”
“It has been five years,” Brant said.
“I know. Shouldn’t she be moving on, or something? Donald is really into her. She won’t give him the time of day.”
“Sometimes a person needs more time than anyone else.”
“I guess.” She let out a sigh. Slowing the swing to a stop, Markus moved close and inhaled her lovely vanilla scent. Brant moved closer still.
He stroked a hand down her back, feeling the softness of her skin. The yellow of the dress really did look good on her.
“Tessie, there’s something we’ve got to tell you,” Markus said.
“What? Is it bad? I don’t think I can handle any more bad news today.” She turned her body to look at him. Her head was resting against the metal of the swing. Her brown eyes were wet with unshed tears.
Forgetting about all his words, Markus leaned close, not caring about Brant’s warning to come clean first.
There was no more coming clean. He wanted Tessie desperately. Thinking about all the failed attempts before, Markus wasn’t going to let an opportunity to kiss her leave him. Those luscious, dark lips were his to claim.
He closed the distance, brushing his lips against her. The first touch wasn’t nearly enough. Cupping her cheek, stroking her soft flesh, Markus pressed harder against her lips. She let out a sigh, furthering his advantage.