RAIN
A Quinn Brother Story Series
CASEY CLIPPER
The Right of Casey Clipper to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her.
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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First Published 2016
Copyright © Casey Clipper 2016
Published by
NTJ Publishing
Bookcovers by Book Cover Master Class
RAIN
A Quinn Brothers Story
1
Justin stared at the sobbing, beautiful raven-haired woman standing before him in the lobby of his repair shop. The flimsy bill shook in her trembling hands. His heart clenched for her, yet he had no idea how to handle this situation. What the hell did he do for a crying woman? When his sister-in-law sobbed, he would slink out of the room, leaving the issue to his brother to deal with on his own.
“I-I can’t p-pay this,” she cried.
“But that’s the cost.” Justin’s brows slanted down. What did she expect when she brought her car in, unable to start? She told him to find the issue and when he had, he’d contacted her to get the okay to replace the starter that had gone bad.
“I didn’t k-know it would be this much.” Her large hazel eyes pleaded with him.
His prices were actually reasonable. He didn’t charge an arm and a leg in labor costs, hoping that a good reputation and volume would replace having to overprice his services. The business plan had worked. His garage was successful, to the point where he opened the shop seven days a week to push out the overflow of vehicles. He worked his ass off, but he was a successful businessman and for the first time in his life had a decent stipend in his bank account.
“Ms. Monroe, I gave you the price over the phone.”
She hiccupped. “You told me the approximate cost. I thought it’d be lower.”
Was she for real? Normally after an approximate, the cost tended to be higher, with taxes and labor added.
She rummaged through her purse. “All I have is two hundred available on this credit card.”
“The cost is three-fifty,” he said.
“I don’t have it.”
Nate, his head mechanic, piped in, “Then we keep the car on the lot until you come up with the balance.”
Justin shot him a glare.
She gasped. “But I have to get to work.”
Nate shrugged. “Take the bus.”
Technically Nate was right. This was Justin’s business policy. How many times had customers tried to swindle him out of paying the total bill? An endless stream. Weekly he would have to deal with this same, tired argument. But never had he been confronted with a crying woman who broken down in the middle of the lobby of the garage.
The phone rang and Nate answered, taking him out of the conversation.
Her fair features turned red. Her head hung, her gaze flicking to the bill once again. She chewed on her lip and took a deep, shuttered breath. “I won’t have money,” she said, her tone hushed, “to buy my son food.”
Justin cracked. He couldn’t imagine a mother having to choose between her car and food. He could only see Candace and his newborn niece, Riley. What if she was in the same predicament? He’d hope that someone would help her.
He sighed. “I’ll settle for the two hundred.”
She blinked, surprised by his acquisition. “You will?”
“Yes, but don’t you dare utter a word about this to anyone, you got me? I don’t want rumor on the street that I’m giving away our services. I have to charge you for the parts, I can’t waive that.” He yanked the receipt out of her hand and scribbled over the original price. He took her credit card and ran it through, handing her the receipt and her keys. He wanted her out of his building before another customer walked in to get their car and decided they, too, wanted a discount.
“Thank you so much,” she said softly, wiping her tear-stained cheeks.
He felt for her. Truly he did. He’d been where she was, unable to afford repairs on a necessary vehicle to get him back and forth to his job that barely made him break even. There was no worse feeling than an unexpected bill you couldn’t swing.
“You’re welcome, Jenna,” he muttered.
She signed the slip and quickly left the lobby to claim her car. Nate hung up the phone. “You’re a sap. She just played you.”
Nate held the title of cynical hardass.
“No one can fake that type of distress.” Justin slid the credit card receipt onto the top of the pile of the day’s invoices. He watched Ms. Monroe scurry to her car and hop in. She continued to wipe her tear-streaked face as she started the car and drove away.
Nate snorted. “Hell yes, they can. Especially a fine girl like that. If she’s good, she knows just how to play the sympathy card. And she just did with you.”
Justin didn’t believe it. Even though deep down he knew Nate might be right, he didn’t want to admit that the beautiful woman, who cried so desperately, would be playing him for a fool.
2
Justin laughed at his brother Aaron, who gagged while trying to change their niece’s diaper.
“What the hell are you feeding her, Liam?” Aaron gasped, moaning and choking. He buried his nose into his shoulder.
Liam walked into the living room of his apartment with a warmed bottle in hand and laughed. “Dude, she’s two months old and she’s putting you on your ass.”
“Because she pooped out something toxic,” Aaron said. “I’m telling you, it could eat through steel.”
The rancid odor finally hit Justin. “Oh my God.”
He pulled his shirt over his nose as a face mask.
“You’re both assholes.” Liam got down on the floor, pushing Aaron out of the way, and finished the task at hand. When he was done, he picked up his daughter and handed her off to Justin, along with the bottle. “I have to check on Candace. She’s not feeling well.”
Since his brother did the dirty work, Justin gladly cradled Riley, positioning her in the crook of his arm and popping the bottle into her small mouth. She ate as if she’d never been fed. Justin watched her in utter amazement. How could one tiny human be so perfect? Well, except for the baby poop thing.
Riley was showered with love and devotion from the entire Quinn family, her four uncles and grandfather doting on her. She would want for nothing in her life. Which had him thinking about Jenna Monroe. She had a son who did want and need—food. God, he couldn’t imagine being in that dire straits.
For the past couple weeks, Justin couldn’t get the woman and those haunted eyes that held so much pain out of his head. In his dreams, those crystalline hazels appeared out of nowhere. At work, thoughts of how she was doing, if her son was hungry, did he take her last dime, distracted him from his job and paperwork. She would pop up in his consciousness when at the grocery store. Specifically, the bread section.
She couldn’t have been more than twenty-five. Where was the man in her life? Why hadn’t he been there to pay the bill? He noticed she hadn’t worn a wedding ring. But that didn’t mean anything, she could
be in a committed relationship. She was too gorgeous to be single.
The apartment door opened and Shane strolled in like he owned the world. His features lit up as soon as they zeroed in on his niece.
“Oh, no. I got her first.” Justin tucked Riley into his body a bit tighter.
“Actually, I had her first,” Aaron corrected.
Justin flipped him off. “You gave her up when you wretched over her poo.”
Shane rolled his deep blue eyes and came straight up to Justin, hovering. He smiled lovingly down at the precious baby and snatched her right out of Justin’s arms. “Hey!”
“I can only stay for a few minutes. I have to get back to the office. I stopped in to check on my baby girl and my sister-in-law.” Shane kissed Riley’s cheek and ran his nose along her hair. “Seriously, this smell is addicting.”
Aaron laughed. “You could get one of your own, you know.”
“Shush. Leila is nagging me about having a baby. She doesn’t want to wait for a wedding.” Shane plopped the bottle into Riley’s hungry mouth.
Justin laughed. “I can’t even imagine unruffled Shane with a baby.”
Shane shot him a glare. “I’m holding one right now.”
“But you get to hand her back to Daddy,” Aaron snickered.
Liam walked back into the room with Candace schlepping behind him. She was pale, sickly. Her normally perfectly styled blond hair a mess, her nose bright red, and she sniffled and coughed.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Shane asked, kissing her on the forehead. “You’re burning up.”
“I think I have a sinus infection.”
“You should be in bed.” Justin frowned, glaring at his brother. “Are you on an antibiotic?”
“I tried to get her to stay in bed but she wouldn’t.” Liam scooped a couple baby items off the floor. “I have to pick up a prescription for her in an hour.”
Candace collapsed onto the sofa, going prone, her face buried into the cushion.
“We can take turns watching Riley.” Justin said. “That’s what we’re here for.”
Liam grinned goofily. “That’s what I told your sister-in-law, but she said she didn’t want to burden all of you.”
A collective groan and rebuke came from all of them. Shane, being the oldest and most vocal when it came to chastising them said, “Really, Candace? A burden? You’re like our sister and you believe you and your daughter would be a bother? I’m offended by such a remark and don’t want to ever hear it again.”
Candace lifted her arm lazily and waved him off, in a failed attempt to dismiss his remark.
The front door opened and Brayden walked in with Mike, his husband, on his heels. Brayden carried a steaming pot in his hands. “I brought Candace chicken noodle soup. Dad gave me the recipe. Said Mom used to make it when we were little.”
Mike managed to muscle Riley out of Shane’s grip.
“Thanks, Bray,” Liam said, following him into the kitchen.
“I can come back later,” Justin said. “I have something to do, but after that, I’m free.”
“I would appreciate that,” Liam said, appearing with a bowl of hot soup. He knelt down beside Candace. “Here baby, you need to eat this.”
Liam had to leave for a three-day stint at the firehouse. The station may have only been a few miles away, but he was required to stay at the firehouse while he was on duty. These were the times that, as his brothers, they stepped up to watch over their brother’s wife and daughter.
Candace barely lifted her head to take the food Liam offered. Justin watched them with interest. He’d always been amazed by their relationship. If two people were meant to be together, it was Liam and Candace. They’d been high school sweethearts and since day one they clicked. They were each other’s ying and yang.
He looked away, a slight pang of jealousy hitting him, like always, when he watched his brothers in their relationships. When he glanced up, avoiding Liam and Candace, he caught Mike whispering into his brother Brayden’s ear, a loving hand running up and down his back. Brayden had found the love of his life and a good man who truly adored him, would anything in the world for him. Justin’s brother was happy and content. Something they weren’t sure would happen for the youngest Quinn sibling. But Brayden had found his soulmate. Justin idly wondered how it felt to know one person held your heart.
Brayden cleared his throat. “We wanted to wait to tell you when Dad was here, but since we don’t know when all of us will be together again soon... Mike and I are adopting a baby boy.”
“What?” Aaron gasped.
Justin jumped up from his chair, shocked. “When? Where is he?”
Liam stood, smiling so wide his face looked like it could break. “A boy to carry on the Quinn name.”
Mike cleared his throat. “Technically−”
“Your name should be Quinn. Yes, we know,” Shane interrupted sternly. It was a sore subject among the brothers. They didn’t like the idea of Brayden changing his last name to Mike’s. Which he hadn’t done yet. They all wanted Mike to take the Quinn name, extending the family name.
Candace was suddenly on her feet in front of Brayden. “Where is he? When do you get him?”
“In three months,” Brayden said, turning red. His overly shy brother hated being the center of attention.
“Is it an open adoption?” Shane asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“No,” Mike answered. “The girl is fifteen and her family is devastated. They’ve pulled her out of public school and put her in hiding.”
Mike wrapped his arm around Brayden’s waist and kissed him on the forehead.
“I want the attorneys at my company to look over the contract,” Shane insisted. “I don’t want anything going wrong for either of you or for there to be any kind of opening where this family or mother can come back at you, asking for more money or trying to take the baby away.”
“I agree,” Justin said hastily. The last thing he wanted was his baby brother devastated by the adoption process taking a nose dive. He loved him too much to watch that happen.
“So do I,” Aaron said.
“Me, too,” Candace said, wrapping her arms around Brayden. “I’m so happy for both of you. Congratulations.”
Mike nodded. “Thanks, Shane.”
The room buzzed with excitement at the new addition coming into the family. But no matter how much they celebrated, Justin wasn’t entirely there. He had a certain doe-eyed, sable-haired vision that had been haunting him for two weeks always present.
3
Justin carried grocery bags to the third floor apartment. It wasn’t a horrible building but it clearly needed a bit of maintenance. A newer paint job, better landscaping, more secure front doors, slightly worn hallway carpets, all of it stating the owner invested in the building but needed a good update to refresh the look.
He found 3B, knocked on the door, and waited. He didn’t know what he was doing there. While he’d been shopping for food for Jenna and her son, whose age he was clueless about, he’d considered walking away a few times. But each time some unknown force refused to allow him to turn his back. Instead, he had a shopping cart filled with items and a boatload of potential embarrassment. There were so many what-ifs that he was setting himself up for disaster. What if she was married? What if she had a boyfriend? What if she actually had money?
He knocked again. He knew she was home, he’d seen her car in the parking lot. The only faded blue sedan with years worn on the body and missing the front passenger hubcap. The rest of the vehicles in the lot were newer, not one, except for Jenna’s over a couple years old.
The door slowly opened and a toddler stood before him, grinning, holding a dinosaur.
“Hi,” Justin said. “Um, is your Mommy home?”
“Yes.” Hazel eyes dancing with innocent humor stared up at him.
“Can you get her for me?”
“Shhh.” The boy put a finger up to his mouth. “Mommy’s sleepin’.”
The woman was sleeping when she had a toddler running around, who was answering doors for strangers? What kind of woman did that?
His jaw clenched as he gripped the bags tighter.
But what if she wasn’t really sleeping? What if she was somehow hurt? A toddler would think his mommy was asleep.
Justin pushed past the toddler, concern filling him.
He pulled to a stop when he came to the living room, the area strewn with toys and a cartoon on the television. Jenna sat in a chair, her head resting on her hand, her eyes closed. Food stained the front of her waitressing attire. She was even still wearing a dingy apron.
He scrutinized the mess and caught sight of a stack of books on a small dining room table. He eased over, trying not to make noise, to look at the titles. Student books. All business administration. A school ID badge laid on the table, along with a notepad and what he perceived as homework.
Justin glanced over his shoulder at the catatonic woman. She hadn’t been lying. She was a full time student, working and raising a toddler. The determination and inner strength that must take hit him with the upmost respect and admiration. Justin Quinn instantly fell in love with Jenna Monroe.
4
Justin finished making macaroni and cheese for the toddler, whose name he still didn’t know. He spooned it into a bowl and helped the boy climb onto a booster seat at the dining room table. The kid scarfed down the food as if he hadn’t eaten a decent meal. Though that could be because Justin had bribed him that if he ate, he would give him a chocolate chip cookie.
He sat on the sofa and turned on the five p.m. news. He’d carried Jenna to her bed hours before. She’d been in such a deep sleep, she hadn’t so much as stirred when he lifted her from the chair. Justin just shut off the television when he heard a rustling from the bedroom.
“Jack!” Jenna came pounding down the hallway. “Jack!” She skidded to a stop when she saw Justin, her eyes widening with fear for a brief moment and then dawning crossing over her.
Rain: The Quinn Brothers Story Series Book 4 (A Quinn Brothers Story) Page 1