It’s the only word I can use when describing Ally’s parenting style, and it embarrasses me to have to admit we’re related at all.
“That’s nice, sweetheart. And is that ear feeling better? No more pain?”
“Nuhuh. Nurse Gabby saided I good as news and she gaved me lollipop too.”
My smile is watery, and I find myself gulping back tears when Rain and Danny start cooing over Tammy.
“Come on, honey. You can watch me shovel food into my mouth while Grandma and Auntie Danny spoil the little one. You look like you need a cup of coffee and some time to sort through it all.”
I so do, and I follow Lori out of the room with the promise of bringing Tam a doughnut from the cafeteria. I will never in my life forget her face when I took her pajamas and gown out of that bag, nor will I ever let myself forget the gratitude I just saw from a two-year-old because I did something as basic as provide her with clothing.
It hurts to see her excitement over something she should have had all this time and hurt even more so when I think about all the money I gave Ally to get her these things, things she never received.
I am going to that apartment the minute I get my car back, and so help me God, if I see what I think I will, I just may have to hunt down my own sister and kill her to save humanity from her.
“It’ll be okay,” Lori says after we both get some tea and I grab two doughnuts from the display, one for me and a jelly for Tam.
“Okay? I just managed to get myself a kid, one I should have taken from my sister years ago. I’m taking charity from my neighbor, a man I have met three times in my life, the first when I was illegally trespassing in his pool. My house is being brought up to code by people I don’t know and can’t pay. I have nothing to offer Tammy besides what your brother is giving me…how is it all okay?” I ask, swiping at my cheeks with a sniff.
Lori just smiles and shakes her head.
“Because, honey, family is everything, and like it or not, now that Lynx has taken you under his wing, we’re family. That’s what you need right now, and don’t you dare feel embarrassed for accepting help when it’s clear as day it’s a first for you. We’re all here, and you know, I get that it’s hard to let us in because you think of all this as charity, but it isn’t. You’re one of us now. So, just chill out about the money and—”
“I can’t. I am so grateful to Lynx and all y’all for what you are doing because if it wasn’t for him sweeping in, I’d lose Tam sure as day. I just…I don’t do this. I fix things. I figure out how to put gas in the car on ten dollars and use the change for groceries. I always stand on my own feet, and now…it’s just really hard to see the tab piling up and know that even if I give him back every cent he’s putting into this, I will never truly be able to repay him for all this.”
“Then, don’t think about it, and, Teeny, please don’t throw it back in his face. Lynx is a softie at heart, and he tends to take things really personal, unlike the animal I married.”
I giggle at that, so intrigued by the other Wylder brothers I don’t know if I’m more excited to meet Bear the coddling husband variety or Wolf, who sounds like a gruff, scary bastard.
“I won’t. Just don’t take it to heart if I seem to struggle with it all, okay? I’m not used to this. My gran was all I had until she passed away, and it’s only been me and Ally until Tammy came along.”
“I get it. Now, change of subject because you’re bumming me out, man. Lynx told me you’d be up for some pole dancing classes?”
Oh God, that man.
Chapter Eight
Teeny
I get back home about seven hours later, after Tammy’s tests and results were given, my mind at ease when the doctors told us that her hearing is just fine and she doesn’t have any lasting damage from the recurring infections.
I had to grind my jaw through the whole recounting of Tam’s medical history and that, despite the lack of treatment, they can see that someone was taking care of it, or trying to.
I know for a damn fact that wasn’t Ally, so I owe Mrs. Cane a huge gift for at least attempting to keep Tammy healthy. I also need to stop grinding my teeth before I get them down to nubs because, despite Tam’s cheeriness, we can’t take her home for at least two more days because she’s staying on the drip just to make sure her ear clears up completely.
I blame Ally so much, so bad I am sorta relieved she’s made a runner and isn’t around right now.
“What the hell?” I breathe when I walk in to see men walking in and out of the kitchen, which is…
Almost done. The floor is a little battered and beat up, but they go perfectly with the white cabinets that have already gone up, and my eyes feel lazy when they don’t meet the orange counters but a white marble-like surface that matches the cupboards.
“Hey, Teeny. You like it?”
I turn in a circle when Lynx spots me and comes over, his smile hopeful and a little anxious as he watches me take it all in.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathe, blinking when I see one lone tile from the old kitchen staring back at me from the wall.
“I kept that one up where we’re doing a blackboard, sorta like a memory,” he says sheepishly, making me smile so hard I feel my teeth ache.
“I…that is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
And it is. Screw the kitchen and the money and the…kindness. Screw it all. It doesn’t mean half as much to me as this one tile. Part of my sadness and reluctance this morning was the reality of having Gran’s kitchen ripped out.
The thing was an eyesore, and I hated it, but it was her, so much a part of my childhood growing up that I was sad to see it go because that would mean the last good memories I have of my life would be gone.
Seeing that one tile is like saying Gran is still here. I just get to have a nice kitchen and have her too.
“You’re welcome, little lady. Now, I kinda like the floor just as is, but if you want it stripped and re-stained, I can—”
“It’s perfect. How the heck did you guys do all this so quickly?”
“Not much to it. We had the cupboards already, so it was just a matter of getting the old stuff out and hanging the new ones. The plumbing is all good still so we just installed it all. Easy. The floor was the problem because we had to rip up the old stuff and scrape the glue away, but once that was done, it was all a breeze.”
A breeze? I spent two months painting the walls in the living room just before Miriam’s boy came in to do the sky for me. The floor? Three months stripping it, sanding it all down, and re-staining.
This is just—
“Thank you, Lynx.”
“No need, Teeny. I really liked using up those cupboards the supplier screwed up. Besides, girl, those counters.” He shudders, making me and the guys around us laugh hard.
“The air guys are on the way too. All we still have to do after that is get Tam’s room ready, make sure the fencing and pool are in order, and childproof the place. Done.”
The guys pack up while he’s showing me the new shelving they installed in the pantry, and it’s only when the silence becomes too loud that I realize we’re alone, in my house.
I cringe because not only do I really like Lynx, I am now his housekeeper and in debt to him up to my eyeballs.
“Why did you do all this for me? We’re strangers, you hardly know me, and yet you’ve been nicer to me than anyone ever has been.”
Lynx stills halfway through the living room arch and turns to look at me, his face going hard.
“We’re friends, or at least we will be, Teeny, and you know what, fuck the whole hardly knowing you thing. I know that you have a sister who used you. I know she threw her kid away and is God knows where at the moment. I know that you love your family, no matter what Ally does to you, and I know that if you could help anyone in this situation, you would, stranger or not. If people helped each other more often, the world would be a much nicer place to live in.”
All I can do is gape,
and maybe fall a little in love with him, because I really like that answer. It’s honest, and he’s not whitewashing the fact that my life is shitty, which I appreciate because there is nothing worse than people feeling sorry for you and pretending they don’t.
“I also know that you bought Nat baking supplies so she could fill an order and that you didn’t demand it back on the double even though you needed it. You’re a good person, Teeny, too good sometimes, and I refuse to watch you kill yourself with starvation and heartache because you lose your family over something I can help you with.”
My heart aches at this kindness because I know he doesn’t expect a damn thing back and that he’s just…nice. I promise myself, no matter what, that I will repay him. Maybe not with money because let’s face it, I have none, but I will repay him with the kindness he’s offered me and, if nothing else, build a friendship with a man who isn’t at all like any I have met before.
“You’re a good person too.”
That has him blushing, and I grin and poke him in the ribs when he growls at me.
“You so are!”
We’re laughing as I poke at his sides, and he dodges, the fact that he’s ticklish making me like him all the more because Gran always said never to trust a person who isn’t ticklish and I believe her. Dad wasn’t ticklish, and look how he ended up.
That’s how the air guys find us, laughing with Lynx grabbing me from behind to pin my hands.
“Well, it looks like you landed on your feet, Teeny. How unexpected.”
“Oh Lord,” I mutter, standing straight and stepping away a bit when I look up to match the face with the voice. “Franklin.”
Lynx tenses behind me, his hands still anchored to my hips, and I can practically feel the hostility coming off him when he realizes that the person he called in on this job is the very one who fired me because I wouldn’t have sex with him.
Franklin is still looking between me and Lynx, and I pray like no one’s business that the Wylder women have magically disappeared because the look he gives us is not a nice one, nor is the sneer he levels my way when his eyes come to rest on me.
“If I knew all it would take is some home repair to get in there, I’d have rebuilt this dump a year ago.”
“Motherfu—”
Lynx doesn’t even get the whole word out because Franklin is seized from behind by a man so huge I gulp when his feet dangle off the floor. It’s not that the guy is all that much taller. He’s just built like he eats his enemies as a snack.
“You apologize to her right fucking now or I snap you like a twig.”
Franklin’s flailing in the air, arms pin-wheeling, while the man—he looks like Lynx, like exactly like Lynx, so I’m surmising he’s either Hawk or Lyon, but from the temper, my money’s on Hawk—he just keeps him hoisted as if he weighs nothing.
When all we get is a whimper and struggling, he shakes him a little and snarls, making even me feel sorry for Franklin.
“I’d apologize, asshole,” Lynx laughs, throwing an arm around my shoulders and giving me a squeeze. “Hawk was built to serve twenty to life. Ain’t that right, bro?”
“I’d sit in a cage smiling just for the satisfaction of snapping his neck,” he growls.
Good God, Franklin, I know the brain cell you have isn’t all that up to the task, but apologize already.
“S-s-sorry, Teeny.”
“More.”
“I d-didn’t mean it.”
“Some more,” Hawk snarls, giving him another shake just to emphasize his annoyance.
“You’re not a—”
Hawk lets go of him unexpectedly before he can finish and steps over him to get to me, bowing over my hand and kissing it like a real gentleman.
“You want him dead, you just say the word, Teeny darling. I’m trained to make shit look like accidents, and I know what to use to decompose a body to nothing but mulch.”
I can’t help it. I laugh because the man has the naughtiest eyes I have ever seen in my life.
“Thanks?” I say after I’ve wound down, groaning inside when I look up to see a whole lot of Wylders—I know because these men are unmistakably brothers—grinning at me while Lori sniffs down at Franklin and jabs him with the toe of her shoe.
“I think he fainted.”
A blond looks over her shoulder, his hand going to her belly, and I see him grin when Lori gives Franklin another nudge, this one a little more forceful.
“Don’t blame him. Hawk scares the bogeyman.”
They all laugh while Hawk narrows his eyes at my former boss, his dislike clear when Franklin wakes up and rolls to his feet, blinking rapidly while keeping an eye on the guy.
“I-I came to install the air—”
“Fool, get gone before Lynx loses that sense of humor of his and makes Hawk look like he’s playing games,” Rain says, making me still to look back at Lynx.
His face is so hard I shiver and swallow, begging Franklin silently to just leave before he gets himself killed. It’s hot as hell in this place, and I’m sweating like a pig even as my blood chills when Lynx smiles at the man, a nasty baring of teeth that looks nothing like the sweet man I know.
“You owe Teeny a paycheck and a healthy severance package. Don’t make us come looking for you.”
“But I—”
“You need to go back to whatever hole it is you crawled out of and start calculating that package, boy. And make it generous or the next time you hear from her she’ll be lawyered up and suing for wrongful termination and sexual harassment. At least you’ll only need a lawyer if we let you live,” Hawk drawls, cracking his knuckles with a dark smile.
Franklin literally flies out of the house, and I have to stifle a giggle when I hear his tires screech and the sound of a car honking when he peels away.
“Well, great. This place needs a unit like right fucking now or we’ll all die.”
That comes from the guy standing beside Danny, Bear, I think, and I blush with embarrassment when everyone stomps out onto the porch to get out of the heat.
“Yeah, I’ll call Martina over at Gallows. They’re a better option anyway, son. They’re a little steeper on price, but their systems are eco-friendly, and they don’t charge a double for installation,” an older man says, coming over to take my hand. “Alric Wylder, pleased to meet you tiny, Teeny.”
I’m engulfed in a hug, and I really milk that sucker for all it’s worth because Alric Wylder is warm and strong, and hugging him makes me think of all my girlish dreams back before I knew what an idiot my father really was.
“Nice to meet you too,” I say shyly, giving the other men a shy wave before I stand and shift from foot to foot awkwardly when they all stand and silently scrutinize me.
“Oh, stop it. We’re friends. Right, Teeny?” Lynx says defensively, making even me laugh.
My laugh is awkward though, and I blush brightly when they look at me in question.
“Yep, us, just neighbors,” I chirp, hating the ball of regret at the assurance because, as terrible as it seems, I would so bang Lynx Wylder, in a heartbeat if he’d let me.
I’ve been with two guys before. One was my high school boyfriend who only stuck around long enough to get me to sleep with him, and the other was a guy who worked for the coffee shop down the street from Franklin’s.
Both relationships were average but ultimately unsatisfying, if you know what I mean, so I would so be up for something with the wild man standing beside me. Too bad he sees me as the charity case who lives next door.
“That’s too bad. I kinda think it’s cute how big and dark he is compared to you. You’d make cute babies,” Danny trills, blissfully unaware of the awkwardness she’s causing.
“Ooookay. So, your family has no filter,” I joke, looking at Lynx with big eyes I hope convey amusement instead of utter mortification. “Goooood to know.”
He’s silent for a second before he bursts out laughing and ruffles my hair. Good God, can a hair ruffle murder a woman’s ego?
<
br /> “None whatsoever. Now, let’s say goodbye to the filter-less idiots and go do something about dinner.”
“I’m making—”
“Ma, me’n Teeny are pooped, and we still gotta go see the nugget before we get done with the rest of the house and grab dinner. Thanks for coming over and helping, but we’ll see you all tomorrow.”
Oh thank you sweet Jesus, I think, greeting everyone with a hug before slumping onto the rocker and blinking at Lynx.
“They’re great.”
“Yep. But annoying when they decide to wrangle their way into your business,” he laughs, giving me a knowing look. “I know you’re shell-shocked, so don’t even pretend you’re not. They take getting used to, and for God’s sake, Teeny, just tell them to get lost if they overstep.”
“Never,” I say solemnly because it’s true.
I have never ever had people give a crap about me, and this man thinks I’ll let something like lack of tact or filter drive them away. I’d walk over a tub of snapping gators, barefoot, before I ever offend one of those darlings.
He just laughs darkly as if saying it will happen and locks my door.
“Let’s go over to my house and order that system. I’ll also call the fencing guys while you throw together a few sandwiches or something, and then we can go visit your baby.”
I don’t make sandwiches for lunch because blech! Who wants a sandwich when Lynx has a fridge and pantry a chef would kill for? I make a good chicken fried steak with a side of pasta salad and breaded potatoes to go with it, enjoying his moans when he finally gets off the phone and comes to eat.
“God, woman, this is fantastic,” he mumbles around his fork, chewing it with closed eyes and a moan of appreciation. “Where’d you learn to cook?”
“My gran. She used to let us stay over when…when we needed to, and she liked cooking, so I learned because I liked to spend time with her. Ally hated it though. She’d spent her time lying around reading magazines.”
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