Braydon

by Nicole Edwards

  “Bray,” Brendon said, his voice rough. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

  And with that, Brendon actually broke down and cried. Jessie had a feeling the copious amount of alcohol contributed to it, but it was still hard to see. Unable to stop her own reaction to the devastating sight, she cried silently as she watched. Braydon moved closer to his brother, leaned down, and practically pulled him up from the bed as he wrapped his arms around him and squeezed.

  “I’m here, Bren. I’m not going anywhere. You understand that?” Braydon asked coarsely. “No-fucking-where. And neither are you. We’re gonna get past this shit, understand? And I’m gonna stay right here until they let you out of this place. Then we’re going home so we can talk.”

  Jessie listened to Braydon console his brother, and her heart broke all over again.

  Part of her had believed that Brendon had been venturing down this path thanks to that country music singer he was obviously hung up on. But now she had to wonder whether that woman had just been a distraction that had kept him going. With Braydon back in town and spending his time with her, Jessie figured Brendon was trying to cope with his new reality.

  And according to what he’d revealed to her, he wasn’t going to do well with having to be away from his twin.

  Which meant . . .

  She was going to have to find a way to make sure that he didn’t have to.

  chapter EIGHTEEN

  “How’s he doin’?” Sawyer asked when Jessie appeared in the waiting room an hour later. It was clear she’d been crying, and Sawyer wasn’t sure if he should be worried or relieved.

  “Better,” she told him. “Travis and Braydon are in with him now.”

  “Didn’t want to stay?” he asked.

  “They need time to themselves. Would you, uh . . .” Jessie looked toward the doors that led to the area Brendon was in and then back to him. “Would you mind taking me home?”

  “Did you tell Braydon?” Sawyer asked.

  “Yeah. He told me he’d take me, but I really think he needs to stay with Brendon.”

  Sawyer agreed. He wasn’t sure why he agreed, but he did. Brendon had hit a rough patch. At the moment, he needed his family to be by his side. Although this had been a long time coming, Sawyer hoped it was going to be the beginning of the end of the cycle. This little stunt had scared the shit out of them all, and whether Brendon liked it or not, they weren’t going to let him be alone for a while.

  “Yeah, I’ll take you home,” he told her, and then looked over to where his parents were sitting, talking to Kaleb and Ethan. “Let’s tell them we’re leavin’ though.”

  Jessie nodded and fell into step with him.

  Ten minutes later, Sawyer was pulling out of the hospital parking lot.

  “So . . .” Sawyer felt Jessie’s gaze on him as he let the single word hang between them. He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t particularly like the silence. And this was his opportunity to be nosey, although he knew he should probably just back off. Since that wasn’t in his nature, he continued. “Do you know what’s going on with Brendon?”

  Jessie was silent for a minute, maybe two, and Sawyer was convinced she wasn’t going to open up to him. Not that he really blamed her. Although she was practically an adopted member of the family, regardless of her relationship with the twins, Sawyer didn’t know her all that well. It was totally for lack of trying on his part.

  She surprised him when she said, “He misses Braydon.”

  “Because Braydon left town?” It was a logical question, he knew.

  “Not necessarily. I think this all started before that.” Jessie’s choked sob stunned him, and he glanced over at her, trying to make out her face in the dim lights from the dashboard. Her hands came up and covered her face as her body shuddered.

  “Jess,” he said, not really knowing what he was supposed to do or say at that moment. He reached out to touch her arm, but stopped just shy of making physical contact. Truth was, he wasn’t really good with emotional women.

  Up until he’d acquired a couple of sisters-in-law, Sawyer had made a point to stay far away from women when they were upset. Sure, he’d earned a reputation because of it, but he couldn’t do much about that. Emotional women scared the shit out of him.

  “I’m sorry. I just . . .” She sniffed and wiped her eyes before dropping them to her lap. “This is all so messed up. And I can’t help but think it’s my fault. If I’d just stayed in Dallas. If I hadn’t followed Kylie down here—”

  “Hold up,” Sawyer interrupted, causing her head to dart in his direction. He didn’t take his eyes off the road as he continued. “You came here with your sister, right? Kylie came to Coyote Ridge to work on Gage’s house. You were with her when she showed up, if I recall correctly.”

  Granted, plenty of things had led up to that little debacle, but ultimately, Sawyer wanted to point out that Jessie hadn’t just showed up out of the blue. Sure, they’d been introduced to Kylie briefly thanks to that questionable stunt Gage had pulled by bringing her to confront Travis without telling anyone. But Sawyer actually remembered being introduced to both Kylie and Jessie officially at the same time.

  “Technically, yes,” she said firmly. “But that’s not the point.”

  “Then what is the point?” he asked just as sternly. “If you’re gonna sit here and try to take the blame for Brendon acting like an idiot, I’m gonna stop and you can walk the rest of the way.”

  He did peek over at her then to see that she was staring back at him with wide eyes.

  “I’m kidding, Jess. But seriously, I don’t want you to try to take this on yourself. I’m not gonna pretend to know what the hell goes on with those two, but I can tell you, this isn’t your fault.”

  “How do you know? Like you said, you don’t know what’s going on with them. And yes, Braydon left because of me. Does that make it clearer for you? Brendon told me that Braydon loves me. So he left.”

  Sawyer laughed harshly. “Bullshit.”

  He darted his gaze to her and grinned when he saw that she was looking at him indignantly.

  “That’s absurd. Maybe men aren’t the smartest fools on earth when it comes to women, but we don’t run away just because we love a woman.” Not that he’d know, because he had never truly loved a woman.

  “So now you’re an expert?” she asked incredulously.

  “Nope,” he said quickly. “Not saying that, either.” Sawyer took a deep breath. “Look. Brendon did something really stupid tonight. Aside from drinking himself into oblivion, he got behind the wheel of a truck. That’s something we’ve grown up knowing is not even an option. You don’t drink and drive. No matter what.”

  “I agree, that was stupid,” she said softly. “But—”

  “No buts, Jess. Not in this case. It’s inexcusable. You see, my mother . . .” Sawyer peered over at her briefly to make sure she was listening. “My mother tolerates a lot from us. She’ll be the first to tell you that the seven of us made her crazy growing up. I won’t argue with her, either. But see, there were plenty of times she and my dad talked to us. We listened just like most kids, in one ear, out the other. But there was one specific point that she was insistent we pay attention to. I can remember her talking about it with one or all of us since we were kids.

  “The point is, if you’re me or one of my brothers, you’ve heard the devastating story that my mother has to tell. You might not know this, but my mother had five sisters.”

  “Had?”

  “Three of them are still alive,” he answered. “Two of them died. In a car accident. Together. My aunt Kathy was nineteen when she died. She had been at some college party. Well, my aunt Celeste, who was a couple of years younger, had needed a ride home from a friend’s house. Before she went out that night, Celeste had asked Kathy if she’d pick her up on her way home.”

  “Oh, God,” Jessie whis
pered.

  “Exactly. Kathy was well past the legal limit when she drove over to pick up Celeste. On their way home, just a few blocks away from their house, Kathy crashed her car into a tree. According to my mother, Kathy died on impact. Celeste suffered from fatal injuries. She died in the hospital a few days later, never waking up. My mother was barely a year older than Kathy, but she was already married to my dad, so she didn’t live at home. To hear my mother tell that story, I don’t care who you are, you feel her pain.”

  “I can only imagine,” Jessie whispered.

  “And tonight Brendon got behind the wheel of a vehicle. He risked his own life and the lives of innocent people. There is no excuse. No one but Brendon can accept responsibility for that. He’s just damn lucky he didn’t kill someone. Or himself.”

  Jessie nodded, her eyes focused straight ahead. Sawyer let the silence linger for a moment as he pulled onto the back road that led to his parents’ land.

  “Jess, I don’t know what’s going on with the three of you,” Sawyer said when he pulled up in front of Jessie’s. “I don’t want to know. I just want you to think this through.” He contemplated what he would say next. He was tempted to leave it at that, but something spurred him on. “I’ve seen the way Braydon looks at you. I’ve never seen him look at another woman like that before. And I’ve seen the way you look at him. It surprised the hell out of us all when he left town. It was bad enough that he left the rest of us like that, but he also left Brendon. They’ve got to work this out between them. In my opinion, it’s about damn time they grew up. They’re thirty years old, Jess. They can’t keep doing this forever. It was bound to happen that one of them fell for a woman sooner or later. I had suspected it would be Braydon, too.”

  Resting his hands on the steering wheel, he turned his head toward her. “This isn’t your fault. And if you try to make it your fault, it won’t help. This is a screwed-up situation, at least from the outside looking in. But I’m gonna tell you . . . if you want to work this out with Braydon, you’re gonna have to help them work through this. Whatever happened to split things up between the three of you is probably for the best. Unfortunately, things get complicated that way. Trust me, I know.”

  Sawyer glanced back out the window, refusing to think about his own issues where that was concerned. “Brendon’s a big boy. He’s gonna have to accept responsibility for his own actions. They’ve always had a strong bond between them, and I hate to see him like this, but I do think it’ll work out.”

  Jessie nodded her head, but she didn’t say anything. Sawyer figured that was for the best anyway. He’d stuck his nose where it didn’t belong, but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t speak up. That was his own personal demon.

  “Thanks for the ride home,” she whispered as she reached for the door handle.

  “Catch ya later,” he replied.

  He watched to ensure she made it into her house safely. When the front door closed behind her, Sawyer backed out of the driveway.

  Deciding that the night had been blown to shit already, he opted to call it a night. In the mood he was in, it was safe to say that Brendon wouldn’t be the only one getting himself into trouble tonight.

  And that was the last thing they needed.

  chapter NINETEEN

  “What are you doing here?” Kylie asked the moment Jessie stepped through the door of their little office.

  Glancing around, confused about who Kylie was talking to, Jessie realized she was the only one there, which meant her sister was talking to her.

  “I, uh, work here.”

  “Is Brendon out of the hospital?” Kylie asked, coming directly toward her.

  “Yes, he’s out.” Braydon had called her sometime during the wee hours of the morning to let her know that he was taking Brendon home and staying with him. He had then let her go, insisting that she go back to sleep.

  “Did you get any sleep last night?” Kylie questioned, studying her.

  “Of course,” she lied. In fact, she hadn’t gotten much sleep at all. After Sawyer dropped her off, Jessie had made a cup of hot tea, hoping that would do the trick. Then, for the next few hours, she had tossed and turned, trying her best to make sense of what Sawyer had said.

  He hadn’t helped, that much she knew for sure. It would’ve been so easy for Jessie to have accepted responsibility for Brendon’s lack of common sense with his binge drinking, but she hadn’t been able to do so.

  She hadn’t been able to blame anyone. Not Braydon. Not Brendon. And not even Cheyenne, who Brendon was clearly hung up on.

  This happened, and although Brendon was truly at fault for his own actions, she could very well see why he had done it. Drowning sorrows in alcohol was something she’d done plenty of times in her adult life. Never quite to the extent he went to, but she’d indulged a few times, sure. Not that it excused his drinking and driving.

  “You can take the day off if you’d like,” Kylie told her now, reaching out and touching her shoulder.

  “That’s the last thing I need, thank you very much. I’d much rather find something constructive to do with my time.”

  “Well, if that’s the case, don’t sit down.”

  Jessie cocked an eyebrow at her sister.

  “I need to go check out a prospective job.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. Have you seen that old Victorian house that you pass on the way to town? Sits on like twenty acres, I think. Right before you take a left toward Main.”

  Jessie thought about that for a moment. “The ugly blue one?”

  “Yep. I fully intend to change that, by the way.” Kylie’s smile widened just as it did anytime she took on a new client.

  “Finally got another house in town, huh?” Jessie asked as she turned and followed her sister toward the door.

  “Yeah. Exciting, huh?”

  After Kylie locked up, they both climbed into Kylie’s truck—technically Gage’s truck.

  “Do I know who the client is?” Jessie asked as she buckled her seat belt.

  The engine roared to life and Kylie was pulling through the parking lot before she answered.

  “Cheyenne Montgomery.”

  Jessie jerked her head toward her sister. “Did I just hear you right? Cheyenne Montgomery is moving to Coyote Ridge?”

  “Looks like it,” Kylie said.

  “Does Brendon know?”

  Kylie glanced over, her eyebrows furrowed. “Probably not.”

  Exactly. “And you’re okay with her moving here?”

  “What do you mean ‘you’re okay’? I didn’t realize it had anything to do with me,” Kylie spat.

  “Isn’t she like a mystery friend of Travis’s? Have you never wondered just what happened between the two of them?”

  Okay, so Jessie shouldn’t have phrased the question that way. It made it sound as though she questioned Travis’s love for Kylie. That wasn’t the case. Truly. But it was weird that Travis happened to be such good friends with this woman and she just showed up out of the blue once and then all of a sudden she was around at all the Walker family functions.

  “Jealous much?” Kylie bit out.

  “No, I’m not.” She didn’t care if Cheyenne moved to Coyote Ridge. Granted, she wasn’t sure that Brendon was going to be ecstatic about the idea, but what did she care? Really.

  “First of all, Cheyenne is twenty-four years old, Jess.”

  Twenty-four? Really?

  “Okay, so how does Travis know her?” Jessie asked curiously. Travis was thirty-six years old, Jessie knew that much. What in the world could they possibly have in common?

  “It’s a long story.”

  “I’ve got plenty of time,” Jessie replied.

  “It was several years ago. Cheyenne was just eighteen years old when they met. Big dreams, that girl. She’s from West Texas,
did you know that?”

  “No, I didn’t,” Jessie answered quickly, not sure what that had to do with anything.

  “Anyway, Travis knows a lot of people.”

  “I know.” It was a little creepy how many people that man knew. For a small-town country boy, he did have some pretty impressive friends.

  “Anyway, Cheyenne was just starting out. She was playing in small bars. She’s good. I mean really good.”

  “I’ve heard her sing, Ky. I know how good she is.”

  “You’d like her if you ever got to know her.”

  Jessie didn’t bother to tell Kylie that she hadn’t had a chance to really even talk to Cheyenne. The few times the woman was around, Jessie was generally cast aside.

  “She was playing in a bar close to here and Travis happened to be there that night. He was with one of his buddies, a music producer. They went to school together. The guy moved away after they graduated, but he and Travis apparently kept in touch, hung out when the guy came back to town to see his family, which apparently was quite often. Anyway. The guy was looking for talent, so Travis met his buddy at the bar, they listened to her sing.”

  “He discovered her?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. Sure, he heard her sing, but that’s not exactly how they were introduced.”

  Confused, Jessie stared at her sister.

  Kylie grinned wide and proud. “Bar fight.”

  Jessie laughed. Now that made more sense.

  “A fight broke out; Travis was at the right place at the right time. Some drunk guy hadn’t been too happy that Cheyenne wasn’t paying him enough attention, so he tried to start shit. Travis ended it. That’s all she wrote.”

  Jessie laughed. “So, what? Cheyenne was forever indebted to him because he beat some drunk guy’s ass protecting her honor? Or because he actually put her on the map?”

  Kylie laughed, turning down a dirt road that led to the old Victorian that Cheyenne had apparently bought.