by Sophie Oak
Cade smiled down at her. “Jesse and I are working on a real sweet ride. We can get it to you for a good price.”
“Where the hell did you find these guys?” James asked.
Roger turned back to them. “I was real lucky. After I had to turn down that nice Russian fellow because he scared the crap out of me, I was worried I would have to cut back on work, but Cade and Jesse showed up one day on their motorcycles and said they would work for one paycheck.”
Cade smiled, his eyes never leaving Hope’s chest. Fucker. “We knew we wanted to live here. We’ve been looking for a place to call home for a really long time. When we heard about Bliss, we knew we had to come here.”
Roger leaned in, whispering James’s way. “I think they heard about our low cost of living.”
Nope. They’d found out how easy it was to share in Bliss. James knew all the fucking moves. They were crowding her, one on each side. Cade would play the hard-ass while Jesse would be the sweet one. They wouldn’t leave any exits for the girl they wanted to get in between them. They would form a plan, and each would have a role to play. He knew damn well how that game went because he’d practically invented it with his brother.
“When the hell did Long-Haired Roger go bald?” Noah asked, his mouth hanging open.
Roger turned, and his eyes widened as he really looked at Noah for the first time. “Noah Bennett?”
“Yeah, hi, Roger.” Noah turned sheepish again, his face falling a little.
Roger’s face went red. “My dog died. How do you like that, Mr. Vet? Did you like New York City? I hope you did because my Princess paid the price.”
Long-Haired Roger stomped into his office and slammed the door.
“Is he talking about that ancient Chihuahua he used to have?” Noah asked, staring after him.
James couldn’t help but shake his head. “Yep. She died about two years ago.”
“That dog was eleven hundred years old. I remember her. She was blind and had arthritis in every joint, and he had to feed her baby food because her digestive tract was shot. She was hypoglycemic and had hydrocephalus, which was why the poor thing could barely raise her head. I won’t even go into the problems with her patellas. And yet that dog lived years longer than anyone would have recommended. How is this my fault?”
“What did he just say?” Jesse asked.
It was nice to know at least they weren’t the brainiest of men. Score one for the brothers. Fuck. He was not thinking like that. He was mad at Noah. He couldn’t trust Noah. “What my brother is trying to say is that dog was a miracle on four legs.”
“She wasn’t on four legs. She couldn’t walk. Roger walked her around in a baby carriage. Once I even saw him chewing up food and feeding it to her like a momma bird. He’s the crazy one.” Noah seemed just about ready to continue the argument when Hope put a hand on his arm.
“He and Liz never had kids. Princess was their baby,” Hope explained. “I’m sure he still misses her. You wouldn’t have been able to do anything if you had been here. But you can start repairing your reputation. You can apologize.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Noah insisted.
Hope obviously wasn’t listening to any excuses. “From what I understand, you walked away and left everyone in the lurch. Until you acknowledge that, how can you expect them to trust you?”
Noah’s shoulders sagged. “I’ll go talk to him.”
She’d gotten to Noah in a way James never could have. She’d stated the problem simply and with no real judgment that would have sent his brother into a tailspin of defensiveness. He listened as Noah rapped on Roger’s door and began to make his first real headway in coming home for good.
Hope had done that. Sweet Hope, who was also practical and plainspoken and kind.
Why did he find that so damn sexy?
“So, Hope, we haven’t seen you around town. Why don’t we remedy that? Let us take you out to dinner tonight.” Jesse sidled up to her, getting way too close for James’s comfort.
“She’s not going out with you,” James said. He held off picking up the nearest wrench and bashing Scruffy’s head in. Hope already thought he was some form of lesser man. Violence would be something she would likely take exception to. So he put an arm around her shoulder and went for compromise. She wanted him to get along with Noah? He could give in this once. “She’s going out with me and my brother.”
She shook her head but didn’t move out from under his arm. “Playing it that way, huh, James? Fine. I’m going out with them because it’s relaxing. I love to listen to them argue.”
“We do it all for you, baby. Now show me what’s going on with her car. You might have to use little words because I really know horses better than cars. Hope here knows everything so don’t worry about her.”
She elbowed him, but there was a happy light in her eyes. “Jerk.”
He kept his arm around her while they got the full tour of just how fucked up her vehicle was.
* * * *
Noah walked out of Long-Haired Roger’s office with a feeling that something had finally fallen into place. Roger was insane, for sure, but he was also right in a way. He hadn’t just moved. He’d walked out. Noah had left his home behind. He should have talked to people, explained why he was doing what he was doing. He should have worked hard to arrange for another vet. He should have called and checked up on the people who had been his family.
He hadn’t acted like a friend or a brother or a son. He hadn’t acted like a neighbor. He’d been an obsessed asshole.
He looked across the garage at Hope. Damn, he was getting obsessed again, but this time it was over the right type of woman. Ally would have turned her nose up and rolled her eyes and told Noah that he didn’t need Long-Haired Roger. Hell, Ally would never have walked into this garage in the first place. If her car had gotten so much as a scratch, she would have whined until Noah bought her a new one.
Ally had no idea what it meant to be really loved. But Noah was starting to remember.
“Where did the other one go?” Noah asked. The douchebag with the beard was talking to Hope. The one who liked to strip was nowhere to be seen. He kind of wanted to punch them both, but Hope would have his ass.
Why did he like that idea?
“I don’t know,” James muttered, his gaze firmly on Hope. “He walked out the back door a little while ago. But they’ve backed off. I made sure of it.”
At least James was doing one thing right when it came to Hope. “Good. I talked to Roger. We’re going to take care of the repairs to her car. If the estimate goes over five grand, then Roger is going to sell us a car for that much. He’s going to take at least a week before he can give her a firm estimate. He’s really busy, you see.”
He’d had to smooth talk the hell out of Roger to get him to agree. And he’d had to promise to stay in Bliss until he died and to help Roger find a new dog. Both promises were fairly easy. He was a stray magnet and really damn good at matching pets to owners. His last brilliant move in Bliss had been to match a nasty mutt named Quigley and a set of twins with equal personality problems. He could find Roger a baby no problem.
And he was never leaving Bliss again. He’d learned his damn lesson.
“Good.” James settled his hat back on his head. “I think Hope’s planning on leaving, but she can’t without a car.”
Noah really didn’t like the idea of Hope leaving, so he was mighty happy he’d made the deal he had. He was going to have to make them all over the county. He had to go out tomorrow and talk to Max and Rye. He wasn’t looking forward to it. He might have to work for free for a year or two. Hope turned her head toward him, and his breath just about stopped. Yeah, he didn’t give a shit about the cash.
James stared at him.
“Really? Dude, you’re looking at her like she’s got a halo on her head. Didn’t you learn your lesson with Ally?” James asked.
“She isn’t Ally.”
James threw his head back and laughe
d.
“What?”
“I’m just realizing a few things.”
“Well, hell, brother, fill me in.”
James pointed straight at him. “Ally damn near broke you. She turned your whole fucking world upside down. She lied to you and used you, and here you are six months later back for more.”
It really did make him sound like a fool. Maybe he should back off. Maybe he should think about this more.
“Don’t frown like that,” James admonished. “I wasn’t saying it was a bad thing. I was just thinking that five years with a greedy bitch didn’t wipe out your childhood. I was thinking it was a good thing.”
Noah froze because his brother was right. Five years of being abused emotionally didn’t erase all the decades of watching real love. Watching his dads and his mom had merely made the longing sharper, less avoidable. He knew what he wanted. He’d gone about it all wrong. He’d allowed childish jealousies to lead him, but he wanted real love now. He wanted what his parents had. “I’m not a kid anymore. I want a family. I want what our dads had. I want the same thing you want.”
James took a step back. “I don’t want that.”
“How can you say that?”
James turned his face down. “I don’t want to fucking fade away. Look, I want a family, but what we had growing up just isn’t going to work for me. I watched my dad die because your dad and their wife were gone. He just sat down and waited.”
And that seemed like a beautiful fucking thing to Noah. “What’s wrong with that? I think they’re together again.”
“And if they aren’t? If this is all there is?”
His brother’s low words struck a chord in Noah. How much had being alone affected his brother? “Then at least they had each other. At least they really loved someone and someone loved them.”
“You weren’t here. You didn’t watch it.”
“I watched Momma die. I watched our dads have to live through it. I know I wasn’t here for Dad, but watching Papa was bad enough. And I know damn well he wouldn’t have taken back a moment of it. Not even the end.” He’d watched his fathers both die inside the day his mother had passed, but they’d found comfort in each other. “You remember what they did the night before her funeral?”
“They sat up all night and talked. They talked about her. I think they went through every picture we had.” James’s face was red, and Noah could tell he was trying to hold it together. How hard had it been to have to live in that house every day and know what he’d lost? To have to live with the ghosts of his family? Would the burden have been easier if Noah had stayed?
They had been raised differently. Other brothers were raised to know they would leave one day and that their relationship would be at best friendly—a congenial friendship made up of holidays and birthdays. That wasn’t how he and James had been raised. Their role models had been two men sharing a wife, sharing the burdens and joys, knowing always that they weren’t alone. They had their dads to look up to, and hanging out with Max and Rye hadn’t helped. Max and Rye Harper had always known they were halves of a whole and incomplete without the other. He and James weren’t twins, weren’t even blood, but their childhood had made promises that Noah had broken.
And it looked like James was paying the price.
“Are you two okay?” Hope asked, walking up to them. “Are you fighting again?”
“No,” Noah said. “We were just talking about our dads.”
Hope’s face went soft, and without a moment’s hesitation, she walked up to James and wrapped her arms around him. For the barest second, Noah worried James would just stand there. He had never been one to show his emotions. He was a stoic cowboy to the end. Except now his brother’s arms clutched at Hope. He pressed her close, and his face became buried in her hair. They stood that way for a long moment, James seeming to take comfort from the petite woman.
“She’s taken then, huh?” The scruffy one sighed. “All the pretty ones seem to be taken.”
“Yes, she’s taken. She belongs to me and my brother.” He said it quietly because he was pretty damn sure both his brother and Hope would disagree with him. It didn’t matter. He could be stubborn, too.
Jesse shrugged. “One of these days. Where did Cade slip off to?”
Hope’s eyes were suspiciously bright as she and James let go, but his brother seemed much more in control. “Okay, someone promised me lunch. I am totally letting the two of you pay since it seems like I’ll need every dime to get a new car. Oh, and afterwards I need to stop by and help Nell set up her stand. I think she’s selling bread and some kind of dream catcher. But it could be tofu and cruelty-free undies for all I know. I just promised I would help her set up. I have a schedule to keep after all. Just because I’m not working right now doesn’t mean I don’t have plans. Oh, god. I was supposed to have dinner with Lucy last night. I’m a horrible person.”
“She called the house.” James put an arm around her shoulder. She didn’t move away. “She was worried, but I told her you were all right.” He looked over at Noah. “Lucy is one of the new folks in town. She’s working at the tavern that Callie’s husband runs. Hope is her friend.”
“Thanks for explaining to her,” Hope said.
They started walking toward the door, James and Hope, side by side. One day he was going to be on the other side. That would be his place. He would prove he belonged there.
“Are you coming?” Hope asked, a hint of a smile on her face.
He caught up as fast as he could. Maybe it wouldn’t take so long. Hope was stuck with them for a while. Anything could happen as long as James didn’t kick him out. He certainly hadn’t expected to sleep with her cuddled between them last night. He felt surprisingly optimistic for the first time in a long time. He was back at the G. He was making headway with his family. He’d met a woman he really liked.
Things could work out.
He pushed through the doors as he felt his stomach growl. “I am ready for some lunch.”
Hope gasped as she looked at the truck.
“What the hell?” James asked.
There was a single flower on the hood of James’s truck. It was perfectly white and wholly incongruous. “I think someone likes you, James.”
James rolled his eyes. “I have to have a talk with someone. It seems like a girl I was dating has taken the whole two times we went out way too seriously.”
“Serena?” Hope asked. Noah couldn’t help but notice her face had gone utterly white.
James sighed. “Yeah. Hope, you gotta believe me. I never promised her a thing. It was two dates, but on one of them I brought her some gardenias because it was the opening night of her play. I kinda slept through most of it. She must have thought she was being cute. I’m going to talk to her.”
Hope shut down, her face going blank. “What you do about Serena is none of my business. Could you get rid of that thing, please?”
She opened the door of the truck and got inside without another word.
“Fuck.” James tossed the flower aside.
“Don’t beat yourself up. I don’t think she’s upset about Serena. She freaked out when she saw that flower. Why would she be afraid of a flower?” Noah was certain of it. Her skin had turned pale, and he’d worried for a moment that she was going to pass out again. Hope was deathly afraid of something or someone, and that flower was a clue.
“Are you sure?” James tossed the flower into the garbage bin against the side of the building. “I haven’t always treated her right. I don’t have the best reputation.”
Noah shook his head. “I’m sure.”
“Why would a little flower put that look on her face?” James asked.
Noah had no idea. But he was going to find out.
* * * *
Christian Grady watched from across the way. He could see Hope’s face plainly, though she could not see him from behind the tinted windows of the beauty parlor. His new friend, Lucy, had been extremely talkative on their little date th
e night before. He’d kept his hands to himself and focused on her. He was a perfect gentleman. He knew exactly how to deal with someone like Lucy. She was looking for some combination of boyfriend and father figure.
Rather like his Hope.
“I’ll have a place for you in just a minute, sir.” The woman who had introduced herself as Polly winked at him. She was pure small town with her helmet of bleached-blonde hair and a face that bore far too much makeup. Still, all women could prove useful, and small-town women lived to gossip.
He thanked Polly but kept his eyes firmly on Hope. Her eyes widened as she walked toward the truck and caught sight of the flower. He knew that look. He’d seen it before on many faces.
Fear.
He’d hoped there would be a bit of nostalgia in her eyes when she saw his gift, but he was willing to settle for fear. He’d covered their marital bed with gardenias the first night of their honeymoon. The very smell of gardenias made him think of Hope.
“I’m ready for you. Just come this way. Oh my god, is that Noah Bennett?” Polly asked.
“Who is he?” It was good to have a name. Lucy had mentioned someone named James Glen, who apparently spent an enormous amount of time with cattle, but she hadn’t mentioned a second man. He wondered briefly which one had walked out with his arm around Hope. Christian meant to cut that arm off.
Polly took off on a wave of gossip. “Noah Bennett is the prodigal son. He left Bliss over five years ago. Took off for the big city. I never thought I would see him in these parts again. Hell, I’m sure surprised he had the guts to go in there and talk to Long-Haired Roger. He blames Noah for the death of his dog, and let me tell you, Long-Haired Roger takes that very seriously. Now not regular Roger. He has a dog or two, but he mostly trains them to protect him when the feds come after him. He thinks he’s going to secede from the US and set up his own little kingdom, so he’s probably right about the feds coming in one day. Although I don’t think they should take him too serious now. The man can’t boil water. I seriously doubt he can run his own government, even if it’s only him and his wife and possibly a Sasquatch. He claims he sees one all the time and that he’s real friendly-like.”