Unraveling Him: A Small Town Family Romance (The Bailey Brothers Book 3)
Page 35
How long had it been since I’d been there? Eighteen months? More? That didn’t sound right. But I hadn’t gone back for the holidays last year. It probably had been that long.
I felt a twinge of guilt at that. It wasn’t that I disliked my family. True, my dad and I butted heads, and my siblings liked to give me crap for having moved away. But I knew my mom would like it if I came home more often.
I was just so damn busy. It was hard to carve out the time for a trip that wasn’t business related. And I’d have to endure the inevitable guilt trips. Why don’t you visit more often? Can’t you stay longer? Don’t you want to come back and join your brothers in the family business?
No, I fucking didn’t. But none of them had ever understood why I hadn’t fallen in line. Why I hadn’t taken up my proper place at the winery.
I was made for bigger things than running a goddamn wine business in a small town out in central nowhere. There was no challenge to it. No risk. And the potential rewards—particularly financially—were much too low for me. Money wasn’t everything, but honestly, it was most things. And I was good at making money. Great, even. I’d made my company a hell of a lot of money in the last several years.
I was respected here. People deferred to me. Trusted me with millions of dollars. I had my own office, an assistant, a penthouse condo with a priceless view. Enough money that I could have more or less anything I wanted.
I was living my dream, and I didn’t understand why my family couldn’t just be fucking happy for me. Why they had to harp on the fact that I wasn’t there all the time. My brothers had stayed. My sister would probably wind up back home after college. They even had my ex-wife. What the hell did they need me for?
I took another sip of Scotch and wandered over to the window, wondering what my dad had done that had Leo so riled up. Leo and I rarely saw eye to eye. He wouldn’t have called me over nothing. The big question was, did my dad know he’d done it? Were they expecting me to ride in with my MBA and save the day? Or was Leo going behind their backs to drag me into their mess?
I guess I was about to find out.
Thinking of home brought my thoughts back to Zoe. I went into the bedroom and set my drink down. With a glance over my shoulder—as if half-afraid someone would catch me—I pulled a small box down off a shelf in the closet.
There was only one thing inside. Zoe’s wedding ring.
I’d found it sitting on the kitchen counter of our old apartment the day she’d left me. The rest of her things had been gone. Her side of the closet, empty. Her drawers in the bathroom, cleaned out. She hadn’t taken much that had been ours—the things we’d accumulated together. I’d brought some of it to her later—the things I’d thought she’d want to keep—and given away the rest. But not her ring.
Keeping it was the stupidest thing. I didn’t know why I still had it. It wasn’t even very nice. We’d eloped when we were twenty—just a couple of poor college students. I’d saved for months to get it, and at the time, I’d been pretty damn proud of myself. Looking at it now, it was rather pathetic. Just a plain gold band with a tiny excuse for a diamond. Zoe had loved it when I’d given it to her—said she hadn’t expected a ring at all.
But we’d been different people, then. Young. Rebellious and wild. Idiots, really. We’d thought teenage hormones had been the real thing. Maybe they had, in their own way. But that hadn’t been enough.
It hurt to look at it, and I wondered why I did this to myself. I didn’t pull it out very often. Once when I’d randomly remembered it was her birthday. Another time on what had been our anniversary. Occasionally, thoughts of her would creep into my mind and refuse to let go, and I’d find myself right here. Nursing a glass of Scotch and staring at the cheap piece of shit I couldn’t bring myself to throw away.
I closed the box and put it back on the shelf. Maybe I’d get rid of it for good someday. A colleague of mine had proudly flushed his ex-wife’s ring down a public toilet. Another guy I knew had taken his ring off and dropped it in a garbage can in a park near his office.
I didn’t have my ring anymore. I’d lost it a few years after we’d gotten married. Zoe and I had been visiting my family for Christmas, and it had snowed. We’d been outside, embroiled in an impromptu snowball fight with my brothers. None of us had been dressed for the cold—no coats, hats, or gloves. Just a bunch of dumbass kids tossing snow at each other until our bare hands hurt. Back inside, I’d realized my ring had come off. We’d looked, but never found it.
It had been prophetic, in a way.
But I was past that now. Zoe and I hadn’t worked out. She hadn’t been happy, so she’d left. Moved back to Echo Creek. Started working for my parents. She was fine, and so was I.
In fact, I was more than fine. I was at the top of my game. Whether or not my family could appreciate it, my life was pretty fucking good.
I would do what I had to do. Spend a few days at home, look at their books, probably find a few errors. Argue with my dad. Talk shit with my brothers. Let my mom fuss over me a little. Then I’d be right back here, where I belonged.
Continue reading Broken Miles…
Dear Reader
Dear reader,
I sure do love me a grumpy hero.
Evan has a lot going on under his hood (see what I did there?) and I couldn’t wait to dig in to his broodiness. I wasn’t quite sure how readers would feel about him after his stunt with Jill in Fighting for Us. But that was just who Evan was at the time. Gruff, standoffish, kind of a jerk.
One of my favorite things about writing a grumpy hero is the potential for growth. The heart of any story is the character arc (or arcs) and an asshole hero gives me so much to play with, making for a very satisfying arc. There’s just something about watching him start to crack and finally melt for his girl. I love it, every single time.
And man, did he melt for Fiona.
I love “the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one” too, and I saw Fiona as being a little bit of a badass twist on the sunshiney heroine. She is sweet and optimistic, and doesn’t get ruffled by Evan’s broodiness. But she’s also not afraid to get dirty underneath a car. She has a latent confidence in her abilities that finally gets to come out.
With Evan, she blooms, like one of her happy houseplants.
Needless to say, these two were so much fun to write.
As for what was on the counter? I know, I know, that was a lot of build up and then… she wasn’t the heroine. Neither was Jill.
I won’t even pretend I didn’t know what I was doing there.
#sorrynotsorry
As for what comes next, it looks like Chief Stanley’s daughter will be making an appearance. Which Bailey is destined to be her hero? You’ll have to keep reading to find out. But trust me, it’s going to be goooooooood.
Thanks for reading!
CK
Acknowledgments
A deep and heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this book possible. My team is THE BEST.
Lori, I love, love, love what you did with this cover. It’s perfection.
Golden, you’re not only a badass photographer, but an awesome human. Thanks for being so great to work with! And for taking hot pictures of sexy men.
Thank you to Elayne for a fabulous editing job and to Erma for taking the time to help proofread. I have total error blindness when it comes to my own work. I shudder to think of what my manuscripts would look like without you.
A huge thank you to my team of admins and beta readers: Nikki, Alex, Jessica, Emily, Joyce, and Tammy. You’re all the best!
A special thanks to Alex for sharing your man Evan with the world. I know it’s not easy, but your sacrifice is appreciated by Bailey Brothers fans everywhere.
To my family for being the best ever. I love you endlessly.
And to the makers of the Calm meditation app and the lovely people at the Hilton Homesuites. I don’t think I would have finished this book without learning to calm my busy brain and for my last-min
ute writer’s retreat for one. Thank you for doing what you do!
Last, but certainly not the least bit least, thank you to my readers. Your love and support has made this silly writer girl’s dreams come true. I love sharing this world with you and I can’t wait to continue this journey together.
Also by Claire Kingsley
For a full and up-to-date listing of Claire Kingsley books visit www.clairekingsleybooks.com
The Bailey Brothers
Steamy, small-town family series. Five unruly brothers. Epic pranks. A quirky, feuding town. Big HEAs.
Protecting You: Series Origin Story
Fighting For Us
Unraveling Him
More Bailey Brothers coming soon!
The Miles Family
Sexy, sweet, funny, and heartfelt family series. Messy family. Epic bromance. Super romantic.
Broken Miles
Forbidden Miles
Reckless Miles
Hidden Miles
Gaining Miles: A Miles Family Novella
Dirty Martini Running Club
Sexy, fun stand-alone romantic comedies with huge… hearts.
Everly Dalton’s Dating Disasters
Free Faking Ms. Right prequel
Faking Ms. Right
A hot fake relationship romantic comedy
Love According to Science
A hot enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy
Bluewater Billionaires
Hot, stand-alone romantic comedies. Lady billionaire BFFs and the badass heroes who love them.
The Mogul and the Muscle
A billionaire and her bodyguard hot romantic comedy.
The Price of Scandal, Wild Open Hearts, and Crazy for Loving You
More Bluewater Billionaire shared-world stand-alone romantic comedies by Lucy Score, Kathryn Nolan, and Pippa Grant
Bootleg Springs
by Claire Kingsley and Lucy Score
Hot and hilarious small-town romcom series with a dash of mystery and suspense. Best read in order.
Whiskey Chaser
Sidecar Crush
Moonshine Kiss
Bourbon Bliss
Gin Fling
Highball Rush
Book Boyfriends
Hot, stand-alone romcoms that will make you laugh and make you swoon.
Book Boyfriend
Cocky Roommate
Hot Single Dad
Remembering Ivy
A unique contemporary romance with a hint of mystery.
His Heart
A poignant and emotionally intense story about grief, loss, and the transcendent power of love.
The Always Series
Smoking hot, dirty talking bad boys with some angsty intensity.
Always Have
Always Will
Always Ever After
The Jetty Beach Series
Sexy small-town romance series with swoony heroes, romantic HEAs, and lots of big feels.
Behind His Eyes
One Crazy Week
Messy Perfect Love
Operation Get Her Back
Weekend Fling
Good Girl Next Door
The Path to You
The Jetty Beach Box Set Books 1-4
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About the Author
Claire Kingsley is a Top 10 Amazon bestselling author of sexy, heartfelt contemporary romance and romantic comedies. She writes sassy, quirky heroines, swoony heroes who love their women hard, panty-melting sexytimes, romantic happily ever afters, and all the big feels.
She can’t imagine life without coffee, her Kindle, and the sexy heroes who inhabit her imagination. She’s living out her own happily ever after in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and three kids.
www.clairekingsleybooks.com
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