Cherishing Brianna [Fate Harbor 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “Because we’re friends, I’ll overlook the fact that you sounded like you were giving me orders, Ransom. I will reiterate what I already told you. The woman was not high, she was overtired. You have obviously crossed some serious lines to know that she was pulled over, her bike was impounded, and I walked her to her room. Or did she offer up that information?” He was pissed, and he damn well wanted Ian to know it.

  “This is Olivia. I am not going to allow some woman I don’t know to hurt Olivia. Do you understand me?”

  “It’s time for you to leave, Ian. I have work to do.” God, sometimes he wondered why he liked this socially backward asshole. But he did. He watched as Ian helplessly ran his fingers through his auburn hair.

  “What should I do?” And there it was. That was why he liked him.

  “I don’t know, but I think you should stop going around people’s back, and go talk to Olivia and Joshua. I also think you should meet Brianna before you judge her.”

  Ian shot out of his chair, paced over to the window, and looked out over the parking lot. “You’re right. I might have overreacted.”

  “Ya think?”

  “Olivia’s counting on Brianna moving here permanently. Brianna was six years younger than Olivia. She’s so protective of Brianna, and it’ll just break her heart if she can’t convince her to stay. I can’t stand the idea of Olivia being hurt.”

  “What do the others think? Sam and Chance? Butch and Betty?”

  “Sam and Chance are just as excited, and Josie can’t wait to meet her sister-in-law. But Butch and Betty aren’t talking. They’re not talking. That’s another thing that has me worried.” Charlie looked at Ian and wished he could offer him some sort of comfort.

  “All I can tell you, Ian, is that she seemed to have her head on straight. She didn’t strike me as flighty. But everything you’re telling me is describing someone who doesn’t want to put down roots, so I agree with you. Olivia is setting herself up for a fall.”

  Chapter 3

  Brianna wasn’t used to social situations where she was the center of attention. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t used to social situations at all. She had developed a very quiet life in Dallas, and even on her newfound adventure, it hadn’t included many people. It was more a discovery of places, and doing adventurous things like rock climbing, getting a tattoo, and buying and riding the Ducati, which she was now beginning to regret.

  She’d called Olivia that morning, but she was in the middle of a final fitting for her dress, which she wholeheartedly wanted Brianna to attend. Olivia must have heard her reticence, because she then suggested that one of their brothers pick her up and take her to their house where she could finally meet their wife, Josie. Brianna was delighted with that thought, because her brothers had married the same woman and now had a toddler named Lissa.

  So now Brianna was at Sam Booth and Chance Reynold’s house, sitting on the couch with her niece Lissa in her lap, which was perfect. The scary part was that Josie’s two younger twin sisters were seated on either side of her, bombarding her with questions. They were attending a University in Florida, both juniors. They were making her head hurt. She knew it was only going to get worse, because soon her foster parents would be here, along with Olivia and her fiancés. Sam and Chance also mentioned a couple of other firefighter friends showing up for the barbeque.

  “So Chance said you worked with the courts, assisting children,” Josie said as she handed a sippy cup to Lissa.

  “I’m involved with the CASA program in Dallas,” Brianna admitted.

  “What’s that?” one of the girls asked. Brianna was pretty sure it was Becca.

  “Becca, CASA stands for a Court Appointed Special Advocate,” Chance said as he sat down on the arm of the chair where Josie was. “When there is a child in trouble, and their parent isn’t capable of standing up for them, or maybe they are the person the child needs to be protected from, the child needs a defender. That’s where Brianna comes in.”

  “I don’t understand, isn’t that what Child Protective Services does?” Sarah, the other twin, asked.

  “CPS will have provided their findings to the judge,” Brianna answered. “Then it is up to the judge to make a ruling as to whether the child should remain with their parents or move to a foster family. Often times CPS is overworked and understaffed, so having volunteers who really can provide a voice for the child can make a difference.”

  “Josie, did you have someone like that working with you when you got custody of us?” Sarah asked. Brianna’s head jerked up to look at Josie. Her sister-in-law was a petite African-American woman, and her sisters were blonde girls who towered over her. She could see no family resemblance, but all three of them laughed exactly the same.

  “Yep, his name was Michael. Don’t you remember him, Sarah?”

  “Sure you do,” Becca said. “He gave you the stuffed monkey, and I got the turtle, remember?” Brianna watched Sarah’s face brighten. She looked back at Brianna.

  “Yeah, we were about four years old, and he asked us a lot of questions, and he always held our hands. He took us in to see this nice lady in her office. I was scared to begin with, but Michael was with us.”

  “She was the judge,” Becca said decisively. “I told her that we had to live with Josie, and when the judge asked us what would happen if we went to go live with mom and dad Sarah just couldn’t stop crying, and Michael just held her.”

  “It sounds like you had a great advocate.” Sam smiled as he brought in some chips and dip from the kitchen. Brianna still found it hard to believe that her brother was a social worker. She remembered that they had both graduated from high school that same year in San Clemente, California, and they had both left the Hutchins house within a week. He joined the marines and she moved to Dallas. Not that the Hutchins hadn’t been great foster parents, but neither of them were going to be burdens to these wonderful people who had been there for them. Sam looked sideways at her.

  “Brianna, come help me in the kitchen, won’t you?” She stood up with the baby, and Chance held out his hands for his daughter.

  “Make sure he only opens packages, the fridge, or uses the microwave. If he makes a move toward the oven or the stove, give a yell.” Brianna looked into her foster brother’s twinkling blue eyes and smiled. Chance always made her smile.

  “I promise. Remember, I was there when Mama Betty tried to teach him to cook. I called for help the loudest.”

  “That’s true.” As she turned toward the kitchen to follow Sam, he grabbed her hand. “Bri, maybe you need to go lie down. You look exhausted.” She tugged and he released her.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not,” he said quietly so the twins didn’t hear, but she glanced at Josie, who smiled at her with a concerned expression.

  “Chance, let her go help Sam.” Brianna gave Josie a grateful smile as she went to the kitchen. As soon as she went around the bar between the great room and the kitchen, Sam put his arm around her shoulders and led her out the sliding glass door to the deck that looked over the lake.

  “I thought you needed help in the kitchen,” Brianna laughed as they leaned against the deck rail.

  “Like I’m going to cook. Chance does the cooking, I just have to stand around and look pretty in this relationship.”

  “Oh my fucking God.” Brianna laughed until she started choking and Sam had to start slapping her back.

  “This is the most surreal stuff I ever expected.” She looked up into the bright green eyes of her brother, and then curled up against his chest and let him hold her.

  “Little Bit, you’re not looking so good. Did you sleep at all?”

  “I tried, Sam, but I couldn’t. Are you in on it, too?” She looked up at her brother. She had been closest to Olivia, even though Olivia had been six years older, but Sam and she had been the same age, and when they had been at the Hutchins home at the same times, they had attended the same classes. They had a special bond.

  “Yeah, I�
��m in on it, too. I want you here. I want you to live here and be a babysitter to my daughter, to be here when my next child is born. I want to see you fall in love. I’ve missed you, Little Bit.”

  “I’m the same age as you. I’m not your Little Bit.”

  “You’re tiny compared to me.” She slapped his chest, and they both looked up as they heard the sound of all three Decker women laughing.

  “I love Josie. I still can’t believe you and Chance are in a ménage relationship and married the same woman.” Sam stilled beneath her hands.

  “Do you disapprove?” She looked up and saw him looking at her calmly. God, she totally recognized that look.

  “No! You big goof! I’m so happy you’re happy. I don’t care if you have three wives. Happy is the important thing. I’m just stunned that considering how competitive you and Chance once were, that instead you are over here sharing a woman, and that doesn’t even seem like the right way to put it.” She looked up at Sam, knowing he would be able to explain it better, since he was living it.

  “You’re right, we’re not sharing her. We’re committed to her. All three of us are committed to one another, married to one another. Chance and I aren’t into one another sexually, we’re brothers, it’s just wrong. But I know of plenty of ménages where all three are sexually attracted to one another, and that works. I’m with you, sis, as long as people are happy and they aren’t hurting one another. So now that we’re on that subject, how come I’ve never heard your name hooked up with someone?”

  “How’d we get to be talking about me? We were talking about your life.”

  “Nope, I was just saying I wanted to see you happy and fall in love.” Damn it, she hated smart people, and all of her family was smart, so why did she love them?

  “Sam…” She just looked at him, and he looked back at her. He must have seen something because he nodded.

  “It’s too much for you, isn’t it? Is tonight going to be too much for you, too?” God, she hoped not. She didn’t want to let everybody down. She usually could keep it together. She could pull that cloak of calm around her, and pretend that the emotions weren’t impacting her. She was fine with most every emotion actually. She could do the CASA job just fine, at least she had. She jerked away.

  “Yeah, Sam, I’m worried it might be, if I could just take a break.”

  “I understand.” She realized he really did, and not just because he understood her. He had changed from the boy she had grown up with.

  “When did you get to be so insightful?”

  “Being forced to crawl through your psyche and face things that you really never wanted to face, and actually bring them into the light, well it does something to you.”

  “You’re seeing a psychiatrist?” She winced when she heard the shock in her voice. But the idea of Sam on a psychiatrist’s couch was just something she couldn’t wrap her head around.

  “Actually I’m seeing a psychologist. I ended up with PTSD after Afghanistan, and some of the stuff that I went through as a kid came bubbling up, so I ended up having to deal with that shit, too.”

  “Was that part of what led you to take on the job of social worker?” She looked up at him.

  “Yep. Kind of like you with the CASA. Our childhood wasn’t the easiest. The Hutchins were great, but you and I kept getting shuffled back to our real parents, and it fucked us up.”

  “It wasn’t too bad,” Brianna protested. Sam squeezed her tighter and let out a genuine laugh. “Lie to someone else, Little Bit. I don’t know what you went through, but your nightmares used to wake up the whole house. It was bad shit, whatever it was. But look, today is supposed to be a fun day. Why don’t you see if you can shake some of it off, and get your butt back here, okay?”

  “I don’t have my bike, it’s still at the impound.”

  “After Chance and I talk to Charlie, it’ll be staying there the entire time you stay here. Here’s the keys to my truck.” He pulled the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. She took the warm metal and gripped it gratefully. She made a step toward the sliding glass door.

  “Go down the deck stairs and cut around the house, that way you can avoid the questions.” God, could she love this man anymore?

  “Thanks, Sam.”

  “Wait, give me your phone.” She fished it out of her pocket, and he keyed his number into it. She laughed. “What?”

  “Chance already did the same thing.”

  “Knew I liked that man.” Sam brushed a kiss across the top of her head and she headed down the steps.

  As she started the truck, she thought about where she could go. She had spent most of the night looking over the marina, so she decided to drive around the lake. In less than twelve hours she had been taken over by three overprotective men. Two she had expected, the sheriff had been a surprise.

  She finally found a place to park, and she spent time sitting near the lake. It seemed to help. She finally stood up and looked around. She started gathering up handfuls of rocks and just threw them into the lake, enjoying how they caused ripples in the calm water.

  She was fine being around a lot of people, just not people who actually cared about her, and knew her history. She’d worked so hard for so many years to remain anonymous. She wanted to keep it that way. Now she realized she the clock had started counting down. Soon she would be everyone’s worst nightmare, and she sure as hell didn’t want to be anywhere near people she might even slightly care about. Well, she only had to stay until the wedding was over with, then she could finish up with her plan. She got back into the truck and started back toward Fate Harbor and Chance and Sam’s house.

  Even as she was admiring the scenery that was different from the flatness of Dallas, she was considering what her next adventure would be before her move to San Clemente. She had considered someplace out of the country, but if things deteriorated too fast, she needed to be in the states. As she was lost in thought, and looking at the road and the foliage, she almost missed the brown and white that flashed by. She hit the brakes.

  “What the hell?” Maybe it was a deer. She pulled over to the side of the road, making sure that she was over far enough that nobody would hit Sam’s truck, and turned on the flashers. She jogged down the side. The last thing she wanted was some deer to have been hit by a car and still suffering. As she got closer she could hear the whine. When she got to the animal, she could clearly see it was a good-sized dog. It was some kind of German Shepard mix. He had been hit by a car, and was in pain. The blood on its leg was matted and dried, so she must have missed the dog the first time when she had driven by, not a big surprise since it was over on this side of the road.

  She got closer and closer, approaching cautiously. She didn’t want to be bitten, but the dog didn’t seem to be in any way aggressive, just in pain. She knelt down.

  “Oh, baby.” She ran soft hands down the dog, and she whined as Brianna touched her ribs. Obviously that and her leg was where the damage had been done. There was blood coming out of the poor girl’s mouth. She pulled out her cell phone, to call her brothers. They probably knew the vet in town.

  She called Sam first, but his line was busy. So she called Chance next.

  “Brianna, hey, are you okay? Why did you leave? Butch and Betty are here, and they really wanted to see you. Can you come back now?”

  “Chance, I came across a dog that’s been hit by a car.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I don’t know, maybe fifteen miles from town? She’s in a lot of pain. I know her leg is broken, and I think her ribs are broken, too. She’s bleeding from her mouth. I think she’s going to die if I don’t get her help right now.” Brianna actually heard a tremor in her voice. Chance must have heard it, too, because he started speaking in a soothing manner.

  “Honey, we can be there in less than a half hour. Are you on Highway 521?”

  “Yeah, but I’ve got Sam’s truck. I can lift her. Seriously, every minute is going to count.”

  “Okay, Br
i, go to the truck, open the back door, keep the phone line open, and throw the phone in the front seat, I’ll guide you to the vet in town. I’ll have someone call Zac and give him a heads-up that you’re coming.”

  “Got it.” She took just a second to nuzzle her face into the ruff of the dog’s neck.

  “I’ll be right back, girl.” She swore the dog understood, because she gave a weak yip, and Brianna ran for the truck. She saw a tarp in the back as she slammed into the front seat, and backed up the truck to the dog. She positioned the truck so the backseat door was as close to her as possible. She pulled the tarp out, and gently lifted the dog onto the tarp, and wrapped her into it, hoping it would help her put less stress on the dog than having her flop around in her arms. She swaddled the dog in the tarp and lifted her up. The sounds she made had Brianna wincing in sympathy. Brianna whispered soothing nonsense, hoping to calm the dog down.

  “I know, honey. I’ll get you some help in just a few minutes. You’re such a beautiful baby. Yes you are. You’re going to be running after rabbits in no time.” When she laid the dog in the backseat the whines seemed to get even louder.

  Brianna tried to shut them out, but she was having trouble. She found that pretty odd. Normally she could shut out anything. She’d been able to do that for as long as she could remember.

  She put the phone on her lap and hit speaker. “Chance, can you hear me.”

  “Yeah, I can hear the dog, too. Are you on 521 headed for Fate Harbor?”

  “Yep.”

  “Okay, the vet has a facility about two miles before you hit the center of town. Don’t drive fast, or you’ll miss your turn off.” Brianna eased off the accelerator. “You’re going to see a nursery on the left side of the road. When you do, there will be a road that will come up right after that with white fencing. You might see some horses. There’s a road alongside the fencing. That’s the road you want to take.”