It was two more hours to Turtle Lake. I just hoped my stomach settled down for the car ride ahead of us.
A little while into the ride, Asher poked me with his finger in the side. “Wake up, we’re almost there.”
“Really?” I stretched and yawned. “Wow, I must have fallen into a deep sleep.”
“You did. You were snoring.” He laughed.
“I was not.”
“Yeah. It was a cute dainty snore, but still snoring. Didn’t you sleep well last night?”
“Yeah, I did. I guess. I don’t know why I’m so tried. Riding in a car makes me tired, but wow, to go out completely like that is strange.”
“I checked out the name of their bar and plugged it into the GPS in my phone. Could you be navigator?”
“Sure.” Asher handed me his phone and I studied the route with the little green ball moving along the path. “You need to take the next left on Green Valley Parkway.”
A little while later, I told him where to turn. As I watched the phone, my stomach reeled with a wave of nausea. “Asher, pull over, quick!”
He steered the truck to the right and stopped. I opened the door and leaned over, losing the little bit of lunch that I’d eaten. Asher handed me a tissue and I wiped my mouth.
“Sorry,” I said. “I think looking at the phone made me carsick.”
“It’s okay. You must have a touch of the flu or something.” He placed his hand on my forehead. “No fever, though. That’s good.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Asher
We were around the corner from where the bar was located and I stopped the truck again. I glanced at Melody; her cheeks were flushed and she didn’t look well.
“Do you want to stay in the truck while I go in?”
“No. I think I’d like to go visit their bathroom. Then maybe order a ginger ale or something.”
“Okay. That sounds like a good idea. I want to go in and act like customers anyway. I don’t want to tell anyone who I am right away. If anyone asks, we’re on our way to Bend, Oregon.”
She nodded. “Got it.”
“You sure you’re up for this?”
“Yeah, I’m just a little carsick, that’s all. I’ll be fine with some food and drink.”
I pulled into the small parking lot beside the bar. It was two in the afternoon and sweet music flowed into my ears as we opened the door and entered the bar. There was a band up on stage, two women harmonizing along with four guys. They were good. Strange, I thought, that they would be performing in the middle of the day. I looked around and didn’t see many customers. We headed to the bar and I pulled out a stool for Mel. The guy behind the bar walked up to us.
“What can I get you?”
“I’ll take a Coke and a ginger ale for her. Where is your bathroom?” I said.
He pointed behind us. “Straight back past the stage and then left at the first door.”
Mel got up and walked to the head. I watched her go. I hoped she began to feel better soon, or this trip was going to be a drag. She walked right in front of the stage, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from the band. I knew just by looking at them who the two guys in front were. I didn’t know which one was Jackson and which one was Brodie, but that had to be them. Their features were similar to mine, and this was their bar. I didn’t know they played in a band, though. That was one point in their favor. If that was them.
The bartender placed the Coke in front of me and the ginger ale in front of the stool where Mel had been standing before she left. I picked up the Coke and sipped. “Hey, who’s the band?” I asked the bartender.
“That’s The Beaumont Brothers. The two guys in front are the leads. The one on the keyboard is Jackson, and the one on the bass is Brodie.”
I turned around to watch them play. They were good. They seemed cool. I had to find a way to introduce myself. I’d thought about a hundred different scenarios regarding what I would say when we got here, but now that I was here, all of those words sounded stupid. “Hey, I’m your brother.” Or “Funny thing, I’m your half-brother.” Or how about, “You’re gonna laugh…” None of them seemed to work right now. I didn’t think any of this was funny. I just didn’t know how to approach them. At that very moment, the band stopped playing.
“They perform three nights a week,” the bartender said. “Stick around and you can watch them tomorrow night.”
“I might.”
Just then, I felt a cold and wet nuzzle on the wrist of the hand I had braced against the seat of the barstool and turned to see a large brown dog. His droopy forehead and floppy ears were typical of a hound dog, and his wagging tail suggested he was friendly. He was a beauty.
“That’s Rufus,” someone said from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see the guy who had been playing the keyboard. Jackson.
“Nice dog,” I said, patting Rufus on the head. His fur was smooth to the touch, and when I stopped petting him, he plopped down on the floor at my feet. Not annoying me to pet him more like so many dogs did. I could tell he was well trained.
“He’s the best. And you should stay and listen. We’re not bad. Hey, Derrick, let me have a water. No ice, please.” He smiled at me. “So, welcome to Turtle Lake. Are you just passing through or new to our little town?”
“Just passing through on our way to Bend, Oregon,” I lied. “But I think we might hang out for a while. Take a little vacation. We aren’t in any hurry.”
“This is a great place to hang. I ought to know. I’ve been hanging here practically my whole life, give or take a few years here and there. I’m Jackson Beaumont.” He stuck his hand out.
“Ash,” I supplied and shook his hand.
The bartender placed a glass filled with water on the counter and Jackson picked it up, drank down the entire contents then placed the empty tumbler on the bar. Mel came out of the bathroom and sat in the stool next to me. “This is my friend, Melody. Mel, this is Jackson.”
“Nice to meet you, Melody.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”
“You feel okay?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Better now that I’m out of the truck. We’re going to have to find a hotel or something. I don’t think I can ride any farther today.” She played along with my little ruse very well.
“Do you know of any good places to stay in the area?” I asked.
“We have a room that we lease out,” Jackson said.
“The room actually belongs to my brother, but I’m sure he’s up for renting it out.”
“What are you volunteering me for now, Jack?”
“This is my brother, Brodie,” Jackson said then turned his attention to his brother. “Just the cottage. No one is staying in it right now, right?”
“Nope, it’s vacant.”
“This is Ash and Melody,” Jackson said.
“Nice to meet you. That gorgeous brunette over there playing with the microphone stand is my wife, Gabrielle. You looking for a room?” Brodie glanced at me.
“Yeah. For a couple of nights.”
One of the women who had been singing with the band walked over and plopped down on the stool next to Mel. “Derrick, I’m dying, water, pleeeease.”
“Coming right up, darlin’.”
This is my wife, Lena. Lena, meet Melody and Ash,” Jackson said.
“Hi.” She raised her hand in a quick wave.
“They’re looking for a hotel for a couple of nights.”
She laughed. “Hmmm…if there’s one thing this town needs, it’s a few hotels.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Brodie agreed. “The room we have is small, but we renovated it with new furniture and new kitchen appliances. We just installed a queen-size Murphy wall bed, too. No one’s even tried it yet.”
I looked at Mel. “We’re uh…not…we should probably have se—”
“That sounds great,” Mel said, interrupting me and giving me a don’t-argue-with-me look.
“Great. The cottage sits above the garage. It
hasn’t had anyone in it for a long time.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “You people don’t even know us and you’re willing to rent out your room to strangers? Is there something wrong with it or something? Haunted?”
Brodie laughed. “No, man. There aren’t a lot of places in this town to stay, and it’s just that my brother mentioned the room. We’ve learned over the years that there’s really no arguing with him when it comes to helping people in need. That’s just the way he is. You look like a nice guy. I’m a pretty good judge of character. So, if you want to rent the room, it’s yours. A day, a week, a month. However long you need it. Besides, the only hotel in this town is the historical Turtle Lake Hotel, and I think that one might actually be haunted.” He grinned.
He was okay, I decided. “How much is it?”
Brodie rubbed his thumb and forefinger against his chin. “$20 for the night. $100 for the week. Any longer than that, we’ll tack on an additional discount for you.”
That was pretty cheap. I looked at Mel and she smiled, nodding her head.
“Okay. You got a deal,” I said.
“You got it.”
Just then, the other woman walked up and put her arm around Brodie’s waist. “This is Gabrielle, my wife. This is Ash and Melody…I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your last names.”
“Melody Silvers. And…” Mel quickly glanced around the room. “…Asher Pilsner.”
Gabrielle smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
“We’re done here. Why don’t you follow me back. I’ll get you settled in and get you the key.”
“Sounds good.”
Mel finished her ginger ale and we walked to the truck.
“Pilsner?” I said to Mel as we got in the truck to follow Brodie to the cottage.
“It was the only name I could think of. And, I thought you didn’t want them to know who you were yet. I saw the name on the wall and went with it.”
“It’s a beer.”
“Technically, it’s a pale lager, according to the sign at the bar.”
I shook my head and laughed. “You’re crazy.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. But this is sort of fun, don’t you think?”
“You could have used my middle name. Becket.”
“I could have, but you said you didn’t want them to know who you were yet, and you never know, that last name might sound familiar if your dad ever mentioned your mom to them.
I doubted he had, but she was right. “You sure you’re going to be okay with this sleeping arrangement?”
“I guess. We’ll think of something, but I didn’t want to make them suspicious about who we were. It seemed more likely that a couple would be traveling together rather than just a guy and his friend who was a girl.”
“What would be strange about that?” I asked, not quite understanding why that would be so hard to accept.
“I don’t know, Asher. You didn’t give me any instructions before we got here. I’m just going with my gut, and it just felt better to say we were a couple rather than just friends.”
We pulled into a gravel driveway that seemed to go on forever. Red and pink carpet roses flanked each side. We stopped in front of a two-story farmhouse that sat on what looked to me like an acre of grassy land leading into a forest area in the back. The house had a wooden porch wrapping around the entire front, complete with a two-seater swing and a couple of comfortable looking chairs. A tiny pang of jealousy crept up my spine. Did they grow up here in this house?
We got out of the truck and Gabrielle waited with us while Brodie headed in to get the key. The sound of crunching tires came from behind us as another car pulled up behind my truck. Jackson and Lena stepped out.
“Could I use your bathroom?” Mel asked.
“Sure, come on,” Gabrielle led her inside.
“I’m coming, too,” Lena said. “I want to see what you did with the spare bedroom you just redecorated.”
“Our place is just down the road,” Jackson said, pointing to his left. “This old farmhouse belonged to my uncle. He left it to Brodie when he died. We used to live down the road that way.” He pointed in the opposite direction of where he’d said he and Lena lived. We spent a lot of time in this house when we were kids. My mom, too, since my uncle was her only living relative and our dad died when we were young. Where did you say you were from?”
“I didn’t, but San Francisco. Mel and I both grew up in the Bay Area. Now we live in the city. We perform at one of the local bars.”
“Really? What do you perform?”
“We both play guitar and sing. I was doing it on my own up until last night. I invited Mel to play with me. It was something I’d been wanting to do for a while, and then when her brother died suddenly, well, it was time.”
“That’s too bad about her brother. Was it recently?”
“Yeah, a few weeks ago.”
He nodded. “Well, it’s great that you play. We’ll have to jam sometime.”
“Sounds fun.”
He nodded. “What’s up in Oregon, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“No. It’s fine. We’re heading up for a vacation. Since Mel’s brother just died and my mom passed away a couple of weeks before that, we just needed to get away for a while. Clear our heads.”
“Sorry to hear that. Is your dad still alive?”
“No. He’s been gone a long time now.”
Jackson nodded. “I know what that’s like.”
I bet he did. I suddenly had this desire to come clean and tell him who I really was, but right then, Brodie and all the women came back out.
“Great chatting with you, Ash. I’m serious about getting together to jam. Come by the bar tomorrow night. We start playing at eight.” Jackson and Lena got in their SUV and headed out. Mel and I followed Brodie around to the back and up the stairs to the cottage above the garage. It was small, but it did have a kitchen. It even had one of those stackable washer and dryers installed inside a closet.
“This is the bed,” Brodie said as he yanked on a handle in the wall and a fully-made bed with sheets and a comforter flowed out. “The pillows are in the closet by the bathroom. The bed doesn’t close all the way when you leave them in.”
“Looks comfy.”
“It’s not too bad. There are clean towels in the bathroom, and in the kitchen you’ll find some staples such as salt and pepper and other condiments. I suggest taking inventory before you go out for groceries if that’s what you want to do. There are plenty of pots and pans for cooking, just make yourselves at home. I only ask that you put all dirty dishes and pots in the dishwasher, add a little soap—it’s under the sink—and hit the start button when you decide you want to check out.”
“Thanks. We’ll be sure to take care of everything. I appreciate your hospitality.”
“No problem. I’m glad the place was vacant for you. The same goes for me about jamming with us. I overheard the end of your conversation with Jackson. I’m always up for that.”
Brodie and Gabrielle left shortly after they clued us in on everything we needed to know about the small cottage—if you could call it a cottage. I closed the door to our new temporary living quarters. A one-room studio apartment with just one queen bed, in the wall. This was going to be interesting.
I hadn’t been able to get Mel out of my head ever since we had sex three weeks ago. She grew more beautiful every day. Even when she’d been crying and moping around like it was the end of the world. Losing a brother was hard. Now I had two, right here in the same town, and I didn’t even know how to tell them we were related. That was all just too much for one person’s mind to handle. I plopped down on the bed that Brodie had left open then stretched out and closed my eyes.
I opened them when I heard some noise coming from the bathroom. The sound of drawers opening and closing, then water running. I got up and cracked open the door. “Mel?”
She turned around to look at me, toothbrush in her mouth and her shirt partially unbuttoned. She pulled
the brush out from between her lips and gave me a foamy white smile. “Sorry if I woke you.”
“I wasn’t sleeping. Just relaxing. You okay?”
She spit out the toothpaste in the sink. “Yeah. I wanted to clean up a little after being sick earlier, brush my teeth and wash my face. That’s all. I felt like yuck, you know?”
I nodded. “Is your stomach better?”
“Yeah, actually. I feel great. The carsickness, or whatever it was, must have gone away. After I clean up, maybe we could grab something to eat somewhere.”
“Sounds good.”
I started to close the door. “Asher?” My name was barely a whisper on her lips. It was soft and sounded like she’d said it because she wanted me. I mean really wanted me, like in the shower with her a few weeks ago.
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you decided to come here. I think your brothers are nice guys.”
“Yeah, I know. Me, too.”
She sucked in her lips and toyed with the last button on her shirt. My cock hardened inside my pants. There was no way I could continue this way.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Melody
Here we were, alone in this small room with only one bed. This had to be a test. If this were a test, I had a feeling we were going to fail. Or succeed, whichever way you looked at things. Asher’s eyes followed my finger as I circled it around the last button on my blouse. As they traveled back up to my face, he stepped closer, just one step inside the door. The way he stared at me made my stomach flip a little. Not like before when I’d been sick, this was a good feeling. The tender area between my thighs throbbed and became damp as I remembered how his lips had felt on mine. How his fingers had played between my thighs when I had showered with him.
Seeing him look at me the way he was had me wanting to be in his arms. So badly. I wanted to ask him to hold me. Just as I had that thought, he closed the distance between us and palmed my cheeks with his hands as his lips found mine. My arms went around his waist and my hands slid up his back. He kissed me slowly, and his fingers tangled in my hair. I moaned into his mouth, and he moaned with me. His lips brushed down my neck and my legs became weak, but his strong arms held me up.
Beautifully Undone (The Beaumont Brothers #3) Page 10