by Lori Foster
Imagining that, Jax asked, “Did she screech?”
“She swatted at the air and danced around all crazy. I didn’t know what was going on.” He laughed. “When she realized it was gone, she blinked at me—and we both cracked up. She’s pretty cool. Doesn’t mind poking fun at herself, you know? I like her.”
That simple statement alarmed Jax. He studied Owen closely, but saw no signs of infatuation.
“You know what else would be a big help?” With a glance around he’d spotted dishes in the sink, laundry on the dining-room table, dust on every surface. “If you, Ella and I sat down and divided up chores. I know you cut the grass, and now you’re taking on more work—”
“I still don’t work near the number of hours you do.”
True enough. “I appreciate everything you do, but like you said, I get a lot of overtime—”
Flushing with guilt, Owen frowned and stated, “I can do more.”
“You do plenty.” For one of the few times that Jax could remember, he had a real heart-to-heart with his brother—thanks to Briana. “Let’s sit down.”
Together, they moved to the table. Owen shoved the laundry to the side and braced his arms on the table. He looked so grown up that Jax couldn’t help but smile.
“First,” Jax said, “understand that you deserve some downtime. When I was your age—”
“When you were my age, we had Mom and Dad.”
Jax paused, then gave a reluctant nod and stopped hedging. “I think the three of us just need to get organized, you know? If we have a schedule laid out, it’ll help, right? Like every third day, you could do the dishes.”
Owen agreed. “Every other weekend, I could catch up on laundry, too.”
This was easier than Jax had anticipated. “On the other weekends, it can be Ella’s turn on laundry, and we’ll each take an evening on dishes.”
“Good luck with Ella,” Owen said, sitting back. He hesitated before adding, “I ran off that jerk, Scott.”
“Actually, I heard.”
“From who?”
“No, I mean I heard the two of you talking.” Remembering made Jax smile. “You made me proud, mostly because you were firm without getting physical. Even when Scott provoked you, you kept your cool. That takes a lot of maturity.”
Color brightened on Owen’s cheekbones, and he shifted defensively. “You eavesdropped?”
“I was taking a break, standing there in the shadows, and you came out.” Jax didn’t mention Briana. The last thing Owen needed to hear was that he had divided intentions—because he didn’t. Family was his priority, and he couldn’t veer from that one iota.
Brows climbing, Owen said, “I thought I had Scott alone.”
“I didn’t want to interrupt, not when you handled it so well.”
The hot color remained, but Owen relaxed enough to grin. “I wanted to deck him.”
“I know.” They both laughed. “But I’m glad you didn’t.”
They ended on a high note, with Jax determined to talk to Ella next.
Later that night, he knocked on her door, already dreading how she might react.
When she said, “Open,” he stepped in to find her stretched out on her stomach atop her comforter, laptop open in front of her, her hair loose, her chin propped on a hand. Loud music played.
She looked so much like a kid that he hesitated. “Am I interrupting your homework?”
Silencing the music, she shook her head and sat up. “I finished that a while ago. I was only cruising Facebook. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to talk.” He cleared his throat, feeling incredibly awkward, especially with the wary way Ella now watched him. “Earlier today, before you got home from school, Owen and I were talking.”
“Without me?” Bitterness made a quick return.
“You weren’t home,” Jax repeated, keeping his cool. “I’d have talked with you sooner, but after my lunch break, I ended up with overtime. I just got in.”
She looked away, her expression pinched. “Sorry.”
“For what?”
“For sniping. For all the overtime you have to work.”
Her sincerity compelled him forward. Clothes and shoes littered her floor, so he maneuvered his way through to lean a hip against the dresser. “First, I’m where I want to be, okay? Losing Mom and Dad... I need you guys. I need to be here with you—maybe more than you need me.”
Her gaze shot to his.
“I know you’ve been lost, but hell, Ella, I am too. We’re all muddling through this the best we can, right?”
Slowly, she nodded, her eyes going a little liquid.
Ah hell. That sadness ripped at his guts, made his voice gravelly. “I want you and Owen to be happy. I love you knuckleheads, you know?”
A little laugh bubbled out as she swiped at her eyes. “Yeah. Love you, too.”
Something loosened in Jax’s chest. “You guys are my family. But I’m thinking if we got organized, it could all be easier.”
Attention caught, she tilted her head. “Organized how?”
He went through the same suggestions with Ella that he had with Owen. To his amazement, she grabbed a notepad and pencil and started making a list.
She wrote laundry and dishes, but surprised him by adding mowing and grocery shopping. Going one further, she turned the page and wrote housework.
Together, they broke it down to kitchen, bathroom, living room and front porch.
“This is how Mom did it,” she explained. “She had certain days that she did certain things. Dad pitched in whenever he could. Owen and I had chores, but I guess we haven’t done them lately.” Her mouth twisted to the side. “If he’s willing, I am too, and since you work so much, you can do like Dad did and fill in whenever you can.”
Damn. Jax almost couldn’t breathe. Emotion put a stranglehold on him, cutting off his air, making his own eyes damp. He pushed away from the dresser, striding to the bed where he hauled his sister up and into his arms for a tight hug. “You’re pretty special, kiddo.”
She squeezed him tight. “It’ll get easier, right? Eventually?”
Swallowing proved impossible, so he couldn’t speak. Instead, Jax just nodded, holding her close until she pressed back. Her eyes were red, but she didn’t let the tears fall.
Her smile touched his heart.
“I know you’re not dating right now,” she said, “but if you decide to, there’s someone I want to suggest.”
Uh-oh. Jax had a good inkling of where this was headed. “You do, huh?”
“Hello—Briana Kasper? She says you know her. She’s super cute, Jax, and really nice.”
His own smile twitched into place. “Yes, she is.”
“Think about it, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” Like he had time to date? But saying that to Ella would only make her feel worse about their situation. “I’ll let you get back to your social media.”
“Okay.” With another quick squeeze, Ella said, “I really do love you, Jax.”
“Ditto.” Next time he saw Briana, he’d thank her for the advice—and maybe, just maybe, he’d let her give him a few more pointers.
* * *
OCTOBER STARTED OUT mild enough, but by the end of the first week a cold spell rolled in. Luckily, in the past two weeks, Owen had accomplished a lot. Stepping out of her car, Briana looked around, smiling in satisfaction. With the help of a few of her relatives, Owen had gotten the dead trees removed. Shohn and Garrett had cut up the wood for her fireplace, storing it under a shelter a good distance from the house, in a further effort to keep out bugs.
Her “lawn” was now revealed, and though it was green, Briana realized it was mostly weeds and would have to be properly seeded again. Better still, Owen uncovered a gravel driveway. It was in bad need of replenishing, and she’d see t
o that soon, but for now she enjoyed being able to drive down close to the house.
Before long she’d be able to move in her furniture, but she wanted to scrub the house from one end to the other first—floors, walls, windows, baseboards. Thanks to being closed up for so long, it’d require a good cleaning to get rid of the musty smell. She had hoped to have that done already, but a business trip had taken her to Tennessee for a week.
Now that she’d returned, she was anxious to see the progress. But first, she found Ella and Owen arguing in her yard. They obviously hadn’t heard her pull up. She came around the corner of the house, anxious to investigate the loud voices.
Dressed in a sloppy pullover sweatshirt, faded jeans and laced-up boots, Owen worked at raking beneath her wooden porch. “She didn’t hire you, Ella.”
In her own, more colorful sweatshirt and skinny jeans, hands propped on her hips, Ella replied, “No, but you could hire me to help.”
“You’re afraid of snakes.”
Ella shuddered, but squared her shoulders. “I’d do it anyway. You can give me twenty bucks.”
Pausing, Owen turned to face her. “What do you want the money for?”
“Girl things, nosy.”
Expression dubious, Owen reached to his back pocket for a wallet. “I’ll just give you—”
Stiffening, Ella said, “No.”
He sighed. “Then ask Jax—”
“You guys are my brothers, not my parents. I don’t want to take money from you.” She bit her lip. “I’m looking for a part-time job, but until then, let me work with you. At least for today.”
Taking that as the perfect opening, Briana said, “Good morning, you two.”
Swiveling around with identical expressions of guilt, the brother and sister returned her greeting.
“I didn’t think you’d be over until tomorrow.”
Briana smiled at Owen. “I got done a day early, but it was too late last night to come out here.” Turning a circle, she looked at how things had changed. “Wow, you’ve done a great job.” The largest trees were now trimmed to look tidy instead of wild. They’d lost most of their leaves, but come the spring they’d be beautiful. Loose boards in her porch were now secured, and the outside of the house had been power-washed. All the cobwebs were gone—and as she knew, there’d been plenty in the porch roof. All around the dock, he’d replaced rocks in the retaining wall.
Owen, too, looked around. “I planned to edge everything tomorrow, and if you want I could put in some shrubbery around here—” he indicated the barren spots where dead bushes had been removed “—and here.”
“That’d be terrific.” Thrilled with how it was turning out, she said, “I know exactly what I want, too. Maybe we can discuss it tomorrow?”
“Sure. We’d just need to get them in before winter hits.”
She turned to Ella. “I’m sorry, but I heard you both talking. If you’re sure you have enough free time, I’d love a little help in the house. It’s cleaning, but I’d pay you the same as I’m giving Owen—”
“I’ll do it,” Ella said, speaking fast. “I can start now, or after school tomorrow.”
And so it was that by the third week in October, she had actual landscaping, choosing dark mulch and easy to care for plants and shrubbery, with a very clean house and two freshly painted rooms.
In and around her busy work schedule, she’d spent several days there, with Ella helping out after school. Because they spent so much time getting the house ready, she’d moved in a few folding chairs for chatting during breaks. She’d also brought a lot of cleaning supplies, along with hand soap, lotion and dish towels, a coffeepot, mugs, creamer and sugar. The refrigerator held colas and bottled water, lunch meat and cheese, and cans of soup lined the cabinet shelves, along with bread and chips.
She had a few towels, rugs, toiletries for freshening up—and not much else.
She’d been so busy that she hadn’t seen Jax nearly often enough to be satisfying. In their stolen conversations, she’d learned that he, Owen and Ella were working out the kinks of cooperation, and little by little they seemed to formulate a practical schedule.
She’d found Owen and Ella to be fabulous workers, and they were certainly more affordable than professionals would have been. Owen was the serious one, as somber as Jax most of the time, whereas Ella liked to tease. She was young enough to still get distracted by her phone, and especially social media. It wasn’t a big problem, so Briana hadn’t said anything.
Thanks to the sunshine on three sides of the house, inside was warm, but outside, winter seemed to have arrived early. Since she was staying with her family until the house was ready, she hadn’t yet turned on the furnace, but would need to do that soon. The temperatures dropped to the high forties during the day, but got down to the low thirties at night.
The last week of October, Briana finished work early and decided to head out to the house to determine exactly where she’d place her desk so internet access could be hardwired.
Mentally, she made a list—the furniture she’d need first, like a bed and a small dining table, plus a television for evening movies. Food staples, shower curtain, toiletries...the list kept growing.
Soon, she promised herself, she’d be able to move in.
It was only 4:00 p.m. when she took off, but the gloomy, cloud-filled skies made it feel later. Whistling wind carried falling leaves around her feet as she hurried to her car, and she was glad she’d worn her boots. She was only halfway to the house when a light snow began to fall, clinging to bare tree branches and dusting the roadway.
It wasn’t unusual to get snow in October. When younger, she and her sisters had often had to wear coats beneath their Halloween costumes when trick or treating. Snow was preferable to rain when it came to kids going door-to-door.
Thinking that, she realized she wouldn’t get to celebrate Halloween much at her new house. With the neighbors so far apart, kids would choose to go elsewhere. Bummer. On the upside, though, she had wonderful privacy in a tranquil setting.
Gathering snow brightened the dark landscape. Wishing she’d already had her driveway regraveled, she steered carefully down the slope that brought her closer to the house. The ground was a little icy when she stepped out, so she moved carefully until she reached the porch, then paused to admire the view of the lake and dock. Would she ever get used to that view? She hoped not.
With the blinds closed, it wasn’t until two hours later that she realized the extent of the storm. She opened her door to head back home—and found the porch buried. Snow covered everything, leaving behind a pristine layer of white that disguised the path.
“Oh wow,” she muttered to herself, pulling her bulky cardigan closer around her. Snowdrifts climbed the sides of tree trunks, swirling everywhere. It was really cold now, and she decided she needed the furnace on now or her pipes might break.
She went back in, securing the door against a howling wind, and tracked a direct path to the thermostat. She set it at sixty-five, flipped the switch...and nothing.
“Uh-oh.” She didn’t know much about furnaces, but she knew it had been working because her dad, as well as several other relatives, had gone through the house doing inspections. Hoping there’d be a simple switch or something, she went to the utility room and flipped a light switch.
It didn’t work.
Heading to the hallway, she tried another, and then one in the kitchen. The electricity was out.
Jax had warned her about things like that in the secluded area of the lake. She just hadn’t thought she’d have to deal with it so soon.
The best thing to do would be to head home and grab a propane heater to keep her pipes from freezing. Of course she wouldn’t leave it unattended at the house, so she made an impromptu plan to spend the night. It’d be cold, but so what? She was an adult, with her first house, and so she’d handle it.
No, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that as she tried to drive forward, her tires couldn’t find traction, and so...she was stuck.
Sitting back, she considered the situation until, in the distance, she saw something move. Her heart stuttered to a near standstill. Not a person, no. The eyes were too low, too bright, practically glowing through the blustering storm.
She heard a noise like a howl and her blood froze. Good God, she was alone here, in a sudden winter storm, and something big approached. It sounded...well, once she tamped down her nervousness, she realized it sounded distressed, instead of angry.
For several moments Briana sat there trying to decide what to do. She didn’t want to stay in her car, and she couldn’t walk too far, but she reminded herself that she had wood to burn in the fireplace, and an extra sweatshirt in the back seat. Not an ideal situation, but she wouldn’t freeze. The idea of carrying in snow-covered wood that would probably hide any number of bugs trying to find shelter gave her the creeps, but it beat the alternative.
And the creature approaching? The eyes were closer, and she made out the outline of a...dog. Probably. Hopefully.
Regardless, she couldn’t just leave it, not out in this weather. Her entire family adored animals. As long as it wouldn’t eat her, she’d try to help.
They could share heat.
Cautiously, keeping her gaze on the animal, she stepped out of the car—and promptly slipped, landing on her butt. The animal went on alert then charged, big feet lumbering through the snow, a definite “bark” barely cutting through the sound of the wind.
Briana braced herself—and Jax’s truck came into view.
Before she could get to her feet, the dog was on her, snuffling her face—happily.
Thank God.
“Oh my,” she said, her hands freezing in the snow as she tried to brace herself against the animal’s enthusiastic assault. “Down, boy. Girl? Down.”