“In other words, she was fucking with him…” I begin.
“The same way he fucked her over. Damn straight. So, after she set off the alarm, he comes flying down the stairs dressed in just his briefs,” Brad continues.
“And finds his wife with the safe and his work duffle at his feet. And a box of cut-up condoms between them and the alarm panel,” Jennings concludes. “And while he’s begging, pleading it was a onetime thing, guess who breaks in the door to answer the call from the alarm company?” He nods as he sees me putting all the pieces together.
“The other woman was a cop?” I ask, even though I know the answer.
“Someone he’d go out on patrol with. We’d consider them partners, I guess,” Jennings confirms.
Nick begins to chuckle. I whirl on him. “What the fuck about this is funny?”
“The fact that Meadow so nicely did an offensive strike and then double takedown without ever using her fists. All she had to use was her fucking brain. Maybe I should hire her to come teach a course on tactics to my recruits,” Nick says admiringly.
My mouth opens and closes like a fish. No words come out. Ignoring Nick for the moment, I point at Brad. “What happened next?”
Brad stops grinning at Nick’s assessment of Meadow. He swallows hard. “Well, now that everything was out in the open, the woman started spewing a bunch of shit Mitch said about Meadow.”
My gut tightens. “What did Meadow do?”
“Not a damn thing. She still hadn’t turned off the alarm. So, they sent out a second unit,” Jennings says grimly.
“Christ.” I drop back onto the sofa. “And?”
“And that’s when his sergeant storms the house with a few other officers. All armed. And since the answering officer in question had engaged her radio unit before approaching the house, they heard every single word,” Brad concludes. “Meadow didn’t say a thing while both Mitch and the female officer were being verbally eviscerated in front of her. What she did find out is this wasn’t the ‘first time’ crap Mitch had been trying to shove at her.”
Every word Brad says is tearing me apart. “So, she filed for divorce?”
Brad shakes his head. “Not right away. Remember, she’s Meadow. She puts everyone and everything ahead of herself. She always has. But with Elise and MJ, she had no choice.”
“What did she do?”
“She tried to be fair.” Before I can start ranting at the injustice of it, Brad holds up a hand. “I get it, Kody. There’s no one who wanted to go after him more than I did.”
Not true, but I don’t give voice to the fact I’ve been in love with Meadow Jones Borneman since the first night we lay on the grass together talking all night until the first signs of the setting Alaskan summer sun began. If there’s ever a chance in this lifetime I ever get to say those words, it’s going to be to her.
I’m grateful when Nick asks, “So what happened?”
“I went with her to a public place to meet with Mitch. Meadow wanted the easiest of transitions for the kids, and for a while it appeared that’s what Mitch wanted to. It took hours—going through every debt, visitation schedules, tears, apologies.” Brad scrubs his hands over his face. “Next to the day I found out Jed died, it was singularly the worst day of my life.”
We’re all quiet as we recall the emotional shock we all endured when we found out about Jed’s death. First came denial, then a pain so swift and debilitating it brought me to my knees right where I stood. For Brad to liken Meadow’s interaction with her ex-husband to that, I wonder aloud, “How did you manage to not kill him?”
“It was difficult despite the promise I made in advance to Rainey,” he admits.
I snort. “You’re a better man than I am. I wouldn’t have been able to hold back.”
“Just wait. I’m not done,” he warns. My body tenses upon hearing those words. “They had everything written down. Meadow was going to use Isler to file based on ‘incompatibility of temperament’ when…”
“Why that?” I hiss. “She could have taken him to the cleaners with what she had.”
“Because she wanted out, Kody. If she filed for reasons of infidelity, she would have had to have produced witnesses,” Jennings explains. And a lightbulb goes off in my head.
“And she wasn’t sure if they’d stand behind her or Mitch,” I conclude grimly.
“That about sums it up.” Brad nods. “But at the eleventh hour, Mitch did something none of us were expecting.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“He got a new job here in the lower 48. So, he reneged on the entire custody agreement. Then he tries to say my presence at the meeting caused ‘intimidation’ and he never would have agreed to Meadow’s requests otherwise.”
Nick jerks up from his deceptively careless position. “Shut. The. Fuck. Up.”
“No. So, what should have been a simple dissolution of their marriage ended up escalating into arbitration. It took months. And all through this, Daddy Dearest was telling the kids Meadow was hiding things. The kids are still treating her like she’s some kind of pariah,” Brad concludes.
I announce to no one in particular, “My number for my lawyer is in my cell phone. Last name, Roberson. Because I truly am going to kill him.”
Nick slaps my shoulder in support. We wait for the rest expectantly.
Brad doesn’t hold out long. Chest heaving, he admits, “Meadow and her attorney met with Mitch and his. He wanted—no, demanded—Meadow live in the same city so he could still see the children at his convenience. Meadow’s team asked questions about his new position and asked to come back to arbitration in a few days. She conceded to moving to the lower 48, but she claimed based on the work she could get, she would argue the two of them living in the same town. Even the same state was hardly pertinent based on the amount of time he’d be able to spend with his children.” Brad’s face turns cunning. “Her attorney pulled out his timesheets from his job in Juneau, including overtime. Using that information, and with the statements he made under oath that he’d have—perhaps—every other weekend to see his children, why should their lives be disrupted beyond what he was already doing to them?”
“God, I wish I had a camera in the room to see the asshole’s face,” I announce.
“I said almost the exact same thing,” Jennings agrees. “He had no leg to stand on. None. Especially since the reason he claimed he wanted Meadow so close was so he could see his children as much as possible due to overtime. So, the final agreement is they each can’t live more than three hours apart from the other until both children are eighteen. They each have to be able to drive ninety minutes to meet the other.”
“Where did he want her to live?” I ask out of curiosity.
“Bonners Ferry, Idaho. What kind of life would Meadow have had in a small town like that with Mitch lurking over her shoulder?” Jennings demands.
“None,” I say flatly.
“Exactly. So, I made a call to Russell Covington.” Brad names the head of the exclusive rental company we’ve used in the past for our annual retreats.
Immediately, Brad’s words from outside begin to filter through my brain, and the puzzle pieces start fitting together. “She’s in Bigfork? Doing what?”
“She’s the new assistant manager for Covington and running the operations for all of the Flathead Lake properties. As part of her wages, she gets to live in the Nature’s Song cabin guest house free of charge. But there’s a problem.”
The cabin. Suddenly, the words from Jed’s last wishes flash through my mind. “To Kody Laurence, I leave my travel journals, sketch books, and drawing kit. There’s also an open-ended monthlong trip paid for at the retreat we went to in Montana. Inside one of the journals, you’ll find a drawing of a tree house I thought would be perfect there. Make that happen, will you? Sorry, Kody, the sketches suck. My skills were never up to yours. If I could wish anything for you, it’s to see there’s more than houses that needs your magic touch.”
“For how long?” I ch
oke out.
“For good. Or until something else happens, I guess,” Brad sighs.
“You said there was a problem?”
Brad tips his beer back and finishes it. “Yeah. An enormous one.” He explains what Meadow walked into when she inspected the property upon arrival. By the time he’s done, I’m on my feet heading for the doorway.
“Where are you going?” Nick calls out.
“I need my computer. I need to see who I can switch off jobs to get a crew ready to head to Montana.”
I’m partway to the stairs when I hear Jennings say to Brad, “Well, that didn’t take much for you to convince him, did it?”
“No. Now, someone just needs to convince Meadow.” Brad’s voice holds a note of worry.
Pausing on the stairs, I call out, “Don’t worry about Meadow. I’ll let her know what’s going on the moment I get to Montana.” The way I should have spoken up and dropped the masquerade about what I was feeling almost seventeen years ago in Alaska.
Maybe then none of us would be in this mess now.
Kody
The moment my flight touches down on the tarmac in Portland, I’m whipping my phone out of my pocket and dialing Greta’s number. “I need the projected schedules for the crew’s availability for the next three months starting next week.”
A moment later, I wince as her screech is loud enough to likely reach the passengers in coach. “No, I’m not testing you. There’s a job in Montana we’re going after…yes. You heard me correctly.” Harvesting what little patience I have left because I can’t afford to have Greta decide to take her ridiculous project management skills somewhere else when I need her the most, I whack my head on the overhead compartment and curse. Rubbing the spot, I bite out, “I’ll give you more answers when I get to the office.”
“How long is that going to be, Kody?” she snaps.
“I’d say a couple of hours. We literally just touched down.”
“And you couldn’t, I don’t know, have maybe called me on a Sunday instead of giving me this ludicrous deadline?” she demands.
I admire the efficiency of the airport personnel as they bring the gate closer to the jet. As the passenger I sat next to moves out the way, I reach up for my weekender. “I needed the time to determine if going after the work was feasible. I think it is. Yell at me later after you get me the data I need to confirm it.” Without another word, and knowing I’ll deal with her wrath soon enough, I disconnect the call. I step back to allow the person across the aisle to precede me off the plane.
What I told Greta was no lie. While all of my protective instincts rose to the surface after Brad and Jennings explained the situation Meadow was facing, I’ve been struggling trying to decide how much I should intervene.
On one hand, there are few people in the world who know the structure of that property the way I do. But on the other, I’d be working in close contact with the woman who claimed my heart seventeen years ago. Despite time and distance, and even though she never knew it, there’s no sign my heart intends on moving on.
I honestly don’t have the answer on how I’ll survive this intact. The only thing I keep circling back to is Meadow needs help. Besides, in a roundabout way, we’re family—her to Rainey, me to the guys. And there isn’t anything you don’t do for your family.
“I can give her the head start she needs as she begins her new life,” I tell myself as I slide into my waiting truck.
With that in mind, I drive to my condo to pack enough clothes for a few weeks. After throwing my bag and my personal toolbox in the back of my truck, I head back upstairs to shut off my utilities. Just as I’m about to head out to my office to find out how many of my crew I can spare for a long-distance restoration, a framed photo on the wall catches my eye.
Almost twenty years old, Brad’s then girlfriend, now wife, Rainey, snapped a picture of the five of us in the Smiths’ backyard. Brad has an arm hooked around Nick’s neck to keep him in the photo—scowl or not. Jennings had a huge smile on his face, likely at the woman who changed his world. I was leaning against Jennings’s shoulder to keep myself upright, and I was laughing. “God, Jed. No one made me laugh like you did.” My fingers graze the edge of the frame as I stare at the wild-haired man who had just strutted out of the house wearing… “What was it I said? Did you pay money for that 1920s fetish wear?” I bark out a laugh that’s riddled with pain.
Jedidiah Smith, you are irreplaceable. No, I correct myself. Jed Malone. The most spectacular thing about the brother of my heart was his capacity to love. And I’m just grateful that for whatever duration they had together, he and his husband, Dean, found it together.
Too impatient to wait for the elevator, I jog down the three flights of stairs and push open the door. Leaping into the cab, I head downtown. The anticipation I’ve been trying to tamp down begins to worm its way through me as the one insidious thought I’ve refused to allow myself breaks free from the chokehold I’ve maintained since Brad broke the news.
Meadow’s no longer married. God, she’s free after seventeen fucking years.
“What would you do, Jed?” I murmur aloud as I navigate my truck around a bunch of fuel-efficient vehicles with an ease born of long practice.
And a memory of Jed and me drinking and throwing axes one night after work, shooting the shit, comes to mind. I was hoping for a definitive answer to whether or not I should shove a wedge between Meadow and Mitch when Jed, looking like a lunatic in oversized overalls, imparted words on me I’ve never forgotten.
“You love her for exactly the things you’re asking her to betray. In the end, where does that land the two of you? Anywhere good?”
While I was still reeling from the one-two punch to my heart, Jed hurled his axe dead center into the bull’s-eye before walking off the open set the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show took place on.
Pulling into the garage beneath the building that houses my office and the design studio, I realize none of those initial barriers stand between us. “Instead, there’s only the last seventeen years to rise above.”
Slamming out of my truck, I may be insane, but my decision’s made. Even if it’s only to put the past to rest once and for all so I can move forward, I’m going to Montana.
But I can’t prevent a stray thought from trickling through my head as I push open the door to my office and confronting one seriously pissed-off Greta. This could be the moment I’ve waited my entire life for. Shoving it aside, I focus on helping Meadow adjust to her new life. After all, what kind of man would I be if I didn’t do everything in my power to help the woman who’s always owned the pieces of my heart find her way?
An asshole, just like her ex.
“Do you want to explain what on earth is going on?” Greta demands the moment I push through the doors. She has a handful of papers in her hand.
I hold my hand out for them. “I’m taking a crew to go help a friend.”
Her lips part in shock. “Are you insane? We had plans, Kody. We were finishing the estates from hell, and we just put an offer in on—”
“I know what our plans are.” An exclusive piece of property came up for sale just north of the Portland—acres and acres of farmland begging for Laurence Construction to build on it. “You can take lead on that if it happens,” I decide on the spot.
Greta’s shocked. Then her eyes narrow. “Who is she?”
Uncomfortable, I shift my attention to the paperwork in my hands. Frowning, I question, “Lenny isn’t on this list?”
“He won’t finish the millwork on the estates for another two weeks.” Her voice is filled with barely restrained patience, much like when we were kids and she was trying to explain why I’d irritated Victoria so badly. “If you need him added—”
“I do.”
“Fine.” She snatches the papers out of my hand. “Now, start talking.”
Avoiding the real question, I make my way to my barely used office to gather up the equipment I’ll need. My laptop and iPad are in my bag fro
m the weekend, but I also need a portable drafting table and the kit holding my drawing, measurement, and cutting tools. “I heard about an opportunity over the weekend when I was home.” Gee, that’s the understatement of the century. “I thought I’d check it out.”
I pray Greta doesn’t associate my blatant attempt at obfuscating the truth with my inability to meet her eyes. If I’m lucky she’ll associate it with the way I’m rushing around.
But my sister is just too damn astute. “So, that’s it? You’re dropping everything for a chance?”
I finally hold her gaze when I say words from the depth of my heart. “I’ve waited a lifetime for a shot at this.”
“For a crack at the house or the woman who lives in it?” The only benefit to the sharply drawn breath I make is I know I haven’t expired from shock. “What, do you think I’m an idiot? Do you think I don’t see the fact you won’t commit to anyone when—damnit, I hate saying this because you’re my brother—you’re what every woman is looking for?”
I’m about to protest when she begins ticking off my attributes as if they’re a punch list on a job. “You’re good-hearted, funny, and gorgeous to boot. It always amazes me out of all the women you dated, not one was capable of capturing your heart.”
Probably because the one who’s owned it has it for seventeen years, I think to myself. I let out a breath, and with it unload the burden I’ve kept inside except with the brothers of my heart.
Quickly, I bring my sister up to speed on the situation at Nature’s Song, including my history with the house, the damage done, and the fact I personally know the property manager. “All of that aside, apparently she’s been trying to get bids to have the work done locally, but the contractors are adding an unnecessary surcharge based on the prime location of the real estate,” I growl in frustration.
Greta’s lashes dip downward. I can’t tell what she’s thinking. Then again, she’s always been the hardest of my sisters to read on a good day. When she finally raises her eyes, I’m shocked by the fact they’re diamond bright. Forgetting about the fact I was trying to get on the road as quickly as I could, I step forward and grip her arm. “Greta?”
Return by Land (Glacier Adventure Series Book 2) Page 8
