It was nearing midnight when Frankie nudged her husband. “Right!” the big guy said, immediately standing up. “I need to get Frankie to bed. She’s pregnant and gets tired easily.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against his side. “But can we get together again tomorrow?”
“Absolutely!” Evie assured him eagerly. “Oh yes. Definitely!”
He laughed and, before Brock knew what was going on, Evie was enveloped in hugs from each of her brothers and sisters-in-law.
When the door closed on her new-found family members, Brock stayed back. Slowly, Evie turned to look at him, a wariness in her eyes.
“What now?” she asked, her voice nervous, her hands behind her back and she seemed to be holding onto the door knob.
Brock stepped forward. “Now, I ask for your forgiveness,” he told her softly. Sliding his hands into his pockets, he looked down at her. “I’m so sorry for not trusting you, Evie. I judged you by my mother’s standards instead of letting you be yourself. Can you ever forgive me?”
She looked at him, her eyes softening. “Will you ever do it again?”
He hesitated, then nodded with a sigh. “Probably. Will you forgive me if I do?”
Evie blinked in surprise, then laughed. “Are you ever going to leave me?”
“Never!” he vowed and took a step forward, then stopped himself. “No! I won’t leave you. I can’t guarantee that I won’t mess up again. But I’ll talk to you. I’ll ask questions.” He sighed. “At least, I’ll try very hard not to judge first.”
She smiled, releasing the door and stepping closer. “Will you promise to love me forever?”
“Absolutely!”
She laughed as she reached out to touch his chest. “Good. Because the last three days have been miserable.”
He let his hands move to her waist, pulling her in closer. “Will you tell me why you eat junk food and candy when you’re upset?”
She nodded, moving even closer. “I eat until I’m sick. It’s actually a mental condition that I had been working through with a therapist.” She looked at the middle of his chest, too ashamed to look him in the eye. “I was so…obsessed with my weight when I was acting before, but…” she leaned her forehead against his chest. “I dropped out of the acting world because…because I was going nuts with my weight. I’d get upset about something on the set and binge eat that night. It was a yo-yo thing that I did to myself over and over again. Finally, I just…stopped acting and went to college.” She looked up at him, proud of her degree. “I have a degree in psychology now.” She laughed, shrugging dismissively. “I had to do something to straighten out my head. Studying really helped.”
“Do you throw up afterwards?” He asked.
“No. I’m not bulimic. I just…eat until I’m sick and numb. Usually, if I’m upset, I go down to my gym and pound on my boxing bag. But when it’s really bad, I eat. It’s a horrible crutch and I feel sick the morning afterwards. I haven’t done that in…years.”
He sighed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “My accusations triggered you, didn’t they?”
She looked at the floor, not wanting to hurt him. But he understood her silence. “I’m sorry, Evie. Please, will you…?”
“I forgive you,” she said, interrupting him again.
“Damn, I love you!” he said with a growl and kissed her breathless. When she was gasping, he lifted his head and looked down at her. “I didn’t want to, Evie.”
“Didn’t want to what?” she asked, blinking because she couldn’t remember what they were talking about.
“I didn’t want to love you. I told myself that I cared for you. And that caring was enough. I knew that I wanted you in my life, in my world, but I couldn’t admit even to myself that I loved you. I was a coward.”
“You really love me?” she whispered, her heart pounding against her ribs.
“I love you so damn much!” He hugged her again as she trembled with reaction. “But I’m a damned coward, Evie. I was afraid of loving you.”
“Why?”
“Because I associated love with pain. I loved my mother and it wasn’t enough to keep her from doing drugs. I loved her and she chose death over me.”
She tightened her arms around his waist. “I won’t leave you, Brock. I will love you, forever!”
“That’s all I need,” he said, then kissed her again. But this kiss didn’t end. In fact, he lifted her into his arms and carried her off to her bedroom.
“We can’t!” she gasped when she heard the door close behind them.
“Why not?” he asked, kissing her neck and her ears.
“Because I’m fat!” she yelped, slipping away from him. “I’ve been eating enormous amounts of food!”
Brock stared at her, noticed the way she tried to hide her body behind her hands. It was a completely ineffective gesture, but he thought it was cute. And revealing.
“Evie, you’re not even close to being fat, honey. And even if you gained fifty pounds, I’m not in love with you because of your dress size.”
She blinked at him, tilting her head. “What do you mean?”
He moved closer, taking her hands and pulling her back into his arms. “I love you because you make me feel good. Because being with you soothes the ragged beast inside of me. I love you because you make me laugh. You talk to me. The real me. The person no one else knew was behind the mask.” He stepped closer still. “I love you because you are a beautiful person, inside. Where it counts.” He was very close now. Close enough to wrap his arms around her. “And now, I’m going to make love to you because this is a physical way that I can prove my love for you.”
Evie was stunned. “Okay,” she whispered.
With that, he proceeded to show her, in detail, just how much he loved her. And afterwards, when they were both gasping for breath, he held her close as they fell asleep, content to make love to her for the rest of his life.
Chapter 13
It was bitterly cold and overcast the day the heavy coffin of Edward Meyers was lowered into the ground. Brock stood by the edge of the casket, watching alongside Frankie, Kinsley, and Stevie. They stood side by side, each taking mental notes for their spouses.
The minister said some words, but they weren’t relevant to the deceased man’s life, so they were ignored. The ceremony was brief. Only five people in attendance. And afterwards, they all filed out silently, not a word was spoken as they piled into Brock’s SUV. Still in silence, they drove to the law offices of Hensley and Brockman.
The lead attorney was surprised to find only the spouses in his office. “I’m sorry, but the names I was given by Ms. Windward were…” he paused, noting the bored expressions of the three women and one man. Nervously, he cleared his throat. “I was expecting the direct descendants of Mr. Meyers for the reading of the will.”
Frankie sat down in one of the chairs, folding her hands over her big belly. “They aren’t coming. We are here as their representatives,” she explained, handing him the letters of proxy.
The man unfolded the letters and read through them quickly. “This is highly unusual. There is a rather large inheritance here.”
Kinsley shifted in her chair. “We are here to witness how Edward treated his children after his death, since he abandoned them all before they were even born.”
The lawyer was clearly surprised by her harsh words. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware of my client’s treatment of his children.” He shuffled some papers around on his desk. “But I can guarantee that he was very generous with his wealth.”
He smiled, but the four spouses stared unfeelingly back at him. “Right,” he muttered. “Well, then, I’ll just go ahead and read the terms of the will.” He perched a pair of reading glasses at the end of his nose, then peered down at the page. “I’ll skip the legal terms and just get to the monetary bequeaths, if no one has any objections?”
“That’s fine,” Stevie answered for them all.
The lawyer cleared his throat and began. “B
asically, he didn’t stipulate which child would get the money, but it was to go to whichever child showed up to his funeral.” He glanced up nervously, then returned to the paper. “Since none of the children showed up, Edward stated that the money should be divided equally among the guests that did show.” The lawyer smiled weakly. “When I questioned him about this stipulation, he said that he wanted it publicized, so that his children would know what they had missed out on. Since you are married to those children, then…” he shrugged awkwardly. “Well, they’ll know.”
“We’ll be sure to pass along Edward’s final snub,” Brock replied, his face absolutely blank.
The lawyer’s mouth opened in surprise. Once more, he adjusted his glasses, looking down at the papers in front of him. “Quite right.” He shifted the papers again, clearly uncomfortable. “So I’ll have those funds distributed to you within the next few days.”
The four stood up and left without another comment.
Outside, Frankie breathed in the clean, fresh air. “Good grief, that was harder than I’d thought it would be.”
Kinsley laughed. “I agree. Keeping a straight face was almost painful.”
Five days later, Frankie walked into the house where Edward Meyers had lived for the past eighty years. It was a stuffy old mansion with dark wood panels and heavy velvet curtains.
“Good evening, Ms. Wilson,” the housekeeper greeted Frankie.
Frankie noticed that her eyes weren’t red or swollen, but the woman looked worried. “Are you Florence?” she asked.
The woman nodded, her head heavy. “Yes ma’am.”
“How long have you lived here?” Frankie asked.
The woman’s hands clenched together. “Well, for a while now. But I know that Mr. Meyers passed away. Me and the other servants will clear out. There aren’t many left. It was hard to keep a staff. It was….”
“I know,” Frankie interrupted softly. “The man was…something else.” Frankie pulled out an envelope. “I won’t take up much of your time. I just wanted you to know that you and the others don’t have to leave. In fact, please consider this your home until you are ready to leave.”
The woman blinked, not sure what to say.
“In addition,” Frankie pulled several envelopes out of her pocket, “these are checks for each of the long term servants, as well as an investment firm that can help you manage this money. It should be enough to last you in relative luxury, especially since you won’t have housing expenses. The expenses for this house, including taxes, will be paid for out of Edward’s estate.”
Florence peeked into the envelope with her name on it. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth. “Is this…?”
“It’s for you. It couldn’t have been easy to serve Edward. So please, consider this payment for years of service.”
With that, Frankie walked out.
“In separate news,” the anchorwoman said, smiling at the camera, “The Women’s Shelter, The Seattle Humane Society, Girls Inc, which helps raise the next generation of women to be stronger and more confident, and ‘Running Start’, which helps women enter public office, each received large donations of over ten million dollars today.” She turned and smiled into the other camera. “And on Wall Street today…”
Epilogue
“Danny, don’t you dare jump from up there!” Evie yelled at her ten year old son who was perched at the edge of the loft in her brother’s barn. Montana was a wonderful place to raise kids, she thought. But not dare-devil kids. Every time she and her siblings got together, the cousins were like maniacs, trying to outdo each other with their crazy efforts.
There had been a horse race earlier that morning and the cousins had raced over the fields at break-neck speeds. It was only by the grace of God that none had been hurt.
“Danny!” Kade’s deep voice rang out. “Don’t you dare! And if you’re up there, then where are the others?” he demanded.
Evie’s heart pounded in fear, because Kade was right. If Danny was up there, then the other cousins were too.
Sure enough, eleven little faces peered out over the edge of the barn’s loft. All of them smiling. All of them fearless. They ranged in age from five years old to fourteen.
A moment later, Lincoln hurried into the barn. “I heard that…” he looked up and noticed the laughing little faces. “Get down from there! All of you!”
Bessie, the next in line after Janus’ twins, peered over the railing. “But Daaaad!”
Lincoln shook his head firmly. “Don’t even start with me, Elizabeth Meyers! Get down right now. We discussed this after our last visit to Uncle Kade’s house!”
Janus strolled in and leaned against one of the wooden supports. “Looks like they were…”
Evie spun around, her eyes flinty. “Not another word!” she snapped at her brother. “This is your fault!”
Janus chuckled, tilting his Stetson back. He only wore the Stetson when they were here in Montana. Otherwise, he was the epitome of suave sophistication. “What did I do?”
“You’re the reason for their dare-devil DNA!” she declared. “We’ve been coming here for fourteen years and every year, the kids get wilder!”
Janus laughed, and bent down to catch his little daughter, Jillian, who was eight years old and best friend to the twins, Halley and Harrison who were the oldest of the group at fourteen.
“We’ve figured out how to string a rope across the top. Sort of like a zip line.” This was from Richard, Lincoln’s youngest at ten years old. He was exactly like his father, always trying to make something better, or create something new. He surveyed the barn’s ceiling supports, following Lincoln’s gaze, mentally building a zip line.
Janus and Kade understood exactly what was happening and began chuckling. “Give it up, Evie. The kids are going to do it. We just need to make sure they don’t die in the process.”
Evie glared at her brothers, all three of them gazing innocently at her. “Don’t do it,” she told them.
“Evie!” Brock called out, walking into the barn. “Hey Evie, Frankie said you were going to do something about the kittens?” He eyed her sternly, his hands resting in his hips as he glared at her from the barn’s large doorway. “Make sure that none of them end up on the flight home.”
Evie’s eyes brightened at the reminder. “Right!” But before she left the barn, she turned and pointed meaningfully at each of her brothers. They maintained her gaze, looking at her with that same blank innocence.
“Don’t do it!”
She walked out.
Brock turned, grinning at his brothers-in-law. “What are we going to ‘not do’ today?” he asked, rubbing his hands together eagerly.
Lincoln laughed, standing up and slapping Brock on the shoulder. “We need some paper and rope!”
Evie sighed happily as she picked up a kitten. “They are so darling!”
Frankie snuggled another kitten under her chin. “You know you want one.”
“I do,” she admitted, rubbing the kitten’s ears. “But Brock said no. He’s still grumbling about the puppy we brought back last year.” Four sets of feminine eyes turned as a bull dog-pit bull mix, truly one of the most adorably ugly animals ever created, poked his head out from the barn to the back porch where the ladies were sitting.
There was laughter as Bart raced across the yard, quickly followed by two more dogs that Frankie refused to let leave the ranch. Evie smiled with love at her dog. “He grumbles, but Brock loves that dog. I’ve seen him sneak Bart treats when he thinks no one is looking.”
Evie nodded. “I know. He spoils that dog something awful!”
Kinsley walked out of the house, wiping her hands on a dishtowel as she plunked herself down next to Evie on the stairs. “What are we talking about?”
Frankie beamed. “What to name Evie’s new kitten.”
Stevie snickered. “You’re going to get her into trouble.”
Frankie shook her head, the sun glinting off her flaming locks. “Not as much trouble
as…” she stopped and looked around.
“What?” Kinsley asked, suddenly alert as well.
Frankie stood up, frowning. “There are no kids here,” she whispered. “And all of our husbands are…”
The women were already on their feet. Evie hissed, “They were in the barn earlier. Richard said something about a zip line!”
The women all stared at each other in horrified silence for a moment. Then, as one, all four women raced across the yard to the barn. As soon as they stepped into the barn, they knew it was too late. “Whooo!” Daniel yelled gleefully as he zoomed across the top of the barn at full speed, suspended by only a wire and a harness that had been created out of leather straps.
Janus laughed and came over to the edge of the loft. “Who’s next?”
Frankie stepped up. “Who built this?”
All four husbands stared at their wives, a look of guilty horror on their handsome features.
Lincoln slowly raised his hand. “I did.”
Frankie stared at him for a moment and no one moved, not even the dogs who had happily followed the women into the barn.
Frankie’s stern expression morphed into a smile of delight. “Good. Then I’m next!” And with a whoop, she raced up the stairs of the loft, the other women right behind her, laughing excitedly. The kids stood back, shaking their heads. “It’s going to be awhile now that they’ve figured out what we’ve done,” Harrison groaned, Halley right beside him, leaning on the opposite side of the wooden support beam.
The other cousins nodded their agreement, but they all laughed as Frankie zoomed across the ceiling.
Such was life with the brilliant men and women in their clan.
Message from Elizabeth:
I can’t tell you how much fun it was to write this story! It wasn’t part of the original plan – so this story was truly unexpected. The series was supposed to just be three brothers. So Evie’s story was a pleasant surprise.
I also apologize for “Stevie” and “Evie” as character names in this series. I tried to find a new name for either woman – but once I’ve written the story, the name is part of the character’s personality. So just couldn’t do it.
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