A Beautiful Disaster

by Marguerite Labbe

  She marched up the little set of steps and closed the door hard with Brenden right behind her before Dakota could hold him back. Well fuck. He stared at the closed door, debating whether to go after them. He didn’t know what to say, and apparently what he said was making it worse.

  Uncle Trev scooped two more beers out of the cooler and handed one to Dakota. “I think we both could use one.”

  “Fuck yeah.” Dakota popped the top and took a long swallow. “That could’ve gone better.”

  “She’s madder at herself than you two. Brenden and her will work it out. They always did have a close relationship.” Uncle Trev sat down on the cooler and gave Dakota a speculative look. “And you never went to anyone for advice except for Brenden. You never wanted another mother figure, and he never wanted a father one. The fact you came to us at all shows me how far you’ve come along and how much we mean to you.”

  “You do, to both of us. The whole family thing, it’s a cornerstone for us. And neither of us wanted to screw up that dynamic even if the dynamic between Brenden and I has changed.” Dakota grimaced at his beer. “And now Brenden has me using big words, dammit.”

  “That’s nothing new.” Uncle Trev laughed and tapped his beer to Dakota’s. “To you and Brenden. She’s right, it will take a bit of getting used to, but that’s our issue to wrestle with, not yours. I’m assuming it’s serious if you guys decided to brave this discussion. Brenden’s not one to do anything lightly, and you’re not one to nail yourself down unless it’s something you really want.”

  Dakota nodded, turning his beer in his hands. “Just to give you a heads-up. I plan on convincing him I want to marry him. Right now he’s hedging. And when I do, there’s not going to be a big thing or much warning. Just him and me and you all at the nearest courthouse.”

  Uncle Trev wrapped his arm around Dakota’s shoulders in a quick hug. “We can get down with that.”

  Aden and Zach slipped back into the garage from the driveway. “It’s safer in here,” Zach announced. “I tried poking my head in on Mom and she gave me the look.”

  “It’s okay. One of us has to be the dumb one in the family,” Dakota teased, and Zach shot him the middle finger.

  “All I’ve got to say is, at least you didn’t say you were boning.” Zach sat down on the set of steps leading inside. “Because I wouldn’t have put it past you when you blurted out the news like that.”

  Dakota snickered. “Believe me, I thought of it, but Brenden would’ve murdered me on the spot.”

  “He really would’ve.” Aden sat down next to Zach and eyed the table filled with swag. “We should get started. Brenden and Mom will join in when they’re ready. I think he’ll be happier with something to do.”

  “Us working out here while they’re in there chatting would be a complete reversal of the norm,” Dakota complained, even if Aden had a damn point. It would make Brenden happy.

  “Welcome to the Upside Down,” Zach said, getting to his feet with a sigh. “Since you initiated this reversal with your announcement, I’m counting on you to be our grand leader. Hop to it, Dakota.”

  Zach was so lucky Dakota loved him or he’d consider braining him at the moment. He stood up, flipped on the music, and took his place at the end of the table so he could quality check as the filled bags were handed to him. “Okay, everybody take a position.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  JULIE STEPPED into Brenden’s path as he barged into the kitchen. “Slow your roll. Evelyn said she wanted a minute. Let’s give her a minute.”

  “How do you know? Were you listening at the door?” Brenden accused as he eyed the hallway Evelyn disappeared down. From there she most likely went outside to her patio garden. Which was reassuring. If she’d gone the other direction, she would’ve holed up in her bedroom, and that was a level of upset that really meant she didn’t want company.

  “No, she snapped it out at us as she came through.” Julie moved to block him again as Brenden tried to sidestep her.

  “Get out of my way, Julie.” Brenden fixed her with a hard glare. He appreciated her protective instincts toward Evelyn. And her silent support earlier touched him. But he’d be damned if he’d let her stand in his way of fixing this mess.

  “Don’t try to intimidate me.” Julie crossed her arms. “I’ve figured you out. You’re all growl and hard-faced stares, but you’re squishy on the inside.”

  Brenden narrowed his eyes. “Have Aden and Dakota been telling tales about me? Never mind,” he said with an impatient shake of his head. “I need to talk to her and you’re not going to stop me.”

  “I’m on your side. I am,” Julie insisted, even as she laid her hand on his chest to stop him. “But give her a moment to process it. It’s a lot to take in.”

  Brenden’s shoulders slumped. “That’s not what’s bothering her.” He knew Evelyn. She was as bad at blaming herself as he was about doing it to himself. “I’m not going to let her stew in recriminations. Not over me. Thank you for sticking up for her. But I know her better than you, and you have to give me a chance to make it better.”

  “Jules, you coming out?” Aden asked, peeking through the door, and Brenden took advantage of the distraction to slip around Julie.

  “Hey!” Julie called after him, but Brenden kept going until he got to the door that led to the backyard. Evelyn sat on her garden bench, facing the glory of the space she’d made. Flowers of all shapes and colors spilled over in a riot of patterns and textures. Brenden never remembered the names of them, but he always admired the expression of controlled chaos. This was Evelyn’s haven. She’d taught him everything he knew about planting, but he’d never been able to emulate this artistic space. He was limited to his evenly spaced-out herb garden and strategically placed potted plants.

  As he slipped through the door, her shoulders stiffened. “I said I needed a moment.”

  Brenden’s throat tightened. He knew that tone. She’d been crying, and it was his fault for going about this all wrong. He sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, his eyes stinging. This was the woman who’d opened her home and family to him without reservation when he’d thought he’d be alone and loveless for the rest of his life. There wasn’t a damn thing he wouldn’t do for her.

  “I love you, Mama E.”

  She let out another one of those choked sounds and reached around to slide her hand over his scalp. “Dammit, Bren,” she said with a sigh.

  “I don’t think you’d boot me out of your lives. Not when my rational side is in charge. I know you all too well.” Brenden hugged her tighter and then eased back. “But the thought of disappointing or upsetting you, not just screwing around upsetting you, but hitting you here—” He tapped his fist against his chest and shook his head. “It kills me because this family is the most important thing I have. I would do anything for you.”

  “You always were the sweetest one next to Aden and not willing to let anyone see it.” Evelyn wiped her eyes and gave him a misty smile. “And in my rational moments, I know your reactions have everything to do with a stupid man who has no idea what he gave up and gifted me with.”

  “I don’t know where you and Dakota and Aden got this idea of sweet and squishy from.” Now apparently Julie was sharing in their delusions. Brenden always felt as if he was behind a wall looking in. He never wanted to end up like his dad, all work and never letting anyone close, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from doing that.

  “You and Dakota never were able to see yourselves for what you were. I’d like to think we changed that some.” Then Evelyn teared up again and framed his face in her hands. “I’m mad at myself, Bren, because I talked myself out of all the signs I saw in you for years. And when I did, I pushed the idea of brothers on you, forgetting as Dakota so eloquently put it that you’re not screwed-up teenagers anymore. And that’s all on me. I’m not disappointed in you. I’m disappointed in myself for putting you two in a position where the thought of talking to us became a production where
you felt you had to defend yourselves instead of a celebration.”

  Brenden closed his eyes against the stinging in them before he got teary himself and hugged Evelyn again. He’d been so lucky with her and his mom. He didn’t know how he’d had these two amazing women in his life who could cut through to the heart of him. “I really love him,” he said.

  “Oh, honey.” Evelyn rocked him a moment and then let go to dab at her eyes again with a laugh. “You always did. I’d seen it fade a bit from time to time as you gave up hope, and I’d convince myself you moved on, and then you’d be right back in love with him.”

  “He has a way about him.” Brenden leaned back to look at the flowers with his arm around Evelyn’s shoulders. They hadn’t sat together like this in too long.

  She laughed harder and leaned her head against him. “Just like his uncle. And he loves you. I knew he was a goner for someone when he called me out of the blue like that. I just didn’t figure out who. He always was a sneaky devil.”

  Brenden shook his head as he watched a butterfly hovering over a patch of orange blooms. “He does. Sometimes, I’m still not sure how it happened, what made him look past the relationship we always had, but I’m glad he did.”

  “I bet he shook you up right down to your core.”

  Brenden’s cheeks heated as he thought of the way Dakota had blindsided him. “I don’t want to talk about it.” There were some things you didn’t share with the woman who was your second mama.

  She patted his knee. “It’s going to take a little bit for me, probably all of us except Aden, to wrap our heads around you two. You get used to thinking of a person a certain way, and then they grow up and change on you.” She was quiet a long moment. “It’s good, though, you two. There’s no one else I’d trust more to take care of each other. Even if you fight all the time.”

  “We argue all the time, but we rarely fight.” Brenden thought of the determination and ache in Dakota’s eyes when he came back after their last fight. Though it was mostly resolved, there was a lingering question he couldn’t ignore. His initial reaction when Dakota had proposed had been immediate suspicion. And to be fair to himself, he had spent the evening with a man who attended a wedding reluctantly and who took every opportunity to shun the idea.

  He didn’t want Dakota asking because he felt he had to. And he had to be the only man in existence who was called a jackass during a proposal, which when you looked at it in Dakota terms, was kind of sweet. It was definitely memorable.

  “That is true. You bicker incessantly, all of you do. So what are your and Dakota’s plans for your future?” Evelyn asked. “You always have plans, and he rarely has one. So where’s your head?”

  “Apparently we have switched roles.” A state of being that baffled Brenden to no end. He blamed it on the fact that he had too much hanging over his head. They were approaching the crest of this convention roller coaster. He was pretty much at the point where he was ping-ponging from one set of tasks to another. It felt almost obscene to be sitting out here in the sun, idling. But relationships were more important, so he’d take a few minutes with Mama E and then put them all to work for the rest of the day until they collapsed in a heap.

  He’d also been worried about talking to his family. So anything after handling this reveal and the convention had been on a future checklist. Now that one worry was gone, there was always another to take its place. Dakota and marriage. Longing welled up inside him at the thought. Yeah, Dakota was right; he’d want it, but dammit, he wanted it for the right reasons.

  “I never met a pair who were as contrary as you two who still managed to go in the same direction.” Evelyn gave him a fond glance, dabbed at her eyes one last time, and tucked her tissue away. “I suspect you’ll work it out as you two always do without any interference from us. Just please know we are a family and you two independent rebels can come to us.”

  “Would it freak you out to know he sort of asked me to marry him?” Brenden asked, and Evelyn turned to give him a long, searching look. “In a way that could only be described as pure Dakota.”

  “It’s another step to process, but you two wouldn’t have come to us if you weren’t serious about this lasting forever.” She paused and cocked her head. “But it’s freaking you out some, isn’t it?”

  “I….” Brenden broke off and sighed. “I mean, this is Dakota. We’ve all heard his views before.”

  Evelyn pursed her lips in thought. “There are a few things you need to remember about your brot—” She stopped herself at Brenden’s wince. “That is going to take some getting used to. But I’ll get better.”

  “For the sake of my sanity, please. Aden and Zach will always be my brothers, but in my head, no matter how hard I tried, Dakota never was.” But he didn’t want Evelyn worrying about the expectations she’d placed on them, so he smiled at her. “You were about to give me a Dakota lesson.”

  “I was. One, you could never get him to do what he didn’t want to do without a whole hell of a lot of fuss. He didn’t go along with the flow to make things easier, and he didn’t give anyone pleasant lies. So, while he can be made to do something he doesn’t want to, you’d know it loud and clear.”

  While Brenden had to agree with her to a point, this was a different situation. Who’s to say he wasn’t grumbling to somebody else? Because there had been times when he’d ranted about Brenden and he’d heard about it from a third party. Not often, but still.

  “You keep that skeptical look out of your eyes.” Evelyn leveled a finger at him. “Because I’m not done. Two, you may have noticed he is a little possessive. He likes to have his mark on everything that’s his, though he’s relaxed since he was a young man. I suspect he may be more insistent about it when it comes to you. Especially since I knew without a doubt even before your little reveal that you are the most important person in his life.”

  Brenden opened his mouth to argue that point and then paused as he thought back to when he’d first met Dakota and they had to share a room. They’d had epic arguments over their individual spaces, and Dakota had carried around one of those silly-assed label makers marking everything in his area with his name. While Brenden had appreciated the one lone example of organization, he’d quailed at the absolute mess on Dakota’s side of the room. Eventually Dakota had come to realize that Brenden’s need to pick up after him was as much his coping mechanism as labeling things had been to Dakota.

  Brenden supposed he should be grateful Dakota would be satisfied with a wedding band instead of a bright blue plastic strip across his forehead that said DAKOTA’s! The notion intrigued him in a whimsical way, but before he could give it further thought, Evelyn continued to lay out her argument.

  “I never bought into Dakota’s whole antimarriage spiel anyway. I always figured when he found the right person, he’d hold on to them. When he called out of the blue to ask my opinion about whether or not he’d stick, I knew he was in love. It’s been killing me not to nag you two about who it was.”

  “Oh God,” Brenden said fervently, closing his eyes. “If you’d asked questions, I would’ve died on the spot, I swear.”

  She laughed and stood up, holding out her hand to him. “If it was anybody else, I’d worry about Dakota’s change of philosophy, but I go right back to knowing you two will always take care of each other no matter what. So you give that some thought.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Brenden took her hand and rose with a much lighter heart. “I suppose we should go see if we can wrangle anyone into working.”

  Later on tonight when all the bags were packed and in their boxes in the truck again, he was going to pull Dakota aside and express how grateful he was that he’d pushed Brenden into this discussion. Despite the fact that his to-do list was getting longer each day and he wasn’t sure where he’d find the extra minutes he’d lost in talking with Evelyn in the garden, he didn’t care. He wasn’t suffocating under the weight of his secrets and evasions anymore. He was utterly free to love Dakota and be lo
ved by him in return. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this carefree.

  “I have to admit, this is exciting,” Evelyn said as they went inside for a blessedly cool moment before they’d hit the heat of the garage. “This convention of yours has been eating up your lives for months. I don’t know a thing about what we’re putting together, but I’m so proud of you two, and I want to have my hands in a part of it.”

  Through the door, Brenden heard the rest of their family. “Well, at least we don’t have to hunt them down one by one to put them to work. Want to take some bets on how long it will take them to get settled and focused?”

  Evelyn opened the door. “Bribery always—”

  She and Brenden stared in astonishment at the activity within. Everyone stood at a station either slipping maps into con guides or stuffing bags with swag as Dakota supervised and packed boxes with the finished product.

  He straightened and gave Brenden a mock glare. “About time you two showed up and decided to do some work.”

  Evelyn shook her fist in his direction and found an empty spot at the table. Julie showed her what to do and she got started. Brenden stared at Dakota with an ache growing in his chest. Damned if the man didn’t make Brenden fall in love all over again.

  “Thank you,” he mouthed to Dakota, and Dakota’s scowl softened into a grin. Later, Brenden would make sure to show him his appreciation for everything that he was.

  “You’re welcome.” Dakota’s grin became a smirk. “Now get your delectable ass down here and get to work.”

  Zach groaned and covered his ears as Brenden’s cheeks heated to a fiery red. “I’m not ready to hear that, man. Too soon. TMI.”

  “You’ve been dying to do that, haven’t you?” Brenden asked in exasperation.

  “Yep.” The twinkle in Dakota’s eyes was completely unrepentant.

  From falling in love again to wanting to throttle him. Yep, that was life with Dakota, and Brenden would never want to change that.