Kept By The Mountain Man (Montana Mountain Men Book 3)

by Gemma Weir

  My family fucking rocks. I’ve always known that, but seeing them stepping up to support my wife, who they barely know, makes me feel like the luckiest bastard in the world. But this is what the Barnett’s do, we’re there for each other, we’re family.

  I’m not sure what I expect from Alice, she’s tense beside me, she’s not used to having anyone in her life, let alone a ready made tribe all waiting to embrace her. Stepping forward, she rushes into Teddy, slamming her body into his and hugging him tightly. “Thank you,” she says, her voice almost breaking with emotion.

  My baby brother scoops her up and holds her tightly. “It’s okay, sweetie, you’re not alone anymore.”

  Now she’s hugged one, they all fucking want to hug her and I end up standing on the side while my brothers steal my woman. They all welcome her to the family and assure her over and over that they have her back, that we’re Barnett’s and that we look after each other, that we’re a family. By the time the girls get to her, they squish her in the middle of the two of them and I’m fucking swallowing down the lump of emotion that’s blocking my throat.

  I’m a lucky fucking bastard. The perfect wife and the best family a man could ever ask for.

  Prying Alice free from Cora and Bonnie, I bundle her close, pulling her to the dining table then down into my lap. The others all crowd round us, filling our huge table to capacity. “We’re gonna need a bigger table.”

  “Why? We all fit,” Cody says.

  “We won’t once you all find your people. Plus, we’re gonna have the kids too. We definitely need a bigger table.”

  Cody’s eyes get wide and he stares at me like I’ve got two heads. “I’m happy single, bro, don’t throw the curse my way.”

  “Throw it mine,” Penn announces. “I’m ready for some happily ever after. I want a taste of what you fuckers have. I’m ready for my woman, screwing around is losing its appeal.”

  Bay and Cody look horrified, while I notice Huck and Beau nodding in agreement. None of us would give up what we’ve got with our women to go back to mindless sex with random women. Tightening my hold on Alice, I press a kiss to her neck. “I love you,” I whisper, only loud enough for her to hear.

  “I love you too,” she whispers back.

  Serenity texts to say she’s in town just after lunch, and I watch as Alice physically braces herself.

  “You want us all to come with?” Teddy offers in the calm, quiet tone he’s taken to using with Alice.

  “Maybe,” she bites her lip.

  “How bout we all go to Barney’s, that way we can get some lunch and a few drinks. It’s a nice relaxed environment, but we can be there if you need us,” Beau says.

  I look to Alice, fighting the urge to take control of the situation, but needing Alice to be the one to take the lead on this until I assess if I need to step between her and her sister. I won’t allow Serenity to be a problem, but I also don’t want to discourage my wife from addressing the person who’s affected her life so dramatically for the last ten years.

  Alice’s gaze finds mine, and I know right then that she’s begging me to take over, her eyes are pleading with me and I can’t resist. She needs to be strong, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be her strength. “Barney’s sounds good. You guys can come say hi, then you can leave if Alice and her sister need some privacy.”

  Beau nods, then turns his attention back to Alice. “We’re always here if you need us, little one.”

  Fuck, why do I feel like I’m going to fucking cry? Beau is my big brother, since Dad died, he’s the one we’ve all looked up to, the one we all wanted to be when we grew up. I didn’t realize I needed to know I had his support until he just said it.

  “You ready, honey?”

  She nods, but it’s not convincing.

  “You want to come home, you say the word and we come home. You want to tell her to go fuck herself again, you do it. You want to hug her and tell her you love her, you do that too. Nothing is wrong, okay, and no matter what happens, later we’ll come home and you’ll be surrounded by family. You are not alone anymore. You have me and you have all your brothers and sisters. Soon we’ll start a family of our own. You’ll never be alone.”

  “What if you get sick of me?” Her words are broken and ragged.

  “Impossible.”

  “Impossible?”

  “What if you get sick of me?” I smirk.

  Her smile is soft and slow. “Impossible.”

  “Let’s go see your sister.”

  The drive into town is slow, I take Alice in my car, while the rest of the family pile into the huge minivan we use if we want to all go out together, although once Cora has the baby we won’t all fit in one anymore. Alice is quiet beside me, I can feel the tension emanating from her. My girl is stressed, and apart from turning around and taking her home, I’m not sure what I can do to help her. Telling her everything is going to be okay will only go so far, especially as I’m really not sure everything is going to be okay.

  Her hand is held tightly in mine, my thumb rubbing circles over her skin as I drive one handed down the familiar mountain roads. I want to say something to calm her, but I have no idea how this reunion with Serenity is going to go down.

  Alice wants to take all the blame, but I refuse to let her. Fuck, maybe it’s me she should be worrying about, not her sister. How the hell am I going to keep my mouth shut if Serenity says something that pisses me off?

  Parking in a side street behind Barney’s, I wait for Bay to park behind me, then I turn to face Alice. “I love you. I’m glad your sister is here, but her presence doesn’t change a fucking thing. You’re mine and I won’t ever give you up. No matter what she says, I know who you are. You’re mine.”

  As I watch, she swallows thickly and nods. Reluctantly releasing her, I walk around to her door and open it, unclipping her seatbelt as I like to do and help her out of the car. She wraps herself around my side and I curl my arm over her shoulder, holding her to me as I follow the rest of my family down the street and into the bar.

  We settle into a long banquet of tables with built in seating on one side and chairs on the other, and I text Serenity the name of the bar and a map tag so she can find us. I should probably offer to go fetch them, but I want her to come here and see all of us and the support we give her sister so she knows to watch what she says. It’s a fucked up intimidation tactic, but I want Serenity to be at a disadvantage, so she knows not to fuck with her sister.

  The waitress comes and we order a round of drinks. I order a soda for myself and a beer for Alice, then wait while the rest of the table orders. We’re positioned at the end of the table so there’s somewhere for Serenity to sit without her having to ask Alice to move, which I wouldn’t allow. I want to know exactly what she has to say to my wife and I refuse to be excluded from the conversation.

  Alice is so close beside me, she’s practically on my lap, so I lift her up and pop her on my thigh instead.

  “Granger, I can’t sit on your lap,” she protests weakly.

  “Why?”

  “Because we’re out in public, at a bar.”

  “I don’t give a fuck where we are. You started to the relax the moment I put your ass in my lap, so fuck it, your ass stays in my lap.”

  She giggles and I grab her chin and lead her lips to mine. More of the tension drains from her as she gives herself over to me, her body melting into mine, the way it always does when I touch her and claim her in the way we both love.

  “Alice.”

  Alice freezes against me for a split second, then she pulls back and turns her head slowly to look at the woman and man that are standing by the table.

  “Serenity.”

  Even before she said her name, it was obvious that this is Alice’s sister, they look incredibly similar, only where Alice is all broken edges and fearful eyes, Serenity is quiet control. They share the same straw blonde hair color, but where Alice’s is loose and flowing to her shoulders, Serenity’s is cut into a sh
ort crop against her head. She’s slim, but toned, taller than Alice and with an obviously military air to her. The guy to her left is tall, dark haired and given his expression, not too impressed about being either in this bar or Montana at all. I take an instant disliking to him, but he’s also staring at my wife, so maybe it’s just that.

  The girls stare at each other, so I use my initiative and lift Alice off my lap, standing her in front of me, her back pressed to my chest, then I lean over her, offering my hand to her sister. “Hi, I’m Granger. Nice to meet you.”

  My movement spurs Serenity into action and she immediately takes my hand and shakes it. She’s got an impressively firm grip and I fight the urge to squeeze back. If she wants to compare dick sizes, mine’s bigger.

  “Serenity. This is Phil.”

  I offer my hand to Phil and he shakes it too. His grip is weak and a little limp, it doesn’t make me like him any more.

  “Take a seat, let’s get you a drink,” I suggest, sitting back down and puling Alice into my lap again, she comes willingly, holding onto my arm where it’s wrapped around her waist. The waitress immediately appears with our drinks, handing them out before taking Serenity and Phil’s orders and leaving.

  “This is the rest of our family. Beau and his wife Bonnie, then Teddy, Cody, Huck and his fiancé Cora, Bay and then finally Penn,” I say, pointing to each of them in turn.

  “Your family?” Serenity asks.

  “I’m one of seven, nine now with Bonnie and Cora.”

  “And you all live here?”

  “Yeah, we’re all born and bred right here in Rockhead Point,” I tell her, not missing the hint of derision in her tone.

  “Wow, small town life. You never thought of moving to a city?” Phil asks.

  “Apart from the girls, we all went away to college. We’ve lived in cities, Teddy went to school down in Florida, but we all came home. We like our roots,” I say, making sure to maintain eye contact with him.

  “Alice, how did you end up here?” Serenity asks her sister.

  “I was just passing through, the RV broke down and Granger stopped to help. Bay and Penn own a garage so they came out and towed it back to town.”

  “RV? Dad’s RV?”

  Alice nods. “Yep.”

  “How is that heap of junk still running? It was a pile of crap when I left for basic training,” Serenity asks, with a wistful smile.

  “I’ve kept it going, it’s got me where I need to go the last five years.”

  “And where was that?” Serenity asks.

  “All over.”

  “So where’s home?”

  “Here, now,” Alice says, squeezing my arm.

  “And before here?”

  “Lots of places.

  “Stop being so evasive, where have you been living?” Serenity snaps, using a voice that like a stern mother scolding her kid.

  I don’t like it, so I reply. “She’s been living in her RV, moving from state to state depending on the seasons. Winter in the mountains, summer at the beach, fall in new England, spring in a city along the way.”

  Serenity’s eyes widen. “I don’t understand.”

  “What’s not to understand?” Alice asks, genuinely confused.

  “What did Mom say about you living like a gypsy?”

  “The last time I spoke to Mom, she called me and asked me to get bread and milk and make sure there was groceries in the house. I told her I’d moved out six months earlier. She asked me if I could still get her some groceries, and when I told her I was on the other side of the country, she cursed me out and said she supposed she’d have to get her own milk.”

  I cringe listening to Alice’s words. I hate that my mom is gone, if she wasn’t she’d have doted on my wife, she’d have spoiled her rotten with the kind of love only a mom can give. Alice never had that. From what she’s told me, once her dad left, her mom stopped showing any interest in being a parent and left Serenity to look after the girls.

  “What about boyfriends, friends? You never considered moving into a place with anyone?”

  Alice shakes her head. “No.”

  Serenity turns to Phil as if he can help her, but he just looks back impassively, then she turns her attention back to her sister. “Why didn’t you come to West Virginia, you could have stayed with us?”

  “I would never invade your life, besides I was fine on my own.”

  “You’re my sister, why wouldn’t you come to me?”

  Alice looks to me and I nod, urging her to say whatever she needs to say. “Serenity, when you left, you told me you needed to do something for yourself for once. I respected that. I know I made you take care of me, to fix my problems and look after me when you should have been out drinking and being a teenager. I ruined your childhood, I wasn’t going to dump myself on your life and ruin the future you’d made for yourself too.”

  “I never meant—” Serenity starts.

  “I saw what I did to you, and then I realized I did it to other people too. I cling, I’m needy, I go from person to person trying to find someone to dump all my baggage on and ruin their lives, just like I did you and it’s not fair. So I decided to stop. I got in my RV and I left, I drove and moved and I’ve been doing that ever since. Until Granger.”

  Serenity’s gaze moves from her sister to me, she looks over the way I’m holding Alice, the possessiveness in my touch, and her nose wrinkles. “When did you get married?”

  “Last week. We just went down to the courthouse, but we’re going to plan a proper wedding once Alice decides what she wants,” I tell her.

  “How long have you known each other?”

  “Not long. But when you meet your person, you know. Alice is my person, I knew the moment I saw her.”

  “What do you think about the load of garbage my sister just spewed?”

  “Which bit do you consider garbage?” I ask carefully.

  “The bullshit about her being needy and clingy and ruining people’s lives.”

  “You ought to wait till she gets to her toxic and poisonous personality. She really believes it too. She’s been alone for ten years because she really thinks that’s what she does to the people she allows herself to spend time around.”

  Serenity reaches blindly for Phil’s hand, squeezing it tightly as I stare right at her, silently telling her that she did this, that it’s her fault.

  “Alice.”

  “I don’t really want to talk about this. Can’t we just get drunk, then you can go home and we can arrange to meet up in another ten years?” Alice says, wearily, sighing as she rests her head against my shoulder and turns to look at the rest of the people at the table. “You guys wanna get drunk?”

  Teddy smiles back at her. “Sure sis, what’s your poison? To-kill-ya shots or girly pink shooters that sneak up on you until you’re rolling on the floor drunk.”

  “Definitely pink girly shots. I want to see Beau drink something pink.”

  Unable to resist it, I smile to myself, glad that she’s looking to our family for support.

  “Alice, we didn’t come all the way here to get drunk,” Serenity snaps.

  “Then what did you come for? It’s been ten years, Ser, I think I’ve had four or five texts from you in all that time. I’ve told you why I stayed away, so what’s your excuse? I know I ruined your childhood, but I was a kid too. So why now? Granger started this, he should never have contacted you, but you could have just ignored his call and you didn’t, you kept calling back. You didn’t even ring my cell, you rang his. Was it to warn him, to tell him I wasn’t worth his time? Why?”

  “I…” Serenity’s lips part, then snap shut and she stands from the table, pulling Phil up with her. “Look, maybe we should do this another day when we’re all calmer.”

  “I’m calm,” Alice shrugs. “You came all this way. You came here, I didn’t chase you, so you must have had some idea about what you planned to say to me. Why are you running away now?”

  I swear I’m so fucking prou
d I could shout it from the ceiling. I hoped she’d confront her sister, but honestly, I expected her to cower and right now she’s proving me wrong in the best way. Maybe it’s just time, or maybe it’s having a table full of people who all love and support her, or hell, maybe it’s just being here in my lap and taking all the love and strength I can give her. Whatever it is, my wife is kicking fucking ass and her strong, controlled sister is wilting right in front of us.

  “I just—” Serenity starts.

  “You just what? You thought I’d be the same person I was at thirteen? You thought I’d be alone and pathetic? I was alone. But I’m not anymore. I met a great guy, we got married and I gained an amazing new family who all took the day off work today to be here to support me. I am a truly terrible person, I know that. But somehow, I found Granger and he makes me better. He doesn’t care that I’m a mess. In fact, he challenged me to throw all my shit, my baggage, my issues at him and let him carry the burden for me. He loves me, in spite of who I am. I’m poison, but he’s my antidote.”

  “You’re not poisonous,” Serenity snarls, shocking me with the ferocity of her words.

  “I am,” Alice laughs. “But I don’t think that matters anymore.”

  Serenity bursts into tears, covering her face with her hands as she turns into Phil, who wraps his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders and holds her to him. “Look, I think maybe she’s had enough for today. It was a long flight and she’s been a fucking mess since the first call last week. Can we meet up tomorrow? We could come to you, or you can come to the hotel?”

  “Sure, why don’t you come for breakfast at our place? I’ll send you a map link, we live about half way up the mountain.”

  Phil nods, then leans over and holds out his hand to me. “See you tomorrow.” Then he looks at Alice. “It’s nice to finally meet you. You probably won’t believe me right now, but your sister talks about you a lot. We’ll see you in the morning.” Turning, he nods to the rest of the family who are all trying to pretend they’re not listening, then he guides a still sobbing Serenity from the bar.