“What? That you’re stupid or that you’re an idiot?”
“Either works,” Pete said.
“I don’t have to if you know it yourself. You messed it up.”
“You guys knew then?” Pete said.
“It was hard to ignore, the moon eyes and stolen touches, we aren’t blind,” Mark said, sitting down. “Then again, I guess you guys weren’t really hiding it.”
“No, we weren’t,” Pete said. “I really messed up.”
“You did,” he agreed.
“You’re agreeing without knowing the story,” Pete said.
“I kind of already know the story,” Mark said. “Lana has a bad relationship with her parents so she came here didn’t she? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out, especially now.”
“How did you—?”
“It took us two weeks to know that she wasn’t the housekeeper she was claiming to be,” Mark said.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because we felt that she was trying her best and besides, we liked her by then,” Mark said.
“Why wasn’t I let in on this?” Pete demanded.
“It was obvious you knew,” Mark shrugged. “The big deal here is, how are you going to fix it?”
“I don’t know,” Pete groaned. “I have to say something.”
“I think you should do it fast,” Mark said. “I saw her leaving with her suitcase a while ago.”
Pete shot up from his chair, shock on his face.
“Dammit!” he said heatedly. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, I did,” Mark said. “She seemed determined.”
“I can’t…I won’t let her go! I love her!” Pete exclaimed.
Mark only raised his eyes and said, “Tell her then.”
“I’m going to. Right now. Lunch, right? It has to be at the diner then!” Pete said and rushed out. Once he was gone, Mark leaned back as a slow smile appeared on his face.
Sometimes it was beneficial to lie.
Lana could sense the awkwardness in the air.
The booth in the diner seemed to be too in focus and even Loretta threw her a worried look as she served the food for them. Her parents hadn’t spoken after they had gone from the inn to the diner to have lunch. Her mother alternated from worried looks to sighing occasionally.
“Eat,” her father said.
She poked her pasta and put in one bite, watching them eat. She knew what her father was going to say and she was ready for it.
There was no way she was leaving with them. She wasn’t giving up her freedom, whatever it took; she was going to preserve it. Even if she had to go against them again.
“I don’t see why you had to leave like that,” her father said finally.
“Because you were trying to marry me off to someone I didn’t love or want to build a life with,” she said blatantly. “You didn’t ask me how I felt, all you wanted was someone to run the store.”
“Was that so bad of me?” her father said.
“It’s not your life you were selling, it was mine. You didn’t ask me how I felt about it, I wasn’t part of the equation,” she said.
“Lana, just come back. What are you doing here? Working as their housekeeper? That’s not for you. You can’t cook or clean,” her mother said.
“I can now,” she said. “I did my best to improve and I have. I am not giving it up.”
“You are being foolish. You are wasting your life,” her father said.
“No, I am not,” Lana said through gritted teeth.
“It’s one of the boys, isn’t it?” her mother said.
She was silent now because she couldn’t lie about her feelings for Pete. She didn’t want to.
“That’s even more stupid,” her father said. “Be smart for once.”
“For the first time in my life, I am,” she said.
“You can’t be sure about this. It’s just a passing fancy,” her mother said.
That was it for her and suddenly she found herself saying,
“It’s not,” She said softly. “I love him.”
And that was when it hit her, she did love Pete, with all her heart. He had done this behind her back but he had been looking out for her. So, she took a deep breath and said,
“Mom, Dad, I don’t want to argue with you. I’m grateful to you two for everything you have done for me but let me live, let me experience things. I don’t want to go back and be confined again. I am old enough to decide for myself.”
Her father looked like he was going to say something but her mother stopped him.
“I think there’s nothing else we can say,” her mother said with a rueful smile. “We always thought you would do what we wanted you to but we were wrong to ask it of you. You have a life too and we can’t tell you how to live it anymore.”
With that, her mother clasped her hand and said,
“Live your life darling and when you want to come back, we’ll be there for you.”
Tears gathered in her eyes and she nodded, finally giving way to them as her father patted her shoulder. She felt at peace for the first time in two months, no more fear or hiding. It was finally over.
But there was still one thing that she had to do.
When Pete reached the diner, Lana was sitting on the booth, looking deep in thought.
His heart almost stopped when he didn’t spot her at first but then he saw her, relief flooding into his face.
“What are you-” she started to say but he cut her off.
“Don’t leave,” he said urgently. “I don’t want you to leave.”
“But— “
“Lana, I made a mistake and I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think that it was going to hurt you and I just wanted you to make up with your parents. But please don’t go because I love you and I can’t live without you.”
Her mouth dropped open and she closed it slowly.
“I love you too.”
“You what?” he said, shocked.
“I love you too,” she repeated, smiling.
He grinned widely, kissing her hands and then she said,
“And I’m not leaving,” she said.
“Mark said that he saw you leaving with a suitcase,” Pete said, puzzled.
“I don’t have any suitcase with me,” she said. “And my parents have already left. They said they would come back to visit me in a few months.”
“That son of a b—“Pete said but was cut off by Lana’s kiss.
“At least I know the feeling is mutual,” she joked.
He forgot his troublesome brother for a moment as he pulled her in for a deeper kiss, rejoicing that it had worked out in the end.
“So, do we still have to pay you?” Drew asked.
They were outside the farm house, seated in chairs as the sun set. Lana and Pete were sitting beside one another, hands clasped as Mark, Drew and Jaimie sat nearby.
“Of course, you do,” Lana said. “I am still working as your housekeeper.”
“As well as being my girlfriend,” Pete said kissing her.
“Gross, do it elsewhere,” Drew said.
“Stop acting like a ten-year-old,” Pete said.
Jaimie just smiled in the same enigmatic way that he always had. “It worked out for everyone then.”
“I can’t believe you guys knew,” she said.
“It wasn’t hard to put two and two together, maybe try harder next time,” Mark said sullenly.
“You don’t seem very happy,” Pete said.
“I lost three workers today. I have to put out an ad for some more,” Mark said. “It’s a hassle.”
“We’ll find more workers,” Pete said.
“There’s no shortage of workers,” Jaime agreed.
“Easy for you to say,” Mark muttered. “It’s finding the good ones that takes time.”
“Maybe a girl will fall in your lap instead,” Lana said.
“Not going to happen,” Mark said firmly.
P
ete and Lana shared a look before kissing again, ignoring Drew’s complaints. Besides, who cared, when you had the one you loved beside you?
The End.
Mark
A Simmons Brothers Story
by Danielle Gray
Mark
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Copyright 2017 Danielle Gray
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All Characters, events and locations in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, dead or living, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Stop reading NOW if you don’t like sweet, romantic stories with a little spice in them…
Chapter One
Mark Simmons could smell the cookies as he walked towards the farm house he shared with his brothers. The smell had wafted out of the slightly open front door and as he walked up the stairs, he could hear slight rustles and noises coming from inside. He had a smile on his face as he opened the door, because he knew exactly what he was going to see on the other side.
He was rueful that he had guessed it exactly right but the smile didn’t disappear as he watched his older brother, Pete and Pete’s girlfriend chatting, hands held on the counter with big smiles on their face. Recently that scene had become more common, Lana and Pete had started to spend so much time together that the two were rarely without one another. It wasn’t bothering, but for a single person, it could become very awkward.
Pete and Lana didn’t see him at first so he felt the need to be theatric and backed up a bit, before throwing open the door and saying, “I smell cookies!”
“That’s the kind of entrance Drew would make,” Pete said as Mark stomped over to them.
Lana only smiled, her oval face shining with amusement. Her eyes twinkled and as she backed away, her ponytail swung, reaching her shoulders now. Mark had always liked her soft looks but he had also seen her strong side, it was a perfect complement to the kind of person Lana was.
“Shouldn’t you be working?” Mark retorted, taking one of the cookies.
“I’m taking a break, I worked a lot,” Pete defended himself. “And this is my only time to see Lana before she runs away from me.”
“Pete is exaggerating, as always,” Lana said. “I’m only going to be gone for three hours.”
“But’s that’s an eternity,” Pete pouted.
“You need to stop being so clingy,” Lana said playfully. “Besides you are the one who told me to enroll in the class.”
“I know and I already regret it,” Pete said soundly, comforting himself with another cookie.
Mark knew that Pete didn’t mean it. When Jamie had brought back posters of art classes happening in the town, Pete had pestered Lana to go attend them and Mark agreed with that pestering. He had seen Lana’s drawings and they were one of the best that he had ever seen. She had a talent, though she was hesitant to admit it.
Of course, Lana always looked happy after she came back from class, refusing to change out of her paint marked clothes, chatting about it all throughout dinner, her voice growing animated by the second. Mark enjoyed seeing enthusiasm and he could say the same about his brothers.
“Looks like it’s time for me to go,” Lana said, looking at her wristwatch. “I left lunch on the stove, it’s heated and I’m sure the others will be here soon. Serve yourselves and I’ll be back by five.”
“See you,” Mark said.
Pete and Lana kissed before she waved cheerily and ran off. The two were left in the room and Mark stared at the pot on the stove hungrily. Pete noticed him staring and said,
“Why don’t we get it on the table? I’m sure Jaime and Drew will be here any minute.”
Mark nodded and the two worked to get everything on the table. Just as they set the last plate on the table, Jamie walked in. He looked tired, his green flannel shirt untucked with a couple of buttons opened. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed as he sat down.
“Rough day?” Mark asked.
“As usual,” Jaime said. “I just had to deal with a lot of talking. You know how much I like that.”
“I can tell,” Mark said, “Are we waiting for Drew?”
Just as he finished that, Drew walked in, looking as cheerful as he always did. He whistled as he sat down, looking expectantly at them until he realized that his younger brothers were not going to serve him.
“Did I miss Lana?” Drew asked as he helped himself to the chicken stew.
Pete nodded and Jaime said,
“I smell cookies, did she bake again?”
“Yup, she always makes things for Pete,” Mark replied.
“Maybe we should put in some requests,” Drew said. “I did like the lasagna she made though it got a bit burnt.”
“I’m sure she can do it better now.”
“I’ll tell her when she gets home then,” Drew said with conviction before stuffing his face.
Mark smiled inwardly as he saw the effect that Lana had left on the four of them. He had been the one who had been staunchly against her when she had first arrived, because of her mishaps, but seeing how well she had improved and continued to improve four months after she started working, it made him glad that he hadn’t tried harder to get her to leave.
The other perk of it was how much he liked seeing that Pete was happier now, their relationship had blossomed perfectly and it was one that made him happy to see it.
“How’s the worker situation going?” Jamie’s voice broke through his thoughts.
“As well as I can expect it to,” Mark said gloomily.
“No permanent hires?” Pete asked.
“None so far.”
Mark had started to suffer because of his ongoing worker crisis. As part of the ranch, he was in charge of handling the ranch hands while Pete handled the accounts, Jaime controlled the exchange rate of the produce and Drew was in charge of the animals. It worked well for the most part, but Mark had had recent trouble with finding workers who could manage to come on time and didn’t take care of the animals well. He had to resort to borrowing some hands from nearby ranches and even then, it wasn’t a perfect solution for him. So far, all the workers that had arrived hadn’t been up to the standards he wanted for the ranch.
“What about those flyers?” Jaime asked,
“I’ve been making sure that they’ve been printing new ones every week and I even increased the price but so far, I haven’t gotten anyone who can help. It’s really getting on my nerves.”
“It’s always hard,” Pete said wisely. “I am sure the perfect worker will come along soon.”
“I don’t need one but if that one person is good enough I think we can work very well. I think my biggest problem right now is that no one can understand how to take care of the horses,” Mark said.
“Tell me about it,” Pete said grumpily. The horses were Pete’s favorite animals in the ranch and he had once walked into the workers slacking off instead of cleaning around the stables. Pete’s rage didn’t co
me often but when it did, it was something to reckon and his voice could be heard all over the ranch as he fired the workers on spot.
Mark was hoping to avoid any more situations like that so he was still hoping to find that one worker who would be able to take care of the horses. That was all he was going to ask for now.
The next day, Mark had a surprise waiting for him.
It was one of the hands from the neighboring ranch with a letter for him. Mark had been keen on spending some time resting but once he saw the letter and the signature on it, he knew that there was no way he could refuse such an invitation. So he went inside, dutifully told Lana that he would be back for dinner and then dressed in one of his semi-formal shirts, ready to get through this social duty.
Though he thought of their neighbor’s ranch as somewhat close to their own, it was a good hour away from them. He borrowed Jaime’s car, promising not to have a dent on it before starting his journey towards the Hamilton ranch. As he drove, he tried to think of reasons why Hamilton would call on him.
Like his family, the Hamilton’s catered to the town but did not have the malice that normal ranch owners tended to have. The family had been old friends of his own for many years and had continued to look out for them though the brothers rarely visited their ranch. Mark could barely remember how many members there were in the family. Mr. Hamilton was always the prominent member who had always stood out and Mark reckoned that there were two sons and one daughter, though he had not seen any of them. Mrs. Hamilton had passed away a couple years before and the loss, he knew, had hit the Hamilton’s hard. Like most mothers, she was likely the glue that held her family together.
Regardless, he was prepared to go through the basic social modicum so that he didn’t come off as ungrateful, after all Mr. Hamilton had readily offered a few of his workers on odd days to help their ranch. The least Mark could do was get through this visit.
Mark saw the looming structure of the Hamilton ranch a half an hour before he reached it. Unlike the quiet power that he knew their ranch represented, the Hamilton spread was fetching and commanding. They had all the large structures, bustles of people and he could hear the animals as he drove through the gate.
Simmons Brothers Series: Boxed Set Page 8
