“We have been friends as long as I can remember. We have always practically been inseparable. I moved away a few years back and lost my family while I was gone. I moved back here and they took me in. They are pretty much my family now,” he says, looking out over the pond.
“Are you family? A long lost cousin or something like that,” I ask, wanting to make sure he is in no way related to me.
“I am definitely not related to this family in any way,” he says, turning back to smile at me.
“That’s good to know,” I say, trying to remember why I even care. Two weeks. I am staying here two weeks and then I am going back to Florida to try to forget about all of this. I just wasn’t expecting to find this guy here.
“Very good,” he replies, winking at me. He just winked at me. This could be bad. I didn’t come here to meet him. I came here to meet the family I got cheated out of having. He probably just feels sorry for me and flirts with everybody anyway. I need to get away from him…now.
“I should go. It was nice meeting you and Scooby, I’m sure I’ll see you later. I’ll try to find a place to stay and get out of your way soon,” I say, turning to head back to the house.
“Are you hungry?” he asks climbing off the fence to follow me. “I know there is no food in the house. Let me take you to lunch and then we can go get groceries.”
He’s right, there are no groceries in this house and I am starving. I guess if I’m living here, I can’t avoid him.
“You mean there is actually a restaurant around here?” I ask, looking back at him.
“There are two. They are both really good too. I hope you like barbecue,” he says, walking toward the house.
“I love barbecue. Just let me change. I wouldn’t want you to be embarrassed to eat with me,” I say, opening the door to the house.
“Trust me, you look perfect, just get in the truck,” he says, opening the door for me. I walk over to him and get in. I really hope he’s not some random serial killer. I don’t know what these people are doing to me. I don’t trust or talk to anyone, but for some reason I am willing to go anywhere with these people around here. What is wrong with me?
“Has Brody given you a tour of our town yet?” he asks, turning the radio down in the truck.
“It was starting to get dark when we got here last night. I just saw a lot of trees and barns.”
“How about a small tour before lunch?” he asks
“I would like that,” I say, smiling back at him right before my phone starts ringing. This is going to be embarrassing. When you wear pants with no pockets, there’s only one place to put a phone, your bra. I dig my phone out and look over at Ash. He is looking straight ahead with a smile on his face.
“It’s Brody. I guess I better answer. He probably thinks I ran off,” I say.
“Hello,” I answer.
“Hey. Are you okay? I came back to the house, but I can’t find you.”
“I’m fine. I met Ash after you left I guess. We were just going to get some lunch. I’ll be back later,” I say, hoping he will stay away. I need some answers and right now I think Ash may be the one to give them to me.
“Okay, can I talk to Ash a second? I forgot to tell him something this morning,” he says.
“Sure,” I say, before handing the phone to Ash.
Ash winks at me again before taking the phone. “Hey man,” he says.
“I’m just giving her a tour of the town before grabbing some lunch. We have no food in the house. I didn’t want her to starve. I’ll tell her. Okay, I understand,” he says before ending the call and handing me my phone back.
“Is everything okay?” I ask him, putting my phone back up.
“It’s fine. You may have only met Brody a few days ago, but I guarantee you have a very over protective brother.”
“Oh no, what did he say to you?” I ask, looking out the window.
“He said I better not touch you and I better not let you out of my sight. I’m sure he will decide he’s hungry and show up very soon,” he says, turning onto another road.
“Okay, here’s the town. Don’t blink or you will miss something. This way has all of the grocery stores and other stores you will need,” he says, turning into the grocery store parking lot to turn around. We drive past the road we just turned from. This is a very small town.
“This road has all the important things, a restaurant, one of the two in this town, the funeral home and of course cemeteries.” We drive a few more miles before driving down a curvy hill. At the bottom of the hill is a gas station. “Down here is a few hotels, they are all pretty old and they say one is haunted. I have never stayed there, so I don’t know. There are also a few churches and a park.”
We turn around again and go back to the main road we just came from. This is the town square. There is a city hall, post office, a bank, a pharmacy and a few other places,” he says, driving around it. “If you go up the hill, you will find the school and we are going to turn here and go eat at this restaurant,” he says, pulling into a little parking lot where a white building sits.
“Wow, big town,” I say, opening the door to get out of his truck. “Did you say school?” I ask.
“I did say school. Kindergarten to high school all in one place,” he says, opening the door for me. I can’t imagine a school that small. I teach first grade at a school that only goes to fifth grade and we have seven hundred kids. They weren’t kidding, this is a small town.
“What do you want to eat?” he asks, standing by the counter to order.
“I’ll have whatever you recommend,” I say, walking over to sit in a booth in the corner. I sit and watch him order and pay for our food. He walks over to the drinks and gets two bottles of Ski out and brings them to the booth.
“I saw you drinking one this morning, I thought you might like another one,” he says, sitting one down in front of me. He turns back around and brings two plates of food back to the table. I look at my plate, it looks good, but definitely doesn’t look like any barbecue I have ever had.
“I really liked how you just sat down and didn’t even offer to pay for your own food. I don’t think I have ever had that happen before on a non-date,” he says, smirking at me.
“You invited me and told me to get in the truck. I had no money on me while I was charming your dog, so you owe me a meal for making me go in public looking like this. I don’t even have makeup on,” I say, taking a bite of my food. It is really good. “You must go on a lot of non-dates.”
“I don’t know if I have ever been on a non-date with a girl. I usually just eat with your brothers. I make them pay for their own and I like the no makeup thing.”
I want to ask him how many real dates he goes on, but decide it’s probably better not to go there right now. I’m assuming he doesn’t have a girlfriend or he wouldn’t be here with me right now.
“You don’t have a girlfriend that is going to mad that you bought my lunch today, do you? I wouldn’t want to have to worry about some girl being after me.”
“If I had a girlfriend, I definitely wouldn’t be sitting here with you right now,” he says, taking another bite.
“Can I ask you a question about Molly?” I ask him. Maybe he will talk about her since no one else wants to say much about her.
“You can ask me anything, but you may want to hurry. Our chaperones have just arrived,” he says, pointing out the window. Looking out the window, I find Brody, Jaxon and Collin all piling out of the truck. I guess I really did come here to be babysat.
“Do you want to make them uncomfortable?” Ash asks drawing my attention back to him. “Watch this,” he says, standing up. He walks over to the counter and grabs some napkins just as they walk in the door. “Hey guys, do y’all want to join us?” he asks them. I don’t hear what they are saying to him. He walks back to the table, grabs his food and moves into the booth next to me. “I made room for y’all,” he says, pointing at the empty side of the booth before going back to his food. This is
going to be a fun lunch.
Brody, Jaxon and Collin all order their food and grab a drink before heading over to the table to sit with us. Jaxon and Collin sit in the booth across from us and Brody pulls a chair up at the end of the table after grabbing their food.
“Hey boys,” I say, looking around at them all. This has just gotten very uncomfortable very fast. I don’t even remember the last date I went on, that’s how long it’s been and now I am sitting at a table with four men that I know nothing about. They are all just eating in silence a like supper last night. It’s very awkward.
“So, Callie, what do you do in Florida for a job?” Ash asks, looking over at me. How can he possibly be comfortable with this situation?
“I’m a teacher,” I say, watching all these boys stare at him like they are ready to kill him. Is it really so bad he wants to talk to me?
“What grade do you teach?”
“First,” I answer.
“So you have the entire summer off. That must be nice. Between all of these farms and driving to Nashville to work, a summer off would be nice,” he says between bites.
“It is very nice. Do any of you have horses? I saw Ash’s this morning,” I ask, looking up at Jaxon and Collin.
“We all have at least one. Have you met the demon dog yet?” Collin asks.
“Demon dog, no. Very sweet black dog, yes,” I say smiling.
“He was actually asleep at her feet when I found them. I have never seen him so calm,” Ash says, shaking his head.
“Really, that dog hates Molly and mom. I can’t believe he likes you,” Jaxon says. What is the deal with the dog and Molly?
“Can I ask a question and actually get an answer?” I ask, looking at Brody.
“I told you yesterday I would answer anything,” he says, looking from me to his brothers.
“Tell me about Molly. No one seems to want to talk about her. What is she like?” I ask looking at all of them. They all just kind of sit there and look at each other. I don’t understand this family at all. “Collin, you should know her better than anyone, what is she like?” I ask, looking at only Collin.
“She’s a little different,” he says, looking at Brody. I don’t get it. This only girl has three big brothers and they can’t even finish a sentence about her. Something odd is definitely going on here. I’m beginning to think they have always known she wasn’t their sister.
“Did y’all really just find out she’s not really your sister? None of you seem very close to her,” I say, looking back at Brody. He is the one that told me he would answer anything.
“We really did just find out. Here’s the deal. She has always just been our bratty little sister. She annoyed us and we were probably a little too mean to her. No guy would go near her in high school because of us and she hated us for it. Everything bad in her entire life was always our fault. When she went to college she hardly ever came home. Honestly, I probably haven’t talked to her over twice a year since she graduated high school. She got to where she would never come home. I’m not even sure my parents talk to her very often.” Wow, I definitely was not expecting that answer.
“Where does she live now?”
“She moved to Nashville after college. She got her real estate license and does that now. We all work in Nashville, so you would think we would see her pretty often, but every time I call to have lunch with her or just stop by and see her she’s always busy. I’ve even tried to stay with her before so I wouldn’t have to drive back here and she always has a reason I can’t. So I guess you could say we aren’t very close to her,” Brody says, picking his fork up to go back to eating his lunch. I never expected that answer. I thought since they were so adamant about me coming here that they were very close to her too. I’m really beginning to think this was a bad idea now.
I have just finished eating when Brody’s phone starts ringing.
“Hello,” he answers, looking straight at me.
“That’s great news. We are finishing up lunch now. We can be there in a couple of hours,” he says to the person on the phone, before looking at Ash.
“Are you going to be around today?” he asks him looking back at me. Ash just nods at him and gets up to throw our food away.
“Jaxon and Collin are with me now. It’s no problem. We will see you in a couple of hours,” he says, before ending the call and putting his phone back in his pocket. “Molly woke up. Mom and dad want us to come to the hospital,” he says to Jaxon and Collin.
“That’s good news,” I say, not really feeling it at all. This girl doesn’t even like her own brothers. There is no way she is going to be happy about me.
“Are you going to be okay?” Brody asks.
“She will be fine. I promised her she could ride one of my horses today. Y’all go see Molly. I’ll take care of her,” Ash says, winking at me again. This boy is definitely going to be trouble. I don’t remember him promising to let me ride one, but I am very excited about the thought of spending the afternoon with him.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Have you ever ridden a horse?” Jaxon asks, while Brody and Collin once again look like they could kill Ash.
“I have not, but I’m pretty sure Ash has. I will be fine,” I say, walking out the door to get back into Ash’s truck. Brody and Ash are having a quiet conversation outside the driver side door while Jaxon and Collin are getting back into Brody’s truck. Finally Ash gets into the truck and starts the engine.
“Brody went to the grocery store for you, so we don’t have to do that now. Want to ride your first horse?” he asks, looking over at me.
“I would love to,” I say, not being able to stop smiling.
Chapter Seven
“As much as I love what you are wearing, you may want to go put on some jeans and boots, if you have any,” Ash says, unlocking the front door for me to go inside. “I’ll go down and start getting you a horse ready. Meet me at the barn when you’re ready.” After letting me inside, he turns around and walks back out the door.
I go into Brody’s bedroom and grab my suitcase to see what Leighton packed for me. I’m really hoping she packed my boots. I get the suitcase that only has shoes in it and there are my brown cowboy boots. I’m really glad I let her pack for me because there is no way I would have packed boots in June. I should definitely call her and let her know what’s going on. I don’t know how long it takes to get a horse ready, but I’m thinking I should have enough time to call Leighton. I get my phone back out of my bra and dial her number.
“What’s it like meeting a family full of hot brothers you didn’t know you had?” she answers on the first ring.
“Very uncomfortable,” I answer back. “Lucky for me they have a very hot friend who is about to take me horseback riding.”
“I wish I could see that. You have wanted a horse since I have known you. I’m so happy you are finally getting to ride one. Since you have the hot friend, does that mean I can have a hot brother now?”
“Not yet, I’m still trying to get to know them. Molly woke up this morning so they are all on the way to the hospital now. I have no idea when I’m supposed to meet her or how that will go. I may come home before then.”
“You better not come home and you better call me when you get back from riding. I need more details on this hot friend. You usually don’t give any guy a second look.”
“I know, I think this place has done something to my brain. I met him this morning and let him take me to lunch ten minutes later. Definitely not me, of course I am staying in his house, so I better get to know him.”
“You are staying with him,” she yells over the phone. “You don’t spend the night with anybody except me. What is going on with you?”
“He wasn’t here last night. It was just Brody and I told him about the sleeping issue. He was really understanding about it. There’s a hotel here in town, I think I’m going to go check in there tonight. I don’t think I want to stay here while Ash is here.”
“Who i
s Ash?” she asks
“He is the hot guy that is currently waiting on me with a horse. I need to go. I promise I will call as soon as I get the chance. Talk to you soon, bye,” I say, before hanging up, changing clothes, and heading out the door.
I walk down to the barn and find Ash getting two horses saddled. I’m really hoping he’s not expecting me to ride that thing by myself, it’s huge. As soon as he hears me, Scooby turns around and starts running toward me. He jumps up on me and starts licking me immediately. I still can’t believe everyone thinks he is a mean dog. I love this dog.
“I still can’t believe my dog likes you,” Ash says, walking over to us. “Scooby, get down.” At the sound of his voice, Scooby jumps off of me and sits at my feet.
“What’s not to like?” I ask, looking into those blue eyes again. A girl could definitely get lost in those eyes. I wish I knew why they seem so familiar to me.
“They are both ready if you are,” he says, turning back to walk to the barn.
“About that, are you sure it’s okay for me to ride one? I’ve never been around one before,” I say. He immediately stops and turns around to look at me.
“I thought you wanted to go riding,” he says, looking very confused.
“I really do, I just don’t know if I want to go by myself. What if it gets mad and knocks me to the ground and stomps on me?”
“It’s a horse, not a bull,” he says, holding his laughter back. He is laughing at me. I am trying to tell him I want him to ride with me and he is standing there laughing at me. How do these guys not take hints?
“I know the difference between a horse and a bull.” I walk past him to go up to the horses. “Can I just pet one first or do they hate that?” I ask feeling a lot embarrassed and a little pissed off. Is he only doing this because Brody told him to babysit me? I’m sure he has a million other things he could be doing today.
“You can pet her, she is very calm and loves people,” he says, coming up beside me.
“I’m not laughing at you,” he says, reaching out to pet her too. “You are just nothing like I expected. If Molly is anything like your parents were, I’m sure you gave them a run for their money.”
Finding You: The Switched Series book one Page 5
