A tiny “O” formed on her mouth for a second before a smile replaced it. “I guess that means I’ll be here more often.”
Sophie’s heart went out to Beck’s mom. Stepping into that town, being bombarded by so many memories, most of them negative, had to shake her confidence. No one would blame her if she turned around and left or if she had never come in the first place, but she showed up. For her boys.
Like it did whenever she was confronted with happy families, Sophie’s stomach cramped and her muscles ached. The loss, so prevalent during her teen years, stayed tucked away in the dark corners of her heart now. The adult version of her knew the memories of her parents would always cause pain. Her aunt and uncle tried, but they’d never wanted children and had no idea what to do with a child who literally grabbed on to their shirts to keep them from straying too far and losing contact.
Leah leaned her elbows on the island and used her fingertips to drag a plate closer to her. “I hope you will.
“You’re good for Declan. I could tell from our phone conversations and in the way he talks about you.” Their mother ran a hand over Leah’s hair then smiled at Sophie. “And I am looking forward to getting to know you, but you are not responsible for fixing or cleaning my room.”
Words fumbled in Sophie’s throat. She managed to get one out. “Okay.”
“I raised these boys to do the cleaning and cooking. They’re supposed to be house-trained, so don’t let them fool you pretending they’re not.”
Leah eyed up Declan. “Interesting.”
He shrugged. “When you offer to do stuff around here I’m going to say yes. I’m not a total idiot.”
“Are you sure?” Beck asked.
Sophie got stuck on the food part. She’d seen these boys stare at packed fridge shelves and give up and go with chips instead. Sure, they could cook. She’d seen evidence of it from the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, but they tried to get out of it.
Then there was the issue of Beck and the eggs. “Cooking, really?” she asked to the room in general.
Declan laughed. “If the skepticism is about Beck, he’s worse with a hammer.”
The last bite of Beck’s slice of pie balanced on his fork. “We can go outside and I’ll show you my hammer skills.”
“I see some things never change.” Their mom handed a cup of coffee to Beck. “Though my peacemaker used to employ arguments instead of threats to get his way.”
At least he was consistent. Sophie decided that was a good thing. “Still does.”
Leah tapped her fork on the plate as Declan reached for the last big pie crumb. “All the time.”
The back door swung open, bringing with it a cool breeze. Callen walked in and stopped. “Mom?”
Chapter Eighteen
The whole damn gang was there.
Callen stared at his mother, then at his brothers and Leah. Even Sophie showed up today. That explained the stupid grin Beck wore. Twenty-four hours of sex did that to a guy.
Yeah, Callen kept her in a trust holding pattern, but he couldn’t blame Beck for making a move. The real question was why he waited so long when he clearly wanted her so bad.
“Hello, Callen.” His mother crossed over to him and put her hands on his upper arms. A kiss to his cheek followed. “You seem surprised I’m here.”
He gave her an awkward hug because affection would always be awkward between them. “I thought you’d get in later today or tomorrow.”
She shrugged before returning to the kitchen island and picking up the coffeepot. “There was no reason to wait. I’ve been here a few hours, visiting with your brothers and their girlfriends.”
Callen’s gaze shot to Beck. So, Sophie had been upgraded to girlfriend. Man, a guy leaves the house to buy a two-by-four and the world changes.
But no one moved. Hell, Declan didn’t even give eye contact. Whatever brought their mother there, and Callen would bet lawyer boy was behind it, this was not an informal friendly visit. “I have a feeling I’m missing something.”
“You can’t blame a mother for wanting to see her sons living together for the first time in decades.”
Uh-huh. Sounded normal. The way her hand shook as she poured a cup of coffee and held it out in his direction was not. They didn’t share the same easygoing relationship she had with his brothers. Leaving home at ten with Charlie saw to that.
So did her failure to insist Charlie bring him back to her.
She had her favorites and he wasn’t one. Callen learned to deal with that hit long ago. Maybe as the oldest he reminded her too much of Charlie. Maybe it was easier being saddled with two young boys instead of three, especially since by that point he had reached the pre-teen testing phase.
Whatever the reason, she didn’t fight for him, and that set the path for the way they interacted as adults. If she wanted warm and cuddly, she should look to the two kids she truly loved.
But he could handle the mindless chitchat thing, if for no other reason than to ease the strain he saw on his brothers’ faces. “Were you afraid you’d find blood on the floor when you got here?”
“Something like that.” She gave him a weak smile. “You boys always did like to fight.”
If always meant for the few years she kept them together. “I’d beat them both first.”
He glared at his brothers to let them know he meant it. He didn’t plunk down a stack of cash on this place to listen to them bicker like little girls. He wanted them to have stable lives and a home to return to. It was in his power to give them that, so he did, but he was getting too old for nonsense.
The back door shut behind Callen and Tom stepped inside. Cal had forgotten the other man came home with him. They’d been out getting supplies for the cottage rebuild.
Amazing how much easier a rehab project progressed when an expert, who happened to be a hometown boy, came along. Some of the fine folks of Sweetwater engaged in the practice of taking Cal’s money then talking about him the second his back was turned. No one questioned Tom and the man didn’t accept any crap and treated Callen with respect both in private and front of others. Callen couldn’t help but like him.
Tom took two steps into the kitchen and froze. At six feet, he wasn’t exactly small, and he acted as if he’d run headfirst into a concrete wall. “Kim?”
Strike that. Callen was going to kill the asshole. “You call my mother Kim?”
The smile spreading across her lips could only be described as sunny and huge. She came around the island and stood in front of their now-unwanted guest. “Tom?”
“Damn, I can’t believe it’s you.”
Then he hugged her. Right there in the kitchen with her children looming, Tom wrapped his arms around their mom’s waist and gave her a big hug. And not the nice-to-see-you type or even the it’s-been-so-long-friendly type. No, this was a full-body-touching thing.
Something exploded in Callen’s brain.
“You know our mother?” Beck asked.
The tone, deadly cold, made Callen proud. Score one for the lawyer.
Leah sucked air through her clenched teeth and made a hissing sound. “Oh, boy.”
Even Sophie grimaced. “Uh, Tom . . .”
That’s when Callen remembered Tom’s connection to Sophie. A fact Callen decided to investigate further . . . once he killed the guy manhandling his mother.
And it continued. Okay, yeah. Bumpy mother/son relationship or not, this was not cool. “Now I’m going to beat him to death.”
Declan stopped picking at the pie and stood up. “Maybe I’ll help you.”
Tom and his mom finally broke apart. Not that either acted as if they had heard the comments or noticed the tension brewing in the room. “When did you get back into town?”
“About three hours ago. I decided it was time and took a flight out this morning.” She was all smiles and sunshine.
Callen hated that Tom was the recipient. “Let’s go back to the part where you two know each other. It being new information and all.”
Something in Callen’s tone must have gotten through because Tom finally took a step back. He took another one as he looked around at three angry brothers. “I did some work for your family.”
His mom waved a hand in front of her face. “Years ago.”
“And we’re just hearing this now?” So much for trusting the guy. No wonder he and Sophie got along. They both liked to wallow in secrecy. It was the one thing Callen despised. They all did, even though Beck seemed willing to break his ironclad rule to sleep with her.
“It’s not a secret. He spent his summer painting our house.” His mom held out a mug to Tom then one to Callen.
Callen stared at it before turning his attention back to Tom. “Just how old are you?”
“Old enough.”
Wrong fucking answer. “Excuse me?”
“He’s also Sophie’s landlord,” Leah said.
Sophie sighed. “Gee, thanks for reminding him of that right now.”
Too late. Callen had already processed that nugget. He wondered if Beck has done the math.
Tom shrugged. “Small world.”
Not how Callen would have said it, but yes. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“Don’t start with that.” Beck put his arm around Sophie and his hand landed on her shoulder.
It was as much of a claim as Callen had seen his baby brother make. Callen didn’t get nervous because he found it nothing but a wasted emotion, but seeing Beck and Sophie touching and not hiding it made Callen rethink his view. He’d given Beck a deadline about her and enforcing it could drive a wedge between them as brothers. Callen hated that possibility.
Damn women.
“Just seems like a lot of people have ties to our family,” he said. “Previously undisclosed ties.”
“I met your sons a few days ago.” Tom talked to their mother as if no one else was on the room. “And now I’m doing some work at Shadow Hill.”
“You were.” Beck ended the comment on an “oompf” when Sophie elbowed him in the stomach.
“Unless you’re going to pick up a hammer and do some work, he still is,” she said.
His mother glanced around the room. “I’m not exactly sure what’s happening. I’m picking up snippets and half conversations.”
Leah snorted. “Welcome to Shadow Hill. That’s what happens here.”
“Chalk it up to a testosterone overload.” Sophie glared at Beck. “You, too?”
“He’s touching my mother.”
Callen liked where Beck’s head was in this. “Exactly.”
With a sharp whack, his mom put her coffee mug down on the counter. “Sophie, would you show me to that bedroom so I can hang up some clothes?”
She jumped at the sound of her name. “Uh, sure.”
Beck raised a hand. “I can do it.”
“You stay right there.” His mother treated all three sons to a heavy sigh.
The noise didn’t deter Callen one bit. “We’ll hang in here with Tom.”
“Leah and Sophie will help me while you three work out whatever is wrong with you.” His mother stopped in the doorway. “Tom, it’s good to see you again. When my sons have stopped losing their minds, we’ll catch up.”
“You’re staying in town?”
“Definitely.”
***
Beck waited to speak up until the women’s voices became muffled and distant. “So, you worked with Charlie. You kind of left that piece out of your resume.”
“I worked for your parents.” Without asking, Tom pulled out a chair and sat at the kitchen table. “I also worked for the Donaldsons, the Temperleys and anyone else who would pay me cash since my sole focus in life at the time centered on buying a car.”
“Wait, how old were you?” Declan asked as he took a seat.
“Seventeen.”
Beck wasn’t in the mood for a friendly talk around the table. He’d gone from thinking about taking Sophie back to bed to wanting to hit Tom with a shovel. Talk about killing the mood.
Tom knew his mother. The idea they all gave the guy free rein at Shadow Hill never knowing his life merged with Charlie’s had white-hot fury exploding inside of Beck. Tom had been there right when the Hanover family exploded. He knew it all and said nothing.
And he had ties with Sophie, which played with Beck’s head in ways he didn’t like. Tested his trust of her.
“You could have mentioned all of this before.” But Tom hadn’t. Just like Sophie, he picked the pieces he shared and then acted all shocked when someone pointed it out. Beck was done with that crap.
“You’re right. I probably could have told you Charlie screwed my dad, then a town councilman, when Charlie stole the town’s money.” Tom stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back in the chair until the chair creaked underneath him.
“Jesus, your family was part of the scam?” Callen added a string of swearing as he paced around the kitchen and ended at the sink.
“The victim part, but none of that matters.” Tom spun his mug around on the table as if he wasn’t staring down three angry brothers.
Declan grabbed the mug in mid-spin. “Of course it does.”
“If you thought you could move to town and find a whole bunch of people with no ties to or knowledge of Charlie, you were wrong,” Tom said. “Yeah, I knew him. Yeah, I hated him.”
Callen shook his head as he stared at the floor. “That’s fucking great.”
“Okay, look.” Tom sat up with his elbows balanced on his knees. “There was a year or two when I wanted to find your father and drag him back to Sweetwater and make him pay for everything. I don’t deny that. But I was a hot-headed teen back then. Those days are long gone, just like your dad is.”
Declan blew out a long breath. “Nothing scary about that.”
“Sounds like stalking to me.” That just made Tom one in a long line of people who wanted a piece of Charlie. But this guy was right there, in their lives, their home, and that made all the difference to Beck. You didn’t invite your enemies in for coffee.
“I meant find him for your mom.”
Callen’s head shot up and he pinned Tom with a killing glare. “What?”
Tom shifted in his chair. Even craned his neck, checking out the hallway. When he started talking again his voice had decreased to a near whisper. “I was a clueless kid but I saw her crying. Right before your dad left and the scam blew up, your mom was miserable. There was this time . . . well, it doesn’t matter.”
It sure as hell did. Beck yanked out the chair next to Tom and dropped into it. The staring contest started a second later. “Say it.”
Silence descended on the room. The coffeemaker beeped but they all ignored it. Three sets of eyes stayed trained on the guy rubbing his hands up and down his thighs.
“Tom.” Callen’s deep voice rang through the room. “Now.”
Tom’s chest fell on a heavy breath. “He told her he was going to leave before he actually did. Not the money part, of course, but he said he was done with the marriage. She ran after him and begged him to come back for you guys. I heard her saying she would do anything, and I mean anything. I don’t even want to know what she ended up promising him, what part of herself she offered, to get him to stay for that extra time.”
“Shit.” Declan kept swearing until his voice grew rough and drifted off.
“He belittled her, saying awful things, and enjoyed her pained reaction. Rubbed it in, in front of me, by talking about the right way to handle a woman.” Tom stopped to stare at the ceiling for a second. “For a guy who thrived on charming women, he didn’t use any of those skills on your mom. Not that I ever saw or heard.”
Callen turned and fa
ced out the window.
Beck wanted to look away, vomit. Smash something. He’d heard so many accusations over the years, so many terrible stories. Thinking of his mom and what she tried to do to save the family was a breaking point. A harsh line Beck couldn’t wipe away or lighten.
“Kid or not, that kind of shit sticks with you. And I liked your mom. My dad spent most of his days pissed off with his hand on a bottle of scotch. Your mom gave me a place to go. Somewhere normal, and she was only a few years older and had all three of you.” Tom tapped his hand against the table with a steady thumping sound. “Seeing Charlie destroy her, first by making her beg and then by leaving anyway and ruining the town and her reputation. It was just . . . too much.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Declan said.
To Beck, the comment summed everything up. Hard to hate a guy with a story like that, someone who clearly cared for their mother. Especially a story they could check in a second and verify every detail, though the guy’s face said it all.
“Charlie stealing from the town, right when my dad was partially responsible for the money . . .” Tom threw his head back and groaned. “It didn’t make my home life a joy.”
“Why are you here now?” Callen asked into the quiet.
Tom looked at them again. “Because you asked me to come and give you an estimate for some work. You found me. I knew how Sophie felt about Beck, so I planned to support you guys in town but never breach the property line.”
Hell, Beck didn’t know how she felt about him. Not really. The sex was smoking but there was still so much piled between them.
Declan pushed the coffee mug he took back in Tom’s general direction. “But you didn’t tell us any of this before.”
“Because none of you is Charlie.”
Beck didn’t see the connection. From the frown, he didn’t think Callen did either. “What does that mean?”
“I fall in with the part of the town that thinks you guys aren’t responsible for Charlie’s actions any more than anyone else is. Hell, I was there back then. I probably stood more of a chance of stopping him than you guys did, because you were kids.” Tom pointed at Beck. “You were in diapers.”
A Simple Twist of Fate Page 18
