I turn off the lights for the night and make sure all the windows are shut and locked before heading for the front door. I lock it up tight and climb in the truck. The windows have been down all day due to the rising heat. Something on the dash catches my eye. It’s an envelope. No stamp or address. Only my name scribbled across the front. I reach forward, picking it up and examining it.
I wonder if one of the guys left it. With a shrug, I open the envelope and pull out a single sheet of paper. My phone rings from inside my pocket, and I set the paper aside as I dig it out. Autumn’s name is flashing on the screen.
“Hey, beautiful,” I answer with a smile on my face.
“Clay, I’m sorry to do this. I wasn’t intending to, but I think I saw Glenn. Would you mind coming over?”
“I’ll be right there,” I say trying to remain calm, hanging up the phone and tossing it onto the seat next to me. I start the truck and peel out of the dirt driveway as fast as I can. As I drive toward the motel, I hope and pray he’s in town. I want to find him. I want to beat the shit out of him like he did her. I want to make sure this son of a bitch learns his lesson. I want him to know that what was his is now mine. And he’ll never get them back.
My heart pounds the entire drive over as I pray he doesn’t beat me to them. When I pull into the parking lot, nothing looks out of place. Her van is parked in front of her door and there are only a few other cars in the lot. It’s still light out, despite the sun going down for the day, and the birds are singing high in the trees.
I climb out and walk across the gravel toward her door. I knock twice and I see the curtain quickly move before it’s opened. I can see the fear on her face the moment my eyes find hers. I pull her to my chest and hug her close.
“Thank you for coming,” she says into my chest.
“Thank you for calling,” I reply, loosening my hold on her. “Come on. Let’s get inside.”
We walk into her room, and I close and lock the door behind us. Bryce comes running in from the connected room.
“Hey. What are you doing here?” he asks, giving me a strange look.
“I came to talk to your mom about the house. I think you’ll be able to move in soon. What do you think about that?”
“Yay!” he yells as he bounces up and down.
Autumn laughs. “Bryce, why don’t you go get your stuff ready for a bath?”
“Okay,” he says, running back into his room.
“Let me get his water started and I’ll be right back.” She follows after him.
I take a seat at the table and watch whatever is playing on TV, but it doesn’t register. I can’t think of anything but what I’ll do if he has the balls to show up tonight. I made sure I parked far enough away from the van so he doesn’t think anyone is here with her. To anyone passing by, it just looks like the motel has two guests tonight.
Minutes later, Autumn walks back into the room an sits on the bed in front of me. She pulls her legs up under her and picks up a throw pillow, hugging it to her chest.
“So, where’d you see him? Are you sure it was him?”
She shakes her head. “I only saw him for a second. I wasn’t sure if it was really him or if my mind was playing tricks on me. But I asked my neighbor back home to keep an eye on him for me. She said he left at three this morning and hasn’t been back. I think he flew here and then rented the car I saw him in.”
“Well, if he’s just now getting into town, that means he couldn’t have been the one to deliver the letters you got before,” I point out.
She nods. “I think it was the cleaning lady. I don’t know if she just thought she was delivering the mail or if he somehow paid her to deliver it…” She shrugs, obviously tired of thinking about it.
“Either way, if he shows his face, he’ll regret it.”
“I’m really sorry about all this. I never wanted to drag you into my mess. That’s why I didn’t want things to get serious with us.”
I fall onto my knees in front of her and wrap my arms around her. “You didn’t think that I’d be able to take him?” I joke.
She rolls her green eyes and cracks a smile. “No, I just didn’t want you to have to do that. I know you’re not the kind of guy that wants to settle down.”
I lock my eyes with hers. A tingle starts in my stomach that lights a fire in my blood. “I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do, Autumn. And it doesn’t matter what kind of guy I am. I’ve belonged to you since the first day I met you.” I press my mouth to hers and run my tongue along her bottom lip. She opens for me slightly, giving me only a moment to enjoy her taste before she pulls away.
“Bryce,” she whispers.
I nod, understanding, and take my seat. I completely understand her wanting to keep him out of this. So much has changed for him already. He lost his dad, his home, his friends, his regular routine. He doesn’t need things shaken up for him anymore by thinking that I’m trying to replace his father or something.
When Bryce gets out of the bath, the three of us sit in his bed and watch some kid movie while eating popcorn. By the time the credits are rolling, he’s dead to the world. I take the empty bag of popcorn and leave Autumn to tuck him in.
Autumn walks back into her room and wraps her arms around my neck. I glance downward, finding that familiar fire burning in her eyes again.
“I need a shower,” she says.
“Okay, go ahead. I’ll wait right here.”
She shakes her head. “No, I want you to join me.” She releases her hands from around my neck but takes my hand in hers as she pulls me toward the bathroom door. When I step into the tiny bathroom, she pushes me back against the wall, moving her mouth to mine.
I don’t hold back or ask what she’s doing. Everything else is gone. Now, it’s just me and her, doing what we do best. My hands immediately get to work on removing her dress and bra while she unfastens my belt. She pulls it through the loops, making a smacking sound. I tangle my hands into her long dark hair, angling her chin upward and giving me more of her mouth—a mouth I desperately want to feel wrapped around me.
She breaks the kiss, leaving me wanting more as she reaches into the shower and turns on the water. With her eyes on mine, she shimmies out of her panties. I can’t help but to lick my lips as I watch her naked body move in front of me, daring me to touch it. I push my jeans down my hips and kick them off as I reach for her and pull her against my chest again. Her naked breasts press against my pecs, making my nipples harden from feeling her rubbing against them.
I pick her up and carry her into the shower, pressing her back to the wall.
She giggles and pushes my chest lightly. “I really do need to shower.”
My mouth drops open from surprise. I clearly thought this was something it’s not.
She smiles up at me. “We’ll have plenty of time for that later. Right now, let’s wash off the grass and dirt we were rolling in earlier.”
I can’t hold back my smile when I think about our picnic. I stand back and watch as she washes off. I squirt a little shampoo into my hand and massage it into her hair. Her eyes flutter closed as she relaxes and enjoys my hands on her. She leans her head back and allows me to rinse her hair before adding conditioner. I wash off while she shaves her legs, and then we switch to allow her to rinse. I reach out and grab a towel for both of us. I wrap mine around my waist and wrap one around her shoulders. I rub her my hands up and down her biceps up and down, warming her.
I pull my boxers back on and join her in bed. I slide my arm beneath her pillow, and she curls into my chest. I breathe her in deeply, allowing her scent to wash over me. Her smell, it’s relaxing and comforting. It’s teasing. It’s everything all at once.
“You should probably go,” she says, eyes already falling closed.
“I will,” I reply, getting wrapped up in her heat and her soft skin, which teases mine.
The next thing I know, my eyes open and the sun is rising. I check the clock beside the bed and see that it’s
going on five. Shit.
Autumn has one leg thrown over both of mine. Her head is on my chest and her arm is wrapped around me. I try wiggling free without waking her, but her eyes flutter open and land on me. She smiles sleepily at me. I put my finger over my mouth. Her wide eyes tell me that she remembers. I was supposed to leave last night.
We both sit up and move to get dressed quickly before the kid wakes up. I have my boots in my hands as she’s pushing me out the door. Her hand on my chest turns into a fist in my shirt, pulling me closer and giving me one last kiss.
“Mommy?” Bryce says from somewhere in the room.
Our kiss breaks, and she gives me one final shove before closing the door between us. I laugh as I turn and head for the truck. I open the door and sit sideways in the seat while I pull my boots on. Finally turning to face the front, I close the door and turn the key. Sitting in my seat is that strange letter from yesterday that I forgot all about. I grab it and unfold it. It reads:
You have something that’s mine and I want it. I’m coming for it too.
My first thought is that now Glenn is sending me notes. I shake my head as anger burns its way through my veins. This guy sure does have a set of balls if he thinks he’s going to scare me off with a fucking letter.
I toss it to the side and shift into drive. As I drive around, I wonder if he’s really in town. I mean, we only have one motel and I didn’t see his car there. Where the hell is he staying? Why bother with fucking letters if he’s here? Why not just try taking what he wants? I don’t pay any attention to where I’m going until I find myself pulling up to Drake’s. Colton steps out of the barn and waves me over.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” I ask, stepping into the barn to find Drake digging around in the toolbox.
“We’ve started work on the new house. I needed another saw. I burned mine up,” Colton says.
“Here it is,” Drake says, pulling the saw out of the bottom cabinet and passing it over. He looks at me. “What brings you here?” He leans against the work bench.
“Autumn has this ex,” I start. I tell them about her taking Bryce and running. I tell them that he’s been abusive in the past and that he’s back in town. I tell them about the letters he’s sent to her and about the one I got yesterday.
“Where is this letter? Do you still have it?” Drake asks.
“Yeah, it’s in the truck.” I motion toward the truck.
Colton walks out without another word.
“What’s up?” I ask, but Drake doesn’t answer.
Seconds later, Colton is back, looking at the note. He hands it to Drake to inspect.
“Guys, mind telling me something?” I ask, but neither of them look at me.
“You think it’s him?” Colton asks.
Drake looks up. “It does look like the same handwriting,” Drake replies.
“Guys! What the fuck?” I ask, getting both their attentions now.
Drake takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Look, I didn’t want to tell you this…not until I knew for sure anyway, but we may have a half-brother out there.”
“What?” I ask, taking a step back.
He nods his head. “I got a letter a while back. It was from a guy claiming to be our half-brother. I did some digging and I found some evidence. I confronted dad about it and while he fessed up to the affair, he swore up and down there was no child.”
“What? An affair?” I ask. My mind is spinning too much for this right now.
Colton nods. “Look, it’s a long story, but basically, Dad had an affair with a woman from the office back when Mom fell ill. It’s nothing to judge the guy over. His wife was sick and dying. He was just trying to survive.”
Drake cuts in. “Anyway, I’m thinking that the woman didn’t tell Dad about the baby. She quit and moved away once she realized that Dad had no plans of being with her.”
I crack my neck and lean against the work bench. “So, what’s this guy want? Why send me a letter like that?”
“He wants his share of the brewery,” Drake says. “But before I give him anything, I want to make sure he is who he says he is.”
“You’re seriously considering this?” I ask, a little perplexed.
Drake shrugs. “I mean, if he is who he says he is, doesn’t he deserve it…just the same as we do?”
“No,” I laugh out. “We got it for putting up with Dad our whole lives. This guy doesn’t know what it takes to be in this family.”
Drake shakes his head. “Look, ultimately, it’s up to all of us. In order to give him a share, we all have to let go of a small piece of ours. But if he is our brother, I think it would be nice to bring him home. Meet him, get to know him, treat him like family. Family is hard to come by these days.”
Annoyance eats at me. “You can’t just show up with the same name and expect to be family. That takes time and trust.” I turn to walk away. “Trust that I thought I had for the two of you. But apparently, you didn’t think I needed to be brought in on this decision.”
“Clay, don’t be like that, man,” Colton says, but I don’t stop on my way to my truck.
“Nothing has been done yet, man. There’s no sense in getting angry until we get to the bottom of this,” Drake says as I’m climbing behind the wheel. I twist the key and the truck roars to life, drowning out anything else they feel like they need to say.
I shift into reverse and hit the gas. Dust flies up around the truck as I peel out of there. I can’t believe that they’d keep something like this from me. If they kept this from me, surely, they haven’t told Wyatt and Hudson. A part of me wants to call them up now and tell them, but I also don’t want to jump to conclusions. I guess I need to cool off about everything that’s been building inside of me lately and get to the bottom of this before I tell anyone.
I don’t know why this guy wants to be in this family so badly. In my eyes, he’s lucky. He grew up with his mom. Mine was taken from me. I was left with my almost constantly drunk father and a bunch of brothers and more nannies than I can count. With my thoughts racing, I don’t even think about where I’m going. I was wanting to go home, shower, get a change of clothes, and pack my lunch for the day. However, when I snap out of it, I find myself back at the farmhouse.
Autumn’s van is already in the drive, and I can see my guys going in and out of the place, clearly already working. I know that with all this stuff weighing on my mind, I really don’t need to be around a lot of people, but I decide to go inside and try finding a job that will keep me shut off from the rest of the crew. I don’t want to take my shitty mood out on any of them, especially not Autumn.
Seventeen
Autumn
By the end of the week, Bryce and I are packing up our motel room and moving our things to the farmhouse. The upstairs still isn’t completed, but it’s coming along quickly, and we don’t really need all that room up there yet anyway. I bought us both new beds, and they’re set up in the living room, along with the new TV. The kitchen is complete and up and running. It’s just in time so I’m able to cook all our meals at home. I think I’ve had everything on the menu at the diner. The downstairs bathroom is also now fully functional.
“It’s too loud, Mama,” Bryce says, shielding his ears from the sound of the saw making its way down the stairs and into the kitchen.
“Why don’t you go ahead and play outside?” I tell him, trying to clean up from breakfast. He rushes out the door, letting the new screen door slam closed.
“Whoa, he’s quick,” Clay says, walking back in and setting the drill down. “The security system is all hooked up. Now to get it all up and running.”
“The remote is probably on Bryce’s bed somewhere,”I tell him, following him to the living room to see if the cameras are working.
It’s been several days since I thought I saw Glenn, but so far, I haven’t seen him again. It really makes me wonder if he was ever really here or if my imagination was playing tricks on me.
Judith called me
yesterday and informed me that Glenn was back at home. She saw him walking in with his bag in hand. I chalk it up to just another business trip. I’ve also been in touch with my lawyer, and she’s informed me that Glenn has yet to turn over any divorce papers. This annoys me. It’s just another way for him to control my life. I know he’s thinking if he can’t have me, then no one can. Little does he know, I already belong to someone else and it isn’t him.
Clay and I have spent every night together since the day I thought I saw Glenn. Things between us are going well, but we’ve yet to discuss what exactly this all means. Bryce still doesn’t know either. To me, keeping things casual like this makes things easier.
The days turn to weeks, and weeks turn to a month. The house is completely finished and we’re all in our right places. Bryce loves his new room and his new house. There’s only a few weeks of summer left and he can’t wait to start kindergarten. Even though I no longer need Bryce to be in daycare with the house completed, I still take him every day. It gives me the time I need to get things done, and it gets him out of the house and gives him some kids to play with. Since moving to the house, I haven’t gotten another note or postcard from Glenn. A part of me wonders if he’s finally given up, but deep down, I think it’s just because he’s lost us once again. I’m sure whoever he had delivering the mail has told him that we’re no longer in that room. Maybe he thinks those letters scared us and we packed up to run again. Either way, I don’t care as long as I don’t have to see him. Clay has been around more and more, but that all makes sense to Bryce since the crew is currently working on the barn.
The house is quiet and the windows are open, letting in the cool breeze from the summer storm that just passed. I can hear the sounds of hammering coming from the barn, but it’s so far off in the distance that it doesn’t even register. I peek out the window and make sure I see Clay. When I see him step out and yell pit some directions, I race upstairs to my bedroom. I open the dresser drawer and pull out the pregnancy test that I’ve kept hidden away.
The Slade Brothers: A Complete Small Town Contemporary Romance Collection Page 51
