by Rye Hart
“Jesus Christ Cole, Luke is in there fighting for his life and you want to start with me too?” Ben whines.
“The way I see it, he wouldn’t be in here ‘fighting for his life’ if it weren’t for you and your bullshit lawsuit,” I say, getting heated now. “What the fuck happened?”
“I tried to talk to him but you know what he’s like when he’s drunk. He hauled off and clocked me, the little shit. He took off and I tried to go after him and get his keys but he knocked me on my ass and beat me to the truck. I followed him to make sure he was ok but he was all over the road and the next thing I know, he loses control and his truck is rolling. I tried to get to him but I couldn’t get him out. Jesus Cole, if you could see his truck-” Ben stops, clearly upset by the memory.
I take a deep breath and instinct drives me into ‘big brother’ mode. I wrap my arms around Ben and clap him on the back. “Well it’s a good thing you were following him. Who knows how long he’d have laid out there before someone found him,” I hear myself say.
Ben wipes at his face and looks over my shoulder. I turn to see Sydney standing quietly by, watching our interaction. I reach my hand out to her and she takes it, coming to stand against my side.
“Ben, this is Sydney,” I say. “Sydney, this is my little brother Ben.”
Ben holds out his hand and Sydney takes it, giving him a firm shake. Then she surprises us both by pulling him into a hug. Once the shock wears off, he looks genuinely thankful for the gesture. Again, I find myself awed at her instincts and actions. She seems to know just what we need and gladly gives it.
“Why don’t I go get us all something to drink and let you two talk for a minute?” she says. Adding, “But only if you promise not to fight. You have a lot to work out but here is not the time or the place, we need to be focused on Luke right now. Got it?”
I can’t help but smile at her toughness and nod my head. “Yes ma’am,” I say and Ben echoes.
Once alone in the room, Ben shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot. I almost laugh at how absurd it looks for such a big dude to be so cagey. I sigh and take a seat.
“Little brother, I think it’s past time we had a good long talk.”
Chapter Thirteen: Sydney
I leave the two Parker boys alone, hoping that I won’t come back to body parts and security guards. Seeing Cole so torn up has me feeling powerless. I wish there was something I could do for him. I know sex takes his mind off of his troubles, but it’s not like we can just fuck in the waiting room. Not to mention, I wouldn’t mind finding other ways to connect with him.
Don’t get me wrong, I will ride that cock as often as I can, but our entire relationship can’t be based on it. Too bad.
I begin to realize that the thought of going back to Chicago isn’t as appealing as I would have thought. Yes, I am successful there. Yes, I have friends there. Yes, I make really good money there. But there is one thing that Chicago cannot offer me: Cole Parker. I know there is no way he would leave his ranch, even if he does love me. I also realize that I would never ask him to. Montana is where he belongs. The fields are in his blood. What the fuck am I going to do?
First things first, I need to get coffee. After that, we see what happens with Luke and deal with Ben’s lawsuit. Hmmm. We. It’s been a while since I’ve thought of myself as part of a ‘we.’ I like it. I just hope Cole feels the same.
As I come back to the room with a tray full of horrible hospital coffee, the doctor enters behind me. Both Cole and Ben shoot to their feet, holding their collective breath.
“Luke is out of surgery. He has some severe bruising on his lungs and his liver but no artery damage to either organ. We had to put pins in his left forearm and a rod in his left tibia. We have stabilized the spinal fracture and will have to monitor the swelling around his spinal cord before we can know what, if any, effects the fracture will have. For now, he is still in critical but stable condition. If he does ok for the next twenty-four hours, his chances of survival and recovery will more than double.”
Both Cole and Ben exhale and begin peppering the doctor with questions. Once they are satisfied with his answers, they thank him and he leaves. The two men look at one another with relief plain on their faces and embrace once more.
I prepare for the long haul, knowing that neither of them is going to leave this hospital for at least the next twenty-four hours. Cole gathers me in his arms and I can feel the cautious optimism in his touch. I hold him close and tell him that Luke is going to be ok.
“From your lips to God’s ear babe,” he says, kissing me lightly on the lips.
We settle in and I curl up in one of the big leather chairs with my head on Cole’s shoulder. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep for a few minutes here and there. In between my short naps, I listen to the two brothers talk for just about the first time in almost fifteen years.
“So how long have you two been together?” I hear Ben ask.
Cole chuckles. “Going on a whole five days now,” he says.
“Really? Wow, you two really look like the real deal man. The way you are with each other, I would have thought you’d been together for years,” Ben remarks.
“Well if I have any say in it, we will be,” Cole says softly.
I feel my pulse quicken but I keep my eyes shut. I don’t want him to know I’m awake and stop talking.
“Actually, Aunt Nora sent her here,” Cole says. “She’s a friend of hers.”
A long silence follows. “How is Aunt Nora?” Ben finally asks.
“She’s good. And she’d love to hear from you,” Cole says, his tone softly chiding.
“I know. I just don’t think she’d be very proud of how I’ve turned out,” Ben says, sadness plain in his voice.
“Yeah, about that,” Cole clears his throat. “What’s this bullshit about you suing us for a third of the ranch? You haven’t given a shit about the place in damn near twenty years.”
Ben sighs deeply. “Look Cole, it’s not that I don’t give a shit. It’s just that it was hard for me to be around there after mom and dad died.”
“You don’t think it was hard for Luke and me too?” Cole asks. “Shit Ben, Luke was only fourteen when you left and he was so damn lost. But we stayed and we worked our asses off, and we turned the place into something mom and dad would be really proud of.”
“I know,” Ben says softly. “It’s just that, well, I made a really bad investment and-”
“For fuck’s sake Ben, is that was this is about? You need money? Why didn’t you just come to us and ask for help?” Cole asks.
“I’ve been gone for fifteen years Cole, I didn’t exactly think you’d be chomping at the bit to help me out.”
“No, you thought trying to take what Luke and I have worked for those fifteen years was a better idea? Jesus.”
I finally open my eyes and sit upright, clearing my throat. I don’t want them to know how much I’ve heard so I play it up with a fake yawn and stretch.
“What’s going on?” I ask innocently.
“What’s going on is that my brother is an idiot,” Cole says.
Ben is again looking down at his boots with his hands stuffed in his pockets. It is clear how much his big brother’s opinion of him still matters after all of this time and distance.
“We all make mistakes Cole,” I say softly, touching his arm.
“Yeah well this was a pretty colossal fucking mistake,” he says and Ben nods his agreement.
Just then, a nurse comes in to inform us that Luke is awake and asking to see Cole. Cole looks to me and I nod. He rushes out of the room after the nurse, leaving Ben and I alone.
“So, Cole says that you are a friend of our Aunt Nora’s?” he asks.
I nod my head. “Yes. She thought I needed some time away from my job back in Chicago and suggested I come out here for a bit. I have to say I think she was spot on.”
“What do you do in Chicago?” he asked.
I clear my throat and shift my wei
ght from one foot to the other. “Um, well. I’m a lawyer,” I say, watching the color nearly drain from Ben’s face.
“Ah,” he says.
“Look Ben, you don’t have to go through with the lawsuit. It seems to me that Cole would be more than willing to help you out if you need it. But you can’t take the ranch.”
Ben sat down heavily in a chair and put his head in his hands. “I know,” he said quietly. “I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“You’ll come home and we’ll figure it out together,” came Cole’s voice from the doorway.
“Home?” Ben asked.
“Yeah, home. Where you belong. Where we all belong. Luke’s asking for you. He said not to worry, his good arm is in a cast,” Cole said, slapping Ben’s back on his way out the door.
I stood and went to Cole, wrapping my arms around him and laying my head on his chest. “How’s Luke” I ask.
“He’s pretty banged up but I think he’s gonna be ok,” Cole said, relieved.
“Good, I’m so glad,” I said, looking up at Cole.
“You know I meant what I said,” he says.
“About?”
“Home being where we all belong,” he says.
I look deep into his eyes and find my absolute truth there. “Then let’s all go home.”
THE END
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A Billionaire and a Virgin Romance
CHAPTER ONE: MAGGIE DEAN
I hated going to the mailbox. Nothing good ever came in the mail addressed to me. Some days the box was just crammed full of junk mail that I could toss in the trash without ever opening. I loved those days. I longed for them.
Then there are days like today; the first few days after the first of the month. The days when most of our bills came and I was reminded how close to the poverty line we really lived.
Today was November 3rd, so I knew even before I opened the mailbox flap what would be waiting for me on the inside. I wished I could have just ignored the mail altogether. I mean, would it be so bad for me to miss a payment or two? Really? Give a girl a break, will you Citibank and Capitol One and Wells Fargo? You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip and you can’t squeeze money out of Maggie Dean.
Then I remembered that I was already ninety days behind on the things that I could let skate a month or two or three. The credit card people loved it when you let the balance float ninety days past due. I was paying more in late fees and interest that in principal.
Hard to believe that five dollar McDonald’s lunch that I charged to my credit card will cost me a hundred bucks or more before I get it paid off.
That’s how economics work in Maggie’s world.
Oh well. There was no need to prolong the pain any further. “Rip that Band-Aid off”, as my mom would say. I took a deep breath and opened the mailbox.
Stacked neatly inside the box was the gas bill, the phone bill, the electric bill, three credit card statements, and three threatening letters from the same credit card companies letting me know that I was ninety days behind.
No shit, Sherlock.
The hole I kept digging every month just kept getting deeper.
Gee, thanks for the reminders, guys. I mean, I had no idea I hadn’t made a payment in three months. Tell you what, let’s trade places for a week and see how you do in my shoes because I’m doing the best I can, but obviously, it isn’t good enough.
I’m one straw away from breaking the camel’s back.
And when that happens… shit, I don’t know what I’ll do.
The one bright spot of this morning’s trip to the mailbox was the thick pack of coupons at the bottom of the stack.
I tucked the bills under my arm and tore into the coupons as I walked back up the gravel drive to the house I shared with my best friend and cousin, Jackie, and my two younger brothers. Coupons were a necessity of life in Maggie’s world.
When you’re a college dropout, a chef-in-training, and a full-time replacement mom to two brothers, you need to save every penny you can.
If Jackie didn’t live with us to help cover the bills, this ship would have sunk months ago. That’s what my life felt like most days; like I was standing on the deck of the Titanic, watching the last of the lifeboats drift away, knowing there was nothing I could do but hold my breath until I finally went under.
Damn you, Rose, there was room on that door for Jack, too, you selfish bitch.
I made a grocery list in my head as I looked over the buy-one-get-one-free offers from the FoodMart.
We were almost out of milk (we were ALWAYS almost out of milk).
We needed bread, eggs, cereal, apple juice, fruit, frozen pizzas, laundry detergent; the list went on and on. How do four people consume so much? I suppose I shouldn’t be too shocked, given that two of those people are fifteen and seventeen-year-old boys.
We were constantly almost out of everything at the Dean house.
Jackie often said our last name should have been Hubbard because our cupboards were always bare. That would make me Old Mother Hubbard I suppose.
No thanks. That’s a title I do not want or need.
Although my current title wasn’t much better.
Hi America, I’m Maggie Dean, Queen of the tough breaks. I’m 24-years-old and I work as a chef-in-training at a small family restaurant in Mountain View, Colorado.
I love to cook, but had to drop out of culinary school when my mom died of cancer last year to take care of my younger brothers: Jimmy, fifteen, and Robbie, seventeen. They spend most of their time pushing my buttons and screaming things like “I hate you!” and “You’re not my mom!”
Okay, they aren’t total monsters all the time. Jimmy is a smart kid who works hard to keep his grades up and Robbie has a gig delivering pizzas at night and on the weekends. He puts most of his pay into the family kitty to help cover the bills. They’re good boys, they’re just in a lousy situation.
Oh, sorry, back to me…
My likes are quiet moments alone, having enough money in the bank account to cover the rent, and long walks on mountain trails where nobody is screaming my name or telling me how much they hate my guts.
My dislikes are pretty much everything else in my life.
Oh, and I’m a virgin… so, yeah, there’s that.
Thank you, America. Good night.
* * *
The tip of my nose was nearly frozen by the time I walked across the rickety front porch attached to our rickety house and made it inside. Even with the front door closed, I could feel the icy winter wind blowing through the cracks around the doorframe.
I picked up the heavy blanket that I tacked over the door to keep the wind out. I had to stand on my tiptoes to hold the blanket up and secure it to the doorframe with push pins. I built callouses on my thumbs every winter from pressing push pins into the walls trying to keep Old Man Winter out.
Jackie was sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands. There was a cigarette burning in the ashtray in front of her and a cup of coffee sitting under her nose. She was breathing in the strong aroma and letting the steam warm her face.
It was cold as fuck in the house because our heat only worked when it felt like it. I kept saying that we needed to get it fixed, but the money was never there. One more time, welcome to Maggie’s world.
“Long night?” I asked, dropping the mail on the table and refilling my coffee cup. It was a little past eight in the morning. I’d been up since six, prying my brothers out of bed and getting them off to school.
I didn’t really have to ask the question. I could tell by looking at her that she’d had a long night. Jackie worked as a waitress at The Classic Cat, a strip joint on the edge of town that was open 24/7. She worked third shift, so she’d just gotten home about the time the boys were leaving for school.
“Three bachelor parties last night,” she said, staring at me from under her hands. “I’ve never been groped so much in my life.” She nodded at the wad of crumpled
one dollar bills she had dropped on the table. “Tips were good though. Maybe now we can get some heat up in this place.”
I gave her a smile and sipped my coffee as I let my eyes wander over her face. Jackie wasn’t much older than me, but life was weighing heavily on her. She had dark curly hair and a pretty, round face. She was full-figured, with big boobs that poured out of the bikini top and a big ass that barely fit into the short-shorts she had to wear to work.
I always made her wear a coat when she got home and the boys were here. I know how teenage boys think and I’m pretty sure cousin Jackie was the star of most of their wet dreams.
Jackie’s ex had beaten the shit out of her one night about six months ago and she showed up on my doorstep. Thank God, she never left. She kicked in money for bills and helped wrangle the boys. If she wasn’t here, I don’t know what I would have done.
“You need to spend some of this on yourself,” I said as I took the dollar bills and smoothed them out on the table with the back of my hand.
“There is nothing I need,” she said with a tired smile. “Other than a good night’s sleep and a good long fuck.”
“You’re terrible,” I said, frowning and smiling at the same time.
“And you need to get your cherry popped,” she shot back. “Come to the club tonight. I’ll get you laid and paid before happy hour is through.”
“Uh, thanks, but I’m going to pass.”
“Okay, but don’t say I never offered to help.”
“If I ever need help getting my cherry popped, Jackie Dean, you’ll be the first person I call.”
“Well that’s depressing,” she said with a tired smile. She picked up the cigarette and took a long drag off it, then waved the smoke away. She nodded at the stack of mail on the table.
“Anything from Publisher’s Clearing House in there? Please tell me we’re millionaires so I don’t have to serve drinks to douchebags anymore.”
“Afraid not this month,” I sighed.
“Too bad.” She took a slurp of coffee and licked her lips. “How are things at the restaurant?”
