Cook Brothers: The Whole Flipping Family

by BJ Harvey

  He didn’t disappoint.

  Seeing him look uneasy when Cohen and I were giving him shit was endearing. Here was this big man who looks like the Hulk and Wonder Woman’s love child, almost blushing.

  I honestly don’t know what to do with this. Betty has already been in my ear about putting myself back out there, telling me in no uncertain terms that I’m not getting any younger—even though I’m only thirty-one—and making it clear that Axel can be the center of my world, but he shouldn’t be the only thing in it.

  But knowing that to be true and doing something about it are two different things. Then there’s the fact that Jamie and I argue like cats and dogs, and of all the time we’ve spent together so far, 99 percent of it has had one—or both of us—annoyed at each other. That’s not exactly conducive to considering dating the guy.

  Hell, he might not even want to date me.

  I’d date me though. I’m a catch. My lack of a social life—with the male species anyway—has nothing to do with confidence or a lack of self-esteem. It comes down to priorities and focus.

  My priority has been Axel. My focus has been working and being the best mom I can be, making sure Axel is afforded every opportunity possible.

  But now… a man has piqued my interest and got me thinking about everything I might be missing out on.

  I wonder if we could go out to dinner and if he could keep his mouth shut…

  “You look like you’re trying to solve world hunger?” he says, startling me out of my thoughts. I turn toward his voice, my breath stuttering at the sight of a dirty, dusty and sweaty Jamie leaning on my fence, those well-worn work jeans of his hanging low on his hips, hugging his thighs. What sane woman finds a dirty, sweaty man sexy? Me, apparently.

  Maybe I’m day-dreaming. It’s Friday afternoon, and I’ve just woken up after sleeping off my night shift. I’ve only got one more to go before I have a twenty-four-hour shift change, then three days at work then a four day weekend.

  “Did you work last night?” he asks, lifting the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe his face, giving me a glimpse of abs that tell me Jamie looks after himself, but he’s not a gym rat. Another tick in the imaginary list of pros and cons for dating the neighbor.

  He clears his throat, a light chuckle escaping his upturned lips as he totally catches me checking him out. What on earth is wrong with me? Get it together, woman.

  I shake my head, hoping to clear the cobwebs from my brain. “I’m sorry. I’ve just woken up, and I’ve only got one coffee in me. I’m a bit… foggy,” I explain, hoping my smile will distract him from the fact I’m completely and utterly mortified from him catching me checking him out.

  His smile widens, and damn it; I swear I go a little starry-eyed. Why won’t the ground open up and swallow me whole?

  “Note to self: April takes a while to wake up in the mornings…” He lifts his wrist, giving it a shake to check his watch. Yep, that’s a quiver. “And afternoons. Good to know.”

  “How’s it all going?” I ask, nodding toward his house. “Betty says there’s been lots of coming and going this week.”

  “Yeah. They’re contractors from my friends’ construction company. We’re reconfiguring the interior floorplan and completely refitting the basement, so it’s been a busy week.”

  “Wow. I’d be interested in seeing the finished product when it’s all done.”

  His brows lift, and his eyes brighten. For a guy I mistook as being just another drunken single idiot when I met him, he seems to continually prove me wrong, like it’s his mission to do so. “You thinking of doing work to yours too?”

  I shrug by way of an answer. “Maybe, but I might wait until Axel moves past the age of destruction.”

  He laughs, soft and low. And there’s another mini quiver. I really need to get out more if stomachs, wrist shakes and laughs are getting me off.

  “He’s a good kid, you know,” Jamie says. My eyes widen, my head jerking slightly. He seems to read my reaction and quickly continues, “From what I’ve seen of him.”

  I giggle at his look of absolute fear as if he expects me to bite his head off. Firing-on-all-cylinders April might make him pay for that statement. Tired-from-four-night-shifts-in-a-row April can’t really fault him for his observation. “He’s a pretty cool kid.”

  “Definitely. He must get it from his mama.”

  I freeze, unable to process his compliment or work out the intention behind it. God, I wish I’d had more coffee, or… dammit. I look down, very belatedly realizing that yes, I did indeed walk out of my house wearing my sloth pajamas and a stretched-out baggy tee.

  Twice now he’s seen me in my pajamas and not for enjoyable reasons. Not that I’d wear this outfit if I had a man like Jamie anywhere near my bedroom. That would require a special trip to Victoria’s Secret.

  “Thank you,” I say. “I’d say he’s a mix of me and my ex, but I wouldn’t wish that on Axel,” I add a dry laugh to try and lessen the lead weight of that statement. It may be true, and I may have a little residual bitterness when it comes to the waste of space that was Patrick Williams, but a guy I might—if he wants to—date at some time in the future does not need to know that. I peek up through my lashes to find him leaning deeper into the fence, his forearms resting on the wood pailings.

  “I sense there’s a story there, but I might wait till you’ve had more sleep and more coffee before asking you about it.” He doesn’t sound like he thinks I’m a crazy ex, or as if he’s trying to brush it off. His eyes are gentle as he watches me from across my lawn.

  “Are you working tonight?” he asks, setting my heart to a slow gallop.

  “Yeah. It’s my last shift.”

  “Ah… okay,” he says, looking up at the roof, then the sky, before hissing slowly through his teeth. He reaches a hand behind his neck, gripping it tightly. “Okay. I tell you what—I’m gonna check with Jase and see whether we can get a start on my roof shingle later tomorrow once you’re awake, then we won’t risk disturbing you.”

  I almost feel guilty, but his consideration makes my stomach do a little dance. ”Sorry to be a pain.”

  He moves his head from side to side. ”Not at all. You should never be inconvenienced…”

  I shoot him a knowing smirk.

  “…again because you had the misfortune of living next door to the house I decided to flip. It just means I need to be a bit more flexible with arrangements, so we don’t cause any more hassle for you, Axel, and Betty.”

  “That’s really thoughtful, Jamie.”

  “It’s business,” he says, matter-of-factly. “Let’s call it community relations.” His lips twitch as he fails to hold back a wide-mouthed smile. “Why do I seem to be grinning a lot whenever you or your son are around?” he asks, almost to himself.

  I open my mouth to answer when an extremely handsome—and tall—man comes up behind Jamie and jumps on his back.

  “Ugh,” Jamie grunts, turning his head to look at his surprise piggy-back partner.

  “Of course it’s you,” he says, chuckling as the man drops to his feet.

  “And you must be the no-longer-nameless neighbor who—if you don’t mind me saying—has impeccable taste in pants.” The mystery man looks me up and down, turning to Jamie and bumping his shoulder. “Sloths, huh? You’re so not living this down.”

  “Uh… hi,” I say, stepping forward and holding my hand out. “I’m April.”

  He slides his palm against mine, and when our eyes lock, his grip flexes. He also doesn’t let go. I catch Jamie’s frown out of the corner of my eye, and I could almost swear I hear a low rumble in his chest.

  That’s when I see the unmistakable family resemblance. This must be one of the brothers.

  “So which brother are you?” I ask with a giggle, finally pulling my arm free and crossing it over my chest.

  “This is Jaxon,” Jamie sighs. “He was dropped on his head as a baby and never quite got the memo about being tactful.”

  “Speak for yo
urself. At least I didn’t miss the line for good looks or a big d—”

  “Jax…” Jamie warns.

  Jax drops his head back, exposing a rather nice-looking throat and bursts out laughing.

  Jamie’s dancing gaze meets mine. “I apologize for my brother’s lack of class. I’d swear he was adopted if it wasn’t for his twin Bryant actually being a semi-decent human—as far as my brothers go, anyway.”

  I shake my head, my thoughts going to their mom and how she must either have the patience of a saint or subscribe to a really good monthly wine box. What’s worse, part of me wants to meet the woman to deliver another box of wine and to shake her hand. That makes four brothers and a sister I know of now. Five kids would drive me insane. I swear, I barely cope with just my one, and I have Betty’s help.

  “I think your mother deserves a medal,” I remark.

  Jamie nods. “Putting up with this one, I’d say you’re right.”

  Jaxon laughs, and shoulder bumps Jamie once again. Unsurprisingly, Jamie doesn’t even waver.

  “I better go inside and help Axel with his homework before getting ready for work,” I say to Jamie. I turn to Jaxon, who has the biggest grin on his face. “Nice to meet you, Jaxon. I think there’s just your twin and your sister to meet now, and I’ll be fully acquainted with the Cook siblings.”

  “You should come over for a family dinner. If you make it out alive, you’ll be initiated into the inner sanctum for life.”

  My eyes widen, as do Jamie’s. Jaxon laughs again and gives his brother a fist bump before walking back to the house and through the front door.

  “I better get inside. Have a good night, and good luck with the roof tomorrow,” I say.

  “You too. And we’ll try and keep the noise down.”

  I wave him off. “I sleep like the dead. I doubt anything will wake me but thank you.” He nods, and we stand there staring at each other. His gaze does crazy things to my body. My nipples tingle, my skin ripples with goosebumps, and my stomach feels all too warm. When his smile turns into a smirk that I want to both kiss the shit out of and wipe off his face, I shake my head and spin on my heels, walking toward my front door.

  “Bye,” he calls out, and because I’m now all too aware that my pants are see-through in the light of day, I just wave over my head and near-on run into my house. ”By the way—cute sloths.”

  I’ve never been one to get flustered around a man, but my cheeks are blazing by the time I get inside. I’m usually able to hold my own, and until today, I think I’ve done pretty well in going toe-to-toe with Jamie. But that’s the second time I’ve seen him when we haven’t argued. He saw me in my sloth pants—again—he didn’t like his brother holding my hand, he’s rearranging his contractors so they don’t wake me up tomorrow, and he complimented me, not just on my son but on my parenting. There’s way too much there to process, and a quick glance at the clock on the wall tells me I really don’t have time to unbox all that just happened in my front yard… in my see-through pajamas… when I was half-asleep and semi-coherent.

  This whole making-a-good-impression-on-him plan is going so well.

  7

  Jamie

  Any headway I’ve made with April slips away the moment I watch the ladder belonging to my roofing contractor slide sideways against the front of the house. I knew the guttering was sketchy at best, but it’s like my life buffers to slow motion as the metal snags a bracket and steadily drags the rusted tube of aluminum with it before teetering on the corner of the roof. I hold my breath and offer a prayer to the building gods, knowing it was all in vain.

  “Watch out!” one of the guys yells as not even a second later, everything comes crashing down, catching the fence between our two properties and smashing it into three broken pieces with an almighty bang. That’s soon followed by another and another, the steady stream of shingle tumbling to the ground like a steady beat of a bass drum shaking the dirt and debris in a devastating continuous rhythm.

  “Fuck!” another man yells when the old shingle finally stops falling. I look up to the sky, scrubbing my face, dollar signs flashing before my eyes. When footsteps bound down April’s front steps, I wince as first Axel, followed closely by Betty, comes towards the destruction zone, both gazes snapping from the disaster to me.

  “Oh no,” Betty cries, her eyes returning to the formerly beautiful flowerbed now lying crumpled beneath jagged fence pailings topped with roof shingle and mangled guttering.

  Axel doesn’t hesitate to carefully make his way around the pile of waste to my side. I drop my chin to look down at him, his wide eyes and slowly upturned lips filling me with dread.

  He points to a rose bush—in bloom, no less—and my gaze follows his finger. “Mommy planted that when our cat Missy went to heaven.”

  Direct hit to the fucking heart, kid. He either knows exactly what he’s doing with the impromptu guilt trip, or his childhood ignorance knows no bounds. Any other kid and I’d go with the latter, but this is Axel we’re talking about.

  “And those hydray… hygray…” He looks to Betty. “What are they called, Gran?”

  Betty’s attention drifts to her grandson, her red-rimmed eyes a punch to the gut. I have to make this right for April, and for Betty.

  “Hydrangeas, baby,” she replies shakily, her hand lifting to cover her mouth as she takes the disaster in.

  Axel grins. “Hydrangeas, that’s right. Gran and I planted those last year for Mommy on Mother’s Day. They made her smile.”

  I shake my head. “You’re killing me here, smalls.”

  “I’m big. Mommy says so.”

  Speaking of his mother, a bleary-eyed—and still gorgeous—April appears in the doorway as if Axel’s words have summoned her.

  “Mommy,” he shouts, jumping the trashed garden and running to her side. Her mouth drops open as she closes the distance between us, her eyes drifting to the roof where the two guys are sitting down watching this scene unfold, and then to me.

  “I’m tired and grumpy so you’ll have to forgive me for this, but WHAT THE HELL, JAMIE?” She yells, throwing her arms up in the air. “Is this what you meant by ‘keeping it down?’” She even adds air quotes with her hands to make her point.

  I step forward to cross over to their side of the fence—or I would, if there was still one standing—but stop dead in my tracks at the look of absolute fury she shoots my way. I know her anger is not all at me, but I feel it deep all the same. This is going to call for a big gesture to make it up to them—one that I’ll need to call in reinforcements for.

  “I’m so sorry, April. It was completely accidental and—”

  “We’re sorry too,” Dave and Andy say in unison from above us.

  Her eyes widen as she surveys the damage. “I just can’t believe it. We’d worked so hard on this garden, and it was the first year all the flowers were in bloom.” Her voice breaks and Axel leans up on his toes and wraps his arms around her hips. Fuck.

  “It’s okay, Mommy. Now we’ll get a new fence and new flowers. Gran and I can fix this for you when you’re at work.”

  Tears fall down her cheeks as she crouches down and pulls her son into her arms. She buries her face into his little neck and holds onto him tight.

  “It’s only a garden, I know,” Betty says, moving toward me. “And I know I speak for April when I say we both know this was not your fault—”

  “My contractors, my roof, my gutters, my fault,” I say hoarsely, my eyes glued to April and Axel as they pull apart and smile at each other. “I’m going to make this right. I’ll fix it all up, just as it was before.”

  Betty reaches out and pats my arm. “I’m not sure if that’s possible, Jamie, but I do like your enthusiasm.”

  I meet her gaze. “Get April back to bed. I know she needs her sleep. I’ll send the guys home and then get to work on making this right. I’m gonna need you to do a favor for me, though.”

  At that, I have her attention, and I formulate a plan to get all three o
f them out of the house tomorrow so I can—hopefully—break my back to repair what my roof broke. I also make sure to grab both her and April’s mobile numbers, because they’re going to be key to my success.

  April straightens and takes one last wistful look at where her garden used to be before tangling her fingers with her son and walking back into her house with Betty.

  Moving to untangle the ladder and help the guys off the roof, I take solace in the fact that I may have promised to fix the damage—as I am obliged to do—but deep down, I know it’s not just about the garden. It’s about showing all three of them I’m a man of my word, and that’s something that means more to me than however much this project is going to cost.

  With that motivation fueling me, as soon as Dave and Andy leave the site, my phone is to my ear as I call in reinforcements as I put all necessary plans in place for Operation Fix the Fuck-Up.

  The rest of Saturday is spent putting everything in motion for the next day, and when I wake up first thing Sunday morning, I’m more determined than ever to make this right.

  I receive a quick text from Betty at nine a.m. giving me a heads up that “Team Williams”—her words—is leaving in five minutes and will be out until late afternoon when she’ll send me another text. Having the go-ahead, I send out my own group text, calling all of the pre-warned troops into action. Everyone—my brothers, Cade and Abi, Jase and Natalie, Matt and his wife, Mia, and my parents—is due to arrive as soon as they can with the supplies needed to get their pre-assigned jobs done.

  The plan concocted last night between Jax, Bryant, Cohen, and myself is to get as much done as possible with what supplies we can get today, and to restore the garden and fence. With Betty’s help, I was able to get the names of the plants and flowers that were there, and Mom and Dad are in charge of that side of things. Who knew Mom’s green thumb would come in handy so soon?

  With nothing more left to organize, I don some demolition gloves, lather myself in sunscreen, slide my well-worn Cubs cap on my head, and go outside to start clean-up. I’m joined by all three brothers twenty minutes later, Cade and Abi next, and Jase, Matt, and their wives a little after that, bringing with them all of the timber needed to replace the fence.