THE HOPE BROTHERS: The Bad Boys of Sugar Hill

by Honey Palomino

  “How is she?” Vivian asked, her voice full of worry. I ignored Brock completely, even though anger began racing through my veins that he was there at all.

  “She’s okay, she’s just fine. She’ll go home tomorrow. She’s got a concussion, but nothing’s broken.”

  “Oh, thank the Lord!” Vivian said.

  “I’m going to go see her,” Brock said, turning away.

  “She’s resting,” I replied. He ignored me and kept walking. I wasn’t about to let this guy bother or upset Lily, and I knew that’s exactly what would happen.

  “Brock!” I yelled to his back. He stopped and turned to me slowly. I closed the distance between us and stood in front of him. “I said, she’s resting. You can’t visit her right now.”

  “Like hell I can’t. Watch me.”

  I blocked his way, crossing my hands over my chest.

  “Nope,” I shook my head, daring him to cross me.

  “Who the fuck made you Lily’s guard? I don’t even know who the fuck you are!”

  “Well, I know who you are,” I said, gritting my teeth, my arms falling to my sides as my hands balled up in fists. “I’m not her guard, I’m her boyfriend. Lee Haggard’s the name, which I’ve told you several times by now, but you seem to be too drunk to remember.” I could smell alcohol on his breath.

  “Her boyfriend!?” he exclaimed, his loud ass voice shrill and high in the empty corridor. “What a joke!”

  “Try me,” I growled. “Give me a reason to wipe that fucking grin off your ugly fucking face.”

  “Fuck you!” he spat, jerking towards me. I grabbed him around the neck, pulling him into a chock hold before he knew what was happening. I pushed him away and cocked my hand back to punch him.

  “Lee! Don’t!” Beau grabbed my arm, pulling me away as Crit jumped between us and pushed Brock back as he tried to charge me.

  “You come anywhere near Lily ever again, and I’ll knock your fuckin’ head into next year, you hear me, boy?” I yelled, rage ripping through me.

  “Lee, stop! We’re at a fucking hospital, goddammit!” Beau growled. I stopped resisting, letting Beau pull me away. I wanted nothing more than to lay Brock Tyler out on the fucking ground, but Beau was right. This wasn’t the time or the place.

  “You’re fucking crazy!” Brock yelled, pointing his finger at me.

  “I sure am, motherfucker!” I replied. “Just try me. Let me show you how crazy I am!”

  “Get the fuck out of here, Brock!” Vivian cried. “I told you not to come! Lily fucking hates you. Just leave!”

  “Fuck you, too, Vivian!” he snarled.

  “Just fucking go,” she cried, throwing her hands up. He walked away slowly, glaring at me as he left.

  “For fuck’s sake,” Vivian said, shaking her head as she looked at me. “What was that about?”

  “I’m not letting him anywhere near her,” I growled, sitting back down to finish my dinner.

  “You got it bad, huh, Lee?” Vivian mused.

  “If you’re asking me if I care about Lily, then the answer is yes. Is that so unbelievable?” I shot back, defensively.

  “No, no, not at all,” she said, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Never thought you were the settlin’ down type, is all. It’s about time someone took proper care of her.”

  “Lily can take care of herself. She doesn’t need me,” I replied. “But I’m not about to let that snake anywhere near her.”

  “We all should be so lucky,” she quipped. “But I guess good men run in your family.” She swept the room, her gaze taking in all of us. Even the Hopes.

  “Damn right it does,” I grunted.

  “Damn right,” Seth agreed.

  “Hell, yeah it does,” Crit nodded.

  “Yep,” Beau agreed. “Wouldn’t have it any other way. Ain’t no sense in being a prick. I guess we all learned that lesson on our own, the hard way.” That was true. Each one of us had gone through hell and back.

  “Yeah, but we fuckin’ learned it,” I said, ending the conversation by stuffing my burger in my mouth. I looked around at everyone, and I saw a glimpse of my family’s future.

  Maybe it wasn’t shattered at all. Maybe it had just grown a little.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  LILY

  “I can’t wait to get out of here. I need real food!” Daddy, Mama and Vivian had shown up to take me home. Lee had disappeared a while ago, leaving me alone to change back into my clothes and gather my things.

  We were all in the elevator, and I couldn’t wait to see sunshine again. And maybe grab a big, juicy Whataburger on the way.

  “Remember what the doctor said, Lily,” Mama warned on the way down, “you have to take it easy.”

  “I just want a burger, Mama,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

  “I know, but you know how you are. You never rest. You just go, go, go, like your wheels are never gonna fall off, and that’s just not right, Lily,” she said, her eyes filled with worry.

  “I know, Mama, don’t worry,” I replied, throwing my arm around her shoulder as the elevator doors opened up to the lobby. I’d been taller than her since I was fourteen, and she looked up at me. “I’ll rest, I promise.”

  Right after I check on Charlie, spend some time with Lucy, and make love to Lee again, I thought. It’d only been forty-eight hours, but I felt like my life had been put on hold and I was ready to resume where it was going. So, I wouldn’t place in the competition this year, so what? I wasn’t too worried about that.

  Things were looking up in Lily-land, and I really liked the way it was going. I liked not worrying about Brock, not letting him get to me, not having him in my life, wondering where he was or what he was doing all the time. The worry and pain he’d caused had distracted me from my life long enough.

  It was time to be happy. I’d applied to grad school, and once I heard back from them, I was going to do nothing but look forward.

  The past was the past. And the past was Brock.

  My future looked a lot brighter.

  And I was hoping like hell that somehow that future would include Lee Haggard.

  My god, he’d been so sweet to me. He’d sat by my side all night. I’d been so groggy from the pain meds that I’d fallen in and out of consciousness all night long, but every time I woke up, there he was - greeting me with his sweet, gentle eyes and the comforting warmth of his hand engulfing mine. He’d patiently answered all my questions, even when I’d asked the same ones over and over. The few moments I was blessed with a little clarity, he’d done his best to keep things lighthearted, cracking joke after joke until I was laughing and not thinking about the fact that all the hard work I’d done had gone down the toilet with one swollen fetlock. Most importantly, if it hadn’t been for Lee’s constant reassurance that Charlie was going to be okay, I’d have worried all night.

  Instead, the hours flew by quickly and comfortably, and I was beyond excited to be getting out and getting back to starting my new life all over again. This was just a blip on the radar.

  “How’s Charlie today, Daddy?” I asked.

  “He’s doing alright. A little swollen, a tiny limp, but the doc says he should make a full recovery.”

  “I was so worried about him,” I said.

  “Well, I think he’s been worried about you,” he said. “We’ve all been worried about you.” He reached over and kissed the top of my head. “Your Mama and I didn’t get any sleep last night.”

  “I’m sorry, Daddy,” I said. “You should have slept. I was alright. I had the nurses. And Lee stayed with me all night, too,” I replied, leaning into his warmth.

  “I bet he did,” Vivian smirked.

  “Shut up, Vivian,” I said, softening my words with a smile.

  “Well, you could have worse men looking after you,” Daddy said. “Lee Haggard’s a good man, Lily. A lot better than that other fella you were runnin’ around with.”

  “Brock was a smothering, ass-kissing prick! Love can’t bl
oom in the shade!” Mama said.

  “Mama!” We all gasped and looked at her. She wasn’t one to have such a saucy mouth, but she shrugged like it was nothing and kept walking. We all laughed as we walked out the front doors of the hospital.

  “Oh, Mama. I love you,” I said, kissing her on the cheek. “You’re right, Brock was an asshole. I’m done with him.”

  “Good riddance, if you ask me,” she mumbled.

  As soon as the sunshine hit my face, I felt a sweet wave of relief wash over me. And then I saw them. Lee and Lucy, standing by a bench on the sidewalk. Lee was grinning like a skunk eatin’ cabbage and Lucy’s tail was waggin’ a mile a minute.

  Lee held a large bouquet of daisies and Lucy was wearing a big pink bow around her neck that had a pink heart-shaped balloon tied to it that was waving in the air above her head.

  My stomach filled with more butterflies than a field full of petunias. I smiled and walked over to them.

  “Well, you two are a sight for sore eyes,” I said.

  “They wouldn’t let me bring Lucy in, so we had to wait out here,” he said, his blue eyes shining even brighter in the sunlight. “How are you feeling?” Lee asked.

  “If I was any peachier, I’d be a pie,” I said as he handed me the flowers. “Thank you.”

  He leaned down, kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear, “You taste better than any peach pie, darlin’.”

  A hot blush crept into my cheeks, but I relished in his words. I was glad to see his thoughts were in the same place as mine were. I raked my eyes across his strong, manly frame and couldn’t wait to get my hands on him.

  “Did you drive your truck over?” I asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied, tipping his ever present black Stetson at me.

  “Care to give a lady and her dog a ride home?” I asked, batting my eyelashes for full, cheesy, dramatic Southern flair. “I have to stay at my folk’s place for a few days, but I need to get some things from my apartment.”

  “It would be my pleasure, ma’am,” he replied, with a sweeping gesture.

  I laughed and turned back to my folks and Vivian.

  “I’m going home with Lee to get a few things. I’ll be back at your place in time for dinner, okay?” I said

  “You just make sure to take it easy, Lily,” Mama said.

  “I will, Mama,” I replied, kissing her on the cheek and then hugging my Daddy and Vivian. “Thanks for coming, you guys.”

  I turned back to Lee, grabbed his arm, and let him lead Lucy and I back to his truck. I leaned into him, into his warmth, into his comforting embrace, saying a silent prayer of gratitude that I’d somehow caught this cowboy’s eye.

  Dad was right. He was a good man.

  And if I had any say in it, he’d be my good man.

  “Your chariot awaits,” he said, opening the door for me. I slid in and Lucy jumped in after me. I slid over next to him as he started the truck, loving the feel of being close to him.

  He turned up the radio and Waylon Jenning’s voice washed over us as we pulled out of the parking lot. Lee threw his arm over my shoulder and I snuggled in closer, feeling like the luckiest woman in all of Texas.

  “You like Whataburger?” I asked.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  LEE

  Silence and darkness greeted me when I opened my eyes. But still, I shot out of bed like a bullet. I couldn’t lay there, spinning in my thoughts, drowning in my fucking feelings. I was a big ball of emotion. No matter what I did to try to shake the anguish, to bury the guilt, the worry about my family kept haunting me like a sad black crow perched on my shoulder.

  Lily’s presence in my life was the only bright spot, and even that was being overshadowed by the endless loop of shoulda, woulda, coulda shit echoing in my head.

  I should go home. I should at least call. My folks should have told me the truth. Mama never should have slept with Ward Hope.

  I would never lie to someone like that. I would never have been able to keep a secret like that. I would have been so much better off if I’d known the truth all along. Maybe everything would have made sense.

  I could go home. I could call. I could just pretend this wasn’t happening, but so far I’d been a complete failure at that.

  Shoulda, woulda, coulda wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

  So I just kept going. Kept pushing myself away from it, and towards work, towards the future, towards Lily.

  To assuage the guilt I was feeling, I told myself I was too busy right now to deal with all of that. The rodeo was going on right now and there was an endless amount of tasks to be done, I didn’t have time to go home, to call, to figure out how I was going to deal with it.

  Later. Later would come, eventually. But not now. I just couldn’t do it. I was being a coward, I knew it, but it was just too much to face, my sick father, my dead father. The question I’d been asking myself all my life had finally been answered, and the answer just created more questions.

  I was tired of it all.

  I just wanted a simple life, for once. I wanted a life with Lily. A real woman to come home to. Fuck, I wanted a home. I’d never even had that, really. I’d wandered from place to place for so long, I was left with a longing for a place I’d never been.

  For the first time in my life, it all seemed within reach. I could see it now….Lily, dressed in a white dress and pretty white shoes, a white gardenia in her hair….waiting for me at the alter, while my brothers are dressing my truck up in old beer cans and shoe polish for us to ride off into the sunset in.

  It was a fuckin’ beautiful fantasy. I’d never wanted anything like that before, hell, I just figured a man like me never deserved anything like that, and I wasn’t real sure I deserved it now, but I wanted it. I wanted it more than I wanted my first win. More than I wanted a taste of some random woman every night. More than I wanted whiskey. And all that right there was sayin’ something, if you asked me.

  I knew to listen.

  Lily was special. I didn’t need it spelled out for me. She made me feel more alive than I ever had, just by turning those green eyes up at me.

  That’s why I’d remained the perfect gentleman in her apartment yesterday. I’d watched her flitter around, gathering clothes and shoes and whatever she’d stuffed in all those bags. I just watched. I didn’t do what every ounce of testosterone pumping through my veins was screaming at me to do. I let her sashay around her bed, wiggling her curvy little hips, throwing her hair over her shoulders like a seductive little firecracker - and I didn’t touch her.

  First of all, she had a concussion. So, most of the glory goes to that. But second, I didn’t want just some quick roll in the hay with Lily. When I made love to her again, it was going to be long, slow, and thorough. A few minutes alone with Lily was never going to be enough for me. I knew she’d never get to her folk’s in time for dinner if we got started, so I didn’t start.

  Not to say it wasn’t pure torture, it sure as hell was. I’ll stop short of saying it was a good thing she had that concussion, because getting her to dinner late wasn’t really enough to keep me from giving into my urges.

  Obviously, she knew it. She flirted so wantonly with me, knowing what it was doing to me, relishing in it. It was maddening, adorable, and completely endearing.

  It just made me love her more.

  After a while, she upped her game, coming over and putting her arms around me. I could still see her now, smiling up at me like a mischievous little angel…

  “Why aren’t you biting?” she asked.

  “Because you have a concussion. I’m not about to hurt you,” I answered. My heart was in the right place, but my body was slowly protesting. My cock swelled as she raked her fingers across the back of my neck.

  “You could be gentle,” she said, pressing into me, her body purring against mine.

  “I don’t want to risk it, babe,” I replied. She reached down and grabbed my cock, the heat of her hand burning my throbbing hardness. I groane
d, reaching down and pulling her hand away. “We’ve got plenty of time for that later. Once you’ve gotten the okay from the doctor.”

  “The doctor didn’t say I couldn’t have sex,” she arched her back, pressing her perfect tits into my chest. A slow hunger began raging through me, along with some sort of superhuman resistance that I didn’t know existed within me.

  “The doctor said you should rest,” I pulled her in and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Making love to me doesn’t count as rest.”

  She looked up at me and pouted.

  “Trust me, darlin’,” I said, kissing her pouting lips. “This hurts me more than it hurts you. Let’s get you back to your folk’s place so you can rest.”

  “You’re no fun,” she sighed and turned away, the absence of her in my arms almost tangible immediately. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her long, slow and deep.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I said after pulling away, my voice thick with emotion. “We have all the time in the world, Lily. Your health is important. I just found you. I’m nowhere near ready to let you go.”

  She laid her head on my chest and we stood in her kitchen, swaying softly together in the silence. I knew right then, without a doubt, that this was love.

  It was so pure.

  It didn’t ask for anything.

  It didn’t make demands that I couldn’t meet.

  It didn’t hurt.

  All of that, and yet it still didn’t make the pain and agony of my family shit go away. It still wasn’t enough to make me forget. But it sure as hell helped a little.

  So I kept my head down, worked my ass off, and kept my thoughts on Lily as much as I could.

  It made it bearable, even if it didn’t make it disappear.

  It was the best I could hope for.

  I dressed in the dark and was in my truck in minutes on my way to the arena.

  ***

  Even though the sun was just coming up, the arena was swarmed with people. Caring for livestock - be it horses, bulls, sheep, goats, pigs, whatever - it was a hell of a lot of work. It always amazed me the lengths people would go to to take care of an animal, but when a human needed help, those same people would turn their backs on them.