Petting Them: An Anthology of Claw-ver Tails

by Tate James

  She suppressed a snort as Jake led her to the dining table and waved for her to sit, before heading into the kitchen. “Iced tea?”

  She honestly wanted a glass of wine, but alcohol right now was not a good idea. “That’s fine.” She pulled out a middle chair and sat, facing the rear yard.

  Jake joined her a minute later, setting a tall glass in front of her and taking the seat at the end of the table closest to the kitchen. She sipped, waiting for him to speak. Now that she was here, she wasn’t exactly sure how to begin, and he had been the one to invite her over.

  The silence should have been uncomfortable, but… it wasn’t. Another surprise, and contradiction.

  Fifteen minutes must have gone by when the other two brothers came in. Carter headed to the kitchen while Andrew bounded up the stairs. Soon they joined Jake and Annabeth at the table, two more glasses of tea set out and Andrew in a clean shirt.

  “Now—” Jake started.

  Andrew cut him off. “First, I need to apologize.” He angled his head toward Annabeth, not quite meeting her eyes. “I… was caught by surprise.”

  “When you tripped, or when you ran away after I introduced myself?” The tease slipped out, and she watched in delight as Andrew’s cheeks flushed. God, he was adorable.

  He cleared his throat and met her gaze. “Both.”

  She’d been right before, there was a bit of gold in that brown. “Apology accepted.” She paused. “Or maybe I should hold it over your head for a bit longer, increase my chances of convincing you to help me?” She sipped her tea as the brothers exchanged glances.

  “About that.” It was Jake’s turn to clear his throat. “We’d still like to know why you plan on setting up a shelter and sanctuary—”

  “Speak for yourself.” This time it was Carter who cut off his brother. “It’s pretty much a given that we’re going to do the project at this point. I don’t really need to know why.” He shrugged a shoulder that was slightly wider than his brothers’. She could see it now that they were side by side. “Better than a lot of things she could try to set up out there, honestly,” he continued. “Did you know the Coopers wanted to start an emu ranch? Useless things.”

  Annabeth didn’t think Carter expected a response, or at least she hoped he didn’t. “Yes, well, I doubt we’ll end up with emus,” she said. Then she took a breath, held it for just a moment, then let it out in a rush. “I may as well tell you my reasons. It’ll give you a better grasp on where I stand as well, and my expectations.” And she found that she wanted to tell them, wanted to talk to these men, to let them into her life.

  After one day? And after they were such asses? Annabeth, get some sense into your head. One spontaneous and crazy decision a year is more than enough.

  Ignoring the inner voice, Annabeth nodded to herself and started. “I just… needed a change. I was in Houston, working as a marketing director for one of the oil companies.” She waved her hand. None of that was really important now. “I was just done with it. I found out the land was for sale, and decided it was time to move on.”

  Carter’s brows rose, Andrew tilted his head, and Jake just stared at her. They each knew there was more to it than that.

  “It also has to do with my brother Adam.” Her lips tilted into a smile and for a moment her brother was right there before her, his memory fresh, as though she’d seen him just yesterday. “When we were younger, when he was still alive, our whole family was a bit… well, let’s just say we never ran across a stray we didn’t do something for.” Bitterness rose in her, crowding out Adam’s visage, and sat on the back of her tongue.

  Carter sat forward, his gray-tinged gaze searching, and Andrew caught his brother’s arm. A quick shake of Andrew’s head had Carter sitting back in silence, and Annabeth was grateful. This was not something she talked about easily, despite how she’d inexplicably decided to share with these brothers.

  “The whole family would sometimes go volunteer at one of the local shelters, and Adam always said that that was what he would do when he grew up. A lot of eight-year-olds will say they want to be a,” she waved a hand, “whatever, when they’re grown. Adam… you could tell he knew what he would do with his life. He never wavered.”

  Annabeth’s eyes went distant as silence settled around the table. Andrew’s gaze was soft and intent upon her. Carter looked down, flicked his attention back to her, then shifted in his chair. Jake’s brows drew together and a slight frown played on his mouth.

  “That’s not all,” he finally said.

  Annabeth’s shoulders stiffened and she shrugged. “You asked why an animal shelter, and sanctuary. That’s why.”

  Carter leaned back in his chair so that the front two legs left the floor, and hummed to himself. Two seconds later he nodded, dropped the chair forward and slapped his hand on the table, causing Annabeth to jump. “We’ll take you on.”

  Why did those words sound like more than a simple client agreement? “We should talk rates and such. I don’t remember if I mentioned it, but I’m living off savings and an inheritance for now. There’s enough to get rolling, and probably to get the first round of construction work done, but not much beyond that.” She wanted to get off the personal, to establish this as a professional relationship and keep it that way. “I’m still working on finalizing some donors.”

  Jake nodded while the other two brothers blinked and leaned in. “You mentioned a business plan?” Jake prompted.

  “Yes. I probably should have brought it, but if you had turned the project down…”

  Carter let out a rueful laugh. “Oh, you don’t know our Jake. The fact he even invited you here meant we were taking the project.”

  Was it her imagination, or did Jake flush? Ignoring his brother, Jake leaned back, gaze locked on her. “We really are booked up. I could maybe get you a rough sketch in a couple of weeks. Do you have a survey of the land? Topography and tree locations would be best, but we could probably make do with just a boundary survey for the permitting.”

  Carter jumped in on this. “It would fly with the county, but topo is definitely better.”

  “And do you have a list of the vet services you are wanting to include? Parks and Wildlife have their minimum facility requirements, of course, but I’ve always felt that those regulations barely cover the basics. Especially—”

  She held up a hand to cut Andrew off, and he snapped his mouth shut. Sending him a smile to make sure he knew she wasn’t mad, shook her head, then let out a laugh and turned to Carter. “Wow. Okay. First, yes, I have a boundary survey, it came with the closing documents on the land. No, I don’t think it has ‘topo’ on it. Whatever that is.” Then she turned to face Jake once more. “A sketch would be wonderful, but I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Rates? Contracts? Signatures scribbled on napkins at least?”

  “No.” Jake’s eyes slid closed as Carter snorted and Andrew let out a huff. “I mean, yes, we will draw up the contracts. I’ll have them ready with the sketches. I meant, no rates. I’ll do my part pro bono.”

  She froze as a cross between elation and disbelief filled her. The generosity was unexpected, but welcome. She wondered, again, if she had misjudged Jake.

  “Me too.” This was Andrew, and from him the words weren’t as shocking.

  She nodded to tell him she heard, but she was unable to look away from Jake. His eyes were once again that warm brown—the same as the first moment she saw him—and they sucked her in.

  There was a scritch at the back door and a small whine, breaking the tension.

  “And our peace has ended,” Carter said as he pushed his chair back and rose to let the puppies in. As he passed under the dining room lights, a faint line of freckles winked at her. How had she missed those?

  Three golden haired bundles of energy wiggled their way in as soon as the door had slid open a few inches, shoving the opening wider. They circled the table then headed to the kitchen to circle it, then came back to sit in a neat line beside Jake. They all stare
d at her, sniffed, then once more broke formation.

  “Don’t know what’s gotten into them,” Andrew murmured.

  “Don’t often have company,” Jake said. He jerked his head at Carter. “It’s dinner time anyway.”

  “On it.”

  Jake turned back to her as Carter led the pups to a door at the side of the kitchen. She caught a brief glimpse of a mud room with jackets, boots and leashes. “Actually,” Jake said, resuming the conversation, “it would be better if I had a look over your plan, and the survey, before I did any sketches. It’s better if I know what you want, then I can work that in along with what has to happen per code.”

  “Yeah,” Andrew stood and moved next to Jake, putting him across from Annabeth. “And I should see what you have worked out already. It’s good you found us, really.”

  A sense of unreality descended over her. “You’re really going to do it? Take on the project? Help me?” She found herself holding her breath, ready for Jake to laugh and say he was only joking, of course he wouldn’t bother with someone like her, who didn’t even know what a “topo” was.

  “I really am.” His eyes closed and he frowned.

  “Okay.” She rushed her words, not wanting to give him a chance to regret his words. “I can bring by the plan and details I have tomorrow, or in a week, or whenever is convenient. And if you’ll tell me what the ‘topo’ is and where I can get one, I’ll get that started.”

  “I know a guy,” was all Jake said.

  He knew a guy. Of course he knew a guy. This was why she’d wanted local.

  She really was going to be able to pull this off. The elation won out over the disbelief and she laughed as relief filled her. “Thank you.” She made sure to look at each brother, including Carter, who was just returning from the mud room. “Thank you all. Really. I don’t… I would have figured it out, somehow. But…” She blinked as the tears came.

  Damn it. She didn’t normally get like this, but then, it had been years since she’d felt this amount of relief. She hadn’t even realized how worried she’d been about getting this shelter off the ground. Now, with two chance encounters and a visit, she not only had a contractor, but an honest to goodness architect and a vet.

  And at least two of them were basically helping out of the goodness of their hearts.

  “Shit.” Carter strode to her side of the table. “What did you guys do to her in the sixty seconds I was gone?”

  Jake rolled his eyes, but it was Andrew who answered. “Nothing. Well, Jake told her again that we were taking on the project. Then he told her he knew a guy who could get the topo done.” Andrew reached out and nudged her hand and she turned to face him, tearing her gaze from Jake. “Topo is the topography, the… map of the height changes of the land.” He shrugged and gave her that soft smile again. “I picked up a few terms living with these two.”

  She blinked again, and the burning in her eyes faded away. No tears spilled. Thank god. “Thank you,” she said again.

  His smile grew into a grin that too closely resembled the one Carter liked to throw around, and she realized how… surrounded she felt. She jerked and placed her hands on the edge of the table, ready to push her chair back. “Well, I should get going—”

  A car door slammed, the sound muffled, and Carter jerked away from her chair, cursing under his breath.

  Jake’s expression went cold, and he was back to the asshole she’d first met.

  Andrew sighed, shook his head, and leaned in to stage-whisper. “Don’t mind them. They don’t like unexpected company.”

  “You’re not any better,” Jake shot back to his brother.

  “Jake!” Carter barked from the entry. “Get over here.”

  “Oh, don’t be like that Carter, honey.” The voice was feminine, sweet, and immediately set Annabeth’s teeth to grinding.

  For no reason. It was a tone she herself used many times in her life. Slightly coaxing, easy, and with steel underneath.

  She just didn’t like another woman using it on these brothers.

  Which is insane. Get a grip on yourself, Bethie. Get. A. Grip.

  A soft laugh filtered to her as Jake sighed and rose from his seat.

  “Stop.” It was Carter again, his tone hard.

  “Oh, sweetie. It’s not like—”

  “I said stop.”

  Screw getting a grip. I’ll get a grip on her throat.

  Annabeth was on her feet before she knew she even intended to stand, and found Andrew’s hand around her wrist. How had he moved around the table so fast? “Let Carter and Jake handle it.”

  She met his golden-brown stare, now more gold than brown. “Who is she?” she asked, as though she had a right.

  And Andrew answered. “An ex. Of Carter’s.” A pause. “And Jake’s.”

  “They were all togeth—” Annabeth cut herself off.

  Andrew’s lips twitched. “That might have been better. No, she was seeing them both, but neither knew. It was when they were in Houston.” They both twisted to look toward the entrance as Jake’s voice, too low to distinguish the words but oh so cold, filtered to them. “We actually grew up with her,” Andrew continued. “No doubt you’d have met her soon enough, if you kept going into town.”

  Another car door slammed, and more voices joined those at the entry. Two more women, and a man.

  “Shit.” Andrew’s grip went from keeping her in place to getting her moving. “Play along. Please.”

  The “please”, plus her own curiosity, had her nodding in agreement. “Who are they?”

  “Tiffany’s family, probably. They knew our parents, but…”

  And there was a story there. One she found herself wanting to know. “Tiffany? Really?” she murmured. Well, the voice did match the name. She and Andrew were nearly to the entrance. The front door stood open, spilling night air into the house. And probably bugs.

  Andrew slipped her hand over his arm, stepped onto the porch and shut the door behind them. Jake and Carter stood side by side on the porch, facing down an older woman and man who hovered at the base of the steps. A younger, dark-haired girl, maybe in her mid-twenties, stood behind them, her expression making it clear she, at least, didn’t want to be there.

  A third woman stood close to Carter, her hand on his shoulder. She was petite, slender, with the same dark hair as the other two women. Unlike the other two women, her jeans were just this side of too tight, and her face was done up to perfection. Carter shrugged her off, only to have that hand come right back.

  “What are y’all doing here?” Carter asked, his voice all heat and anger.

  “Now, is that any way to greet an old friend?” the man asked.

  “We’re busy.” Carter stepped back, the move and his words a clear dismissal. Tiffany, because that must be who the clingy woman was, moved with him.

  “Now, don’t be that way.” Her gaze flicked to where Andrew and Annabeth stood, and she smiled at them. “Hi there, Andrew.” She didn’t say anything to Annabeth.

  Damn, now I know why Jake reacted the way he did back at Ed’s. While Annabeth physically didn’t have any resemblance to the petite brunette acting like a limpet with Carter, Annabeth knew that smile. It was one drilled into her from her teens, one she’d seen in the mirror many times, and one she’d used damn near every day of her life.

  It’s also the one Carter reacted to earlier today. She made a mental note to try to abandon that smile when around the brothers. Hell, maybe she should eliminate it from her arsenal of expressions altogether.

  “Well, now I see you already have company.” The older woman beamed a slightly more natural version of Tiffany’s smile and took a step forward, placing one foot on the stairs. “John here heard from Ed that you’d have a visitor tonight, the new tenant over at the Connor place, and we figured we’d kill two birds and come over to introduce ourselves and catch up with you boys. Tiffany told us she used to see you back in Houston, and I hate to say it but you’ve been awful hard to pin down now that y
ou’re back.”

  It took Annabeth a full five seconds to wade through that statement, and in that time, chaos broke out.

  Carter snatched Tiffany’s hand from his arm and tossed it away. The puppies rounded the corner of the house and barreled toward the strange group of people. One of them shot up the steps and straight into Tiffany, who teetered on her heeled boots. She waved her arms and reached for Jake, who made no move to catch her.

  The other two jumped at the older woman, who let out a loud shriek.

  “Barb, calm down, they just want to meet you.” The man, she assumed this was John, grabbed his wife’s hand and tugged her back to him, the two puppies getting under her feet so she tripped into her husband, and the two of them went down.

  Meanwhile, the third woman had backed away, hands out and lips slammed together in suppressed laughter. A snort escaped her and she shook her head before turning her back to the scene.

  By the time Tiffany, Barb and John had all recovered themselves, Annabeth had come to a couple of conclusions. Tiffany’s parents knew nothing about what their daughter had been up to in Houston, and that same woman now had designs on securing herself a Peterson brother for the boasting.

  “What’s the plan?” she asked Andrew.

  “Originally it was to keep Carter and Jake from throwing them out.”

  Annabeth suspected Andrew meant that literally. She also noted that when he thought it was just Tiffany he’d had no worries about any possible throwing.

  “Now?”

  He sighed. “Now I think we’ll have an even harder time getting rid of them.”

  All four of the unwelcome visitors now stood on the porch. Tiffany had somehow managed to rip her shirt so that a stretch of tanned skin showed below her collarbone, and the elder couple were covered in grass and dust. The pups were also now lined up in the yard below, eager eyes on the porch. Jake held up a turned out hand toward them, a signal they must have understood.