by Tate James
It was the best plan. That was how it would go. He would make sure of it, make sure Carter knew any plans he had were off the table.
Jake took a breath. Then another. Any minute the churning in his stomach would ease, and he’d tell them what he’d decided. In the meantime, he’d study the hardwood floor. It could use a polish, what with the littles running around scraping the shit out of it.
“Jake.”
He took another breath as one of his brothers approached. He caught a whiff of mint. Andrew. Leather creaked and paws scrambled on the other side of the living room. Carter must have decided to get out of reach and make himself useful by wrangling the pups.
“Jake.”
“Another minute.”
Silence. That was the great thing about Andrew. When Jake needed a minute, his brother never asked why. And he always gave it.
Jake had never been able to handle change. Though he’d always wanted to become an architect, and moving to Houston had been the logical next step when he’d gotten an offer from a prominent firm, it hadn’t been easy. Carter had been out there for a year or so already, and that made things easier.
He’d adapted, and he’d carved out a piece of that world for himself. He’d settled. Then they found out how hard of a time Andrew was really having, and he’d had to uproot himself again. It hadn’t been as hard that time, because he was coming home to his brother, but it had still taken him a good year to adjust.
He couldn’t handle another upheaval. But he would, for Andrew. He would do it. For Andrew and Annabeth.
He released the back of the sofa and raised his head. He met Andrew’s golden gaze. “We need to talk,” he said.
Carter snorted. “No shit. And that’s exactly what I was trying to do when you blew up at me. Aren’t you supposed to be the cold—”
“Carter.” Andrew had pulled out the “dad” voice, and it still worked.
Carter pulled Harley into his lap and accepted the puppy kisses. “All I’m saying is this is exactly the sort of thing I was trying to avoid by declaring my intentions.”
“Intentions?” Jake’s gut twisted. “Again, what are your intentions? And because you have ‘intentions,’ we,” he waved a hand at Andrew, “are just supposed to bow out forever? What if she doesn’t want you? What then?” That was how that worked, wasn’t it? You didn’t poach in your own backyard.
Carter’s lips tightened and he didn’t answer.
“Exactly.” Jake jabbed a finger in his direction. “And what about Andrew? You heard what he said. You’d do that to him?”
“What about you? You’re pretty heated for the sake of a client.”
Jake ignored the question. This wasn’t about him. This was about Annabeth, and Andrew. “I’m not a factor in this equation. But she’s a good woman, and she deserves—”
“A good man?” Carter set Harley on the floor and rose. “Fuck you, Jake.” He rounded the edge of the couch and ignored both Jake and Andrew as he headed for the stairs.
This just kept getting worse. They were falling apart. “I didn’t mean—”
“You did.” Carter stopped, one foot on the bottom tread. He remained turned away. “You meant it. I get it. I slept around. Past tense. No, I’ve never been in a relationship longer than a few months. Have any of us?”
No.
“But I don’t agree that I don’t deserve my happiness. And something tells me that that happiness is Annabeth.” He placed his hand on the rail and gripped it.
“We still need to talk,” Andrew said, his tone patient. “And it would be best if you both heard me out.” There was a new note, an anticipation, that Jake had never heard from him. Andrew gave Jake a nudge. “Sit.” Then he went to Carter and grabbed his shoulder. “Just… hear me out, okay?”
Carter sighed and turned back, avoiding Jake’s gaze. He resumed his seat and Harley scrambled back into his lap. When all three brothers were finally settled, they each had a dog. Carter’s face was blank, Andrew’s thoughtful, and Jake didn’t even want to take a guess at his own expression. If it was anything like his thoughts, it would be twisted into an unrecognizable mess.
“She needs us.” That was Andrew’s opener. “I’m not sure what happened, but she’s hurt. There’s a pain in her. She needs this place, this shelter, but she also needs us. I don’t think she has all that many close friends.”
Jake thought back to the day he first met her. To the smile that wasn’t a smile, to the isolated air she carried, like there was no one she truly trusted in this world but herself.
“Then she can have me,” Carter said, stubborn until the end.
“She needs us.”
“What are you saying, Andrew?” Jake asked. Midas shifted from his lap and settled beside him on the sofa, the length of his growing body pressed to his thigh. “Spit it out.”
“I’m saying what I mean. She needs us. Together.” There was nothing but certainty in Andrew’s tone.
“And we’re back to all of us fucking her.” Carter’s scowl and tense shoulders sent Harley from his lap and to the back door.
“No.” Andrew set Minnow aside and rose. He stalked to Carter’s chair and stared him down. “That is not what I’m saying. I’m saying she needs us in her life. And if it comes to that point, to sex, then, well, fine.” Heat rode his cheeks, but whether it was embarrassment or anger, Jake didn’t know.
“So, what, we’re her friends forever and ever, the bestest of the besties?” Carter’s sarcasm, born of resentment, was scathing. Jake, still buried in his own anger, wanted to hold it against him, but couldn’t. What Andrew was suggesting was ridiculous.
“No. You don’t get it.” Andrew stepped back and sighed. “It’s her choice. It’s all her choice. But, we’re all drawn to her. We all want her.” A quick cut of Andrew’s gaze in his direction told Jake that at least that brother wasn’t fooled by Jake’s denials. “And I think she’s drawn to all of us. No, I know she is.” He stepped back and turned to face them both. “When she’s ready, we’ll be here. And, we will, all of us, be okay with that. So, you two get your heads on straight before that happens.” Andrew crossed his arms. “I will not have her hurt again. We’ll just have to adjust.”
Adjust? Was Andrew insane? Jake knew where this would lead. Andrew said friends, but they wouldn’t stay that way. Carter would push and push. Andrew said it was all her choice, but he’d obviously thought this far in advance. He wanted all of them to date her, to love her, to…
Well, they couldn’t all marry her, that was for sure. It was damned illegal.
Jake shoved aside his tangled thoughts and concentrated, examining the idea. All three of them, and Annabeth. Images came to him, too quickly to sort. Flashes of shared meals, and hanging Christmas lights. He and her bent over plans and arguing about the best placement for the reception desk. Her and Andrew, coaxing a new arrival to trust them. Her and Carter, bickering as he teased her. It should have felt awkward, should have stirred up the chaos and churning he felt when contemplating anything new. It should have sent him running.
It didn’t, and that was more of a shock than Andrew proposing the idea in the first place.
“No.” Carter’s voice was stone.
“Can you honestly say you’d take her, and walk away from us?” Andrew’s voice softened in response to Carter’s impassivity. “And are you so certain she would agree to that?” He dropped to a near whisper. “What would be worse, having her in your life in whatever way she agrees—even if it’s not what you envision right now—or never having her at all?”
The words hit Jake like golf-ball-sized hail, putting dents in the flimsy armor he’d been donning in defense of the change that was Annabeth.
“I’d rather have her,” Andrew finished.
And with that he also finished off the last of Jake’s denial. “Me too.” The words were squeezed from a tight throat, but they were clear. “Me too,” Jake said again.
Carter’s eyes went wide then narrowed to slits. “
You’re both insane.”
“Just… don’t decide anything until you think on it, okay?” Andrew’s voice was back to his usual mildness. “I’ll put the pups in their crates.” Then he snapped his fingers and headed for the door to the mud room and garage beyond. Midas groaned then leapt from the sofa to follow after his brothers.
Carter leaned back in his chair, his mouth and brow tense. “You’re really okay with this?”
“Strangely… yes.” Again, Jake expected doubt and confusion to swarm over him, to make it impossible for him to adjust to this new reality that Andrew proposed. Then he thought about Annabeth with only one of them, the others left out and longing. That brought the anxiety back, he shoved those thoughts to the side. His earlier conclusion, that Annabeth and Andrew were the ones meant to be, had been wrong.
After giving a terse nod, Carter rose and headed for the stairs. He was half-way up when he paused. “I’ll think about it.” Then he was gone.
Jake let out a breath and his shoulders slumped. Carter saying he’d think about it was as good as a yes. The middle triplet didn’t budge once he’d made up his mind. If his answer had moved from “no” to “think about it” that meant he’d been swayed.
We’re not the problem, though. No, the real hurdle would be Annabeth. But with the brothers working together…
Well, hopefully she wouldn’t be a problem for long.
13
interlude
Why are they mad? It’s good that they all like her. It would be bad if their soul leashes were tied to someone they didn’t want to be with. Minnow snugged in between his brothers. This was the best spot, because you were warm on both sides.
Margie, her golden fur translucent, sat in front of the three pups. Because humans can’t see the soul leashes.
She’s already told you that. Harley rolled away and stood, shaking his fur out. My human is worried. I could smell it. His soul leash is tied too tight, I think, and he’s pulling too hard.
Give him time. This was Adam. His young face was thoughtful as he stared into the distance. I can’t see what you four can, but I think, in a way, I can sense it on my own. I mean, she let him call her Bethie. And it’s hard for us humans to share like that. But if you’re right, and the Petersons are one soul split apart…
I’m right. I’ve been telling you this. And soon we won’t need to stick around here anymore. Margie brushed against Adam’s side and disappeared through the far garage wall.
I don’t care. Midas yawned. My human said he was fine with it. Besides, the souls are tied, so that’s that.
Adam nodded. That is that, isn’t it? Then he too disappeared.
The pups cuddled together again and drifted off.
The soul leashes were well and truly tied. So that was that.
14
annabeth
Annabeth sat at the breakfast table, her untouched coffee by her right hand and a stack of mail to the left. Morning light filtered through the cheery pale-yellow and blue striped curtains she’d put up just yesterday.
Her mind skipped back to the day before, avoiding thoughts of what lay on the table directly in front of her. Yesterday had been wonderful. The curtains, the promise of a puppy of her own, and the exhilaration of making progress on her shelter plans. She’d lined up three steady donors using her connections back in Houston, with the promise of two more in a few weeks. She’d also talked to Sally, and just as Andrew had predicted, the woman had jumped at the chance to be on the board for the shelter foundation.
Then there was Jake… She’d been arguing with Jake over the placement of the kennel runs, both of them so intent on making their points they hadn’t even noticed how close they’d come to each other. Then she’d turned her head, and Jake’s lips had been right there.
She’d almost leaned in. More and more she was tempted by these brothers. Tempted to want something that was forever out of her reach…
And just like that, her gaze fell to the open card before her on the table, with its cute baby elephants and rabbits and balloons all in shades of pink.
A Little Peanut is on the Way!
Please join us for a baby shower honoring Sabrina Jameson! R.S.V.P. to Cora Jameson…
Eyes burning, she swallowed then fumbled for her now cold coffee. She should make a new pot…
Her hand brushed against a corner of the card and it spun, coming to a rest against the stack of bills and fliers and other junk mail. Familiar script, the strokes precise and elegant, caught her eyes. With a hand that didn’t feel as though it were her own, she pulled the card to her and opened it fully, holding it flat to the table.
Annabeth, I know this may seem cruel, but I felt you should see it. Your father and I are going to attend, we do still consider James to be part of the family.
Please, don’t be sad, and use this as an opportunity to come to terms with what you lack and learn to make the best of it.
Love,
Mom
p.s. – I shouldn’t say this, but I’m not sure Adam would want you sacrificing your life like this for his eight-year-old dream. Reconsider coming back to Houston. You can stay with your father and I until you get your feet back under you. You know I worry.
Annabeth couldn’t hold back the bitter laugh that escaped as she read her mother’s last words. You know I worry. What a load of crap. Maybe her mother had once worried about her, in the months after the car accident that had taken Adam’s life and landed Annabeth in the hospital for a good three weeks. Annabeth had almost been dead that day as well.
Sometimes she wished she’d gone with Adam…
She looked again at the baby shower invitation. There was a curl of pink flowers and vines twining around the names and up to connect with the baby elephant…
It all blurred…
Annabeth sucked in a breath, and the world paused. Then the sobs came. She sat there at the little wooden table she’d found at an estate sale, and could no longer hold back the flood of memories and loss, of hopes that were never to be, and dreams that had been impossible before she’d even had them.
The accident that had taken her brother from her had also taken away any hope she’d had for a family of her own. After they’d removed the shards of metal that had been embedded in her abdomen, the doctors had warned her parents that infertility was a possibility. One of her ovaries had had to be removed, and there would be considerable scarring in her uterus, which would make conceiving and carrying to term difficult if not impossible.
Annabeth hadn’t really listened then. What fourteen-year-old worried about being able to get pregnant?
But it was at that point her mother changed. Gone was the warm and fun-loving mom Annabeth and Adam had known. In her place was a stranger intent on turning Annabeth into the “perfect lady” to make up for her “shortcomings.” And her father wasn’t any better. He retreated into his own world, barely acknowledging Annabeth’s presence. He’d never uttered Adam’s name again.
That accident not only took Adam from them, it broke them all.
“Bethie?”
The voice was right behind her and she jumped then hunched her shoulders in, trying to wipe her tears away before they could be seen. A hand reached over her shoulder and found her chin, tugging it to the side and her face into the light. She resisted for a moment, then relented.
It wasn’t as though Carter didn’t know she’d been crying. And it had to be Carter, he was the only one to call her Bethie. The callused hand was gentle as it guided her face around and up. Yup, it was the middle brother, the slight hint of silver around the iris and faint line of freckles on his cheekbones confirmed it.
I’ll have to remember to tease him about having cute freckles. Her attention locked onto those playful spots. Would they fade in the winter, when the sun wasn’t as harsh?
“Bethie? What’s wrong?” His lips turned down in a scowl and his eyes narrowed. “Is someone giving you trouble?”
She shook her head, or tried to. “It’s noth
ing.”
“Someone says it’s nothing, that means it’s something. And I’ve already let the ‘nothing’ pass once.” His gaze moved to the table, to her unfinished coffee and the mail stacked there.
And the invitation.
She pulled away from his grasp, and fumbled to scoop the invitation into the general mail pile, but he was faster, snatching it from under her fingers in an instant.
His frown faded to puzzlement, and his brows drew together. Then his eyes flicked over the note from her mother and the scowl was back in force. “What you lack?”
The words were angry. Carter’s gaze drilled into her, and she wanted to respond with a quip, or a scowl of her own, or even a punch to his face, but…
Instead she stared up at him as her eyes burned and tears spilled. She opened her mouth, but her throat was tight with her effort to keep in the sobs she’d only barely suppressed when he arrived, and no words would emerge.
Then he crumpled the invitation—and her mother’s words—in his fist, and the dam broke again. Her lips and face contorted as she allowed five years of pent up loss and grief to pour out.
Carter didn’t ask any more questions, he just pulled her from the chair and into his arms. His warmth and strength wrapped around her and she buried her face in his shoulder.
Just a few minutes. Just a few moments like this and then I’ll be strong again. This was her promise to herself as she allowed a man she’d only known for a couple of weeks to comfort her.
His hand came up to rest on the back of her head, the weight solid and welcome. It slid down, gliding over the hair she had yet to brush and to her lower back, before rising again to repeat the motion. It was mesmerizing, that movement, the comforting pressure, and Annabeth found her shoulders easing down as her breaths slowed. The tears continued, but now they were cleansing.
