Unraveling Him: A Small Town Family Romance (The Bailey Brothers Book 3)

by Claire Kingsley

  “Don’t worry.” I leaned over and brushed her lips with a kiss. “I’ll be careful with them.”

  She nodded, grabbed the box we’d made, and got out of the car.

  Fiona had taken this prank extremely seriously—especially her role in it. And she’d been key to pulling it off. We needed someone to get in the tavern with a fake delivery. Obviously none of us could do it. But Fiona wasn’t as well known, and insisted she could disguise herself enough to look like a stranger.

  I’d been skeptical, but she’d gone all out to make herself look convincing. Brown shirt and khaki shorts that at first glance looked a lot like a UPS driver. Her hat hid her face and she’d bought some non-prescription glasses, insisting that if glasses worked for Superman, they could work for her.

  But she hadn’t stopped there. She’d taken out her nose ring, since that was fairly recognizable, and dyed her hair. She looked hot as fuck as a blond, so I was not complaining.

  My brothers caught up with us as she walked across the street and up the sidewalk toward the tavern, casually tossing nuts out on the sidewalk as she went.

  “Bro, it’s about to be squirrel-pocalypse,” Gavin said. “I hope you’re ready for what’s coming.”

  “You guys did what Fiona said? You made the trails lead here?”

  “Yeah. But you still haven’t told us why we’re luring every fucking squirrel in Tilikum over here.”

  I got out and took the kennel out of the back seat. Peek and Boo scampered around inside. Fiona was almost to the tavern door, and more squirrels started to arrive, following the trails of nuts my brothers had laid out all around town.

  “Fiona’s going to deliver the package, then her beady-eyed little friends here are going to do the rest.”

  “What’s in the package?” Logan asked.

  One corner of my mouth hooked in a grin. “Nuts, peanut butter, cookies. Squirrel crack, basically. And we rigged the box to explode when they open it, so it’s going to send shit flying everywhere.”

  “How’d you do that?” Asher asked.

  “She found a YouTube tutorial. The video was how to make a gift box that pops open and flings confetti. We just… modified it a little.”

  “Like a glitter bomb?” Logan asked.

  “Yeah, except it’s a nut bomb.”

  Gavin snickered. “Nut bomb.”

  Levi jumped out of the way as a squirrel ran by. “Jesus. But how are the squirrels going to get in? Is she going to hold the door open or something?”

  I turned the kennel around so it was facing the trail of nuts that led to the building. “Nope. That’s why we have them. Stand back.”

  My brothers took a few steps away and I opened the door.

  Peek and Boo darted out of the kennel and circled around a bit, stopping to sniff the air. One of them noticed a few squirrels racing around the nuts Fiona had strewn and took the bait. The other followed.

  “Come on, little shits,” I said under my breath.

  They went around to the side of the tavern, just like they were supposed to. We could just see them climb up the tree we’d baited with treats and follow the branch that led across to the roof.

  “When did you set this all up?” Logan asked.

  “Last night. Fiona taught them how to do an obstacle course at home, so we just used the same technique here. And there’s a vent up there that I might have loosened so it would pop open if they pushed on it.”

  We watched the two squirrels Fiona had trained find the vent hole near the roof. They both disappeared inside. A few more squirrels went up the tree after them, like they were curious where their friends had gone.

  “Holy shit,” Gavin said.

  Fiona came out of the tavern, minus the box. She glanced around, then held onto her hat and hurried over.

  “Oh my god, my heart feels like it’s going to burst,” she said, her smile so bright it lit up the whole street. She took off her fake glasses.

  “He took it?” I asked.

  “He totally took it,” she said. “But oh man, Luke was in there. So was Annika. But I don’t think they recognized me.”

  Levi’s gaze snapped to her, his eyes alarmed. I didn’t have time to ask what his problem was. Fiona kept talking.

  “I just kept my head down, but I thought any second, someone was going to yell my name or… I guess I don’t know what they would have done. Not opened the box, that’s for sure. Are Peek and Boo okay?”

  “They’re about to be the happiest little shits in town.”

  Logan winced again as more squirrels scampered around us. A few ran up the tree and even more scurried around on the tavern roof. “I’m so not comfortable with this.”

  “Now what happens?” Asher asked.

  “Wait for it,” I said. We ducked behind my car.

  At first, all was quiet, except for the growing gang of squirrels running around the tavern. More of them found their way to the vent Peek and Boo had opened, their bushy gray tails disappearing inside.

  More followed, until a steady stream of squirrels climbed the tree and crossed the branch to the tavern.

  The muffled sound of a commotion suddenly rang out from inside the tavern. Loud bangs, like chairs toppling over, hitting the wood floor.

  “I think the bartender just opened the box,” Fiona said.

  The front door flew open and customers raced out to the parking lot, squirrels darting around their feet. One of the little fuckers clung to someone’s jeans. The guy stopped with a yell and kicked his leg until it let go.

  As if they could sense the smorgasbord waiting inside, squirrels ran in through the open tavern door while the people rushing out narrowly missed stepping on them.

  Pandemonium.

  A steady stream of squirrels climbed the tree, crossed the branch, and went in the vent. More ran right up to the front door, dodging the feet of people trying to leave. Other squirrels ran out, carrying their treasure of nuts and cookies in their mouths and tiny clawed hands.

  The Timberbeast Tavern had become Squirrel Central.

  A squirrel ran out and darted in our direction, carrying something that wasn’t a nut.

  “Does he have a wallet?” Levi asked.

  Another ran out with what looked like a half-eaten cheeseburger and disappeared down the street.

  My brothers erupted with laughter, cracking up at the chaos that was the Havens’ hangout. Their goat prank on the Caboose had been original, I had to give them that. But neither side had ever truly harnessed the power of the Tilikum squirrels.

  It was fucking hilarious.

  Fiona tried to stifle her giggles behind her hand. “Oh my word, this is crazy.”

  “Uh, guys?” Levi said. “Maybe we should get out of here.”

  The burly Timberbeast bartender appeared in the doorway, his face flushed bright red.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  Asher, Logan, and Levi stuffed themselves in the back seat while Fiona and Gavin took the front. Abandoning the kennel—I’d come back for it later—I hopped in. A few seconds later, I was ripping us out of there, my arm slung over the bench seat, my girl at my side.

  Careful not to hit any squirrels, I drove us out of town and headed for my place.

  When we got there, everyone piled out. Fiona went in first and shrieked as soon as she opened the door. I flung an arm around her, twisting to pull her behind me.

  But she was laughing.

  Right in the middle of my living room stood life-sized cardboard cutouts of all my brothers, naked except for tightie-whitie underwear. With my face on the crotch.

  As if that wasn’t enough, there was one of me. Naked. They’d Photoshopped me holding a picture in front of my junk.

  A picture of my brothers wearing underwear with my face.

  How the fuck?

  I stared at the ridiculousness in my living room while Fiona and my brothers erupted in hysterical laughter behind me, then shot an accusing glance at Sasquatch. “You let them do this?”
r />   His tongue lolled out of his mouth. Traitor dog.

  “Oh my god, those are even funnier in real life,” Fiona said.

  “How?” I asked.

  Gavin clapped me on the back as he walked in. “Magicians don’t reveal their secrets. Or, in our case, prank masters don’t reveal their secrets.”

  Fiona slipped her hand in mine and squeezed. “I might have taken that picture of you.”

  I looked down at her—at those hazel-green eyes I loved so much—and laughed. I had to admit, it was well played.

  “Oh!” Fiona exclaimed. “I need a pair of those Evan underwear. Did you guys order extras?”

  “Of course we did,” Logan said. “There’s a box of them in the kitchen.”

  She bounced up on her tiptoes and clapped. “Yay!”

  I just rolled my eyes.

  Levi and Logan went to the fridge for beers, and for once I didn’t bark at everyone to go home, or tell them I had too much work to do to hang out. It felt good to be included. We all grabbed celebratory beers, I gave my dog a treat—even though he hardly deserved it for letting them prank me in my own house—and settled on the couch with Fiona.

  “Props to you for that one, brodown,” Logan said. “That was a nicely executed, fine-tuned prank.”

  “Epic,” Gavin said. “Fucking epic.”

  I held up my bottle. “Baileys.”

  Everyone lifted their bottles and a chorus of “Baileys” went up.

  “Wouldn’t have happened without Fiona,” I said, squeezing her.

  She’d ditched her hat and her newly blond hair spilled around her shoulders. “My heart’s still beating so fast.”

  “Well done.” Gavin lifted his beer. “To Fiona, the newest honorary Bailey.”

  We all toasted to that, clinking our bottles together.

  I met Fiona’s eyes. She smiled and I wondered if she knew what I was thinking.

  I wondered if she knew that this prank wasn’t even half of what I had planned. She wasn’t going to be just an honorary Bailey much longer.

  Not if I had anything to say about it.

  46

  Fiona

  Cara had told me Grace and Asher were going to have the most beautiful wedding in the history of ever, and she’d been totally right.

  It wasn’t just the setting—her family’s beautiful winery, surrounded by gardens, orchards, vineyards, and mountain peaks. It wasn’t just the decor, although everything from the flowers to the twinkle lights were gorgeous. It wasn’t even how stunning Grace looked in her dress or how dapper Asher was in his tux.

  It was all of that and more.

  And mostly, it was them.

  There was hardly a dry eye in the garden when they said their vows. They’d been down such a hard road to get to this moment, and everyone, even me, knew how perfect they were for each other. We all knew what this meant.

  I sobbed my way through the ceremony.

  Evan stood up front with his brothers, looking unbelievably hot in his suit. God, he cleaned up good.

  And even my grumpy broody man wasn’t immune to the deep emotion of this day. He didn’t covertly swipe a tear when he thought no one would see, like both Logan and Gavin did. But right at the moment when Asher said his vows, Evan looked at me. Our eyes locked and my heart sped up. His gaze softened, that intense brow furrow smoothing, his whiskey-brown eyes clear and pure. And he smiled.

  It wasn’t my wedding—wasn’t my moment—but my heart nearly burst right there.

  The reception started off with wine and hors d’oeuvres while guests mingled and the bride and groom took pictures. I finally met Grace’s brother Leo, who’d helped Evan save me from Felix Orman. I hugged him, possibly with a little more enthusiasm than was necessary, but who could blame me? I’d been through a lot that day, and he’d helped save my life. Helped reunite me with Evan.

  I updated him on my dad. He was facing multiple counts of grand theft auto, among other things. He’d face some prison time, but from what I understood, he was cooperating with the feds to put Felix Orman and his ring of thieves and human traffickers behind bars. So he’d probably get off easy.

  Honestly, I didn’t care anymore. I did care about him—he was still my dad—but I’d washed my hands of feeling responsible for him. He’d pay for his crimes one way or another. It wasn’t my problem anymore.

  As the reception went on into the night, people danced and laughed and ate and drank. Grace looked so happy I wanted to cry every time I looked at her. Cara pretty much did. She’d burst into tears so many times, she’d given up on fixing her makeup.

  She still looked amazing, though. Cara always did.

  It was close to midnight when Evan and I finally said goodbye. I left the winery on Evan’s arm, floating on a cloud of joyful contentment. Being surrounded by the Baileys and the Miles family, with everyone so freaking happy, had left me drenched in bliss.

  Laughing, I did a little twirl next to Evan’s car. “That was the best night ever. Asher and Grace are so happy, and everyone there was so happy, and I’m just so happy for them.”

  His mouth hooked in a smile. “Me too.”

  We got in and Evan started the car.

  “Did you have fun? I had so much fun.”

  “I did, actually. It was great.”

  I sighed. “And you thought you hated weddings. They’re so romantic.”

  He didn’t say anything else. Just glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

  We drove home in the darkness, leaving the jubilant celebration behind. Evan glanced at me a few times, like he had something on his mind. I wondered what he was thinking. Maybe he was just happy for his brother.

  The lights were on in the shop when we parked out front, which was weird because I thought we’d shut them off.

  “Did we leave those on all day?” I asked.

  Evan shrugged. “Not sure.”

  We got out of the car and went over to the shop door. Evan unlocked it, but before we could go inside, he took my hand. I met his eyes, but he didn’t say anything. Just opened the door and led me in.

  I took a few steps, then stopped, my eyes widening.

  There were plants everywhere. Tall plants in large pots. Skinny plants, trailing vines, little plants with white flowers.

  “What is all this?”

  “Some of these will probably need to go live in the house,” he said. “But I figured you love plants, so… here’s twenty. Do you like them?”

  I took slow steps through the shop, trying to look at each one. “I love them so much.”

  “The pots all have chalkboard labels on them,” he said, gesturing. “That way you can write their names on there if you want.”

  My eyes filled with tears and my throat felt so tight I wasn’t sure I’d be able to speak. “This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. When did you do all this? How did you do all this?”

  He casually shrugged one shoulder. “I had help.”

  I rushed back to him and landed in his arms. “Why are you so amazing?”

  He squeezed me tight. “I just love you. There’s something else you haven’t noticed though.”

  “What?”

  “The car sitting in the middle of the shop that wasn’t there before.”

  I blinked in surprise. There was a car sitting in the middle of the shop that hadn’t been there before. It was covered with a canvas, and surrounded by my new plants.

  “What is it? Our next restoration?”

  “That’s exactly what it is.”

  A zing of excitement pinged through me. “What is it? Who’s it for? I didn’t know we were getting something new already.”

  “I think maybe you should just look.”

  Nibbling my bottom lip, and with no idea what to expect, I drew the cover back. And couldn’t believe my eyes.

  “Oh my god. Evan. Is this what I think it is?”

  “Sixty-five Plymouth Belvedere.”

  I stared at the stripped body. The interior
looked rotten and I didn’t even know if there was an engine under the hood. But it was my car. My favorite. The funky boxy badass car I’d always loved.

  “How did you even know about this?” I asked through tears.

  “You told me. The first day of our road trip, you told me this was your favorite.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve kind of been looking for one ever since. And I figured since your car was totaled, you need something new. We can work on this together.”

  Happy tears made hot trails down my cheeks. “I don’t know what to do with myself. I love it so much. I love you so much. I can’t stop shaking.”

  He gathered me in his arms and gently touched my face. His lips met mine and I laughed and cried and kissed him all at once. I was a big, soggy mess of feelings, but he held me together, like always.

  “I love you so much,” I said again. “Thank you.”

  “I’m glad you like it. But I have a confession.”

  He let go and I looked up at him. “What?”

  “These were just to butter you up for what I really want to give you.”

  I had no idea what he could possibly give me that could be better than an entire family of beautiful houseplants and the car of my dreams, ready for us to restore together.

  Until he lowered down onto one knee.

  My breath caught in my throat.

  “Fiona.” His deep voice was so soft, his brow furrowed with intensity. “I love you more than anything. I want you to be mine, always. And I’ll always be yours. Will you marry me?”

  Oh.

  My.

  God.

  Evan Bailey was down on his knee with a ring in his hand.

  A ring for me.

  “Yes, yes, yes, oh my god yes.”

  I struggled not to bounce while he slid the ring on my finger. Then he scooped me in his thick, strong arms and picked me up off my feet. I threw my arms around his neck and held on tight.

  He was mine, and I was his.

  My hero. My wolf. My love.

  Forever.

  Epilogue

  Skylar

  “Skylar, we need to talk.”