Love Under Two Prospectors [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting)

by Cara Covington

  Not because she’d lost her leg but because she’d lost her spirit.

  Her mother stepped forward, her trembling hand extended, and Brittany gave her the pills. Margaret put them in her pocket and then gathered her daughter close. Brittany dissolved in tears, in sobs that tore from her until she had no energy left.

  “Mommy?” Brittany was shaking all over, and she thought she just might throw up. “Mommy, I need help.”

  “Finally. Thank God!” Margaret cupped her face. “Yes, sweetheart, you need help. And I’m going to get you the best damn help there is. And this time, Missy, you’re going to do your part. No more self-pity. Do you get me?”

  Brittany had never seen her mom look so determined. She nodded her head slowly. “Okay, Mom. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

  Margaret grinned. “It won’t be me you’ll be obeying, sweetheart.”

  She was afraid to hope for what she thought her mother meant. So she nodded, and when her mother wrapped her arms around her again, she hugged her back for all she was worth.

  Chapter Three

  June 2018

  Brittany worried all the way to the airport about what she was going to say when she saw Sean and Noah Kendall again. There was no doubt whatsoever that she owed them a huge apology. She’d hurt them in her very misguided attempt to do what was right for them—no, what she thought was right for them.

  She was so much into her thoughts she didn’t immediately notice when her dad turned a few miles before he should have.

  He saw her look around and smiled. “We’re not going to the big airport, sweetheart.” He meant Indianapolis International Airport. “Sean and Noah are bringing a private plane in to pick you up.”

  She shook her head. “I knew they were successful businessmen when I met them, but I didn’t think anything more about it. And then, after the accident, they got themselves to Germany and then me to San Diego by private jet. And I found out the day I became an outpatient they leased that big house so that mom and I could be together there, so I didn’t have to stay on base, with mom staying at a hotel in the city. I guess I didn’t realize they were that successful.”

  “They’re doing all right.” Her father grinned at her, and she understood from that cryptic comment, and the fact that her mother chuckled from the back seat, that he’d had conversations with the brothers Kendall she hadn’t been aware of. Of course, that shouldn’t surprise her at all because her mother had done so, as well.

  Brittany very much feared that her dad might have “grilled” them in the way she’d heard fathers sometimes did prospective boyfriends. She’d roll her eyes in embarrassment, except she’d done a lot worse than put them on the spot with personal questions. In her own way, though she hadn’t meant to, she’d diminished them. As if how they felt about her, hell, as if their feelings, period, were irrelevant.

  How could I have been so damn mean to them? Brittany blinked back tears.

  “Everything is going to be all right, Brit.” Her father sounded confident in that.

  “God, I hope so. I’m such an idiot.” She really did hope so, though she still didn’t deserve Sean’s and Noah’s love, especially after what she’d put them through. But if they were still interested in her, if they were still offering their love to her, then she wasn’t going to talk them out of it. No, I’m going to grab them with both hands, hang on tight, and never let go.

  And if they weren’t? If they were just being kind? She’d do everything she could to win them back. She’d never stopped loving them.

  Brittany shook her head. She had to stop doing that, stop expecting the worst. And she had to guess Sean and Noah were still interested in her because they were coming to get her. Her mother’s hand gripped her left shoulder, and Brittany reached up with her right hand to cover it. “You’ll call me, won’t you, sweetheart? Once a week is good enough, just to let me know how you’re doing?”

  “I will.” Over the last week, Brittany thought she and her mom had become even closer than they had ever been. She still didn’t know why she’d let herself get so crazy. But she had, and the mistakes she’d made and the pain she’d caused were things she’d have to live with for the rest of her life.

  The car slowed, and Brittany looked to the right to see they’d arrived at a private airfield. Her father seemed to know where he was going because he took another right to follow the paved track, and when they passed the first hangar, he turned left.

  They emerged from between the two hangars to the view of a sleek-looking jet that bore a number but no corporate name on the tail.

  Two men were moving around the plane, inspecting it, and Brittany knew they were likely the pilots. One of the men straightened as her dad brought the car to a stop, and though he looked familiar, he wasn’t one of her men.

  Maybe a brother or a cousin? The other man turned toward her, and she realized they both bore a kind of family resemblance to Sean and Noah. Brittany had no idea where they were going. She knew the guys had been born and raised in Wyoming. Maybe they were taking her there?

  It really didn’t matter because as long as she was going to be with Sean and Noah, she’d be more than content. Brittany felt hope in her heart for the first time since the accident. Maybe, just maybe being with the brothers Kendall, she had a chance at honest-to-goodness happiness.

  Brittany was pulled back to her thoughts when Sean appeared at the open door of the plane just as her dad brought the car to a stop. Her heart actually bumped in her chest, and the butterfly brigade in her belly swooped and dove.

  She usually took a great deal of care getting into and out of a car. Right then, she didn’t even think about it. She had her door open and was standing on the ground before she realized what she was doing. Noah appeared behind Sean, and Brittany didn’t even worry about what she would say to them.

  For the first time since the accident, she ran. Thank goodness Sean caught her before she completely lost her balance. And then his arms were around her, and for the first time in weeks, her world felt right.

  “Oh, God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I hurt you, I hurt you both, and I never wanted to do that. I don’t even know why I—”

  Sean cupped her face and kissed her. Hot and hungry, his kiss immediately thawed everything that had been frozen up inside her. Noah pressed his body against her back. Sean lifted his mouth from hers, and Noah’s lips devoured her. She gave him all the passion she had inside her, letting him know she’d missed him as much as she’d missed Sean, that her heart hurt for having hurt them both so cruelly.

  “There, now.” Noah eased his lips from hers and then kissed the top of her head. Then he stroked his hand down her head as he had so many times before. He stepped back, and Sean cupped her face again. He used his thumbs to brush her tears away.

  “Are you all right, baby girl?”

  “I’m getting there. I told Mom I needed help, and I’m telling you, too. I’m telling both of you. I need help.”

  “Good girl. We’ll talk, later.” Sean looked over her head and then eased her so that she was under his left arm. He extended his right to her father. “Thank you for bringing her to us, sir. It’s good to finally meet you, face-to-face.”

  “I’ll say the same.” Her dad’s attention was drawn to the two men who’d just finished the pre-flight inspection.

  “These are two of our cousins—Morgan and Henry Kendall.” Noah pointed to each man in turn. “Gentlemen, Chief Warrant Officer Bickford Phillips, U.S. Navy, retired.” Morgan and Henry stepped forward to shake her dad’s hand.

  “My wife, Margaret.” Her dad reached for her mom, and Brittany grinned at the way he took her hand and brought it to his lips.

  “This is Brittany.” She looked up for a moment as Sean said her name. Dumbfounded, she turned to shake his cousins’ hands. The look that had been in Sean’s eyes was the same one she’d just seen in her father’s eyes, that she’d witnessed so often whenever he spoke of, or to, her mother.

  “I’m
pleased to meet you, Brittany.” Morgan Kendall’s face held nothing but kindness, as did his brother, Henry’s.

  “You served?” her father asked Morgan.

  “Yes, sir. My brother and I were both in the Air Force. We retired just a couple of years ago.”

  “It shows.” Then he turned his attention back to Brittany. She stepped over to him and hugged him. His embrace was particularly snug. Then he set her back but kept his hands on her shoulders. “You get better.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry…” Her breath hitched, and her father took advantage of that.

  “No more apologies, poppet. I have no clue how I would have dealt with the hand you were given. You’re a woman of strength, but no one expects you to do it all on your own or to be strong all of the time.” Then he looked up at Sean and Noah. “You take care of my daughter.”

  Sean stepped forward and took Brittany’s hand. “We will.”

  Noah walked to the car to retrieve her luggage. She hugged her mom and her dad one more time, and then Sean led her up the few steps to the interior of the plane. He guided her to a window seat, settling her into what seemed a very nice, very plush leather armchair. This was a different plane than the one they’d used to bring her from Germany to California.

  Sean took the chair next to her and took her hand in his. A few moments later Noah was sitting across from her, and a few minutes after that, the plane was taxiing down the runway, on its way to wheels up.

  Brittany sighed. She had no idea what came next, but she was with them. They’d hugged her and kissed her, so whatever came next was fine with her.

  * * * *

  It was all Sean could do not to squeeze Brittany’s hand with all his might. She was here, with them, and that was all that mattered.

  Once they’d reached cruising altitude, he did what he’d longed to do the moment he got her inside the Lusty Town Trust’s Learjet. He unbuckled her and scooped her onto his lap. Noah took the chair she’d been in and promptly lowered the arms separating the two seats.

  Then Sean wrapped her in his arms as Noah stroked her ankle. Her sigh, and the way she totally relaxed, was the best feeling, ever. She reached out, and Noah took her hand. The fact that she needed to feel connected to them both was nothing short of miraculous.

  “I’m so sorry. I know I fucked up. I seriously fucked up. I never meant to hurt you guys.”

  “What were you thinking when you asked for some space?”

  Sean was careful to ask his question without inflection or anger. She’d already apologized twice, and he knew from talking to Margaret how, after she’d sent them away, she’d just plummeted, emotionally speaking. She’d become depressed without them there, and he’d hoped that was a sign she still loved them.

  They had to communicate if they wanted this relationship to work. Sean wanted that more than he wanted his next breath, and he knew his brother felt the same.

  “I thought I was useless and worthless and selfish on top of it all because I wanted to cling to you both so badly. I thought you both deserved so much more than I believed I could give you. I thought…if you got away from me for a while, you’d begin to see that, too. And you’d both…be able to move on.” She inhaled deeply, and he felt her tense up, just a little. “I loved you too much to trap you with a woman who wasn’t whole.”

  “And what do you think, now?”

  She kept her head against Sean’s chest, and he was fine with that. He wouldn’t let her evade or avoid anything, but he knew sometimes the true words flowed better if someone wasn’t staring you down.

  “I don’t have a good track record, at the moment, for figuring out my own life, but I do know I had no right to make those choices for you. I love you both, and that never changed. That’s how I hit rock bottom. Because even though it was by my own doing, I didn’t even have you left. After—well, after I got that kick in the conscience when I saw the look of fear and heartache on Mom’s face when I nearly took those pills—I did some research, and I called Chris and spoke to him. I guess that whole grieving process took me for a ride. I didn’t handle it very well at all.”

  “There really are things in life that we have no idea how we’ll handle, until they happen.” Noah leaned over so he could kiss Brit’s hand. “We understood a little of what was happening to you because we did some homework, too.”

  “And we didn’t handle things any better because we never should have walked away from you when you asked us to. So, you’re not alone in the ‘I fucked up’ department, baby girl.”

  As Sean continued to hold her, he felt a growing wetness on his chest. She was crying silent tears, and that broke his heart.

  “Hey.” He helped her sit up, and then he wiped her tears. “Talk to us, Brittany.”

  “This whole thing…” She used her hand to indicate her prosthesis. “It scared me. It’s totally upended me. I never even had a broken bone growing up. I never once had a major disappointment or had things go from sugar to shit…there was a part of me that felt pretty damn smug. I’d hear colleagues talk about those things in life that had happened to them, and I was gloating, inside, that nothing like that had ever happened to me.”

  “I hope you don’t think you somehow earned that accident.”

  “No.” She shook her head. She looked from him to Noah. “No, I don’t think that. My parents cosseted me, to a certain extent. Peter, my older brother, did, too. I love them all, but I see now that I really don’t have any skills when it comes to coping with life’s crap.”

  “You’re just learning the way we all do, maybe just at a later time in life.” Noah grinned. “You haven’t asked where we’re going.”

  “As long as I’m with you, I don’t care. I mean that. I trust you both.”

  Sean couldn’t stop his grin. He bent and kissed her, a quick, fun kiss. “We’re going back to our roots, in a way. To a town in Texas that, even when we were kids, was a second home for us.”

  “I didn’t know you had family in Texas.”

  “We have a veritable ocean of family in Texas,” Noah said.

  “And we’re excited for you to meet them all.” Then Sean lifted her chin. “We’ll be sharing a house there, baby girl. And a bedroom. And a bed. Like I said, we made our own mistakes before. And the biggest one was not consummating this love we share. You can say no, if you want. But we’re both hoping you won’t.”

  Brittany reached up and stroked his face. Then she leaned forward and kissed him. When she reached for Noah and repeated those gestures, Sean felt his tension ease.

  “I don’t want to say no. I said yes to you when I was waiting to fly back to you, and that hasn’t changed, either.” Then she gave him a cheeky grin. “And I don’t even care what your family thinks of me when they find out you’re both my lovers.”

  Sean laughed, and it was the freest he’d felt since he and Noah had left Brittany in San Diego. “Oh, baby, do we have a story to tell you.”

  Henry Kendall came through the cockpit door in time to hear that. “I’ll make us all some coffee, Sean. Why don’t you and Noah tell the lieutenant all about Isaiah Kendall, his wandering ways, and how your great-grandfather and his four brothers ended up in Lusty, Texas?”

  Chapter Four

  “Lusty?” Brittany looked from her guys to Henry Kendall, who’d kindly moved into the cabin so she could see him clearly from her perch on Sean’s lap. “There’s a town called Lusty?”

  Henry laughed. “Indeed, there is. Gentlemen, you best get explaining. And while you’re at it, give the woman some room to breathe.”

  “I’ve seen you and Morgan with your Tamara,” Sean said. She heard the laughter in his voice and couldn’t hold back her smile.

  They were taking her home, though not to Wyoming, and they’d told her they were going to share a house and a bedroom. That was more than she’d dared to hope for. Right at that moment, her heart felt light and free and the glimmer of possibilities was shining on her own personal horizon.

  Sean ge
ntly lifted her and set her in the seat across from him. Then Noah moved so he was beside her. He picked up her hand, kissed it, and grinned at Sean. “Okay, big brother, get talking.”

  “Our great-great grandfather was named Isaiah Kendall. He was one of three brothers, the oldest. The next oldest, Reuben, never strayed far from the family farm in Missouri. The youngest, Adam, left before the Civil War and ended up the only one of the three brothers to enlist in the Union Army.”

  “Adam was my great-great grandfather,” Henry said. He brought her a cup of coffee. “Cream and one sugar, right?”

  She looked up, startled. “Yes, thank you.”

  He grinned. “I’d like to take credit and say I’m psychic, but that’s just one of the details your men supplied.”

  He returned to the galley, took a cup of coffee to his brother in the cockpit, and then served himself and her men last. Then he joined them, sitting down beside Sean.

  “During the war, Adam Kendall served with two other southern boys whose family had disowned them as a result—Caleb and Joshua Benedict. After the war, the men remained friends.” Sean looked over at Henry.

  “They did. Adam became a Texas Ranger, and the Benedicts became gunslingers—of the law-abiding sort. They often hired on as help for various marshals and sheriffs and one particular Texas Ranger.” Henry nodded back to Sean, who resumed the story.

  “Reuben and his wife, as I said, stayed at the family farm. They ended up dying childless. Isaiah was a wanderer, as some men were after that war. He was married before the conflict and had five sons—Thomas, George, William, John, and Peter.”

  “That was a big family.”

  “It was,” Sean said. “And sadly, Isaiah wasn’t a good provider. At some point, he discovered his younger brother, Adam, living in Texas. He visited off and on when he passed through. So, when his wife became ill, he packed up his family and took them to Lusty, Texas, dumping them, more or less, on his brother’s doorstep.”