by Jill Sanders
“I’m not a baby,” Trent barked out, then instantly retracted it when his head spun. “Shit.”
“I’ll let that one slip.” His mother smacked his fingers gently. “Now drink your soup.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said with his eyes still closed.
He was at home, thankfully, released a few hours after being hauled into the clinic.
His scans came back clean, even though he had a few stitches just above his left ear, and, according to the doctor, a knot on his head the size of a golf ball. Not that he was going to reach up and test the size for himself. He didn’t want anyone touching his head until it stopped spinning.
“You know, you’re lucky,” Addy said next to him.
“Hmm?” He opened his eyes. The way he figured it, the less he spoke, the better he was.
“Lucky I came along when I did. I think I spooked them off.” She glanced over to Trey and he watched a grin pass between them.
He would have glared at his brother if he didn’t think it would cause his eyesight to blur.
“Oh?” he said.
“Yeah, so, um, I heard there was this thing between the McGowan brothers.” Addy raised a brow.
Trent groaned and closed his eyes when he remembered the pact that he and his brothers had made when he’d been seven. They’d been snot-nosed boys with skinned knees back then, and none of them had ever believed they’d ever kiss a girl. Ever. Since they had cooties.
“First of us who has to be rescued by a chick gets to eat shit.” Trey chuckled.
“What are you? Five?” Trent asked, keeping his eyes closed since it helped with the pain.
“Just saying.” Trey laughed again.
“Thurston McGowan the Third, did I just hear you curse?” Gail said from across the room.
Trent started to chuckle but stopped when pain lanced his skull. “You did it now,” he said.
“Sorry ma’am.” Trey frowned.
“Thurston? Why do you go by Trey?” Addy asked.
“Because he’s the third.” Tyler laughed. “Not only the third son, but Thurston McGowan the Third: Trey.”
Addy shook her head. “Really?” She smiled. “Thurston, huh?”
“Now that Dad’s gone, will you go by Thurston?” Tyler asked.
“No,” Trey said, his brow furrowing at Tyler’s new joke.
“What’s wrong with Thurston?” Gail said, setting a bowl of chicken soup in front of Trent. “It’s a nice strong name.” She pursed her lips. “Your father . . .”
“Always went by T. J.,” Tyler finished. “At least with all of his close friends.”
“Yes, but I never called him that.” Gail smiled and sat across from Trent. “Have your second bowl before it gets cold.”
When he was finished with the soup, his mother took the empty bowl. “Well, at least your appetite isn’t gone,” she said as she made her way into the kitchen.
“How come we didn’t get any soup?” Trey called after her.
“You didn’t get knocked around,” she called back.
“The night is still young.” Tyler smiled and flinched toward Trey, who sprang up, causing everyone to laugh.
“What?” Trey smirked. “Too scared to take me on tonight?” he said, taunting his oldest brother.
“Don’t you dare,” their mother said from the kitchen. “I’m not in the mood to sit in that waiting room one more time tonight.”
“I think I’m going to go lie down.” Trent started to get up, but Addy held him in place.
“What about me?” she whispered. “I am not leaving you alone tonight.” She looked toward the kitchen where his mother stood, washing the dishes.
“Mom, Addy’s going to stay with me for tonight,” Trent called out. His mother turned and sighed, then nodded.
“Addy, I expect you to follow my rules.”
She smiled. “Yes ma’am. I’m just worried about him.”
“Let me know if something changes.” His mother waved them away. “Go on, the lot of you. I need a shower and bed myself.” She yawned.
Addy helped Trent down the hallway as the rest of his family left. When she shut the door behind her, she helped him sit on the edge of his bed.
He could have done everything himself, but he let her gently undress him until he sat on the bed in his boxers. When she nudged him to lie down, he pulled her with him.
“I still have my clothes on,” she said.
“Not for long,” he whispered into her hair.
“Trent, I promised your mother.”
“What? That we wouldn’t have sex under her roof?” Her hair brushed his face, the smell and feel of it enveloping him. “There are other things we can do besides having sex.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The next morning, Addy found it hard to look Gail in the eyes. She hadn’t technically broken his mother’s rule, but they had come very close. For his part, Trent acted entirely normally.
She tried to keep the thought out of her mind that he was able to act so nonchalant because there was a chance he’d broken his mother’s rule long ago. Which caused her to once again second-guess being with him.
She’d been so scared seeing him hurt last night, she’d allowed herself to get twisted up with emotion. Sure, she knew she wanted to be with him, but she still didn’t know for how long.
She watched him eat three helpings of his mother’s blueberry pancakes and an entire bowl of scrambled eggs all by himself.
“You’re in a good mood today, Trent,” Trisha commented, looking in Addy’s direction.
Addy quickly glanced away as she blushed.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Trent’s smile grew. “It’s moving day.”
Addy stopped the fork from going to her mouth. “Um, but . . .” She blinked a few times. “Are you sure you’re up to it?”
Trent chuckled and winked at her. “Perfectly. Nothing short of a flood is going to stop moving day.”
“Be careful what you ask for.” Gail sighed and shook her head.
“Trent, we can move anytime, after you’ve recovered more,” Addy said, concerned about his health. He’d just been hurt, and now he was wanting to help her move her trailer to his land. And she could use a little more time to think.
Not to mention that she’d moved her trailer across the country several times all by herself in the past few years. Why did he think he had to help her today?
He shook his head and she noticed just a slight twinge. “Nope.” Then he frowned. “Unless you’ve changed your mind?”
“No.” It was her turn to shake her head. “Of course not.” Where else was she going to go? She couldn’t really afford to stay at the state park without a job.
“Good, then I guess you’re moving today.” He pushed his plate aside and finished off his coffee.
Addy quickly looked to Gail and Trisha for help, but both of them just shrugged and smiled at her.
“If you need any help . . .” Gail said.
“Mom, it’s a trailer. Addy’s been dragging it around the country for a few years now on her own. How hard could it be?”
Addy couldn’t stop the smile when he repeated her own thoughts.
Two hours later, she held in a chuckle as Trent cursed again.
“You’d think that adding wiring to a Jeep would be easy,” he said under his breath. “Almost done.”
“You said that ten minutes ago,” she teased as she handed him a screwdriver that he was trying to reach.
“Yeah, but now it’s really almost . . .” He leaned up and twisted his arm again. “Done.”
“I should have made sure the wiring was correct for my trailer when I bought it,” she said.
He scooted out from under the Jeep. “I didn’t even look at the connections. But it’ll work now.” He smiled. “Ready?”
She got up and dusted her jeans off. “Yes.” But was she? He was excited that she was moving to his land, and he talked about moving into his house when it arrived, but there were still a
lot of unspoken things between them.
Something I’ll deal with later, Addy thought.
Trent drove the Jeep as they made their way through town and toward his property. On the way, they stopped off at the grocery store to buy more supplies.
She was pleased to see the new large windows in place. They had even removed the old sign that had been twisted and lying in a heap in the parking lot since the explosion.
When they entered, several people waved or said hello. A few stopped and asked how Trent was doing.
“Just a bump and a cut.” He rubbed the small bandage covering his stitches. “I’ve had worse from Tyler and Trey,” he joked.
She knew he was making light of it all and could tell that he was still hurting.
The foremost thought on everyone’s mind was who had jumped him. Everyone had their own speculation, and it was almost eerie how many suggested the same names.
Walking through the grocery store with him was a new experience. She had to keep reminding him that her fridge was only ten cubic feet and that she only had two small cupboards for food—most of the stuff he was trying to buy wouldn’t fit.
“It just means more runs to the store.” He put a few things back. “Until the house gets placed, then I’ll have a large freezer in the garage that you can store more stuff in.”
She held her breath, not wanting to have that discussion yet. How long did he expect her to stick around? How long did she think she’d stick around? Things were still up in the air.
They turned a corner, and Addy stopped as she saw Darla piling a case of beer into her cart.
Addy’s eyes went next to a large box of tampons in Darla’s cart. Leaving Trent behind, she marched down the aisle and stopped short of her ex–best friend.
“So, congratulations.” Addy crossed her arms.
Darla glared at her. “Congratulations for what?”
Addy reached in, picked up the box, and tossed it at Darla. “For pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes for a few weeks.” She stepped closer and smiled as Darla chucked the box back into her cart. “For pushing my father over the edge. Enough that he’d end his own life. Congratulations for taking the one person in my life that loved me unconditionally.” She didn’t know what caused her to move closer, but she was revved up. She was inches from Darla when Darla put her hands up and shoved, very hard. Addy fell back a step and almost tipped over a display of fruit.
Addy saw red. She didn’t think—her body reacted. Her fist swung out, catching Darla on the chin. She’d kicked Darla’s butt once before. This time, it was even more personal.
Darla flung her body at Addy, sending them both falling backward into the fruit. Limes and oranges rolled everywhere as the two of them twisted around, pulling, tugging, biting each other.
Addy had Darla on the ground, the woman’s hair wrapped tightly around her fingers, when strong arms lifted her completely up. She had ripped Darla’s shirt and a chunk of her hair remained in her fingers. Addy rejoiced when she noticed the blood coming from the liar’s mouth.
“You’re the reason my father killed himself,” she screamed.
“You’re crazy! Just like your old man,” Darla cried. “She needs to be locked up.” Darla looked around. “She hit me.”
“You hit first,” someone called out. “I saw everything.”
“Tell them,” Addy said, knowing that the fight was over since Trent had a good hold of her arms and one of the bag boys had helped Darla up but kept ahold of her arm. “Tell them you lied about my father.” Something reminded her of the missing money she’d seen in her father’s paperwork and how her last encounter with Darla, after she left the lawyer’s office, had gone. “Tell them you blackmailed him for ten thousand dollars before he died.”
Darla’s eyes sparkled. “I didn’t lie.” She looked around. “I lost the baby.” She even had the nerve to try and fake a sniffle.
Addy jerked against Trent, but he held her still. “Let it go. Someone called Mike already,” he said into her ear.
She relaxed slightly. “Everyone in town knows what you are.” More of her anger ebbed as she thought about that statement. “I don’t know why I was ever friends with you.”
Addy thought about what her mother was undergoing and how she could tell that she was at least trying. She doubted Darla would ever try to change, even if threatened with losing everything.
“I’m okay,” she told Trent, who looked into her eyes and, seeing it for himself, let go of her. She moved forward slowly until she was less than a foot from Darla. The woman’s large fake breasts were almost falling out of her ripped shirt, her hair was a rat’s nest, and even her makeup was smeared.
“There will come a time”—Addy gritted her teeth—“when you’ll need some help. Remember all the people you’ve burned, because I know we’ll remember what you did to us. I feel sorry for you.”
Darla laughed. “You? You feel sorry for me?” Her gaze ran up and down Addy as if she wasn’t good enough to feel sorry for someone like Darla.
Addy nodded. “It must be very lonely where you’re standing. It’ll stay that way.” She turned back to Trent. “I think we’re done here.” She took his hand and tugged until he followed her back to their shopping cart. Without looking back, she pushed the cart to the checkout and waited as Trent paid for everything.
“Are you okay?” he asked when they were outside.
“Yeah.” She watched as a police cruiser parked beside her Jeep.
“Let me do the talking.”
She unloaded the groceries into the trailer and took her time putting everything away as Mike and Trent talked outside. When she heard laughing, she stepped outside.
“It seems that most of your employees left the meeting last night and went out drinking together. Everyone is corroborating that, and so it’s looking like our list of suspects has shortened to just a few.”
Mike noticed her and a big smile broke out on his face. “Did you really pull her hair out?”
She rolled her eyes. “Men.”
“I’ve already talked to a few people as they were leaving. It seems to me that she started the physical stuff. Do you want to press charges?”
“No.” She shook her head and shut the trailer door. “She’s not worth it.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Trent asked again.
“Yes. I just want to go.” Addy watched as Darla walked out of the store. Her shirt still flapped open, but her hair had been fixed slightly. Of course that would be Darla’s first choice. She marched straight over to Mike.
“Are you going to arrest her? I want to press charges.”
Addy sighed and went toward the Jeep without acknowledging Darla.
Trent was there, opening the door for her. “Let’s go home,” he said.
She looked up at him and smiled. “Sounds wonderful.”
They drove in silence for a while but on the outskirts of town he spoke. “May I just say you’re a badass?”
She looked over at him. “Why? Because I can beat up a stripper?”
“No, because you can beat up a woman almost double your size. You had her down on the ground in five seconds flat.” He shook his head. “That was hot.” He’d hoped to get a smile from her and enjoyed her laugh.
When she turned and looked out the window, he reached over and took her hand.
“You don’t really think she was the reason your dad killed himself, do you?” he asked.
“I think she was one of the reasons. I know my mother would have been embarrassed enough about the display that she would have hounded him. Was it the final straw?” She shrugged. “I’m not sure. But as far as she needs to know, she’s the reason.”
It took him a few minutes to back the trailer into the spot just like he wanted it. Finally he unhooked the trailer and parked her Jeep next to his truck.
They spent a few minutes hooking up the electric, water, and drains, and stood back to admire their work.
He wrapped an arm aro
und her shoulders. “Home sweet home.” He leaned down to kiss her.
“Trent.” She sighed. “I still may not know where I want to be in life.” She gazed up at him. “But I’m happy I have you.”
He leaned in for another kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist, just as they both heard the car starting up the driveway.
“Our first visitor.” He smiled down at her, then kissed her deeply again until the car rounded the drive and came into view, followed by another two.
They stood there as first his mother parked, then his brothers. Trent wasn’t surprised the entire McGowan clan showed up less than half an hour after they had pulled in.
His brothers delivered a large homemade picnic table, which they set up just under the awning of the trailer. His mother and Trisha had cooked plenty of fried chicken and potato salad for everyone. They sat in the warm sunlight and enjoyed the weather, good food, and company.
Trent told everyone about the run-in with Darla in the grocery store. At first everyone was concerned, but then laughter followed when Addy mentioned how she still had some of Darla’s hair stuck in her bracelet.
“I’ve never been proud of my boys wrestling or fighting, but after the other night, I’m glad they can handle themselves.” Gail turned to Addy, then to Kristen. “Maybe my boys can show you both enough to protect yourselves. At least show you enough if Darla comes around again.”
“Tyler has been training me.” Kristen smiled.
“Yeah, but we’ll have to postpone the rest of your lessons until after Junior is born,” Tyler added.
Trent’s eyebrows shot up. “Do you know it’s going to be a junior?”
“Not yet,” Tyler admitted. “But one can hope.”
Kristen patted his hand.
Watching them together, Trent was reminded how imminent their wedding was. He had been so occupied with getting his land ready, he’d put off planning for his brother’s big event. He still had a week and a half left, which was plenty of time to make sure his mother’s backyard was all set for the big event.
“When does the house arrive?” Trisha asked him.
