“Did someone say Shannon?” Storm asked as he walked up to the two of them, three beers in his hands. He handed them off and took a sip of his own. Wes and Storm were identical twins. Years and personalities had made them easy to tell apart. Storm had the rugged look down pat with his long hair, never-quite-shaved face, worn jeans, and bulkier frame. Both men were strong as hell to do their jobs, but Storm had filled out more over time. It didn’t matter that he was the architect of Montgomery Inc. He used his hands more often than not.
“Yeah. She keeps texting me and shit,” Austin explained after he took a sip of his beer. Storm had brought Fat Tire to the party, and Austin couldn’t have been more grateful. Nothing like a Colorado beer to make him feel better.
“I told you she’d be trouble,” Wes said sagely.
Austin flipped him off then leaned against the side of the house, his back aching from a six-hour session on his client’s back piece. Maybe he’d get a massage from the spa down the street. He’d long since given up on the idea it was sissy. They worked wonders on his back—and nothing else, unlike what his brothers teased him about—so he could work long days and do what he loved.
Maybe if he was lucky, he’d find a woman to massage him at home as well.
He closed his eyes, cursing himself. Dating just for the moment was what got him into this mess with Shannon. He needed to keep a tighter rein on his dick it seemed. Maybe he’d head to the club with Decker and find a sub to help. That might relieve the tension. But even as he thought it, he knew it wouldn’t be good enough. He wanted long-term, though he’d never admit that out loud at this stage. Helping a sub for only a night or two wouldn’t be enough for him.
“You never said Shannon would be trouble,” Storm argued. “You said she would wrap Austin around her little finger and fuck him over.” His brother grinned at Austin. “Well, maybe that means trouble after all.”
“You’re a laugh riot. Both of you. Now I’m going to go and bug Meghan about the tattoo she wanted, and still hasn’t gotten, and leave the two of you to your own devices. God help us all.”
Sasha, Meghan’s daughter, squealed as her brother, Cliff, chased her around the backyard. Maya followed them both with her friend Jake trailing behind her. Between the eight siblings, extended family, various friends, spouses, children, and neighbors, the barbecue was in full swing and loud as hell. He loved it. This was his family, his home. Sure, he was about fifteen minutes away from his real home, but this was where he’d grown up, where he knew he’d always have a place to return to even after living away for twenty years.
The six-bedroom house was a two-story dream for anyone with a large family. Since there were more kids than rooms, everyone, at one point or another, had shared a room with someone. It was just the way it was, and despite the fact they complained and yelled as kids do, it hadn’t killed them. His dad had built on to the house as time passed, expanding the kitchen and living areas and giving his mother the deck of her dreams. Well, that wasn’t exactly right. She’d done some of the building as well. She might have started out as Montgomery Inc.’s administrative assistant, but she learned to use a hammer and nails like the rest of them. The basic structure had remained the same, and it was perfect for them. They were on the end of a cul-de-sac but were far enough away from the actual street that they, like Austin, had plenty of land around them—something coveted in the suburbs.
Austin grinned and left his two knucklehead brothers talking to each other—most likely about him—and found Meghan in a quiet argument with her husband, Richard. Sadly, this was not the first time he’d seen it, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. She wouldn’t like him to interfere, but that would be her problem. His little sister, the eldest of three Montgomery daughters, was his blood, and that meant he had the right to protect her from the world. Even if the world included herself.
“Hey, little sister,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her stiff shoulders. “I’ve missed seeing you around these things. You’ve been missing a few.” Subtle, Austin.
Meghan gave him a look that would have felled most men, but he was not most men. Seeming to catch herself from showing too much, she gave him a fake smile and leaned into him for a hug. She was the tallest of the M&Ms—the nickname their father had given his three daughters, Meghan, Maya, and Miranda—but still didn’t come up to his nose.
“Cliff’s soccer practices and Richard’s business parties have happened to be running at the same time as the folk’s barbecues. So we’ve been missing a few, but we’re here now.” She gave her husband a pointed look that didn’t seem to help the situation.
Richard smiled coolly at his wife before nodding toward Austin. “Yes. We’re here at the Montgomery clan barbecue. As you have enough of them, I assumed it would be fine to miss a few. Plus, we’re Warrens now. It’s okay to not show up to all of them.”
Austin clenched his teeth at his brother-in-law’s words. The bastard had been married to Meghan for eight years, and yet Austin never learned to like the man. What was there to like? A smile too fixed, hair too gelled, a look of disdain that never quite went away. In fact, Richard blatantly looked down on tattoos, blue-collar workers, and anything that remotely resembled honest manual labor.
Not that Austin would give the other man a piece of his mind. He was the father of his niece and nephew, and husband to one of the women in his life Austin loved more than anything. It wouldn’t do any good to beat the shit out of him.
It might help Austin’s mood, so he’d put that off as a maybe for later.
“Once a Montgomery, always a Montgomery,” Austin shot back with a bite.
Meghan elbowed him in the gut, and Austin let out an oof. She was stronger than her slender frame implied.
“Can you give Richard and me a moment, Austin? We were just finishing up a discussion.” Her eyes pleaded with him, and he leaned down to brush a kiss over her brow.
“Anything for you, Meghan. Remember that.”
He glared at Richard as he left and nodded at Maya and her friend Jake on his way over to Griffin and Alex. Griffin was the quietest one of the Montgomery clan, but since he was a Montgomery, he wasn’t all that quiet. Alex had recently been giving Griffin a run for his money in the quiet department. Austin didn’t know how to fix that. As the oldest Montgomery sibling, Austin felt it was his duty to take care of and protect his brothers and sisters—no matter the cost.
“What are you two doing on the sidelines of all the action?” he asked in greeting.
Alex just shrugged, his gaze off in the distance, a tumbler of whiskey in his hand rather than a beer. It was just shy of five o’clock, but considering the day his brother could have had with his job as a photographer and his wife, who hadn’t even bothered to show up, Austin wasn’t going to judge. Yet.
“We’re just watching the action,” Griffin responded, taking a drink of his own beer.
“Where’s Jessica?” Austin asked, speaking of Alex’s wife.
Alex’s jaw tightened, but he still didn’t turn to meet Austin’s gaze. “Not here. As you can see.”
Austin raised a brow, and Griffin just shook his head slightly. Well, hell. Austin didn’t know how to fix this—whatever this was—but he knew if he had a chance, he’d try. He didn’t like to see this cold version of his brother, the only one who looked alone in a sea of people, which, when she was there, included his wife and high school sweetheart.
“Well, look who just showed up,” Griffin said with a smile.
Austin turned to see their friend—Griffin’s best friend in fact—Decker stroll into the backyard. His beat up leather jacket looked like it had seen better days, and his hair brushed his collar. He wasn’t a Montgomery by birth, but he was one by heart.
“Decker!” Marie Montgomery ran across the backyard and jumped into Decker’s arms.
Decker’s face broke into a smile and caught her with ease.
Austin couldn’t hear what they said to one another, but Austin knew it was only for th
e two of them. His mother loved Decker like one of her own, and when Decker’s father had been in prison, he stayed with the Montgomerys more often than not. Sure, Decker’s mother was still alive—barely, it seemed, after Decker’s father got through with her—but she hadn’t been strong enough to raise a boy on her own. The Montgomerys had taken him in when the law allowed, and if they could have, Austin was sure they’d have adopted him to make nine instead of eight.
“Did someone say Decker?” the youngest sibling, Miranda, asked as she came up to Austin’s side.
Austin automatically lifted his arm so she sank into his side like they’d done since she could stand. Even before then, he’d placed her on his hip and taken her around the house, the age gap between them creating a stronger bond.
“Mom found him, so don’t worry, he’ll have food in his belly soon,” Griffin teased.
“He works for Montgomery Inc. so I don’t know why you’re acting like you haven’t seen him in ages,” Alex grunted.
Miranda stuck her tongue out at Alex, acting like they were children again rather than grown and out of the house. “He’s been out of town for six weeks working on that satellite project for Wes. Now he’s back. Plus, I’m finally back from school and starting my new job, so it will be nice to have him around.”
Something about the way she said that made the hair on the back of Austin’s neck stand on end, but he didn’t have a chance to think about it too hard, as his mother let out a sharp whistle that made his teeth ache.
Well, she had to do something to wrangle eight rowdy children.
“Now that we’re all here, I want to make sure you all enjoy your food, drink, and conversation,” his mother boomed, her hand firmly in their father’s hand. “Stay as long as you’d like, eat as much as you can, and live life. Now, for my own children, we’re having a family meeting at the end, so you don’t get to go. You know I love you, so stay.” She gave them a bright—almost too bright—smile then lifted her drink. The others around them lifted their drinks in unison then began talking again—albeit a little nervously.
Austin frowned. There was something in the way she spoke that put him on alert. He looked at their father and let his gaze trace the lines on the large man’s face. Something was up, and Austin didn’t like it. He wanted these other people to leave so he could find out exactly what this family meeting was about. It wasn’t unusual to have one at these things, as it was the one time they were all in one place other than a holiday. Since it was the first one where they were all together in a long while, he hoped it was just a family meeting to reconnect, but he had a feeling it was something more. He met his siblings’ gazes one by one and knew they were feeling the same thing.
Something was off, and he didn’t know what.
It took less than two hours for people to leave, yet Austin felt like it had been years. He hadn’t been able to pry anything out of either parent, no matter how hard he tried.
He found himself wedged between Meghan and Decker on one of the couches in the living room. The rest of the family sprawled on the various other pieces of furniture while Miranda and Maya sat on the floor together, their hands firmly clasped as if they, too, knew something was wrong. It didn’t surprise Austin to find Decker within the group as he was as much a Montgomery as anyone, just as it didn’t surprise him that Richard had left with the children. Richard made it clear he wasn’t a Montgomery, but the children were Montgomerys by blood. Sure, maybe the kids didn’t need to be there for a family meeting for other reasons, but this seemed different.
“Why did Richard take the kids?” he whispered to his sister.
Meghan narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head. “Don’t, Austin. Not now.” He opened his mouth to speak, and she shook her head again. “Please.”
He sighed then nodded. “For now, baby girl.” He gripped her hand, and she tangled her fingers with his.
Dad came in, his body larger than life, but something was off in the way he carried himself. Something that Austin would have caught on to sooner if he hadn’t been focused on illicit texts, a honey-haired woman he shouldn’t want, and his siblings, who meant the world to him. Harry folded himself into his armchair that had been part of the house for as long as Austin could remember. Mom followed quickly, concern in her gaze, then sat in her own chair right beside her husband.
“What is it, Mom?” Maya asked. “You’re scaring us.”
Murmurs of agreement sounded around the room, and Meghan’s pressure on Austin’s hand tightened.
Marie gave them a sad smile. “I’m so happy to have my babies home.”
Austin swallowed hard. “Tell us, Mom.”
Harry cleared his throat then leaned forward, his hands clasped in front of him, his forearms resting on his thighs. Both of his parents were forces of nature. Neither would let the other stand alone; they either took turns in the lead or led together. That’s what made their marriage as rock solid as it was. The fact that they both looked uneasy and couldn’t form words made Austin want to bolt. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what they had to say.
Harry met each one of his children’s gazes, one by one. “Well, kids. I have cancer. Prostate cancer in fact.”
Austin’s world broke in half, the silence in the room an overwhelming vacuum of confusion, pain, and loss.
“What?” he breathed. Or he thought he had. No sound had come out, and from the lack of voices around him, his siblings were as shocked as he.
It couldn’t be. This strong man, this man who had raised them with a strong back and open heart couldn’t have cancer. Cancer killed. He knew that. Cancer couldn’t take his dad. Not now. Not ever.
“What’s the prognosis?” Decker asked, his voice devoid of emotion. Austin looked over as his friend leaned down and ran a hand over Miranda’s hair. His sister leaned into Decker’s hold, tears streaming down her face.
In fact, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room other than his and Decker’s.
He didn’t know why he wasn’t crying. It didn’t make sense. The words coming out of his father’s mouth about prognosis, treatment, and what it would mean to the family didn’t compute. He’d ask later in detail and find out how he could help, but right then, he couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.
His father, the center of the Montgomery family, had cancer.
Nothing else mattered.
Chapter Four
“Thank you and enjoy your night out,” Sierra said with a smile. Her two middle-aged customers grinned and blushed at each other as they made their way out of Eden. Sierra held back a happy sigh at the sounds of laughter, teasing, and murmurs.
Eden was officially open for business.
It had been only two days, but those two days had been some of the best of her life. Sure, she wanted to scream, throw up, or shake uncontrollably whenever she thought of the monumental chance she was taking in opening a slightly above average boutique in the middle of downtown Denver. She’d read the statistics for opening a small business in the metro area and knew the risks and pitfalls. That didn’t mean she could just walk away. She hadn’t come from money, but she’d come from comfort. It wasn’t naive of her to think she could provide that for herself in the future as well.
Eden sold clothes for the city girl in Denver. It wasn’t a New York boutique with the odd angles and daring choices that some could pull off, but not those here in the wild west. She grinned at that. Contrary to popular belief, the only horses in the city pulled carriages and there wasn’t a five-gallon hat to be seen. Okay, maybe on that last part she lied a bit. There were a few cowboys, but none of them had said darlin’ to her in the past twenty minutes. Most of them worked the land and didn’t come near her boutique.
The clothes, lacy undergarments, and scents she sold were things she’d wear herself. Or things her two assistants, Jasinda and Becky, would wear, as they were a few years younger and had slightly different taste and body shapes. She did her best to sell clothing in a wide variety of sizes, colors, and s
tyles. So far, from the steady stream of people who had entered her doors, she knew she’d struck a chord. If that chord continued to ring for longer than a few days, she’d happily do a jig right on the 16th Street Mall.
Her phone chirped, and she bit her lip. The morning had passed too quickly, and now her scheduled afternoon off—one the girls made her take—was upon her. She’d worked that morning and would work late into the night to make it up. Maybe she’d cancel her appointment and work some more. She couldn’t leave Eden alone when it was in its infancy. It would be irresponsible.
“Go, Sierra,” Becky said from beside her. “Jasinda and I can handle whatever comes our way. Plus, if we need you, you’ll be right across the street. You haven’t left the store but to sleep and hopefully eat for almost a week. You need to see sunlight for a moment and then do what you need to so you can feel like a human again.”
Sierra opened her mouth to start her excuses, but Jasinda, with her big red hair and her smoky eyes, shook her head. “Don’t even try to say we can’t handle it, darling. Go get your tattoo, piercing, or whatever you’re planning since you won’t tell us what it is and let us handle the register for a few hours. We all know you’ll be back in the morning to lead the charge.”
“I can’t leave Eden as soon as I opened it,” Sierra complained. “What was I thinking?”
“You’re thinking that if you don’t leave this building right now, you’re going to tire yourself out to the point you won’t be any use to us.” Becky crossed her arms over her chest. “Get a coffee from Hailey since it’s after the lunch rush then go take your appointment.”
“But what if—”
[Montgomery Ink 00.5 - 01.0] Box Set Page 20
