“So now I’m just supposed to forgive him and say, ‘hey, no problem. You weren’t here when I needed you most. You weren’t here when our dad was dying. You didn’t have to watch him fade away. You didn’t have to answer the questions he asked.’ I’m just supposed to forget?” It wasn’t fucking fair. All of his life he’d had to watch out for his little brother. Noah was smart, but that didn’t matter because James was stronger. Well, Noah had filled out. Maybe it was time for baby brother to stand on his own damn feet.
“Jamie, I’ve known you for a very long time,” Henry said, adjusting his glasses. “If I know one thing about you, it’s that you’re one of the kindest men I know. You won’t be able to hold out for long. All you do by being angry now is delay the inevitable. So do both of you a favor and sit down and talk to your brother. Don’t start a war, because that’s what this could turn into.”
“And I don’t want to see Hope get hurt,” Cam said. “If you and your brother are going to fight, then maybe she should come back with us.”
Rafe nodded in agreement. “She’s going to be stuck in the middle and not in a good way. You’re both looking at her like two dogs about to fight over a particularly juicy steak. She doesn’t need that.”
James felt his rage simmering just below the surface. “I’m not going to hurt Hope, and by god, you’re not taking her out of here. Doc left her care to me. Logan asked me to look after her. So all of you can leave it be. She steps foot off this ranch and there’s going to be hell to pay.”
Max snorted. “Well, I guess that answers that question. Someone needs to tell that actress chick to lay off.”
He was going to have to deal with Serena. What had happened to his formerly peaceful life? Oh, it had been full of backbreaking work and loneliness, but damn, he’d forgotten how obnoxious people could be. “I’ll handle her, and I’ll deal with Hope. Something’s up with her. I want everyone watching out for her.”
“Will do,” Nate replied with a smile. “We watch after our own.”
“Be careful what you promise, Jamie,” Henry said, his eyes lighting a little. “She’s going to help me and Nell run our little booth at the Festival of Spiritual Renewal.”
Everyone groaned.
“Woo Woo Fest,” Cam said.
“Yep.” Nate slapped the acting sheriff on the back. “Don’t let Nell hear you call it that.”
James shook his head. “She needs to rest, not sell stuff to people who come looking for Bigfoot.”
“Sasquatch,” Henry corrected. “They genuinely prefer Sasquatch. Nell and I can handle it, but Hope is a bit stubborn. I’m just warning you. I think you and your brother could greatly benefit from some of the psychic healing that goes on at these things. I believe someone is putting up a sweat lodge. After a couple of hours sweating out your inner turmoil, I think you and Noah will be just fine. Max and Rye could use it, too. They fight too much. I’ll make sure to set appointments for all of you.”
“Yeah,” Max replied, his eyes on his brother. “Brotherhood can be a rough thing.”
Rye snorted. “Damn straight. Especially when you’re tied to someone like him.”
Max came off the fence, his shoulders squaring. “Tied? Brother, you are lucky to have me.”
Rye’s face lit up. He took a step back. “Lucky? You’re the lucky one. You would spend every night in the doghouse if it wasn’t for me. You’re lucky our baby girl has my sweet temperament.”
Max attacked, his fist flying. Both brothers laughed. James sighed. That was Max and Rye. They fought, punching each other until one cried uncle or Rachel put her foot down.
“See, that wouldn’t happen in the sweat lodge,” Henry said with a long sigh.
“Why is Nell talking to your cattle?” Rafe asked, pointing toward the field where Henry’s wife stood, whispering into a cow’s ear.
Max and Rye continued pounding on each other. Max said something about Nate and a duck, and Nate joined in with a yell.
“She’s trying to talk the cows into passive resistance,” James explained.
“She’s such a beautiful soul,” Henry said with a happy grin as he watched his wife. “One day she’ll get through to them.”
She was insane. But James loved her. Max, Rye, and Nate tried taunting Rafe and Cam to join them in their fist-flying free-for-all. Nell started to sing to the cows in his field. He heard Rachel slam out the back door and all of the women ran out, yelling at the men to stop acting like boys.
And Noah stood in the background of the gleeful chaos. He stood by the back door looking like the same sad five-year-old who had first come to live on the Circle G. Out of place. Small. Vulnerable.
He wasn’t small anymore, but his brother looked pretty damn vulnerable without even his dog at his side. Noah watched the fight from afar and then walked to his truck and grabbed a single bag.
That was all he had? One small gym bag? He’d left Bliss with a trunk packed full and ten million in the bank. He’d come back with nothing.
“Don’t even bother trying, Jamie,” Henry said as Rachel passed off her baby to Laura and threw herself in between Max and Rye. “He’s your brother. He’s home. Start over. That’s what families do.”
A hard lump formed in his throat. His family was gone. And he wasn’t sure he would ever get that feeling back.
Christian Grady liked Bliss. It was one of those sleepy towns that stuck together and had a can-do attitude. It was utterly ripe for the plucking.
Like Hope had been at one point in time.
Why was she wearing those ridiculous glasses and hiding her body under voluminous clothes? She was a goddess, but now she looked rather like some sad-sack housewife. She put her glorious hair in a bun and wore no makeup. It was wrong. When he had her back in his arms, he would make sure she showed herself off to perfection.
He walked into some place called Trio. She hadn’t been at the station today. Nor had she been at her tiny apartment. She’d left for somewhere. He needed to find out where. Though it was still early in the game, it was time to show his face around town a bit. The festival started soon. He could easily blend in with the idiots pouring into town. He’d made a careful practice of standing out, but he knew when to blend in as well.
“Hi, welcome to Trio.” A pretty woman with black hair greeted him. He was excellent at reading body language, and hers screamed out anxiety. Her smile was forced, her eyes slightly red. She was deeply upset, emotional. He loved emotional women. They were so very easy to manipulate. Of course, they could also go a bit insane if not properly handled. His Hope was proof of that. She’d tried to murder him, but he could forgive her. He had just murdered her friend, after all.
“Lovely town you have here.” He followed the pretty waitress to a small booth.
“Oh, yes, I’ve always loved Bliss.” Now her smile was genuine. “I grew up a couple of towns over, and I swore when I could I would move here. It took me more years than I would like, but I finally made it here. It’s the best town in the world.”
He pegged her age at roughly twenty-five to twenty-seven, but the little idiot sounded like a teenager. And she blushed like one when he smiled at her and held out a hand. “I’m Chris.”
No need to give away everything if he didn’t have to. Hope would have to deal with him soon enough.
“Lucy.” She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
The door opened and a big man walked through. He was enormous, with broad shoulders and dark hair. Lucy’s whole face tightened again. She passed him a menu and promised to be back soon before scurrying behind the big man, calling out, “Alexei.”
The man named Alexei turned and smiled down at the waitress. It was a warm smile, but not intimate. The big guy might like Lucy, but he wasn’t interested in her sexually. Lucy spoke rapidly, her hands twisting around the towel she carried. Alexei’s hand came on to her shoulder in an almost brotherly gesture. He was trying to calm her down. He couldn’t see Lucy’s face, but the big guy was on full display, and Christian heard the one word he’d been dying to hear.