I woke up to the sun streaming through my window. It was probably a little after six. Shit, that meant I was already running late. If I were being honest, I probably wouldn’t have made it through my morning run anyway. It took about three seconds of my eyes being open to regret the shots I did with Joe behind the bar.
I never did that.
Why the hell had I done that?
Oh yeah, because Emmy, with her messy hair and fucking bedsheet skirt, left my bar last night with Kenny Wyatt. Images of her throwing her head back and laughing at his jokes ran through my mind like a highlight reel.
Wyatt was not that fucking funny.
But he kept his nasty little fingers off of her, mostly thanks to Teddy pulling Emmy to the dance floor in front of the stage for most of the night. But when they were walking toward the door to leave, Wyatt snaked his skinny arm around her waist, and his hand was a little too fucking low on her back for my liking. I’d taken another shot before they even made it all the way out of my bar.
I gritted my teeth at the memory.
God, my head hurt. I never took more than one shot at work, and even then, I didn’t do it very often. Last night, I let Emmy get to me, and I had no idea why.
It took ten more minutes and a lot of groaning for me to get out of bed and into a cold shower, where I tried to wash away every thought about her. It’s also where I remembered I liked all of my appendages, and I didn’t want to give Gus a reason to remove any of them.
After I slid on a pair of worn-out jeans, my phone went off. I looked at the screen. Speak of the devil. Gus.
Be cool, Brooks. You didn’t do anything. You just eye-fucked his sister. That’s fine.
Everything’s fine.
I picked up the phone.
“Brooks, here.” Did my voice just squeak? Yeah, my voice just fucking squeaked.
“Why are you answering the phone like it’s a job interview?” What the hell was I supposed to say to that? It was either that greeting or accidentally telling Gus I thought his little sister was hot as hell.
“I’m a business owner. Gotta keep it professional.” Yeah, because that’s what I was: a professional. Gus stayed silent for a second.
“Are you drunk?” he asked.
“What? No. It’s six-thirty in the morning, and you know I’m teaching today.”
“Just making sure,” he said. “Can you pick up Riley from her mom’s on your way to the ranch this morning?
“I thought Cam was dropping her off since you’re out of town?” Camille was a one-night stand from five years ago that resulted in Gus’s daughter, Riley. After Riley was born, Camille and Gus messed around a little bit, but they were never officially a couple.
Camille and Gus were on good terms, splitting custody of Riley fifty-fifty. Gus even liked Camille’s new fiancé–as much as Gus could like a city boy, anyway.
Riley was the most important thing in the world to Gus. When she came along, things changed for him, and they’d changed for me, too.
I’d always been kind of a screwup, but to be fair, I came from a long line of screwups. I was the result of an affair my mom had with my dad. My dad wasn’t like Gus. He couldn’t handle the responsibility. He couldn’t step up, so I’d ended up in a house with my mom, her husband, and their sons.
Safe to say, I wasn’t much liked around there.
My mom was still around, but I hadn’t seen or talked to her in years. Her husband didn’t like her having contact with me. Not talking to her didn’t exactly feel great, but I would rather not talk to her at all than have to deal with my step-dad. John was a piece of fucking work.
She lived on the other side of town with him, and my brothers lived near them. If I had to guess, she was probably still on a diet of menthol cigarettes and Coca-Cola.
I spent the first seven years of my life wondering what was wrong with me. I still wonder about that, but everything changed when I met Gus.
Gus wasn’t just protective of Emmy—he was protective in general. He’d always been that way, even back when we met in elementary school. Before I grew into my height, I was basically a walking telephone pole, and taller than everyone my age. My mom didn’t have the money to buy me new clothes every time I had a growth spurt, so I ended up in clothes that fit really poorly. That, and being the kid from the trailer park, didn’t really impress my peers.
Kids could be brutal.
But when Gus saw me getting tossed around by some fifth graders one day, he stepped in and basically told them to shove it–in the best way a fourth grader could. Afterwards, I ate lunch with him. Well, he had to give me some of his lunch, because I didn’t have any, and after school he told Wes I was their new friend.
That was it.
When I found the Ryder boys, they treated me like I was worth something. Before I met them, I didn’t even know what a friend was. I’d never had one, but that day, I ended up with two.
So, when I watched Gus step up to the plate to be a father to his baby girl, I’d wanted to step up to the plate, too.
I was still a screwup, but at least I was a screwup with a job, a savings account, and a few goals for my bar.
“Her fiancé is trying to close some big deal or something,” Gus explained. “She tried to explain it to me, but she might as well have been speaking another language. All I know is that whatever it is apparently requires him to schmooze some people at the country club all day.”
“Got it. Why don’t you have Emmy pick her up?”
“Because Emmy is in Denver, dipshit,” he said. “Are you sure you’re not drunk?”
“I’m not drunk, but Emmy might be, considering how many Tequila shots she housed at my bar last night.”
There was nothing but silence on the other end of the phone. I had a bad feeling I just threw Emmy under the bus. Why wouldn’t she tell her family she was coming home?
I thought about it more. Why would she come home when her dad and brother were out of town? Not that Wes wouldn’t be excited to see her, but he was covering Amos and Gus’s ranch duties. It wasn’t an ideal time for her to show up, now that I thought about it.
“Emmy is in Meadowlark?” Gus’s tone was tight.
Shit. I definitely threw Emmy under the bus.
“Yeah, she left my bar with Kenny Wyatt last night.” Again, shit. Probably could’ve left out that little detail. I hoped Gus hadn’t heard the annoyance in my voice when I mentioned his little sister and her ex-Homecoming date.
“She went home with that asshole? And you didn’t stop her?” No. I wish I would’ve, but not for the reason he was thinking.
“You know your sister is a full-ass adult woman, right?” I said. Even though I wished Emmy hadn’t left with Wyatt, every once in a while, Gus still needed a reminder that she could take care of herself. “Plus, she was with Teddy. I’m sure her best friend can look out for her.”
“You know damn well that Teddy is trouble,” Gus said. He was getting angrier now. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned Teddy. Those two really did not get along. I was on a roll this morning. “I can’t believe Emmy didn’t tell us she was coming home.”
“I’m sure she was planning to,” I said, annoyed that I felt the need to justify Emmy’s actions. Since when did I care? “She probably just didn’t want to bother you and your dad while you’re in Idaho.”
“I bet Teddy had something to do with it.”
“You can’t blame everything on Teddy.”
“I can, I have, and I will.”
“What are you going to do when Emmy makes a decision you don’t like and Teddy is nowhere around?”
“That’s never going to happen.” Gus was matter-of-fact, as usual. “Anyway, you’re good to grab Riley? Now that I know Emmy is home, I’ll ask her to come get her at the end of the lesson and take her to the Big House.”
“Sure thing.” There was no way I could avoid Emmy if she was coming to get Riley after the lesson. I could almost guarantee she would unleash her best verbal assault on me after finding out I was the one who ratted her out to Gus.
“Thanks, man,”
“No problem. I’ll talk to you later.”
“One more thing,” Gus said. “Keep an eye on Emmy until I get home, okay?”
EMMY
Whatever that incessant buzzing was needed to stop. Now.
My head was pounding, and the buzzing—good god, the buzzing. Make. It. Stop.
I must’ve said that out loud, because Teddy’s voice came from her en suite bathroom, “Emmy, that buzzing is your phone ringing, like it has been for ten minutes. It’s not the sound of the apocalypse.”
Oh. Whoops. I fumbled around, looking for my phone. By the time I found it face down on the floor next to Teddy’s bed, it had stopped buzzing.
When I flipped it around, I saw I had seven missed calls from Gus.
Shit.
Was Dad okay? Was Wes okay? Was Riley okay?
I went to call him back, but he called again before I could do so. I picked up immediately.
“Hey, everything okay?”
“You tell me, Clementine.” Ugh, I hated it when Gus used his dad voice on me, but at least the annoyance and lack of urgency in his tone told me everyone in our family was safe and accounted for.
Which begged the question: why had Gus called me eight times at seven thirty in the morning on a Saturday? “Everything’s fine, why?”
“Where are you right now?” Gus asked. Fuck. He knew. He had to know. That’s the only reason he would ask me that. “You better not be with Kenny Wyatt,” he said.
I stifled a laugh. Was he kidding?
“I’m serious, Emmy.” Oh, I knew he was serious. That’s what made it so damn funny.
“First of all, whose bed I’m in is truly none of your business, and it’s honestly creepy that you want to know that information.”
“I don’t want to know that information. I’m just saying that I hope you’re not anywhere near that asshole.”
“Relax, big brother. I’m in Teddy’s bed.” I heard Gus sigh on the other side of the phone. But it wasn’t a sigh of relief—it was a sigh of annoyance, probably at Teddy.
“Kenny was nice enough to give us a ride home from The Devil’s Boot last night since he didn’t have anything to drink,” I told him. “What an asshole, huh?”
“You know as well as I do that one good deed doesn’t cover everything.”
“Why do you hate him so much?”
“I just don’t like him, okay?”
“Is this about Homecoming? Because you really need to get over that,” I said. “That was almost ten years ago, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure that you’re the reason Kenny’s car ended up in a ditch the morning after, so I think you got your revenge.”
“You’re my baby sister, Emmy. If someone fucks with you, they fuck with me,” Gus said. He took his protector role very seriously. “You’re like Mom. You’re very forgiving, and people will take advantage of you.”
Oh god. It was too early in the morning, and I was too hungover for Gus to bring up our dead mother. “And you can forgive people all you want, but it’s my job not to forget,” he concluded.
“Jesus Christ, August. It’s not even 8:00 AM yet. Chill out.”
“Why are you home, Emmy?” Gus asked. Not allowing the conversation to stray from the point for too long. Typical.
“I just needed a break,” I said. Which was technically true. “I had an opportunity to take one, so I did. And I thought I’d spend it at home.”
“How long are you around for?” My answer seemed to satisfy Gus. At least for now.
“TBD, but at least a few weeks.” At the very, very least.
“Fine. I’ll call Wes and tell him you’re home.”
“Okay.” In less than twenty-four hours, my cover was blown, thanks to Luke Brooks and his big mouth.
“Riley has her group riding lesson at the ranch this morning. She’ll be done around ten, and she would love to see her auntie, so can you pick her up and take her back to the Big House?”
“Anything for my girl,” I said truthfully. I loved my niece. “But why isn’t Cam picking her up? Isn’t it her weekend?”
“Yeah, she had something come up. Listen, I just need you to get her after the lesson. Wes can take her, or Brooks can take her back home with him until her mom can pick her back up tomorrow.”
“You actually leave your child alone with Brooks?” I asked. Baffling.
When we were growing up, Brooks was always around when Gus was stuck babysitting me. When they weren’t totally ignoring me, I was their source of entertainment.
Turns out, being sent down the stairs to a very dark and very spooky basement in a laundry basket wasn’t actually fun, no matter how hard your brother and his best friend tried to convince you otherwise.
Oh, and a pile of throw pillows wasn’t enough to break your fall.
They also left me on the roof once. For two hours.
“He’s a damn good uncle, Emmy. He helps all of us out whenever he can. He’ll keep an eye on her. And you, until Dad and I get home.” I rolled my eyes. I did not need Luke Brooks to keep an eye on me.
Someday, my brother would treat me like an adult. I hoped.
Hearing Brooks’s name made me think of something he said to me last night. I had forgotten about it in my drunken haze.
“Speaking of the t-shirt mutilator, does he really own The Devil’s Boot?”
“Why are you so adamantly against his love for the muscle tee?” Gus asked.
“It’s not the muscle tee itself, but the man in the muscle tee who cuts them so aggressively.” I didn’t want to see Luke Brooks’s nipples. “Answer the question.”
“Yeah, he does,” he answered.
“Since when?”
“You’ll have to ask him about it. It’s a weird-ass story. I gotta go, Emmy. I’ll talk to you later.” I guess I would never know how the poster boy for Coors got his hands on Meadowlark’s most beloved, dirty landmark.
I didn’t plan on seeing much—if any—of Brooks while I was here.
“Bye, big brother.”
“Bye, Gussy!” Teddy shouted from her bathroom.
He didn’t respond.
When I got off the phone with Gus, I had two texts: one from Kenny that said how good it was to see me last night, and one from my dad.
Happy you’re home, Spud. I love you.
