My phone rings, and I answer it on speaker while I clean up the mess I made in the kitchen. My brother Kurt’s voice booms into the room telling me he’s stopping by in a few minutes with some of Mom’s shredded barbecue chicken.
By the time he arrives, I have everything back in order.
I stick the barbecue he brought into the fridge and then put my boots on. “Let’s walk out to the barn so we don’t accidentally wake the kids.”
Kurt glances toward the back of the house and points. “The light on in there, is that Kaden’s room?”
I glance at the hallway. The light is coming from the room where Melody is staying. I’m not surprised that she’s awake. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep quickly either. I rub the skin in front of my ear.
“Does it still ache?” Kurt asks as we head toward the barn.
One of the big guys at the Children’s Home liked to punch us in the side of the head. I took a hard hit to the ear and even all these years later, I swear that sometimes I still feel that pain.
“Nah.” I open the barn door and we walk in.
All of us brothers had a hand in building this. Wilder put in the ventilation and then later built a wash bay. Me and Kurt and River helped Marshall make the stalls and then Leo and I built the tack room. Flint made the custom saddle stands.
We work together as adults the same way we did as kids. Like we’re one unit. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one of us needs something, everyone jumps to help.
“You drove out here just to bring me the barbecue?” I ask after I switch on the light then close the door behind us.
Kurt grins. “And to see your handsome face.”
“Shit.” I laugh as I walk through the barn checking on the horses. They’re quiet and content in their spaces. “What’s going on?”
His grin fades. “Sunny got mad at me today.”
I look at him in surprise. My brother has known Sunny since right after we were adopted by our folks. She’s one of the town’s two veterinarians and the least likely person I know to get mad about anything. “What happened?”
“Some guy passing through town was at the diner going on and on about how pretty she was and how she was his ideal woman. He commented on her tits and that pissed me off.”
“What’d you do?”
“I told him he ought to ask her out. I said I’d watch her five kids while he took her to the movies. Then I said she was pregnant with my baby now and could really use a night off. Well apparently, the waitress beat feet to tell Sunny what I said.”
I laugh. “I’m betting now there’s a rumor going around that the two of you really are knocking boots.”
Kurt lifts his Stetson and scrubs his hand over his hair. “I don’t know about that but when she saw me, she put her hands on her hips and said for me to stop trying to interfere in her sex life. So I said what sex life? I happen to know everything’s as dry as a desert because you’re not getting any.”
I laugh until my sides hurt.
Kurt scowls. “She said she’d get some just wait and see.”
“So what’s the problem?”
He gapes at me. “Are you serious? The problem is that she’s not like that. I can’t stand idly by while she tries to screw some guy just to prove a point.”
“You’re right.” I nod. “You need to stop her.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.” He looks relieved at the prospect of interfering in her potential sex life. “Yeah, I’ll tell her it’s not a good idea.”
“Think she’ll listen?”
Kurt looks uncertain. “I don’t know. She’s pretty mad.”
“Don’t tell her it’s not a good idea. You have to be subtle about it.”
“How?”
