I put my hands on my hips.“Really?Where exactly am I leaving to?We’re flying over the ocean.Are you going to throw me out the back door?”
“I don’t have a back door,” Declan says.“I’ll use the front.”
“Nice to meet you, Summer,” his date says.“I’m Bryttni, spelled with a Y, two Ts, and an I.”
Aside from the voice and the skanky clothes, she seems lovely.And she has excellent manners.Now I feel guilty.I should learn to be nicer.
“Nice to meet you, too,” I say.“I’m Summer.With a U, two Ms, and an E.”
And then it dawns on me… I look up at Declan.“Who the hell’s flying the plane?”
“Heis,” Br-Y-TT-n-I says.“He can fly with his mind.”
That’s it.I can’t help myself.I double over with laughter.I’m laughing so hard I’m worried I’ll hurl again.
CHAPTER 3
Declan
“This is what’s going to happen,” I announce, pointing to Summer.“I’m turning the plane around and dropping you back at the Sweetbriar Airpark.Then, Bryttni and I are continuing on to Hawaii.”
“Cool, cool,” Summer says.“But you should know that this isn’t my idea.Jamie and Cal want us to get to Vegas in time to stop Evander and Phoebe from eloping.How do you plan on telling them you don’t feel like following orders?”
I squint down at her.Is Summer lying?Probably not, since she doesn’t lie, as a rule.
Liars either want to massage the facts to fit their agenda or they care how the truth might land with the listener.Summer’s never given two shits about any of that.She can make any agenda work for her, as is.And she doesn’t care what others think of her.
Summer always says whatever thought happens to be lined up on the runway of her tongue.
And if what she says about my dad and oldest brother is true, then I need to take a stand.
“My brother and father are not the boss of me.”
Summer laughs because, yeah, Dad and Cal are the bosses of everyone, even badass mo-fos such as myself.
It’s how the food chain works at Yosemite Ranch.The patriarch and the firstborn son lay down the law and enforce it.It’s a pecking order I challenge at my own peril.I’ve learned that shit the hard way.
Doesn’t mean I have to like it.
“Who are Evander and Phoebe?”Bryttni asks.
Summer jumps in before I can answer.I don’t care much, honestly.She’s as close to a MacLaine as a non-MacLaine can get.We’ve all seen her as part of our clan since she showed up looking for a ranch job when she was in high school.
“Evander is Declan’s middle brother.There’s a total of five of them.”
“Five?Five men like Declan?”Bryttni’s eyes pop open so violently that I expect to see her fake lashes fly off and stick to a sidewall panel.
“They’re not as annoying as Declan, but yes, five.And Evander’s in love with Phoebe, the nurse from the next ranch over, the cutest and nicest woman ever.”
“But how do you know they’re eloping?”Bryttni poses her question to Summer.It’s like I’m not even here at this point.“Aren’t those things supposed to be secret?”
“Well, here’s how it went down,” Summer says.“Evander let it slip that he wanted to elope with Phoebe, and then a few days later,bam!They’re not at home.Not at work.Nowhere.And Evander’s fancy car is missing.”
“Ohhhh,” Bryttni says, nodding.
“Which means they were either abducted by aliens or they ran off to Vegas to get married.”
“Right.”Bryttni frowns.“But I know a girl who was taken by the Grays.She says they’re nothing but robots working for their giant Mantis overlords.”
