“It’s disrespectful.” Jaxon turned back to the mirror, noting his brother’s scowl in the reflection.
“Disrespectful? Why do I have to respect a woman who never gave us the time of day?”
“It’s not about our mama. It’s about how it will look to the entire town if we walk in like a bunch of disrespectful hooligans.”
“And why would you care what the people of this stinking shithole town think? Especially when they’ll always think we’re nothing but a bunch of criminals.”
Dawson did have a good point. Jaxon shouldn’t give a damn about a bunch of narrow-minded assholes who only saw what they wanted to see. But, for some strange reason, he did give a damn. Or maybe he just wanted to prove them wrong. To prove he wasn’t just a good-for-nothing hell raiser who belonged behind bars. Maybe he wanted to walk into the church, in a suit he’d spent way too much money on, with his head held high.
Which was foolish.
It didn’t matter if he wore a fancy suit or a cape of diamonds. The folks of Promise Springs would always see him as Rosie Hennessy’s delinquent son.
He gave up on the tie and jerked it from his collar, unbuttoning the top button of the designer dress shirt.
“Wear what you want to wear. Where’s Huck?”
“He was sleeping like a log until I woke him up and told him to get dressed. That kid could sleep away his life if you let him.”
Jaxon picked up a brush and smoothed his hair back before placing it into a ponytail. “And Poppy? Have you heard anything from her?” He glanced at Dawson’s reflection to see his brother shake his head.
“She’s not coming, Jax. She made it clear when she left she was never coming back.”
Jaxon’s jaw tightened. “You should have forced her.”
“She’s a grown woman. I can’t tell her what to do like she’s some little kid.”
“Bullshit!” He thumped the top of the dresser with his fist before turning around. “She’s our baby sister. It’s our job to make sure she doesn’t end up in jail or a drug addict. And from the sounds of the band creep she’s hanging out with, that’s exactly where she’s headed.”
Dawson’s eyes darkened, which was never a good sign. “If you’re so damned worried about Poppy, you shouldn’t have left Texas to work on that off-shore oilrig.”
“You know why I did it. It pays good money—money I sent to you to make sure you, Huck, and Poppy had what y’all needed.”
Dawson stared him down. “We didn’t need money, Jax. For all of Rosie’s inattentiveness, she never let us go hungry or without clothes.”
Yes, they’d had clothes and food, but they hadn’t gotten the thing they craved most: their mama’s attention. That was what Dawson was saying. Jaxon had sent money, but he hadn’t been there for them.
Which pissed him off because he’d paid his dues.
“I was here for twenty fuckin’ years of my life, Dawson. I wiped your snotty noses and cleaned your poopy butts. And took the blame for all the trouble y’all got into—which consequently landed my ass in jail.”
Dawson pushed away from the doorjamb and got in Jaxon’s face. “Well, no one asked you to take the blame! You gave yourself that job, Jax.”
“Exactly! That’s called being responsible, Dawson. Something you struggle with. You were next in line to take over the job of watching out for Huck and Poppy. And look how that turned out. Poppy’s now traveling around Texas with some lowlife guitar player and Huck spends all his time raising hell and chasing women.”
“Not all my time.” Huck stood in the doorway wearing a wrinkled western shirt and torn jeans with his brown hair standing on end and his lips tipped up in their usual cocky smile. “Occasionally, I do have to work.”
Dawson snorted. “What have you come up with this time to make money? Shit, you’re just like our daddy. Always coming one with some harebrained scheme or another to strike it rich.”
Huck’s smile faded. Dawson always knew what buttons to press to get their little brother riled.
“Fuck you, Dawg!” Huck rushed into the room and shoved Dawson.
Dawson stumbled back into the dresser, rattling the mirror. His eyes narrowed. “Oh, so you think you can take me on now that you’re no longer a snot-nosed kid?”
“I’ve always been able to take you on.”
“Is that so?” He lowered his shoulder and tackled Huck. They grunted as they landed on the floor and started wrestling around.
