I could not deal with that girl right now. I had several irons in the fire. My brothers were useless, I was trying to make sure my company, Svensson PharmaTech, stayed well ahead of the competition, and then there was the small problem of Halloween approaching.
The holidays always made my brothers various shades of morose. I had no patience for it. Yes, our childhoods had been toxic and would make a salacious Netflix miniseries, but we couldn't dwell on the past. But my brothers’ mood swings were coming, and it was just one of those things I had to plan for.
The phone rang through my car speakers. Legally, in Harrogate, we are not supposed to talk on the phone while driving. Deputy Mayor Meghan Loring had had the law passed to mess with Hunter. Their unrequited-love situation had to be resolved soon. I needed to check my calendar and see when I could work on that. With Mace and then Archer each having their own crises, dealing with Meg and Hunter had fallen by the wayside.
"Garrett," Hunter said over the speaker. "Bad news… What is that? Do you have a banshee in the back seat?"
"I don't need Halloween references from you right now," I said shortly. "It's still September. Halloween season should not start until October first. Thanksgiving season begins on November first, and Christmas shouldn't start until Black Friday. I don't understand why commercial entities seem to think otherwise. I will not be pushed to celebrate holidays any earlier than I deem appropriate," I said over Davy's screeching. "I do not want to see Halloween decorations in August."
"Whatever. Listen, we—"
Police lights flashed in the side mirrors as sirens blared. Fuck. I pulled over to the side of the road.
Of course Davy had gone silent and was staring wide-eyed at the blue lights. Maybe I could use Davy as an excuse. He was cute, though a little smelly. I rolled down the window.
"Be charming," I ordered my little brother.
Susie, one of the Harrogate city police officers, walked up to the window and sighed. "Garrett, you can’t talk on the phone, even if it's on speaker, while operating a vehicle. You know that."
"Yes, Officer, I understand," I said, handing over my license. "See, one of my younger brothers just came in to town. Surely you understand how that is." While I have many admirable traits, being charming and flirty is not one of them. Archer might have been able to talk himself out of a ticket. It would seem I was unable to do so.
"This is your last warning," Susie said, taking out her notebook and my license.
"I know. I won’t do it again, Officer."
"No, this is your last strike," she said, shaking her head. "You just lost your license."
I opened my mouth. No sound came out. I shut it. "I need to call my lawyer."
"Step out of the car," Susie said.
"Officer, it's cold. Look, I have the kid. He's sick and shivering."
Susie poked her head into the car as I stepped out. Davy smiled and waved.
"Could I have one more warning? Please?" I tried to smile. It might have been more of a grimace.
"Nope. You can wait in the cruiser for your ride."
I called Hunter from the police cruiser, Davy wriggling on my lap. "This is your fault," I spat into the phone. "You need to come pick me up. I lost my license."
Hunter was struggling not to laugh. "You know the law."
Wrong fucking thing to say. "Don't you dare. This is your fault," I hissed. "If you hadn't mistreated Meghan, none of this would have happened."
Davy, the novelty of the police cruiser wearing off, had started screeching again. He continued screaming for the next sixteen minutes. I know because I counted.
This town isn't that big—how does it take Hunter sixteen minutes to drive over here?
The big idiot finally showed up, completely unremorseful.
"Sorry I'm late. We had the town hall meeting," he said over Davy's screams.
I ignored him as our brother Parker loped over to my car.
"Be careful," I warned him. "Don't scratch it."
"I don't see why you care," he scoffed. "How long do you lose your license for?"
