Xavier shrugged. “Maybe she’s close to Hattie and wants to shield her from the big bad wolves.”
Landon’s expression radiated confusion. Caleb leaned over and gripped his shoulder. “He means the three of us,” Caleb informed him. “We’rethe big bad wolves.”
“That’s ridiculous! Personally speaking, I’ve never hurt a woman in my life.” Landon quirked his mouth. “Most women consider me a gentleman. I open car doors. I call or text after a first date. I never ask a woman to split the check at a restaurant.” Landon seemed mighty pleased with himself, Xavier noticed. To listen to him talk, one might think he had a prolific dating history. In reality, Xavier couldn’t remember Landon ever having a girlfriend.
Caleb leaned in and peered closely at Landon’s chest as if examining the fabric.
Landon frowned. “What are you looking for?” he asked, swatting him away.
Caleb’s lips twitched. “Your Boy Scout badge. From the sound of it, you’re still a proud card-carrying member,” Caleb drawled.
“Very funny,” Landon said, jabbing him in the side. “Laugh all you want, but I’m proud to have learned so much from the Scouts. It made me into the man I am today.”
Xavier stifled a laugh. Caleb was right on the money about their younger brother. Landon meant well, but he tended to act a bit superior at times. He had a case of the Goody Two-Shoes. Perhaps it had something to do with him being a brainiac and a member of Mensa with an IQ of 150. He needed to let loose a little bit, in Xavier’s opinion. Maybe even take a walk on the wild side. Just the thought of Landon doing so caused Xavier to burst into a chuckle.
Both Caleb and Landon glanced over at him with curious gazes. Before they could even ask, Xavier held up his hand and said, “Inside joke. I was just remembering something.”
Caleb smirked at him but said nothing further. Xavier felt bad for a moment. Their younger brother was often the butt of their jokes. Although he had always chalked it up to the fact that Landon was the youngest, Xavier also suspected he and Caleb poked fun at Landon due to his being a scientist and very different from the two of them. Xavier was beginning to sense the ribbing was getting old for Landon, especially with everything going on. He’d had such a tough time of it after being fired from his coveted lab position and being accused of falsifying lab results. Nothing could be further from the truth. Xavier would stake his life on it.
“So, do you think we’ll see… Dad?” Landon asked, mentioning the one topic they tended to avoid like the plague. Paul Stone, otherwise known as Red, names none of them ever brought up due to their long-term estrangement. On occasion they referred to him as the invisible man based on his absence in their lives. Hattie had given him the nickname Red due to the light coloring of his hair as a child.
Landon tripped over the D word, clearly uncomfortablewith it. As they all knew, Red had never been a father to them. Once they had left Alaska, he’d made only a few feeble attempts to contact them. Just thinking about the man caused Xavier to feel uncomfortable, as if a heavy weight had landed on his shoulders. They’d all learned to navigate life without a father.
A hissing sound escaped Caleb’s lips. “Let’s hope not,” he muttered. “Mom said he hasn’t lived in Moose Falls for years,” he added with a shrug.
Xavier twisted his mouth. “Well, Papawasa rolling stone.”
All three of them laughed at the pun, although Xavier knew deep down that the joke wasn’t all that funny. They had lost out on a lot of moments through the years due to their father’s inability to be present in their lives. It was hard to really find humor in being left by your father. Although it wasn’t something they had openly delved into among themselves, their bottled-up feelings had risen to the surface on a few occasions. As the oldest, Xavier hated to see his brothers in pain. So, over time they’d all learned to stuff down any memories of their father and pretend that not having him around hadn’t gutted them. Xavier had grown up watching all the other kids have their fathers at every single football game while his own dad hadn’t seen a single one of his. That had left a huge, gaping hole in his heart.
There’s nothing you can do to change the past, but the future is yours!he reminded himself. Xavier had the power to shape his own destiny. Wallowing in past hurts wouldn’t do him any good. All it ever accomplished was to make him doubt himself. He couldn’t afford to wallow at the moment. Being in Moose Falls signified a huge reversal in all their fortunes.
Xavier clapped his hands together. “All right, bros. It’stime to rock and roll. Let’s go meet our long-lost granny.” He took out some cash from his wallet and plopped it down next to the bill Bonnie had left on their table. He left a little extra than his normal tip amount, which might not have been the smartest move considering his current financial woes. Living beyond his means and trying to keep Heather happy with lavish gifts had backfired. Xavier hadn’t listened to his financial advisor until the situation was dire. He wasn’t going to dwell on his dwindling bank balance at the moment. Bonnie was a sweetheart, and she’d shown him nothing but kindness. He was currently living a more frugal life, and by living here in Moose Falls he was saving money. He had even taken the drastic move of listing his house in Arizona for sale.
He and his brothers stood from the table and began moving toward the exit.
“Hey! Stone!” A raised voice called out after them. Xavier, Landon, and Caleb all turned around at the sound of their last name. True was standing a few feet away with a wad of cash in her hand.
“Your money’s no good here,” True said, her gaze locking with Xavier’s own as she held out the money. Raw emotion flickered in her pretty brown eyes. He had no idea what she was talking about. What was wrong with his cash?
“What do you mean?” he asked, sputtering with confusion. Had he done something to make her angry? He took a step closer, closing the distance between them. There was no way he was taking his money back. “What’s the problem?” Maybe this was some sort of prank for outsiders? Xavier folded his arms across his chest. “Am I being blackballed? Is this because of the hot wings challenge?”
Xavier swore the corners of her mouth twitched a little before straightening back into a straight line. She blew out ahuff of air. “I can’t take your money because Hattie wouldn’t like it,” she said. Her lush, full lips pursed, distracting him for a moment from the matter at hand. If things were different, he would really enjoy kissing those perfect ruby lips. He wasn’t sure True was into him like that. But he was curious to find out.
Xavier frowned. “What do you mean? What does my grandmother have to do with this?”
Now she was definitely smirking. “She owns the place, Stone. So, you see, your money is literally no good here.” She advanced toward him and stuffed the cash in his jacket pocket. “I kept the tip portion for Bonnie. She deserves it.”
“She sure does. And by the way, feel free to call me Xavier,” he said. Try as he might, he couldn’t stop himself from grinning at her.
“Got it,” she said. “See ya around, Xavier.”
I sure hope so.The thought popped into his mind as she turned away from him. True was growing on him by the minute. She was stunning and hardworking with a sly sense of humor. Once he’d fully recovered from the ghost pepper wings, he might even view it as slightly humorous.
When he turned around to face his brothers, Xavier was greeted with near-identical grins. They had clearly been enjoying the show. Neither of them had the sense to try to pretend that they weren’t all in his business.
“I think you were wrong about the manager. She’strulyinto you,” Caleb said with a snicker. He jabbed Landon in the side as if he’d just cracked the funniest joke ever.
“Ain’t that thetruth,” Landon added, chuckling along with Caleb. “The two of you were setting off more smoke than those hot wings you ate.”
