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T.J.
I drove away from the Spence’s farm, keeping a watch out my rearview window until I could no longer see Becca standing in their front yard. The feel of her lips continued to burn against mine. When I decided to go see her, to plead our case, I never planned on kissing her. In fact, I didn’t even get to say a quarter of what I’d planned.
But that kiss…
It was a homecoming.
And the fact that she kissed me back ignited a flame of hope from the smouldering ruins that I’d carefully protected over the years.
After we’d managed to get Geoff to drive us back to our cabin, Aaron told us everything that he said. At first I’d been angry wondering how he, of all of us, could have torpedoed our plan to win her back like that. For almost six years—after we got over the initial hurt and acting out, discovering that it was impossible to move without her—we planned out how we’d approach her and what we’d say.
It had always been the plan that Aaron would plead our case. He’d be the first to explain what happened and how we felt. As the calmest of us three, he’d have the best chance since I’d march in like a general commanding his troops. Kind of like what I just did, although I preferred to think of it more along the lines of grabbing a bull by its horns.
But none of us had expected Aaron to lose his temper and fly off the handle. Why did he tell her that he slept with all those people? That was a boneheaded move. Yet maybe his uncharacteristic loss of temper could end up working in our favour. After all, she couldn’t deny how her actions affected us.
Besides, at some point he’d have to tell her about that time because Aaron discovered some things about himself. Things she needed to know. Just like Brice and I would have to have similar talks with her—not that ours were like his, but we all did some stupid things during that initial period. It might be better to start off with her already knowing our skeletons.
I turned off the country road and headed down the gravel driveway that led to my parents’ house on the ranch. Two of my older brothers also lived on the ranch with their families but had chosen to build their houses on the far side so that they could have their own space. The large pick-up smoothly pulled into an empty space between the multitude of cars, trucks, and delivery vehicles. The yard was crowded with people as my oldest brother’s wife, Serena, stood on the porch, directing traffic. Under the command of her booming voice, tents were being erected in the grassy area off to the side near our old paddock. A large kitchen truck owned by the caterers was being set up on the gravel area beside the grass. From the size of the production, it was hard to believe that this was all for my parents’ fortieth anniversary. But then again, my sister-in-law loved to throw a big party.
By the time I slammed the truck door shut, Aaron and Brice stood in my face.
“Well, is she willing to let me apologize in person?” Aaron’s blue eyes were red and devoid of life. Part of it came from guilt and part from the amount of alcohol he’d consumed the night before as he attempted to drown his sorrows. If our coach saw him now, he’d have Aaron’s head on a platter. Thankfully we still had three days left before we flew back to meet up with the team for our final preseason game. It gave us enough time to whip his ass and ours back into shape. Not that we’d slacked off since we were here. We’d made good use of the local gym, following the training regime our trainer gave us. It had been amazing that the coach gave us this week off during the preseason so that we could come for the anniversary party and we weren’t about to let his trust in us be shattered by returning to the team in worse shape than when we left.
“I apologized for you”—a tremble in his lower lip contrasted with the little flame of hope I saw sparked in his eyes—“well, really for us, and she didn’t throw me out. In fact…” I dragged out my good news, wanting to keep the knowledge of our kiss private for a moment longer.
“What?” Brice asked, impatient as always but without his usual levity in his tone.
“Well…we kissed.” Their eyes popped open and grins grew on their faces, matching the one I sported. “I told her that we’d loved her and that we still did. Then I basically ordered her to come tomorrow where we could talk more. When she nodded, I kissed her, and she kissed me back. After that, I left.”
Brice chuckled. “So you went in like your alpha self. Who knew that would work? Maybe we should have just started with it instead.”
“Maybe,” I agreed, but somehow I didn’t think I would have got the same reaction if I’d been the first to approach, even if she’d been my friend the longest.
But I couldn’t deny how happy it made me to have her body soften against my lips. I’d do it all again if it brought about the same results.
Chapter 6
Becca
I followed my mom into our kitchen, which smelled like heaven. One of the good things about having all the family come home to help out with Nan was the amazing food that was created every day. My mom wasn’t a slouch when it came to the kitchen, but her skills almost made her seem average when you compared them to Sam, his mom Aunt Kathy, and others.
The rumble of my stomach had Sam chuckling. “Sit down, Bec—” I glared—”and I’ll bring you a plate.
It was almost an exact repeat of what he’d said that morning which had the hairs on the back of my neck standing. Sam was up to something and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to find out what it was. But from the “butter won’t melt in my mouth” look that he gave me, I suspected that whatever it was involved me.
“Here you go,” he said as he slid a plate filled with open faced egg salad sandwich on fresh sourdough bread and a small garden salad. Everything on the plate came from our farm and probably from that very morning. Something that I missed in my life in Toronto.
The jerk waited until I bit into the sandwich before he said, “So, was that T.J. Mitchell that I saw you talking to out in the yard earlier?”
I nearly choked as my mom whipped her head around to stare at me from where she stood in the kitchen with Aunt Kathy preserving some of the fresh produce they’d harvested from the giant garden the day before. “Um,” I said around the coughs. Sam nudged the tall glass of lemonade towards me. After a drink, I managed to express my thanks. It was both sarcastic and grateful all at once which brought a laugh to his lips.
“Well?” my mom asked as she drummed her fingers against the counter top.
I kept my answer simple. “Yes.”
Mom gave a brief nod. “Makes sense. His parents are celebrating their fortieth anniversary this weekend. I’m sure they wanted all their boys home for it.”
“That explains why he wasn’t on the line-up for tonight’s game. I’m guessing Aaron Peterson and Brice Owens are probably here as well since it’s well known how close they are.” Sam’s smile hinted at the fact that he wasn’t finished with his revelations. Dread crawled up my spine. Had he seen the kiss?
