Page 3 of Sheltering You

And now he’d lose a week’s worth of wages in the middle of the holidays.

Gaze downcast, he leaned against the kitchen counter, his heart pounding. “Thing is, Chet, I’m, uh… It’s really late notice.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. But we’ll be sure to use you when we plan the Q2 board meeting.”

“Right, but…” Derrick could do this. He had to do this. If he didn’t start standing up for himself, his savings account would be empty. He’d miss payments, and what would that do to his relationship with Sam?

He’d have to sell the plane. He’d be bankrupt.

Footsteps told Derrick somebody had joined him in the kitchen, but he didn’t look.

He took a breath for courage and forced the words out of his mouth. “I’ll send you a bill for the late-cancellation fee.” Which would be half what the company would’ve paid for the charter, but better than nothing.

Silence.

It ticked for seconds.

Derrick was pretty sure his heart was going to slam right out of his chest before Chet finally spoke.

“You’re not serious. You really expect me to pay that?”

“You signed a contract.”

“Here’s the deal, Wright,” Chet said. “You can either have your money now or you can have our business later. But you can’t have both.”

Derrick tapped the cell—was banged a better word?—against his forehead. He needed the money. He needed the client more.

He returned the phone to his ear. “Quarter fee, then,” he said. “And next time, I need at least two weeks’ notice.”

Another long silence, and then… “I hope the money’s worth it.” The three quick beeps told him his most loyal client—former client, maybe—had ended the call.

“Everything okay?”

Grant, brother number four, was staring at him over a giant cooler on the kitchen counter. He might not’ve been the tallest of the brothers, but he was definitely the biggest. Derrick figured he could hold his own in a fight against the rest of the Wrights, but Grant would squish him like a bug.

Not that he’d ever admit that. Especially considering, of all the brothers, this one felt the most distant. Their relationship had taken a hit after Bryan’s accident, and it had never recovered. Derrick hated that, but he’d had no opportunity to fix it, considering he never spent time alone with him. “Thought you were fawning over the women like the rest of the guys.”

“There’s only so much of that”—Grant chin-pointed toward the chatter—“a man can take.”

“No kidding.”

A few twelve-packs of drinks sat on the floor by Derrick’s feet. He grabbed one and started shifting cans into the cooler.

Grant did the same. “What was that about?”

“The call?” Stupid question, but he didn’t want to say. He was trying to imagine anybody in the world treating his ex-Green Beret brother that way.

Grant didn’t need words. His slightly raised eyebrows spoke loudly enough.

“Cancellation for tomorrow’s trip.”

“I take it he didn’t want to pay the fee.”

“I don’t usually expect him to, but he does this to me a lot.”

“Because you don’t expect him to pay.”

“Probably. I like to be good to my clients. I’m good to them, and they’re good to me.”