Page 5 of The Grouchy Lumberjack’s Bride

"Uh, well, it's more than being shirtless. But it's where the real money is," Natalie explains.

I can’t process her words. "I'm gonna fucking kill her." I shove the chair back and stand.

"Remember, she's just a kid," Linc warns.

“A kid who’s been taking videos without me knowing. Little shit.”

I storm out of my buddy’s house and jump into my truck. Sasha is spending the night at her best friend, Taylor’s house. Since Taylor’s dad, Grady, met and married pop sensation Jess Munoz, Sasha wants to be over at their house all the time.

It doesn’t take me long to drive down the mountain into town and head toward the Whitmore property. I jump out of my truck to see Jess and Grady sitting on the porch.

Grady frowns. “Everything okay, Cain?”

“For y’all, yes. I need my sister, though.” I tilt my head back and bellow her name. “SASHA!”

A minute later, she comes flying out of the screen door. She takes one look at me, and her smile disappears. “Cain?”

Shit. I scared her. “It’s not Dad if that’s what you’re thinking,” I say, trying to gentle my voice. Angry or not, she’s a kid, and I couldn’t deal if she were afraid of me. I blow out a breath, trying to rein in my anger. It doesn’t take long because the thought of her being afraid of me is enough to do it. “Get in the truck. You can get your stuff tomorrow.”

She gives Taylor a backward glance before sulking to the truck.

Grady bounds off the porch to my side. “You good, man?”

I blow out a breath. “Yeah. I’m pissed, but I’m not going to do anything to her if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not.” He gives me a small smile. “Some days are more trying than others.”

I release a sigh. “Tell me about it. I’m beginning to think we need a support group for parents of teenage girls around here.”

I keep my mouth shut once we’re in the truck's cab. I don’t know what to say that won’t terrify Sasha, so I say nothing as I drive up the long dirt drive from the Whitmore Ranch back to the main road.

I’m not always smart about people. In fact, I’d say I’m as dumb as the next Texas mountain man when it comes to the emotions of teenage girls. But even I can watch videos on YouTube about abandonment issues. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Sasha has a crap ton of them.

Sasha’s mom, Courtney, left as soon as Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She filed for divorce while the rest of us were still scrambling to figure out what Alzheimer’s would mean for his future.

Dad got custody of Sasha in the divorce, even though it wasn’t long before he couldn’t manage the job. Sasha lived with her maternal grandmother for a while, but about a year ago, she packed up and moved to one of those neighborhoods for active seniors north of Austin. Not the kind of place that would welcome a twelve-year-old girl.

So, Sasha came to live with me. I won’t pretend it hasn’t taken some adjustment. It has. Sometimes she’s sassy as fuck and annoying as hell. Other times, I can tell she’s waiting for me to walk away like every other adult in her life has.

After several minutes of silence, she asks quietly, “If it’s not something about Dad, then what—” She swallows audibly. “Something with Mom? Or Grandma?”

My hands tighten around the steering wheel. “Nothing like that, kid.”

“Then what?”

Fuck. I don’t know how to broach this topic.

“I found out about the—” I don’t know what to call the account, so I wave my hand in a vague gesture. “That lumber snack nonsense.”

“Oh.” Another bit of silence follows. I can almost hear her mustering the courage to be a smart ass about it. “What about it?”

Yeah. There it is.

“Did you really think I’d be okay with that shit?”

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t be. It’s gross, but women seem to think you’re hot.”

I scrub a hand down the back of my neck, keeping my eyes pinned to the road in front of us. “That doesn’t excuse—” Fuck. I’m flying blind here. “Aren’t you too young to have an account like that?”