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Dad Curtis smiled. “This is the best news ever.”
“I know it’s been three years, but we gave them our permission for your hand.” Dad Eddie grinned broadly. “We’ve never taken that back.”
“Y’all are jumping the gun just a little bit.” She looked at her parents and saw the unconditional love for her in their eyes. Growing up in their home had been wonderful. “It’s true, but I have so much to work out, especially with Jason.”
Her mom nodded. “Of the three, I can imagine you do with him.”
“I still feel there’s animosity between Shane and Jason. It worries me there will never be any trust between them. So, Mom, what do I do? I love them.”
Corey returned carrying a tray with five glasses and an opened bottle of wine. “Did I miss anything?”
“Your sister was just telling us how she hooked up with the Wolfe brothers again,” Dad Curtis said.
Phoebe’s jaw dropped. “Dad?”
“What?” he said with a grin. “Oh, I forgot that means something else these days, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, Dad, it does.” She laughed and turned to Corey. “I was also telling them about how I was worried about Jason and asking them what they thought I should do.”
Her mom took a sip of wine. “Honey, you know I never give advice unless you ask for it.”
“Alice, you’ve got to be kidding.” Dad Eddie laughed. “Ask…don’t ask…you are always doling out advice like Chinese fortune cookies at Phong’s Wok.”
Her mom smiled at the two men she’d spent most of her life with. “With you two, I’ve had to. Neither of you would’ve proposed if I hadn’t.”
“What do you mean by that, baby?” Dad Curtis leaned forward and took her mom’s hand, reaching over Phoebe’s lap.
“I hinted and hinted, but neither of you figured out I was ready to say yes. Finally, when I told you the best place and time to propose was at midnight on Lover’s Beach, you did.”
Dad Eddie grabbed her mom’s other hand. “And you made us the happiest men in the world, honey.”
“Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” her mom said, smiling. “The most important thing, Phoebe, is love. If you all love each other, everything else will work out. I promise you. I know Jason truly cares about Shane. When it comes to the men of Destiny, they can be a stubborn lot and Jason is one of the most headstrong and determined men in this town. Why do you think he was elected as sheriff? Because all of us knew he would never give up on anything. He would fight for us. And baby, he has proven again and again that he will fight for you, too. As a mom, I know there’s more to the story about Shane than what we know. I know it in my heart.”
“I want to believe that, Mom, but it’s hard.” The facts were clear and Shane was proving again, by breaking the terms of his probation, that he hadn’t changed one bit. But in her heart, too, she still hoped Shane was the wonderful, loving, honest brother she’d always known.
“This whole situation is not your problem. It is between Shane and Jason. You love them both. Just keep it that way. Let them work this out.”
“But mom, it’s so hard to see two men that you love not care about one another.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart. They do care. They always have cared.”
* * * *
With both his brothers by his side, Jason walked into the office of the motel.
“Hey, Sheriff,” the man behind the counter said. “What brings you and your brothers out at this hour?”
“Ted, we’ve got a man, Andy McCrae, that I need to speak to.”
“He checked in a couple of weeks ago. Paid a month in advance. Comes and goes as he pleases. What kind of trouble is he in?”
“I’ll let you know after,” Jason told him. “What room is McCrae in?”
“Now, Sheriff, you know I’m not supposed to tell you that without a warrant.”
“How many years have you known me, Ted?”
“Since you were a kid.”
