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Keith looked eager and I nodded for him to go to the computer catalog to search.
Mallory came over. “See? Lumberjacks are kid approved.”
My heart raced just thinking about Daniel Pearson. He might be kid approved, but definitely not what I wanted to do with him. And that scared me.
3
DANIEL
“Danny,call me. We need to talk about Melly Harwood.”
Stupid voicemail. I disconnected and dropped my cell on the counter and stared out the windows into my backyard. The snow was almost gone, only patches in the shade, but we were far from done with it for the year.
“Still no answer?” Deek asked, sitting at my kitchen table eating a sandwich. His mouth was full, and the words came out garbled. He took a swig of iced tea to wash it down. When I got home from the vet, he was here, my fridge raided. An empty milk jug was on the counter and half a loaf of bread was gone.
He wasn’t the only one in my family who just let himself in.
Deek wore steel-toed boots, jeans, and a company shirt–this time of year long sleeved–which all had the usual hint of dust and wood chips on them that came with the job.
“No.” I’d tried calling him three times in the past twenty minutes since I’d been home. Sure, he needed to know he had an actual horndog with Earl, but I really wanted to know what was between him and Melly Harwood. I wasn’t naïve enough to think my twenty-one-year-old son was a virgin, but that didn’t mean I wanted the sassy redhead to be one of his youthful conquests.
Most guys that age changed bed partners as often as changing socks. I hadn’t been like that since I’d had a toddler to raise. What twenty-something woman wanted a guy with that kind of baggage?
None.
That was why I hadn’t fucked my way across Hunter Valley or done a slew of other youthful things.
“Isn’t that normal?” he asked. “I mean, he’s out in the wilderness fighting a fire. It’s not like there’s a phone booth in the woods. Maybe the cell tower got burned down.”
As a part-time wildland firefighter, he got called out to help on fires around the country as needed. It was seasonal work and while it was still wet and wintry in Montana, parts of California were hot and dry. And on fire. He’d been gone ten days already and there was never a definitive return date.
After, he’d be back to work for the family business, possibly not going out again on another fire this year. Or he might be sent on more. Who the hell knew? Summers usually meant fires.
“When’s the last time you saw a phone booth? And I doubt Danny would have any idea what to do if he saw one. I doubt he even has a quarter in his pocket. Who carries quarters?”
He shook his head, then took another bite of sandwich. “Kids these days.”
Deek was three years younger and of my four brothers, looked the most like me. We had our father’s size and our mother’s coloring. He kept his dark hair longer than mine and I could see a crease in it from a safety hat he must’ve had on earlier. We were often mistaken for each other a time or two, but lately my beard solved that problem.
We had three half-brothers: Sebastian, the youngest who went by the nickname Sea Bass; plus twins Saint and Seth. When I was eight, Dad fell for his secretary, Sheila, and divorced Mom to take up with the much-younger woman. At forty-two, he started a second family all having “S” names.
Regardless of mothers, the Pearson brothers had wreaked havoc on Hunter Valley back in our younger days and still did on occasion.
“Then what’s the big deal? Why are you so fucking cranky? I thought you liked being an empty nester.”
“I do, asshole.”
My tone only validated him and I didn’t like him being right.
“You sold your business and made a shit ton off me and Sea Bass. You should be smiling.” He eyed me, frowned. “Retirement doesn’t look that good on you.”
“You’re still an asshole.”
“Get a beer or something and sit the fuck down. Your pacing is hurting my neck.”
I glared, then did as he said, grabbing a bottle from the fridge. The fridge I cleaned the day before because I was bored. It was a little early for a beer, but who cared? I wasn’t going to be operating heavy machinery or a chainsaw. Those days were over. On Saturday, I was outta here.
Instead of sitting, I leaned against the counter. “Why the hell are you eating my food? Don’t you have a job site to be on?”
