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I snatch the cup back. “Make your own damn coffee, then.”
Ford grins. “But I like insulting yours.”
The door clatters again. I raise my eyes to the ceiling, wondering why I even bother. The main house where I live is the home base for all things Montgomery. Family traditions, poker nights, whiskey, and gossip. Good luck keeping anyone out.
Tearing the coffeepot off the burner, I refill my cup. I need the energy to deal with these idiots.
Ford raises a brow. “What’s got you pissed?”
Before I can tell him to mind his own fucking business, Wyatt’s voice rings out down the hallway. “Looks like we got ourselves a couple of nieces, assholes!”
At the news, I blow out a breath, trying to calm the hell down and focus on something good for once. “Everything okay with Emmy Lou?” I ask as Wyatt and Davis round the corner, shit-eating grins on their faces.
“Everything’s great.” Davis tosses me his phone. “See for yourself.”
“Hell, I’m sending ‘em a pony,” Wyatt announces, staring at his own phone.
I read my little sister’s text.
Meet Daisy and Cora, your new nieces and goddaughters. We’re tired but happy. Call y’all later. Love you boys. EL.
Beneath her text is a photo of snugly swaddled babies, one in pink, the other in yellow. Rosy-cheeked and cherubic. New Montgomerys. Instantly, my heart feels a thousand pounds lighter. Thank fucking Christ, everything’s okay.
I give Davis back his phone. “Pretty damn cute. Identical?”
Ford shakes his head. “Nah. Taking after me and Davis already.”
Davis leans on the live edge counter top. His eyes scan the cold scrambled eggs and leftover pastries from yesterday’s breakfast before settling on me. “Now that we got the sweet shit out of the way, you wanna tell us what Stede had to say?”
Wyatt collapses onto a bar stool. “I’m more interested in Charlie giving away free lodging.” He lifts a suggestive brow. “Taking in strays?”
I scrub a hand down my face. I’m not in the mood for Wyatt’s bullshit. “If you’ll shut the fuck up for one second, I’ll tell you.”
I cross my arms and rehash with my brothers the conversation with Stede about the threat of land developers.
“What do you think they’ll do?” Wyatt asks when I’m finished.
“They’ll be nice when they come to offer to take the ranch off our hands. When we tell them to go fuck themselves, that’s when they’ll start threatening us,” Ford guesses.
“We’ll be ready if they come.” Davis’s face is grim. “New security system’s going up on the north side of the ranch. Eyes on the road.”
“Got a time frame?” I ask, setting my now-drained cup on the counter.
“Next week sometime.”
At the coffee pot, Ford says, “And the girl? What’s Fairy Tale doing here? She didn’t get enough action at Nowhere?”
Sighing, I rub a hand over my jaw. “She thinks she can help us out with our ...issue. Start a social media account. Give us some good PR or whatever.” I look around at my brothers. “I hired her for the summer.”
Wyatt, looking like he took a long whiff of dogshit, rolls his neck around on his shoulders. His haggard groan fills the kitchen and I roll my eyes. The only one more dramatic than our mama is Wyatt. Even Emmy Lou’s got her head on straighter than this kid.
My brothers stare at me with doubtful expressions.
“Look, I don’t want her here anymore than you do, but we gotta try something.”
“If you don’t want her here, then why she’s in a cottage and not a cabin?” Wyatt asks with a sly smirk.
“What?” I snap. “Yeah, I’m gonna put her down by the river. You know those fuckers flood if we get two inches of rain.”
