AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Two weeks since I chose myself and shattered every inch of the life that I’d fought so fucking hard to build. Two weeks since police cuffed the man I thought was the love of my life–placing his hands in front of him–and covering his restraints with his suit jacket as though they owed him some kind of respect beyond the common criminal because of his last name and job title. Eric’s family had been in politics for three damn generations, and apparently, that meant more than the dignity of his victim.
The stars winked down at me despite the light pollution, and I stared back. It was that prickle of awareness up my back that alerted me to Rhyett as he approached.
“You okay?”
“Hmm?” I dragged my eyes away from the deep onyx of a midnight sky, aware of the ache of fatigue climbing into my bones. Rhyett was like the big brother I never had but always wanted. The little wrinkle beside his eyes was shining with care only a big brother could possess as he gave me a knowing smile. “Um, yeah, just needed a breather. How’s Brex?”
“Passed out as soon as she laid down.”
“Travel has always tuckered her out,” I supplied affectionately.
“Too many people,” he accurately deduced. “Too many things out of her control.”
“It’s like youknow heror something.” Brexley had always been the organization to my chaos, the focus to my fun, the numbers and strategy to my adoration of people. She lived by a color-coded planner and lists of to-do’s, whereas I preferred a…spontaneous,sticky-notes-everywhere approach to my life.
He chuckled, but I felt that same intense focus he’d had when all of this started back in that hospital room. “Answer the question, Noel.”
I sighed, some mix of endearment and irritation forcing my eyes to his expectant face. “I’m alright. Tired, mostly. Sad. Angry. It’s a whole blender full of emotions in here right now. Mostly, I’m just… nervous, I guess.”
“That’s only natural. You’re starting over, five-thousand miles from home. You sure about this?”
For the first time since college, I wished I had something to smoke—a cigarette, a joint, it didn’t really matter what, as long as it silenced the incessant squeaking hamster wheel of thoughts spinning circles in my brain—something to do with my hands, to force myself to breathe. It wasn’t Rhyett’s question.
As hard as it was to walk away from our business and our lifelong friends, it was harder turning every corner and having my mind bombard me with memories and questions I would never have answers for. Was it ever real? Did I imagine the way Eric cared for me in the beginning? Was it always a play for control? Why was it that men in fitted suits with fat wallets and prominent families could do whatever the hell they wanted and walk away from it unscathed?
“Yeah,” I answered, no trace of hesitation in my tone. The Rhodes practically ruled Mistyvale by the sounds of it. They knew everyone, and the few they didn’t know would at least knowof them. However, according to Rhyett, that could go either way, depending on which brother had made the impression in the first place. The sisters, he’d affectionately informed me, were all safe. “Yeah, I am. I really appreciate this, Rhyett. The job, the rental. Hell, getting us there. Everything.”
RhyettThe ConnectorRhodes had lined up a position as an interim manager for me at his island coffee shop, the Grizzly Grind, the temporary opening a perfect fit for my who-the-fuck-knows life plan. As if that wasn’t enough, he insisted I ‘watch’ his damn house, so it ‘didn’t go to waste’. Did I mention his gorgeous truck needed somebody to drive it so the battery didn’t die? The man was an angel, and not just for Brex.
“Of course. We’ll get you in, introduce you to the family, and ensure you’re settled before we go home. My brothers and Broderick will watch out for you, make sure you have what you need, alright?”
My stomach turned, sweat pricking at my spine. “Rhyett?”
“Yeah?”
Steadying myself, I ran through all the reasons I wanted this to be a clean break, primarily the freedom to become this new, liberated version of myself. Noel, the remix, the 2.0, the great reclamation. With one last calming breath, I said, “I want this to be a fresh start. No guys. No new business ventures bogging me down. No expectations, or people tiptoeing around my baggage.” If I had to watch my mother or siblings stare at me like I was as likely to detonate as say hello for even one more day, I might implode. It was time, not pity, that my soul craved. “Just me, figuring out what in the hell that looks like. It would mean a lot to me if what happened in Florida, stays in Florida.”
He watched me—this new, too kind for his own good, pseudo-big-brother figure—with a solemn understanding before he finally nodded, sending relief trickling through my veins. This could work.
TWO
JAMESON
There was something eternally comforting about finally spotting the abrupt jagged teeth that rose out of the sea. With the engine rumbling the deck underfoot, my eyes devoured the rolling emerald hills and mountaintops covered in towering spruce and pine trees.
“You excited to see him?” Maverick, the youngest of my brothers, asked as he nonchalantly leaned onto the edge of the wheelhouse, braced on his forearm. He still had that long, lanky build of adolescence, but there wasn’t a chance it would remain after the summer. It never did.
The summer spent on theRhodes Awaywas an initiation for us boys. We all spent our years as deckhands from about fifteen on, but it wasn’t until we were seventeen or so that our dad, the renowned Captain Milo Rhodes, really put us to work. Mav, the spoiled baby that he was, had gotten it easy last year. But this was my year, and that bullshit was about to end. This was the year Milo would hand over the reins, while he still stayed aboard to make sure this transition would be smooth.
I wanted to believe Dad was excited to step away, and that the prospect of my mother sipping margaritas while watching her useless highland cows graze in The Sunshine State would be more appealing than freezing his balls off for another winter next year. But as I stared at our rocky Alaskan island, inching closer by the minute, I realized—not for the first time—that he would miss this. The exhausting hustle of it. The simultaneous peace, and the way even the calm days left our bones singing. He might not talk about it while mom poured through paint samples and handed insurance investigators their asses when her Florida project started over after a highly-suspect fire, but he would.
And with Rhyett in town, naturally, all those warm, squishy conversations were bound to rear their ugly heads. I love my brother. To the end of the earth, I do. But the man is a damn flower child if I’ve ever seen one. So freaking happy all the time–a complete and totalPollyanna. I’d never understood it. Despite his insistence on finding the bright side of things best left in the dark, I fucking loved him. It was fucked up to pick favorites as one of a dirty dozen siblings, but if I had to, it would be the sunshiny bastard.
“Yeah,” I finally said, realizing I likely hesitated one heartbeat too long. Mav either didn’t notice or didn’t mind, because he just bobbed his head to a beat nobody else could hear. “They should be at the house tonight for dinner. Rhyett said something about a new tenant for his place before they leave.”
“He’s renting the house?”
“Yeah.”
