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“What do you expect me to order then?A pizza?No way in hell am I going to eat a pizza, one of those nasty-looking pies, when I should be able to have as much steak as I want.Damn it, I want you to call the mayor and tell him that I’m here and want to speak to him.”The cop told her that he’d left word that he didn’t want to speak to her, and he was happy that she was locked up.“Well, I never.You tell him that I’m not happy.I’m very unhappy, as a matter of fact.You tell him that LouCinda Sheppard is going to come after him if he doesn’t do what I tell him.”
The girl only told her that if she decided that she still wanted to have a meal brought to her, just yell.Like she was some kind of fisherman’s wife, who would stand out on the front porch and make loud grunting noises or something.She reached out to the only person that would understand her.
“Dad.I’m so upset right now.I want to have a decent meal, and they’re not letting me.Also, and this one I’ve already taken care of, Archie was moving me out of my house.Can you believe that?Like he has some balls to do that to me.I told him that he’d better not…why aren’t you answering me?”He told her that she’d not given him a chance.“Well, I am now.What are you going to do about this?I’m mad that I can’t do it myself, being locked behind these doors.”
“Just give me a minute now, and I’ll drive by the house.I had a doctor’s appointment today, and I couldn’t get any of those boys to take me there either.Of course, they all had good excuses, but I hate to drive when I don’t have to.”LouCinda asked him why he’d gone to the doctor.“Never you mind about my problems.You just keep yourself out of trouble there and get home.”When he paused for a little bit, LouCinda tried hard not to rush him into telling her what was going on.“Darling, you’re not going to believe it.Not only is there a couple of big semi’s in front of your house, but it looks like there are crews all over the place doing painting and trimming trees.Oh my.Your boys are all together, too.Plotting, no doubt.Want me to take care of this?”
“Yes.My goodness, Dad, they’re going to have their heads rolled if they keep this up.Archie said that his brothers were helping him move my things out.There is no telling what they’re saying about me to each other.Is that girl there too?”Dad told her that she was.“This isn’t going to go well for any of them, especially for Nashville and that twit.I’m going to need to get out of here sooner rather than later now that this is going on.See what you can do about that for me, too.”
“I’m going to talk to the boys.They’ll see reason before I get back to you on what they’re doing.”She felt his anger and wondered what had happened to her dad.“They’ve moved my things out too.Damn it, this means war.See that I don’t shed some of their blood for this.I’m going to have to get in touch with the leap leader, too.This is no way to treat their mother.”
This would not bode well for any of them if she had to get pissed off at them more so than she was right now.Damn it.She’d only been in jail for less than twenty-four hours, and they were acting like they had all kinds of rights to do things.LouCinda felt her head aching again and laid down.The doctor told her that she needed to have less stress in her life, and here her boys were making her sick again.Well, she’d be out soon, and she’d show them.See that she didn’t.
~*~
Nash watched his grandfather walking up to the front steps to the house.The locks had been changed about an hour ago, and he was happy about that.Also, the police were on standby to make sure that people didn’t get in the house unless they approved them.That only included their mother and grandfather, but it was enough.When he got close enough to them, he drew back his fist to hit one of them.It just happened to be Sunny, that he aimed his meanness at.
“Touch her, and I’ll kill you.”Sunny moved out of his reach when Archie grabbed his grandfather’s hand before he was able to release it.“What do you want?Whatever it is, I’m not interested.”
“You put that stuff back in the house, or so help me, Archie, I will take you on.This house don’t belong to you.”Archie shoved a copy of the will.He had several more copies to hand out to people who asked him what he was doing.“This don’t mean shit.Your momma has been staying there since her husband passed on.You didn’t say shit then.Put it all back, and I won’t have to call the cops on you all.”Grandfather looked at all of them, then at Sunny.“You should be ashamed of yourself for treating your mother like you have been.First, you go against her wishes, and then you have her arrested—in her own home.You all are going to pay for this.”
“I’m not worried about what you do anymore.I have to admit I’m ashamed of myself and my behavior on how I’ve been told to treat my brothers and new sister.But no more.And I found the money too.It’s amazing to me that our own mother would…well, it’s water under the bridge, as Dad used to say.Did you kill him, Grandfather?Had you anything to do with his death?”Grandfather asked him what he was talking about.“It’s just a question.I’ve spoken to a good attorney, too, one that works for us, not Mother and you, and he is working on getting Dad’s body exhumed.I don’t think that I’m going to have any trouble getting someone to do that for us.Doesn’t seem like you nor mother are very liked around town.”
If he’d not been looking directly at their grandfather, he might well have missed the look of fear.When he swayed slightly, paling a little as he did, not one of them reached out to steady him.Nash thought that was very telling.
“You boys are going to cause more trouble than your asses can cover if you don’t stop what you’re doing right now and go back to listening to your momma.”It was Jameson who said they thought they’d lived longer if they didn’t listen to either of them.“You ungrateful cur.You just wait.Your momma is going to be getting out of that cell she’s in, and—why haven’t any of you gone there to see her?You need to get your asses down there and be sucking up to her.Don’t you love her anymore?”
Nash was shocked that the word ‘no’ slipped out of his mouth before he could think how it sounded.But he didn’t worry all that much.The others, all six including Sunny, said that they didn’t like her either.Weston went as far as to tell Grandfather that they didn’t much care for him either.
If he was pissed off, he didn’t show it for very long.As soon as it was apparent that none of them were going to do what he wanted, Grandfather turned on his heel and left them there, pulling out his cell phone as he left the property.Nash looked at his brother when he said his name.
“Thank you.”Nash asked him what he was thanking him for.“For not holding a grudge against us.Especially me.Thank you for standing up to Mom when you did.And more than anything, I want to thank you for just being there for me.You have been, too.For all of us in making sure we are getting the information that we need to make this work.Legally too.Thank you for that.”
Nash wasn’t sure what to say to his brother, so he did something that he’d not done with any of his family in decades.He pulled him to him for a hug.A great bear of a hug that he thought he needed more than his brother did.After a few seconds, the six of them were hugging in a group hug.Nash felt tears fill his eyes when he thought of the warmth that he was feeling for the first time in longer than he could remember.That was when it occurred to him that he’d not had a hug from either his grandfather or mother since he could remember.
Letting that thought slide away, he hugged Sunny, completely forgetting that she had a no-touch rule going on right now.Not that he blamed her.However, just as he was stepping back to allow her breathing room, she called it, the others hugged her, too.One at a time, they pulled Sunny to them and hugged her tightly while welcoming her to the family.
Nash was happy with the way things were going.He hoped it stayed that way, them being close.At least trying to be close.While he wasn’t sure when it all started that they were shoving each other away, he knew now that it was their mother and grandfather.Why they’d do that wasn’t anything that he knew, but he wasn’t going to allow either of them to do this to him again.He only hoped that he was brave enough to stand up to her more often.
Looking at Sunny while she helped with the furniture being moved, he knew that she was going to be a huge part of them getting their feet back under them.He knew, too, that without her at his side, there was no telling how much longer he would have gone on hating everything and everyone.
The last several pieces of furniture were out of the house and being loaded onto the trucks when he realized that they’d skipped lunch.Asking Sunny if she wanted to get dinner with him, she agreed but asked if he wanted to invite his brothers.Nodding, she smiled at him.Nash would have given her just about anything for her to look at him like that again.Turning away, he asked his brothers if they wanted to join them for dinner.Their agreeing had his heart fill up so full that he had to stand still for several seconds to get his heart beating again.
“I’ll meet you all there.I have a couple of things that I need to take care of before we eat.”Nash asked Archie if he could help him.“Nah, I got this.Also, you’ll all be happy to know that I just heard from the man we hired to represent us about Dad’s death, and he said that the judge is more than willing to help us out by having Dad’s body exhumed and an autopsy done on him.So that’s good.”
Nash didn’t think it was going to be good information to come out about their father’s death.He didn’t know why, but he had a feeling that Grandma should be exhumed, too, along with several people who had died suddenly after having a run-in with their mother.He didn’t say anything as he and Sunny made their way to his truck, however.He was concerned enough as it was, and he knew that voicing his concerns with her wouldn’t help.She’d be giving him her own list of people who needed to have their deaths looked into deeper.It made him smile when he thought of how she’d gone toe to toe with Archie when he said that he didn’t want their mother to die in prison.
“Oh, so you want her to be able to stew about how you’ve all gotten balls, and when she is let out, she’ll take them back from you.Harshly too.Is that what you want, Archie?Because if you ask me, that’s likely going to come back on you, all of you, if she’s released to go back to the way things were.”Archie looked at him for just a second until Sunny jerked his head back around to her.“I’m the one speaking to you right now.Your brother knows that I’m right.She’ll come back here, and if I don’t miss my bet, kill the lot of you like I’m sure she did her husband and mother, and then I’m dead too.”
“You think she killed my dad?”Sunny asked him what he thought after finding all the things that he had in her bedroom.“I guess I don’t want to believe that she’d be that heartless.All right.We’ll have Dad exhumed.Then, the others from there.Does that make you feel better?And I’m serious too about making you feel better, Sunny.You’re scary when you’re right.”
“I’m not right nearly as often as I wish I was, but in this, I believe that I am.She’s got it in her head that she has to control you guys.Why?Who knows for sure, but she won’t just let that go simply because you’ve decided you’ve had enough.LouCinda is dangerous.And so is your grandfather.”
Throughout the rest of the afternoon, while moving furniture out, each of his brothers went to Sunny to get advice about things that Mother had done to them.He was surprised, too, to find out that their mother pitted them against each other since they were just boys.A lot of things were falling into place since he’d woke up—what he was calling not being so angry all the time.But mostly, it was finding Sunny to be a part of his life.
Staggering a little, he held onto the truck before getting in.Nash realized something just then that had him nearly falling over.He loved his mate.He was so in love with Sunny that he felt the feeling wash over his entire body.
“Are you all right?”He nodded, then shook his head.“Well, that’s about as clear as mud.Are you going to get in, or do you want me to drive?I don’t know how.I’ve never been able to afford a car, but I’m sure it’s not that hard.I mean, if you can do it, I can too, right?”
