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I unlocked my ’76 Suburban with the key and climbed in. She was old, but the first car I’d ever bought. I’d washed fire trucks at every station in the city until I had a down payment.
She fired right up, and I closed my eyes for a second. It had been a long day. Three fires, eight medical calls, and equipment checks in between.
My sister-in-law Christinawaseight months pregnant, and the reason I couldn’t skip this dinner was that my brother Joe found out the kid wasn’t his.
They’d been together since high school. Joe had given her everything, even on a fireman’s salary, but it wasn’t enough to keep her from sleeping with his best friend.
Shit.
I was pissed off at Christina, but she’d been like a sister to me for two decades. Was I supposed to somehow love her through this disaster? I doubted I’d be able to hide my anger and disappointment. It had certainly solidified my own stance on marriage. It was not for me.
I hadn’t talked to Joe about it yet. Ma said he was doing okay, but I’d have to see for myself. I popped my neck a few times. Then I’d decide what the rest of my brothers and I were going to do about it.
I threw my truck in drive and wheeled onto the busy street. The station was only ten minutes from Ma’s house. I’d grown up in this neighborhood. In some ways, it was the same; in others, everything had changed.
I cranked up the radio and cracked the window. "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix blared from the speakers as I cruised down the familiar streets. I was born here, and I’d die here just like my dad and my grandfather and my great-grandfather had.
And if it was true that that bastard Lee Stanis knocked up my brother’s wife, he was a dead man first.
I drummed the steering wheel. The Calhoun men weren’t saints. We’d all made our fair share of mistakes. Family came first. The department second. But we did not step out on relationships. Ever. Our father had instilled that in us from the time we could understand what it meant.
He’d worked holidays and crazy hours, but he’d always treated our mother with respect. With a reverence. The time they had together was sacred. He never left the house without telling her he loved her. And he’d brought home flowers every week just to show he cared. All my brothers who were married did the same for their wives.
I wheeled to a stop in front of Ma’s house. The lights in the front window were on. I could make out my brothers Bobby and Aaron standing behind the sheer curtains in the living room.
Is it too much to ask for some peace?
In a family of six boys, yeah, it was impossible.
My hand was on the door handle when my phone chimed with a text alert. I grabbed it from the passenger seat.
Need you now.
Well, well, well. This was early.
I was tempted to blow off the family dinner I was dreading anyway, but I couldn’t keep jumping to attention when I was summoned.
Little miss would have to wait. Family first. Always.
Chapter Three
Beau
“You’re staringat that phone like it might do a magic trick.”
Teague pointed his spoon in my direction. Milk dripped into the bowl off the end.
I should turn the stupid thing off. Della Davenport had called me no less than six timesafterwe’d spent an entire afternoon acquainting our families. As if my pending nuptials to her son were a marriage of soul mates instead of a business transaction.
I didn’t give a damn about flowers or catering or the guest list. Because I wasn’t going to walk down that aisle.
I shoved a spoonful of Lucky Charms in my mouth and chomped viciously.
“Annoying calls,” I said once I swallowed.
“It’s the craziest thing.” Teague tipped the bowl up to his mouth and drank.Dad would lose his mind if he saw that.“They have this button. And you can turn it off.” He touched his head with his fingertips and made a motion like his head was exploding.
I threw a piece of cereal at him. “Mine didn’t come with that.”
