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He’d refinanced their house three times. I’d made more payments on it than I cared to admit because I wanted my brother to have the family he wanted, money be damned.
My gut twisted. “Yeah. I’ve got you.” Where the hell was I going to come up with the cash for bail?
“Thanks.” He was quiet a minute. “I’m sorry. I . . . I screwed up.”
“We’ll figure it out. Just don’t hurt Ma or yourself anymore.”
“My time is up. Will you come see me?”
I glanced at Beau surrounded by her family. Except we were family now. And I had people that needed me too.
“Yeah. I’ll come see you.”
I hung up the phone and stared at the wood paneled walls a minute. I rubbed my face, the weight of all of it catching up.
I didn’t know what time it was, but I had a twenty-four-hour shift starting tomorrow morning. There was so much to get done. And how was I going to watch Beau?
I couldn’t leave her on her own in case her father came after her. What was I gonna do? Tether her to me?
Damn it.
“Everything okay?”
I couldn’t get used to her kindness. I’d been the target of her anger for all these weeks. This was the tone reserved for others. And I wasn’t fool enough to believe some vows had erased the past.
But I’d take it.
I’d take her happy, mad, whatever.
She had enough to shoulder. I didn’t want to burden her any more than she already was. But I wasn’t going to have a marriage—real or fake—based on secrecy.
“Joe, my brother, he’s—“ I scrubbed my face again. “He’s, uh, he’s in jail.”
She thumped me in the chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“When exactly was I supposed to do that? We’ve kinda had a lot going on and you don’t particularly like talking to me all that much.”
She leaned against the mantel. “I’d rather talk about your problems than face mine.”
That I understood. Maybe I’d been doing the same thing.
“His wife cheated on him—”
“Christina?” she asked incredulously.
I lifted a brow, surprised she remembered them from so long ago. Especially since they’d never met.
“Yeah. Knocked up by his best friend too.”
Her lips parted. “They’ve been married forever.”
“I know.” I dumped my phone back in my pocket. “Joe’s had a real tough time with it.”
“Rightly so.” She snorted, sounding pissed off on my brother’s behalf.
“I’m pretty sure she burnt their house down, but they’ve pegged it on Joe.” I tapped my pocket. “That was him. He asked me to come see him.”
“What’s his lawyer say?”
