Page 9 of Truck Off

“We got you a housewarming gift, and this is it,” Clara says as she points to the nicely made bed. It’ll probably never look this good again.

My heart warms, and it feels like something is stuck in my throat. I clear it before I speak. “Thanks. This is really nice. It’s way better than the old flannel sheets I planned on using. And the color is good. Fits my style.”

Clara rushes over to me and wraps me in a tight hug. “I was so nervous you’d hate it.”

“Not at all. It’s perfect. Seriously.”

She beams up at me just as Ash, my second youngest brother, steps up beside us.

“Hey, no stealing my best friend.” He teases as he takes the two cases of beer from me.

“You don’t dictate who my friends are, mister.” Clara narrows her eyes and pokes him in the chest, but it’s clear she’s only teasing too.

“Pretty boy is back with beer and food!” Ash calls out to the open room like no one else saw me walk in. Then he glances up at me and grins. “Though he’s not looking so pretty at the moment. You went in public like that?”

“Fuck off.” I playfully punch his shoulder and make my way to the kitchen along the opposite wall.

The plumbing dictated where I put the kitchen and bathroom. The back wall worked out nicely since there’s a second entrance on this side. To even out the space, I walled off a lot of that side. To the left of the back entrance is the laundry room and mudroom combined, and to the right is the bathroom. I figured this would make it easy to clean up after a hard day of work on the farm.

I left a short hallway between them for access through the kitchen.

The kitchen is a galley style with a long island to separate it from the rest of the room. Cabinets cover two-thirds of the wall, only breaking where the hallway entrance is. The island spans the same distance.

To the left of the kitchen is just enough space for a six-seater dining table. It makes the perfect spot since there are sliding barn doors on the wall that open up to a small balcony. There’s just enough room out there for a couple of chairs. It’ll be the perfect spot to watch the sun rise and set.

The dining table is the only other furniture I have so far besides my bed and dresser. And a TV, of course. I can’t go without TV.

I’m going to have to make time to do some furniture shopping, so I have some place to sit besides my bed.

I glance over my shoulder after I set the pizza on the counter. Clara is staring at Ash with a wistful look in her eyes. I sigh and shake my head. Will Ash ever see what the rest of us see?

Ash and Clara are the same age and were raised together since they were both old enough to walk. She’s had a hard and never-ending crush on him since she was old enough to know what a crush is. He seems completely blind to it.

She’s already like a sister to us. I would love to see them get together and make it official. But either she has to be brave enough to tell him how she feels, or he needs to open his damn eyes and see what’s right in front of him—a beautiful, funny, caring woman who I suspect loves him dearly.

“My bike okay?” Christian’s gruff voice asks from right behind me. I glance over my shoulder and smile. He and Liam have been working on the finishing touches to the bathroom.

“Yeah, she’s great. She handles those curves really well. You’ll have to let me take her out more often.”

His frown deepens and his brows furrow. “Get your own damn bike.”

“Nah, you know I prefer my truck. But a bike is fun every now and again.”

He stares at me for a minute. I don’t know how it’s possible, but his eyes narrow even more. Call it twin intuition, but I swear we can read each other’s minds. It’s one reason I don’t worry as much as the others about him having a relapse. If that happens, I’ll know instantly.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

I quickly turn away and open one of the kitchen cabinets. The girls put away my dishes and I don’t know where anything is. “Nothing. Why do you ask?”

He doesn’t answer me as I look in a different cabinet for the plates. It takes me three tries before I find a stack of paper plates to use for our lunch.

When I turn around, Christian is leaning against the counter next to the pizza with his arms crossed over his chest. He’s staring at me like he sees right through all my bullshit.

Any minute now, he’s going to pull the older brother card. He loves to remind me that he was born a whopping four minutes and twenty-three seconds before me. The closeness of our births earned me my name. It also might be the only funny thing Dad’s ever done.

He said I came out so fast after Christian, it was like I was chasing him. Hence, he named me Chase.

“What?” I ask, sounding a little too frustrated. Me frustrated is a dead giveaway that something’s wrong.

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