Page 2 of A Package Deal

We moved away, standing under the shade of the old oak tree nearby. Every minute of the last six days had been spent attending to Mom, making sure she was never alone and never wanted for anything. Frankly, it was a testament to her profound grief over the love of her life that she hadn’t snapped at us yet for being so overbearing. The day would come when she wanted her space, but not yet.

“I forgot how hot the summers are here,” Boon commented, tugging at his collar.

“This isn’t hot, asshole,” Colson murmured back without much threat behind the words. The guy was a firefighter in the city, and while this heat was nothing compared to what he dealt with, it was sweltering in a full suit to those of us not used to it.

“So, what’s the plan? When are y’all moving back?” I hadn’t seen much of Blueball the last week, but from what I saw of our neighbors dropping by with casseroles and condolences, I was impressed. I’d left here as an eighteen-year-old kid with hopes and dreams and stars in his eyes. Not one backward glance was spared for the small town that’d raised me. I’d be coming back a man with dreams realized yet more question marks than answers to life’s big questions.

“Shit, man. The season’s not even over yet. I can’t make it until maybe October.” Boon swiped at the sweat dotting his forehead. “The coaches know I’m retiring though.”

Boon had beaten the odds and scored himself a career in professional baseball. As he’d say himself, he wasn’t the best out there on that field but he was more than decent in skill level and impeccably reliable, even as one of the oldest players on the team now. He was also reliable when it came to women. I’d never known him not to be dating one. Sure, it was a different one each time, but he always had a woman on his arm. He’d probably move back to Blueball and have a string of eligible local women warming his bed before the first month was out.

“I’m not a rich bastard like you two. I gotta get on with a local fire department first and then I’ll move,” Colson added.

I sighed, glancing over at Mom. “All right. I’ll move first. I have nothing else going on.” I pinned my gaze on Colson, then Boon. “But don’t think for one second I won’t hold your feet to the fire about obeying Dad’s last wishes.”

They both nodded and I believed them. It had always been the plan to move back one day anyway. This was just a bit sooner than we’d anticipated.

“I need to look for a house to buy,” Boon added into the silence. “I can’t be living under the same roof with Mom.”

“You’d have to introduce her to your thirty-one flavors of women and that could get awkward,” Colson ribbed him, a smile tugging at his mouth.

“Don’t forget,” I interjected. “He’ll be dating a woman for a whole year. It’s him trying to keep a woman that long that will be awkward.”

Boon rolled his eyes, not looking happy about Dad’s directive.

“I had an idea though.” Both of them turned to me. “I took a long walk around the land yesterday. Twenty acres is a lot of land. And the hobby farm only takes up four. How about we fix up Mom and Dad’s—” I cleared my throat, the ache in my chest expanding. “Mom’s house? Then we can build a house for each of us somewhere on the property. What do you say?”

“Like a family compound?” Colson asked, the constant grief in his eyes clearing way for a bit of excitement.

I nodded. Boon grinned.

And just like that, the three Wolfe brothers had plans to move back to Timberwolfe Farms.

CHAPTER ONE

Emmerleigh

“Come on, baby. Preschool waits for no one.” I wrestled with the buckle on the five-point harness, wishing I had the cash to buy a new car seat that didn’t act like a straitjacket on my five-year-old daughter at the most inconvenient times. We were already ten minutes late and I had a jobsite to get to.

“Mama, your face is puple.” Georgia poked me in the cheek and then burst into a round of giggles that never failed to pull my shoulders away from my ears.

My girl was magic. And a handful.

I managed to get the buckle unclasped and she launched herself out of the car seat and into my arms, her already sticky hands tangling in my ponytail as she held on to me. One day she wouldn’t let me carry her into school. But that day was not today, so I’d savor every second of it.

“Good morning, Em,” Rosemary said with a smile as she held the gate open for me, keys in hand. The principal of Blueball Elementary was a godsend to single mothers like me trying to manage their too hectic lives. She always stood guard at the main gate for an extra few minutes and let in the tardy students before locking things down for the day. “And good morning, Miss Georgia. You’re looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today.”

Georgia started giggling again, whispering so loudly in my ear I winced. “Mama, she thinks I have a tail!”

Rosemary shot me a wink and locked the gate behind us, escorting us to Georgia’s preschool room. The kids were just starting to take their seats on the brightly colored rug at the front of the room for morning story time, so I let Georgia down and she shot away from me without a backward glance. I waited until she settled next to a little girl she’d been telling me about the last few days. She had bouncy brown curls, and she and Georgia started whispering back and forth like best friends.

“They grow up so fast, huh?” Rosemary said.

I started, not realizing I’d been staring. I stepped back, letting the door close and addressed the principal. She looked so pretty and put together compared to my wrinkled T-shirt, jeans, and hefty bags under my eyes. “So fast. And yet so slow sometimes.”

Rosemary gave me an understanding smile. “Well, I can tell you that Georgia has assimilated quickly. She seems like a happy, healthy, well-adjusted young girl. You’re doing great, mama.”

“Thanks,” I breathed, meaning it. Compliments didn’t come often without a partner in life, and I didn’t realize how much I needed one right then. Compliments, that is. Not a partner. “I’m sorry to rush off, but I have to get to a jobsite.”

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