Page 5 of Me and Mr. Just Right

Bennett:On my way, H. I’ll email you when I pull up.

Haydn laughed and toggled over to his news app to pass the time until Bennett got there. It was only a few minutes’ drive, so there wouldn’t be much time to kill.

The top news story was—yet again—the scandal and dramatic breakup of superstar country singers Aurelia Halifax and Bo Benton. “Un-Hinged Halifax!” the headline read, and the article was subtitled: “Exclusive report: Former best friend, country singer Gwen Winstead, details the mental instability of Aurelia Halifax and gives insight to her breakout album, ‘Love Awakened.’’” Beneath the headline was a picture of the blonde Aurelia Halifax, mascara and eyeliner streaked around her sad, bloodshot eyes and her lipstick slashed messily across her full, scowling lips.

He couldn’t imagine being on stage in front of so many people—both literally and in the news like this. Haydn scrolled past it, not interested at all in celebrity drama.

He caught up on the national news headlines before giving in to the urge to open up theNature Adventure Magazineapp. Why was he torturing himself like this? He’d turned the job down. They’d already offered the position to a friend of his, the one he’d suggested they reach out to. Still, he scrolled past photos of the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. Imagined the views and readership he’d have withNature.

The toot of a tiny horn saved him from himself. Haydn glanced up to see Bennett in his ridiculously small truck—which was paid off, as Bennett always reminded him—waving at him through the open window. His unkempt beard had taken over the entire lower half of his face. That was new.

“Get in, loser.”

Haydn rolled his eyes as he grabbed his duffel and camera bag and slid into the passenger seat. Rosie had made them watchMean Girlslast Christmas so they could understand her psyche, or something like that. They hadn’t understood Rosie any more after watching the movie, but the quotable parts had stuck, so they’d added it to their repertoire.

Bennett, always the hugger of the family, leaned across the seat to give Haydn a tight bear hug.Thiswas what being home felt like.

Bennett navigated the truck onto the two-lane street. “How was the flight?”

“Rough. Tears were shed.”

“Yikes. Anyone faint?”

“A woman across the aisle from me was close. And my seatmate was shaking.” He’d lost sight of her while helping the older woman. He hadn’t been able to see much of her face with the mask, but her eyes had been kind and intelligent.

He’d always been a sucker for that exact combination.

Even behind the mask, she was the kind of gorgeous that couldn’t be hidden. In fact, she’d looked familiar, though he couldn’t place it. Had they gone to high school together, maybe? It wasn’t like he ran into a lot of women in the remote reaches of the Alaska wilderness. And since she’d never been to Alaska, other than the state fair—he shook his head at the travesty of it—they couldn’t have met before.

“Jules flies into town tomorrow morning, and then we can head out.”

Haydn frowned. “I thought he was coming in tonight.”

“Something came up last minute.” Bennett shrugged. “We’re lucky he didn’t cancel completely.”

“Hmm.” That was a loaded hmm, and they both knew it.

Bennett drove the long way around town, circumventing the downtown shops where Rosie—and his ex—worked, to get them to his tiny, one-bedroom house. They hiked up the rickety platform stairs, and Bennett scrunched his face up as if bracing himself before he opened the door.

It looked even worse than Haydn had prepared himself for. Clothes strewn across the furniture. Old to-go food containers on the counter. Dishes spilling out from the sink. Dust on the closed blinds.

“It’s been rough,” Bennett said, taking in the scene as if through Haydn’s eyes. “And don’t give me any of your ‘romantic relationships aren’t worth it’ garbage.”

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Haydn said, even if he was thinking it. He knew when to keep his thoughts to himself. Haydn placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder and squeezed it affectionately. “Good thing I’m here before Jules.”

“Yeah, he’d probably condemn the place. Rosie already tried to burn it down.”

Haydn snorted out a laugh. “She didn’t.”

A tiny smile creased the corner of Bennett’s mouth. “She was trying to light a candle to help with the smell, and one thing led to another.” He toed aside some clothes to show where a hole had been burned into the carpet. “She swears it was an accident.”

“Right.” They exchanged a knowing look. “I’m here now.” Haydn was the most levelheaded of the siblings. His ability to be calm in the face of any disaster was one of the qualities that made him a good nature photographer. And a disaster this was. “Why don’t you run to the grocery store and get all our food for the week? I’ll get started on this.”

Bennett shook his head, even as he palmed his keys and edged out the door. “You sure?”

“If it’s up to me to get the food, we’re eating hot dogs and trail mix all week.”

Bennett shuddered. “How are we related? Don’t feel like you have to do anything, okay? If you need to rest or catch up on work—”

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