Page 2 of Rosie and the Beast Next Door

Revenge was a dishbest served while watching the six-hour version ofPride and Prejudicewith my three older brothers.

“I was promised a hand-flex,” Jules said through the lap top screen.

Since we lived in three different states—Alaska, Tennessee, and Washington—we’d continued our long-held family tradition of movie night on the first Friday of the month via video chat. Most of the time I wished we could all be together, but with Julesunable to sit still for the length of a regular movie, much less a six hour one, it was kind of nice to turn the laptop away from my line of vision so his movements didn’t distract me.

“That’s the other one. The shorter version,” Bennett said distractedly. He was on the floor of my apartment, working on a puzzle he’d set up on the coffee table. No, my brother wasn’t a retiree, just a twenty-eight-year-old, bearded fisherman who also happened to love a good puzzle in his free time.

“Shhhhh,” I said. “This is the good part.”

“You’ve said that every time we talk,” Jules mumbled.

I was sprawled on my futon, one hand dangling down to rest in the popcorn bowl for easy access. “It’sallgood parts.”

“We missed the Peaks hockey game,” Haydn said. He had his phone way too close to his face and at an unflattering angle, as usual, and in the dark room, the light from the movie kept changing his skin tone to shades of blue. He’d become a huge fan of the Peaks when two players from our small Alaskan town had been signed.Everyonein town was a fan of the Peaks. It was a requirement, even if we had mixed feelings for their star player, Dylan Savage.

“You have no one to blame but yourself for this mess,” I reminded him as I watched Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy walk awkwardly around Pemberley. As much as I would have appreciated watching Dylan Savage skate around the rink like he owned the place (and Idefinitelyappreciated it), I would settle for nothing less than a Mr. Darcy.

Plus I never gave up an opportunity to mess with my brothers.

The boys quieted as Lydia and Wickham’s relationship and supposed elopement came to light, and when Darcy and Elizabeth got together in the end, I wasn’t the only one who sighed.

There was a chance the boys were sighing in relief, but really, what would they do without me?

Thanks to me, they’d watched every classic nineties rom-com and could quote Norah Ephron while catching fish or playing basketball or doing any other manly thing they insisted they loved doing whenever women came around. Every time a girl swooned for one of them, I patted myself on the back.

Once we’d finished the rom-coms, we’d moved on to musicals and period pieces. I was debating entering our Aubrey Hepburn era next.

Did they ever get to choose the movies for family movie night?

Nope.

Did I feel bad about that?

Also nope.

My oldest brother, Haydn, had raised me since Dad left and Mom died—when he’d barely been an adult himself—sacrificing his own dreams for so long, he forgot how to have them. Bennett and Jules stepped up as well, and as a result I was smothered with protective father figures who still saw me as the trembling nine-year-old clutching a stuffed otter at our mom’s funeral, even if I was now a full-grown twenty-four year old. I loved them. I loved getting under their skin. Teasing was our collective love language.

Besides, there were privileges to being the baby. Privileges I took full advantage of. Like secretly listing their vacation cabin as a short term rental to earn some extra money—which was a fantastic idea, by the way, until I rented it out to famous country singer, Lia Halifax, on the same weekend my brothers unexpectedly showed up for a weekend getaway. But since Lia and Haydn were married now, I felt like instead of them bringing it up as a reminder of how my good intentions often led to loads of problems, they should be thanking me. Praising me. Asking me to use my mad genius to get the rest of them married off to women as fantastic as Lia.

And then the man of my dreams—Winterhaven’s dreamy bookstore owner—would fall in love with me, too, and we’d all live happily ever after.

Chapter 2

Dylan

March 10

PEAKS FORWARD SHILOH BLAIRE DIES AT 31 YEARS OLD

Fans of the Montana Professional Hockey League (PHL) team, Mountain Peaks, are mourning the loss of their star forward, Shiloh “The Tank” Blaire, after a tragic accident on the ice Saturday afternoon during the final game of the qualifiers. After a forceful check, he was life-flighted to Bethesda Hospital where he was pronounced dead three hours later.

A native of Southeast Alaska, he grew up in Winterhaven, alongside teammate Dylan “The Beast” Savage. He played for Toronto College before being drafted into the PHL at 21. After playing for the Grizzlies for three years, he was traded to the Tornadoes, and was instrumental to their winning the championship game. Leading the PHLin assists, he was expected to help the Peaks take the championship this year.

Friends and family have asked for privacy as they grieve his loss at this time.

The rink was empty.All lights off except the emergency ones.

Everyone would be gathered around Shiloh’s grave.

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