Page 9 of Gentle Fox

I wasted no time hitting the dial button. My sister answered on the first ring.

"I didn't expect you to call me so fast," she panted.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, big brother," Gracie sighed. "Just getting a mile in on the treadmill. If I do it when I first get to the gym, I have no excuse that I'm too tired later."

I laughed silently. I would never do it out loud. To one of the others, maybe, but not Gracie. She took revenge to the next level, even if we were in different states.

"So why did you have me call you?" I loved my baby sister more than anything, but usually when she wanted to talk to me about something, it was because she had a crazy idea up her sleeve and needed my help. Gracie was what my mother would call a free spirit. Like the woman sleeping next to me, she fluttered from job to job. Except in Gracie's case, she wasn't nearly as responsible with money.

"What would you say if I told you I wanted to move down to Willow Creek with you?" I was too shocked to answer and Gracie didn't give me the chance anyway before she started rambling. "I've heard you describe the town and I looked it up on my own. It's something straight out of a movie set and I think I fell in love with it immediately. I canseemyself living there and it would mean I was closer to you again. I miss you. It's been forever since we've been in the same state."

I just saw her right before I moved down, but I didn't say as much. I'd heard something similar before and it came from the woman who was no longer sleeping in the passenger seat, but was pretending to be. I felt her wake up but appreciated her trying to give me privacy.

"If that's what you want, then I won't stop you."

I didn't have the pleasure of being able to pull the phone away from my ear when Gracie squealed her delight; the one downfall of having my phone hooked up to the car speaker.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! My lease is up this month, so I'm going to get my stuff packed and shipped down. Ican start looking for places now, but do you mind if I stay with you? It won't be for long."

I internally groaned. As much as I loved my sister, living with her would push that to the limit. She didn't understand boundaries even when they smacked her in the face.

"Sure, but just until you find a place. I don't exactly have a spare bedroom."

Well, I did, but there wasn't a bed in it. Boxes, sure, because I was too busy to unpack myself.

"Yay!" she squealed again. "Thank you again and I can't wait to see you!"

Gracie clicked off and I focused my attention back on my guest. "I know you're awake."

Annalee stretched her arms over her head. We had been in the car for almost six hours and she had slept for a majority of it. "I didn't want to interrupt. Who was that?"

"My youngest sister, Gracie. I was in the Marines for years when my parents had her. I didn't get to watch her grow up like I did the rest of my sisters, so I tend to have a soft spot for her."

Annalee smiled. "I figured as much when it didn't take long for you to cave to her wishes. How many sisters do you have?"

Now it was my turn to smile. "Five sisters. The rest are closer in age to me. Gracie was definitely an oops."

When she whistled it was like a siren to my cock. It wanted to know what those lips felt like wrapped around it. "That's a lot of women in your life. I bet your father had his hands full."

I chuckled at the thought. "As the oldest, he left that responsibility up to me. He wanted a basketball team of boys. He didn't know the first thing to do with girls."

Her response was a frown. "That's a little sad."

"Don't get me wrong, he loved my sisters as much as he loved me, but when they got dramatic, he turned things over to my mother. I guess that's why I handle it so well. I had years ofwomen telling me what to do and not do when they were in a mood."

It was also why I never settled down. Just the thought of adding another woman to my life gave me a twitch. That was until I heard Annalee's voice. There was something about it that called to me.

"Where are your parents now?"

I didn't take my eyes off the road as I answered. "Dead. My mother first and then my father soon after." A pathetic laugh escaped my lips. "My father always said he couldn't live without her. I guess in the end it was true."

"I'm so sorry."

I shook off the sadness that tried to overwhelm me. "It's been a few years now. Their deaths are what pushed me to leave the Marines. I wanted to be closer to my family again."

"Do your other sisters live closer?"

---