Page 39 of Mountain Captive

“And your brothers are coming too. How old are they?”

“Aaron is twenty-seven. The twins, Carter and Dalton, are twenty-four. The twins are going to work for Mom and Dad. Which means they’ll be my coworkers.” She groaned. “The oldest, Aaron, has a job in town, too, though he wouldn’t tell me what it was. Which is just like him. He’s the devious one among us.”

“I’m sorry,” Chris said. “But obviously, they love you very much.”

Bethany sighed. “They do. And I love them. But they still treat me like a child. And my brothers—it’s like being surrounded by a bunch of spies. Once, when I was fourteen, some girlfriends and I toilet-papered another girl’s house, and I wasn’t back home before Mom and Dad knew about it. They made me get out of bed at six in the morning to clean up the mess I made. And forget dating. Until I was eighteen, I had to double-date with one of my brothers and his girlfriend. Even after that, bringing someone home to meet the family was a huge ordeal. I can’t tell you how many guys I never heard from again after they got the third degree from the Ames men.”

Chris laughed. “I know it’s not funny to you, but it’s so different from how I grew up. It was just my mom and me. I used to think it would be great to be part of a big, loving family.” A real family. Not one like the Vine.

“You’re right. Most of the time it is fun. I do love them, and I know they love me. But this is too much.”

“Maybe you can find another apartment. That might help some.”

“Maybe. But this apartment is one of the perks of the job. It’s part of my compensation package. I could look for a new job, but I really like this. It’s a perfect fit for me. What am I going to do?”

“I’m not sure I’m the right person to give advice to anyone,” Chris said.

“Of course you are. You have your own apartment. You’re an artist. A full-time artist. That’s an incredible accomplishment. And I hear you’ve been seeing a certain very good-looking doctor.”

Chris made a face, even though Bethany couldn’t see her. “Where did you hear that?”

“Oh, you know. Someone saw you two together and told someone else, and the next thing you know, the two of you are practically engaged. You’re not, are you? Engaged, I mean?”

“No.” Chris’s stomach quivered at the thought. “Rand and I are just friends.”

“Okay, so you have a hot friend. Anyway, I bet you never did anything in your life you didn’t want to do, no matter what your friends and family said. So tell me what to do about this.”

“I don’t think there’s a lot you can do. If they’ve bought this business and are determined to move to Eagle Mountain, you can’t stop them. Maybe practice smiling and thanking them for whatever advice they feel compelled to hand out—then do whatever you want without feeling guilty. Maybe that will help them to see you in a new light.”

“You make it sound easy, but you haven’t met my family. They can be very persuasive.”

Now Chris felt queasy as she recalled some of the methods of “persuasion” the Vine had used. “They’re not, well, abusive, are they?”

“What? No! Of course not!”

“I’m sorry. I had to make sure.”

“I forget you haven’t met them yet. You know the phrase ‘killing them with kindness’? My parents are masters of that technique. I don’t think it’s possible to really love someone to death, but if it were, my parents could do it. And my brothers are all so good looking and charming they have every female, and half the men, in our hometown conned into believing they’re perfect angels. It’s infuriating, really.”

“I can’t wait to meet these people,” Chris said, suppressing a laugh.

“Oh, you’ll meet them. They’ll know everyone in town inside of two weeks. They’re that kind of friendly. And they’ll ask you all kinds of nosy questions. Feel free to ignore them, but I probably don’t have to tell you that. Please teach me how to fight my natural tendency to want people to like me. It’s painful and embarrassing, I tell you.”

“No, it’s sweet.” Chris was laughing now; she couldn’t help it. But not at Bethany. The young woman was really starting to grow on her.

“No, you’re sweet to say so.” She sighed. “Anyway, I feel better having gotten all that off my chest. What are you up to today?”

“I’m going hiking.”

“By yourself? Be careful. I don’t want to get a call later that we have to go rescue you. Not to mention—how embarrassing would that be?”

“No, I’m going with...” She started to saya friendbut decided to share a little bit more with Bethany. “With Rand.”

“Oooh. Have fun. Not that you wouldn’t. He really has that hot-older-guy thing going on. I want to hear all about it later. Or not. I’m nosy, but feel free to tell me to mind my own. One good thing about having three overbearing brothers is that I have a very thick skin.”

Chris laughed again. “Have a good day, Bethany. And I’m sure things will work out with your parents.”

“If it doesn’t, I’ll be living with them when I’m forty, after they’ve scared away every single man within a hundred-mile radius. But it won’t be so terrible. My mom’s a great cook, and my dad never beats me at cards.”

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