Page 24 of Rainbow Kisses

I pulled another face at him, which morphed into a smile. I did love my brothers, though they drove me to distraction much of the time and especially when they ganged up against me.

“So, Rainy, what are your initial thoughts?” Dad asked. “Right off the top of your head.”

Like he’d flicked a switch, my brain started to churn again.

And words flowed out of my mouth.

“So you hatedeverything I said, didn’t you?”

Rowdy shook his head as we walked down the hall to my office. “I didn’t have time to digest half of what you said, so excuse me if I’m still trying to process it. And no, I didn’t hate anything you said. Hell, I’m trying to decide if I’m pissed off because I didn’t think of some of it.”

I shrugged. “Our brains just work differently. I’m sure you’ll come up with a whole bunch of stuff I would never think of.”

He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Hell, I’m still trying to get a handle on some of the shit Dad deals with on a daily basis. I mean, I know how trades work, but the fucking paperwork is gonna kill me, I swear.”

“You’ll figure it out. You always do.”

He looked at me with a crooked smile. “Now, you’re just trying to butter me up. You must want something.”

We’d reached my office, and I motioned him inside with my hand. I knew he was going to be late for practice, but I said, “Just for a second. I want to run something by you.”

His smile widened. “I knew you wanted something. But you know you don’t have to ask my permission. If it’s gonna cost money, you just need to ask Pop.”

“I just want your opinion on something.”

When he walked in, I shut the door behind him, earning a narrow-eyed look from my brother.

“Why does this conversation need a closed door?”

“Because I want it to be private, okay? Jeez, you sound scared.”

“Not scared. Just rightly cautious. What’s going on?”

I moved around my desk to sprawl in my chair, while Rowdy did the same across from me.

“Tell me honestly. How long have you known about the ECHL thing?”

Rowdy shook his head, his face screwing up in a frown. “Honestly, I didn’t. But I got suspicious when I walked in on Pop talking to Joe McGinty at the Bigfoots. He couldn’t get off the phone fast enough. But I heard him mention the ECHL commissioner’s name before he knew I was there. It took me a day or two to realize who they were talking about. And when I did, I figured…I don’t know, they were just shooting the shit.”

Rowdy looked as perplexed as I felt, and he’d never been able to lie worth a damn, at least not to me. We sat in silence for a few long seconds, which was remarkable on both our parts.

“So what do you think?” I asked.

He didn’t answer right away, and I could tell he was really giving some thought to what he wanted to say. For Rowdy, that was surprising. Usually, he opened his mouth first and considered his words second.

But since he and Tressy and her daughter, Krista, had started living together, he’d actually, dare I say, grown up.

Finally he sighed and ran a hand through his already messy hair, making it even more wild. “I think it’s going to be a shit-ton of work and a metric fuck-ton of headaches. Part of me wants it. And part of me thinks it’s the worst fucking idea ever.”

I let out a relieved sigh. “Then we’re on the same page.”

“Thank fuck for that.” Rowdy shook his head, blowing out a huge sigh. “So what the fuck are we going to do?”

“Luckily, we have a few weeks to think about it. And we’re going to have to bring Rebel and Rocky in on this. Damn, I think that’s why Dad told us first. So he didn’t have to deal with Rebel. Boss move.”

“I’m not sure that’s enough time.”

I took a harder look at Rowdy, at the worry lines on his forehead and the way he kept shaking his head.

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