Page 20 of Come Back for Me
I roll my eyes. They act as though I haven’t had a lifetime of using restraint. I have never crossed a line like that. Doing so would make me closer to being a dirtbag like my father. He was selfish and did what was best for him, not caring about the damage left in his wake and expecting others to clean it up. I will never be like him.
“Thanks for all this unsolicited advice. I really appreciate the confidence and trust you two have shown.”
“Don’t take it that way,” Liam says quickly.
Quinn nods. “We just get it. We’ve loved a woman past the point of reason.”
Jesus. They’re like a bunch of old ladies. “I don’t love her. I don’t fucking know her. All I know is that what feels like a million years ago, we had a night. One night that . . . why the fuck am I telling you this?”
Liam chuckles. “Because whether it was one night or a lifetime, it meant something and you’re fucked in the head over it.”
Yeah, it meant something . . . that I’m going to need to immerse myself in fixing that house and getting out with as little contact as possible. That’s all it can ever mean.
* * *
I’m standing in this rundown barn, in the only spot that I can get a signal. I move one inch to the right, I lose Declan. I’ve been back here for two days, and I hate this place more than ever.
Sure, the house is quiet and no one is threatening to punch anyone, but it feels as though something is always lurking. My brothers and I spent five days cleaning as much as we could after the funeral, and Declan agreed, well, was forced, to buy all new shit.
I wanted every shred of my father gone. The bedroom furniture he slept in, the couches, the kitchen plates, all of it is gone.
We bought a few new appliances, since the old washing machine couldn’t be fixed if it broke, new beds, and furniture. I didn’t feel bad at all spending Declan’s money.
There are two years that all of us need to live in this hellhole, it was worth every penny.
Now, I need to start fixing everything so we can sell it.
“Dec?” I say his name again, waiting to see if he hears me this time.
“I hear you. How much money do you need?”
“I need at least ten thousand more.”
I hear the sigh of frustration leave my brother’s mouth. “And that’s just for the first barn?”
“Yup.”
“Wouldn’t it be cheaper to demolish it?”
“Dec, I can’t move an inch or I’ll lose you so I’m going to say this quickly. You told me to spend my six months working on fixing up the things that would make us money. A new barn—a good one that will actually help a farmer—would cost us around sixty thousand. So, wire me the money I need to fix this one and let me get to work. You’ll get it all back when we sell, anyway.”
My brother goes silent, and I have no idea if he heard any of my slight rant or if I lost connection, but I disconnect. When I turn around, I almost jump out of my skin.
“Hi, Connor!”
“Jesus!” I yell and grip my chest where my heart is now racing. “Hadley, I didn’t know you were there.”
“I’m very quiet when I want to be.” Her smile is wide as she shifts her body from side to side.
“I see that,” I say with a quiet laugh. “You remind me of how my brother Sean used to sneak around to scare me.”
“How many brothers do you have? I always wanted a brother. Brother or a sister, I wouldn’t be picky, but Mommy says I am enough to love all on my own. She was an only child too.”
I used to dream about being an only child some days. Having three older brothers was hell most of the time. When we had Mom, life was easy and fun—mostly for them because I was the dumb one who would listen to anything they told me.
Being accepted by my brothers was all I wanted. They were cool and had all the information I wanted. I was the annoying one when I was her age.
Who was the one who jumped out of a tree to see if it hurt when they landed? Me.
