Page 114 of Legacy of Danger
Chapter 33
The world's biggest asshole slammed the truck door and stomped across the frozen ground and into the kitchen.
As one, Garrison, Kerr, and Odie looked up from their seats at the kitchen table, half-eaten meals in front of them.
"Rough week last night?" Kerr quipped.
"Shut up." Vaughn so wanted to wipe the floor with that know-it-all face. "So, what are you three stooges doing together? Looks like you're plotting world domination."
Garrison groaned. "Fight with Sara this morning."
"I'm facilitating the therapy," Kerr winked. "Want to make it a group session?"
"Have a seat,mon ami. We're trying to figure out women," Odie drawled. "We have no leads, no advantage, and no hope of ever solving the puzzle. You got any ideas?"
Vaughn motioned to his rumpled, unshaven, sorry-ass appearance. "Does it appear that I have a clue about women?"
Odie patted the chair next to him, his glass-green eyes disgustingly merry. "You might need something stronger than coffee this morning."
Kerr whistled low.
"That's the last thing I need, trust me." Vaughn slumped into the chair and scrubbed his face. "What's the plan for dealing with the badness stalking our ranch?"
"Way to change the subject, slick," Kerr quipped. "How about fill us in on the woman details first. Why the long face, Trigger?"
Garrison rubbed his own stubbled jaw. "Yeah. You look like you had your ass handed to you."
"In two fists." Vaughn studied his brother, like Garrison might have the answers. Nope. "I'm an idiot."
"Well, we had to endure the story about Garrison's screw-up." Kerr straightened. "Your turn. Inquiring minds want to know."
"Nothing, man. It's nothing."
"You walk in here, almost taking the door off the hinges, and it's nothing?" Kerr pursed his lips. "Not buying it. Welcome to circle-sharing time for the boys. We'll all take turns. You're up."
"I ended things with Mariah this morning."
Silence fell for a few seconds before Kerr leaned back. "Before or after you made a few more O faces with her?" The way Kerr cocked his head to the side, Vaughn's hands itched to strangle his kid brother.
"Fuck off."
"Okey dokey, but I do prefer a little privacy." Kerr grinned, then he sat straight and glared at him. "Holy shit, you really did the nasty first and then broke it off? That's pretty cold, even for a jerk like you."
Vaughn sucked in air and prayed he wouldn't kill Kerr.
Odie lifted a hand. "Maybe we should refocus here."
"Who the hell are you to talk?" Vaughn snapped.
The Cajun chopped his hand through the air. "Listen closely, boys, and maybe one day you'll have a long, meaningful relationship with a beautiful woman who puts up with your stupidity."
Garrison grinned. "Like you?"
He rolled his lips together, the beard and moustache meeting in the middle. "Me? No. I've only known Ruth for a year. A mere blip of time in the grand scheme of the universe, really. But once I figured out that my life meant nothing without her, I pulled my sorry self together in a hurry, before I lost her. You hear me,mon ami?" Damn. The guy went from jovial to dead serious in a millisecond.
"What you're saying is, don't make mistakes with a woman," Vaughn muttered. "One, that's impossible. Two, a moron could have figured out that advice."
"Yet here you sit." He sighed. "No, my friend. What I am saying is, when you find the woman who you would die for, the woman who makes you a better person and a hell of a better man,"—resting his thick forearms on the table, Odie propped his hands on the rim of the mug—"if you're smart, then there should be absolutely nothing in the world that prevents you from holding on to her for as long as she will allow you to do so."
