Page 23 of Red Mountain Burning
The Baby Monitor
One big, happy family.
That’s what it was supposed to be, Brooks thought. He’d spent his entire life dreaming of having days like this. Children running around, a puzzle spread out on the table, animated conversations over wine. The wonderful sense of belonging. His reunited family was almost there, but just like the puzzle, seemed to be missing a few pieces.
Eight of them were in the screened-in back porch at his parents’ new home, a new-construction house situated down a long, quiet road in West Richland, only a few miles from the mountain. Beyond the porch, there was a small patch of grass and then sagebrush running all the way to a set of rolling, treeless hills in the distance.
Adriana was helping Zack find the next piece to the Harry Potter puzzle. Brooks’s ex-fiancée, Abby Sinclaire, was standing behind Brooks’s much younger brother, Shay, rockingtheirsix-month-oldson, Wyatt. After Brooks had made it clear that he had no intentions of rekindling a relationship with Abby—despite her valiant attempts—she’d moved on to his brother, proving just how small Red Mountain could be. They’d been dating for about a year and a half.
It was only two years ago that Brooks had reconnected with his biological family. He’d been essentially parentless until his father, Charles, had tracked him down. After getting over the initial shock, Brooks had welcomed both of his parents into his life. Not too long after that, he’d found Shay working as a fry cook in Portland and convinced him to move to Red Mountain, where Shay had taken a job working at Lacoda and at Margot’s farm sanctuary. Their own puzzle really started coming together when their parents, who were desperate to make up for the many years they’d missed out on, moved up from California earlier in the year.
They were One. Big. Happy. Family.
Charles and Mary were telling Brooks about their first trip to Seattle. He was listening as best he could, while also taking in the crazy reality of the scene.
Now that this dream of having a normal life with family all around had been realized, it wasn’t as clean and pretty as he’d hoped. Was Brooks the only one who could feel the tension? No wonder Adriana wanted to move to Florida.
Shay had just brought up Carmen working at Lacoda. Judging by the exploding curiosity and opinions rising from the table, the news had apparently struck like a drill finding a geyser in an oil field.
“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Brooks lied, not wanting to acknowledge the murky oil shooting hundreds of feet up into the air. “It’s her winery, anyway.”
“Yeah, but why?” Shay asked, raking his wild beard. “Why in the world does she want to work for Lacoda?”
Brooks wasn’t sure he wanted to make guesses in front of everyone. Even among family, secrets could never be kept around here.
Abby, who was still working as Carmen’s assistant, put a pacifier into Wyatt’s mouth and jumped in. “Well, she wants to work with Jake—and Emilia, now that she’s coming home. What else is she going to do around here? I’m not saying it’s a great idea, but it’s pretty obvious why she’s trying it out.”
“I think it’ll be fine,” Brooks said, hoping to quell the topic. The last thing he needed was Abby jumping in and defending Carmen. It didn’t matter how long it had been since Abby had cheated on him with the woman, he could still feel the burn.
“Brother,” Shay said, “you know it’ll be anything but fine. She’s a few months sober, surrounding herself with wine. And sober or not, she’s not exactly easygoing. The whole thing’s a mess.”
Brooks dropped his head. “I hope you’re wrong.”
He reached for Adriana’s thigh under the table. She glanced at him, and he wondered what the glare was in her eyes. Skepticism? Would she ever let go of the idea that Brooks still had feelings for Abby? Would Adriana ever fully trust him? Considering she might be leaving, did it matter, anyway? It felt like it was always something when they got together, and Adriana would often go long lengths of time without saying a word.
Thankfully, Charles cooled the tension by asking Shay and Abby, “Any new news on the house you’re looking to buy?”
Brooks’s and Shay’s father had found new life in moving to Red Mountain, and he seemed to have lost some of his angry edge. He and Mary both had proved to be wonderful grandparents and lifesavers for Shay and Abby, who were working all the time to save up to buy this house they’d been eyeing. Brooks felt the tension in his shoulders rush out as they moved on to a new topic.
Shay set his wine glass down. “It’s still available. We’re just working on the finances.” Shay and Abby were currently living together in Abby’s small villa on the Foresters’ property, a space Brooks knew intimately.
Mary stepped in. “Why won’t you let us lend you the money? It’s not that big of a deal.”
“We really appreciate the offer,” Shay said, “but we still feel the same way. We want to do this on our own.”
Brooks understood exactly what his brother meant.
Abby carefully handed Wyatt to Mary, who had found a renewed life of her own as a grandmother. Mary cradled Wyatt in her arms and said to Wyatt, “Look at your little face. I could just chew on your chinny chin chin.”
Brooks remembered the day his mother had knocked on his door to introduce herself. She had looked plagued by sadness. Her depression had slowly dissipated with their move to Red Mountain and the birth of Wyatt. She’d spent the majority of her life regretting giving up Brooks for adoption, and now, she’d been given a second chance.
He looked down at his nephew, who was bursting out of a green onesie that readBossmanon the chest. The boy had Shay’s rounded cheeks and Abby’s warm eyes.
Mary tickled her grandson’s nose.
Wyatt giggled, and those cheeks balled up like balloons, charming everyone at the table.
Brooks was reminded that a few great things had come from all this craziness surrounding them.
