Page 39 of Caught Up In You (The Monroes 2)

“They booked the two guest cottages.” Sophie clasped her hands together as tears pricked her eyes. “Chelsea would be so excited. I wish she was here to see all of this coming together.”

Zach muttered a curse and crossed around the edge of the table to Sophie. Braxton had never seen his brother show any emotion toward anyone except Sophie and then Brock once they took him in. Braxton knew everyone had a weakness and Zach had finally found his.

“Don’t cry.” Zach bent down and took Sophie’s hands in his scarred ones. “Chelsea would hate if you were upset, especially because of her.”

With a sniff, Sophie nodded. “I know. It just hits me harder sometimes.”

Yeah, Braxton knew that feeling. He’d trade off anything he had to have his sister back. She’d be giving him hell right now for being so tied up in knots over Cora, but once her teasing was over, she’d offer sound advice, hug him, and then she’d want to watch some ridiculous movie. That was their thing. The more insane and stupid the movie, the better. B-list all the way for their movie nights.

“Damn, are you going to lose it on me, too?” Zach asked.

Braxton flipped Zach a silent response.

Zach returned the gesture, then tipped his head. “Hey, what were you doing here the other night?”

“Just sitting out by the pond.” Not a lie. “What were you doing?”

“I didn’t remember setting the alarm system, but when I pulled in and saw your SUV, I figured you would make sure things were locked up.”

Yeah, locking up the old house hadn’t been on his mind. Getting Cora to open up, getting her to relax and stop fighting all the emotions she didn’t want had been his top priority. Of course then his priorities had shifted when her dress had been all clingy to her curvy body and he’d had to pull up every ounce of willpower he’d ever possessed.

“When we officially open, I hope you’re not going to continue to take your dates back there.”

Sophie smacked Zach in the chest. “Leave him alone.”

Zach raised his brows, jerking his attention toward her. “I don’t want our guests to see my brother entertaining.”

“You have no idea what I was doing so shut the hell up.” Fine, he was entertaining, but not in the way Zach thought and it was none of his business anyway.

Before he could say anything else, Braxton was saved by the doorbell, which sent the pups into a barking frenzy, scrambling to the front door. They slid over the hardwood, bumping into one another in a mad rush to greet the visitor.

Zach came to his feet, placing a kiss on Sophie’s forehead. “That’s Macy. She said she’d swing by once the store closed.”

Braxton picked up his dirty plate from dinner and set it in the sink. When he went back to get the others, Sophie reached for her own.

“I’ll get them.”

“No, you cooked. I can clean up.”

Braxton actually liked coming by to eat in his old childhood home. He was glad Zach hadn’t sold it months ago when he’d wanted to. Zach had worried about finances with getting the resort started, but once Liam came on board, they all tied their funds together, took out a loan, and went on their way. Sophie had just sold her home, too, so she invested that money back into the resort and moved in with Zach.

A team effort. It was as if Chelsea’s hands were all over this project in getting everyone working together and forcing them to forge a deeper bond.

A decade after the wreck that left all of them scarred in one way or another, the peacemaker in Braxton was relieved that they were all starting a new life. But the circumstances around Chelsea’s death were what brought them together and Braxton really wished they hadn’t had to wait so long to come to terms with the past. Chelsea had wanted them all to just forgive and move on, but she’d died before she could see her wish come to fruition.

Their free-spirited sister had gone off on a ski trip with some friends and died in a freak accident when she’d hit her head after a fall down the slopes. Chelsea wouldn’t have wanted to go any other way than having fun and living life to the fullest. Braxton just wished like hell she could’ve lived that life much longer.

Macy’s laughter and cooing at the puppies filled the house and pulled him from his thoughts as he loaded the dishwasher. Soon the pups all slid in on the hardwood floors and only two of them managed to stop in time—the others all plowed into the cabinets.

“They’re getting so big,” Macy exclaimed as she bent down to pet the cluster of pups that congregated around her ankles. They were bouncing all over the kitchen at the new guest. “Where’s the mommy?”

“She’s on the back porch,” Zach stated. “We had her spayed, so she’s taking a much-needed break.”

Macy came to her feet and glanced around the kitchen. “Am I interrupting dinner?”

“We just finished.” Sophie gathered up one of the puppies and tried to pet him, but he wiggled right back down on the floor. “We have plenty left over. Are you hungry?”

“Oh, no. Dad is cooking for me tonight. I just ran by to talk to Zach about the flooring.”

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