Page 71 of My Three Mountain Men

“I have stuff to do.”

I pursed my lips. Never had we spoken to each other like this. We’d fought, disagreed, argued. But this surly, nasty back-talking was bitter and new.

It was resentful.

We were all blaming each other for letting her go,I realized, the thought sickening me.

“Please, Knox?”

Silence met my request through the bathroom door.

“We’re in the dining room,” I concluded. I didn’t wait for him to respond, making my way back to the main floor, but when I returned, Brooks was gone.

“You have got to be shitting me right now,” I muttered. “Brooks!”

There was no response to my call, and I set out looking for Brooks now, shaking my head.

We really had reverted to childhood again. This was the dumbest game of hide and seek ever.

“Brooks—”

I turned the corner and crashed into him as he exited the comms room, our heads crashing into each other.

“Ow!” he yelped.

“Fuck!” I growled, rubbing my forehead. “What the hell, Brooks?”

“I went looking for Knox for you, like you asked,” Brooks replied, also touching his cheek where we’d collided. “You’re like a bull in a China shop, damn!”

We looked at one another, glowering, and suddenly, we both burst out laughing. “You’ve got a hard head, cousin,” I informed him.

“I think it’s genetic,” Brooks answered as Knox ambled down the back stairs.

“Oh, are you two having fun?” Knox asked caustically. “That’s nice.”

I rolled my eyes and gestured toward the dining room. “Come on. Family meeting.”

They straightened, eying one another at the long-lost words.

“What?” I demanded. “We are still a family, aren’t we?”

Knox grunted and made his way toward the table as Brooks shot me an appreciative look, following.

I took the head of the table, and the two younger men stared up at me. I was struck by a weird sense of déjà vu for a second, those early years when they had respected me so much. But they were men in their own right now.

“We can’t keep going like this,” I said bluntly. “We’re falling apart.”

“No shit,” Knox snorted. “Did you just figure that out?”

“You can cut the sarcasm. I called this meeting so that we could work this out like adults. We miss Simone, but she’s not coming back. You both know that you can always leave if you want to, but she left, and we have to respect her choice. This life isn’t for everyone. We know that.”

Brooks nodded, but Knox looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

“So how do we move on, knowing that?” I continued.

“We need Simone,” Knox muttered. “Things aren’t ever going to be the same without her. We need to tell her how much she’s missed.”

“Guilting her isn’t the answer, either, Knox,” Brooks said gently, and I agreed. But I also conceded with Knox’s point. Without Simone, we would continue on this downward spiral. The resentment between us was growing, and knowing that Simone was out there alone while that psychopath was still on the loose did not sit well with me.

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