NaughtyBoys Galley (7 page)

“Excuse me.” Luke suddenly appeared beside me. “Can I help you, Ms. Everett?”

Aunt Rebecca sniffed at Luke with contempt. “Evening, Sherriff. Don’t mind this old lady, I’m just about to leave.” She glared at me one more time and turned around on her heels, tottering away along the sidewalk without a backward glance.

I couldn’t hold my tears any longer. At that very moment, I felt so small and insignificant. The world around me crumbled. My past sins had come to haunt me. The sin of defying my mother. The sin of loving Sam.

“Simone.” Luke grabbed my arm. “Hey, hey, don’t cry.”

Through my tear-filled eyes, I saw Jamie and Nate look very concerned. So, I wiped my eyes and forced myself to produce a smile. “Sorry. I think I’m going to turn in early. Sorry.”

“But—” Jamie objected.

“Sorry.” I pulled my arm from Luke and stormed into my room.

I cried silently in my bed until long past midnight. My sleep was restless. In my dreams, I kept seeing my mother with her disapproving glare.
“You’re the worst daughter.”

By the time the dawn came, I was thoroughly convinced that I deserved every misfortune that I’d ever been through.

I made up my mind to leave Bellwood in the morning. I knew the Codys would object about me leaving, so I didn’t tell them anything. I did my routine chores as usual. However, the heavy air around the breakfast table hung like dark clouds. Even my fake cheeriness failed to improve the mood.

Jamie put down his fork and broke the ice. “Can I ask what that was with your aunt last night?”

I could feel the color draining from my face. “It was nothing. A cranky old woman, that’s all.”

“You know you can talk to us, right?” Nate added. “I heard what she said, and it’s ridiculous—”

“I’m fine,” I interjected. “I really am. Anyone want more bacon?”

Jamie and Nate traded a glance. Luke stared right into my eyes.

I pretended I didn’t notice and busied myself cutting my pancake. I shoveled it into my mouth and ate without tasting.

After breakfast, I did the laundry and ironing. I wanted the guys to have clean clothes when I left. Jamie went to the building site. Luke had a call from the office and took off. Nate was in his room doing his trading work.

It was time for me to go.

Sayonara
everyone.

I’d made some sandwiches and a potato salad for lunch while waiting for the guys to do their routine stuff. I’d packed my measly belongings when I first woke. I’d written my resignation letter too. I left it on the table in the kitchen. I carried my bags and box to the garage. My beat-up Chevy was parked next to Nate’s new SUV. I knew me leaving like this was despicable. Cowardice. I was coward. I couldn’t look them in the eyes and tell them I was resigning.

It was for the best. I’d fucked up my place of work and my sanctuary. I’d fucked up Jamie and Nate’s relationship. I didn’t deserve to be here anymore.

I opened the garage then started my car.

The damn thing wouldn’t start.

Great! It was as if the unpleasantness of yesterday kept bearing gifts. I’d made brothers fight. I’d shamed my aunt, and now my fucking car had gone kaput. I gave up my attempt to start the engine and lay my head on the steering wheel. I couldn’t believe this piece of shit had given up on me like everything else in my life. It was true then, misery loved company.

“Going somewhere?” said a voice.

I was startled.

Nate leaned on his SUV. His arms were folded in front of his chest. His handsome face scowled like a headmaster who’d caught his student doing something bad.

I gaped. Getting out of the car, I was lost for words. “I’m sorry for everything,” I said. “It’s better this way.”

“Bullshit. Better for whom?” Nate seemed genuinely pissed. “You’ve run away from problems your entire life. When are you going to start facing them? You ran from Bellwood. You ran from your ex and now you want to run from us?” Nate closed the distance between us in two steps and pinned me against the Chevy. He kissed me so suddenly that I didn’t have time to react. “I love you. You’re not going to run. Your home is here.”

I pushed him away. My throat was hoarse. My chest hurt. “I’m sorry. I can’t. I did terrible things in this household, and I can’t face anyone anymore.”

Luke’s truck pulled up behind the garage. The window was rolled down and I could see Jamie riding shotgun. The brothers got out of the truck. They didn’t seem surprised to see me leaving.

“Going somewhere?” asked Luke coolly.

“You need this if you want to leave.” Jamie dangled something in his hand.

I narrowed my eyes. It could’ve been a part from my Chevy’s engine. Jamie had deliberately disabled my car so I couldn’t go anywhere.

“Nate, Jamie, take her things back to her room. Simone, you and I need to have a talk. How about some ice cream?” Luke doled out orders like he was in charge.

On second thought, this was his turf.

I faltered.

“Go on,” Nate urged me. “You need
that
talk.”

“What about my car?” I asked Jamie. Without it, I was practically crippled. Nothing in Bellwood was within walking distance.

“I’ll fix it. Maybe.” A faint, devilish grin appeared on Jamie’s face.

I sighed. I met Luke’s eyes and resigned. “Okay. You guys win.” I climbed into Luke’s truck and slammed the door.

Luke slid behind the wheel and started the engine. “Be back in a while,” he said to his brothers.

Nate nodded.

Jamie scratched his belly as if he was uncomfortable with something. “Ugh.”

That was when I noticed Luke’s knuckles were bruised. Nate had a new cut on his face, and so did Jamie.

“Have the three of you been in a brawl?” I asked Luke as the truck lurched onto the street.

Luke coasted the vehicle leisurely. “Hmm?” He sounded unconcerned. “Brawl?” One eyebrow arched. “I wouldn’t say it was a brawl. We just had a brotherly discussion.”

“Luke! This is one of the reasons I’m leaving. I don’t want to see any of you getting hurt.” I covered my face with my hands. “Although I’m already too late on that.”

“You’re thinking too much of it. Have you tried the ice cream shop near the post office yet? It’s really good. The new owner is a food snob from Seattle, and he makes a really damn good ice cream. You can find unusual flavors too. Like bacon ice cream. I usually stick with the traditional vanilla with hot fudge.”

“I’m not in the mood for ice cream.”

“You sure? You’re the one who always said ice cream makes everything better.”

I turned to Luke. When Luke and his brothers were small, I’d always used ice cream as a bribe to make them behave or comfort them when they were sad.

Luke gave me a conspiratorial wink. “Tell you what, we’ll share a sundae. Iggy makes a kickass banana foster ice cream. You’ll love it.”

Twenty minutes later, we sat in the farthest booth from the counter with a gigantic sundae perched precariously in a too-small glass bowl between us. Luke had already dug in. I tasted one spoon and gave up. The sundae was spectacular, but I really had no appetite.

The shop was rather deserted at this hour. We were the only customers. Luke seemed to have anticipated this so we could have this talk without fear of somebody eavesdropping.

“Simone,” Luke began, “why did you think you were the guilty party regarding Jamie and Nate’s feud? Have you ever thought you’re actually the victim? You’re vulnerable and hurt and you’ve been mistreated by your ex for years, and naturally, when some man is kind to you and whispers a few nice words, you’ll eventually fall for it. Think about it. You’re Red Riding Hood living with three big bad wolves. No matter how much the wolves promise to behave themselves, Simone, you’re a temptation. A guy must be a saint to be able to leave you alone. Just so you know, I ain’t no saint either.”

I was stunned by his revelation. “I-I don’t know what to say.”

“To be honest, I’ve seen this coming since you came back to Bellwood. I thought it was going to be far worse, like coming home to find Jamie with a hatchet in his head or Nate lying on the floor with a shotgun hole in him.” Luke laughed. “Ah, those two yahoos handled it better than I thought.” He paused to drink the water that came with the sundae. “The three of us talked this thing through and—”

“By talking, you mean fist-fighting?” I interjected.

“Ah. No. The talk came after the punches. That’s irrelevant anyhow. We feel things between the three of us won’t go well if we don’t compromise. One thing we know for sure, now that you’re available, is that we’re not going to back down pursuing you until you end up with one of us. Which leads me to this—”

“It was a mistake that—”

Luke held up a hand. “Can I finish my pitch here?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Have you heard of the term ‘polyandry’?”

I stared at him blankly.

“It’s basically a reverse polygamy. In polygamy you have one husband with multiple wives, while in polyandry, you got one wife with mul—”

I stopped him from talking. “I get the gist. I won’t do it. It’s crazy.”

Luke leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Simone, please, try to be open-minded. I’m a traditional guy through and through and—”

“Luke, it’s wrong.”

He straightened his back against the vinyl upholstery of the booth, ran both hands through his hair and exhaled deeply.

I could see this wasn’t easy for him either.

“Simone, I don’t think you have any idea the impact on us when you decided to elope with Sam. Even dad was taking it hard. We were so used to have you there for us and suddenly not, to be honest, we felt abandoned. I was angry at you for a long time.

“I mean, how could you do that to us? Just leave without a goodbye? Many times we wondered if we did something terribly wrong that made you want to leave us…”

“You know
that wasn’t not the case,” I interjected.

“Now. But back then…” Luke sighed hard. “We were just kids. We didn’t know any better. I carried that anger with me for a long time. Hell, it’s probably one of the reasons I acted up when I was a teenager. After mom died, you’re the one who kept our little family together, and when you left, I was like a loose cannon. I was into so much trouble, Dad was convinced I’d ended up in prison.

“One day, I was arrested for vandalism and the judge gave me an ultimatum: go to jail or serve in the military. I chose the latter. Before I knew it, I was shipped to a warzone.

“And it was…hard. My unit was part of the ground troops deployed in Fallujah. I saw my friends die. I witnessed people doing things there that would’ve earned them life in prison in here. It was hell out there—hell on earth. It poisoned everyone, and ones who couldn’t cope, it drove them crazy.

“The only thing that kept me sane was you. Or should I say, it was the memory of you. I pretended that when I’d get home, you’d be there and everything would be okay.”

I was shocked to hear his revelation. I didn’t know how deep Luke felt about me.

“My brothers,” he started. A pause. “They felt the same way about you. There’s no one who could replace you in our heart. Probably one of the reasons, our personal relationships failed miserably. We still hung on to the notion that one day you’d be back and everything would be like old times again. Whole. A happy family.”

Luke gazed out the window. From this seat, we could see the parking lot of the local post office. The temperature outside had risen considerably and the heat had created mini mirages on the dusty street.

Luke spoke again, a tinge of desperation coloring his voice. “I don’t want to lose my brothers, Simone, but at the rate this is going, one of us is going to end up in a body bag, one going to prison, and the other is going to the nut house.” He turned to me, his eyes boring into my soul. “Please. I don’t want that to happen.”

Chapter Six

I returned to the Cody house and spent the next week like nothing had happened. I did my daily duties as usual. Cooking. Cleaning. Laundry. The brothers acted normal but beneath the placid surface, unspoken tension stretched between them. They were waiting for my answer to choose one of them as the one I’d officially marry.

In that candid heart-to-heart talk with Luke, the brothers proposed a polyandry relationship. Since polygamy and the like wasn’t legal in this state, and to give a fundamental reason for me staying in the Cody household, they felt it was best if I married one of them. They even went as far as to schedule which night I should spend with them.

It was crazy.

And crazy was the game I had to play if I wanted everybody to come out of this safely.

It put so much more pressure on me than before. Never mind Aunt Rebecca’s scolding or me being a pariah in my hometown, the Cody brothers were their own worst enemies. I couldn’t walk away from this problem. Like Nate had said, I used to run when I faced a major life-changing issue. This time, I had to face it head on. The problem was, I wasn’t sure of my own feelings.

Sure, I was madly attracted to them. I was also conflicted about jumping into this unorthodox arrangement.

I’d loved no man but my ex for the past twenty years and see where it had gotten me. Was it okay to open my heart to another… no, three others this soon?

I then decided to take a small step.

I returned the ten thousand dollars Aunt Rebecca had given me. I told that cranky old woman I wasn’t going to leave Bellwood. I’d decided to settle down here, and there was nothing she could do to convince me otherwise. She just had to deal with it.

On the night I was supposed to give my answer, a surprise came to our doorstep.

Samuel Marsh stood at the threshold of the door.

I became guarded in an instant. I didn’t want to see him with his new girlfriend. Hadn’t he had enough of tormenting me? He’d robbed me of my dignity. He’d abandoned me to fend for myself. He’d broken our marriage vow to love and cherish for better or worse, rich or poor, sickness and health ‘til death do us part.

I still couldn’t forget the day he and his lover had ganged up on me in the lawyer’s office. I stiffened at the sight of him.