Yes to Everything (3 page)

“I used to travel a lot before. For cheer competitions and rodeos, talent shows. My mama was really good about driving me all over creation. I didn’t like her having to wait for me to primp like a damn girl.” Clearing her throat, she added, “They were real good to us while we had them.”

“You’re evidence of that, Brooke. They’d sure be proud of how you’re doing.” He held the door and she slipped past him to the elevator bank. They rode down talking music and celebrities they liked most. He told her he’d been most star-struck by George Strait.

Her breath sucked in suddenly, “I met him at a rodeo in Longview one year. I was twelve and he told me I had the voice of a grown woman, he kissed my cheek. I didn’t wash it for a week.” They were laughing as they stepped into the lobby, Travis and Logan waiting.

Walking her to the parking lot, the three men stared in shock at her black 1942 Dodge bread delivery pickup. She put her stuff inside and smiled at them. “It was my sixteenth birthday present from my dad. He worked on it for over a year. I thought he was doing it for himself.”

Swallowing hard, she managed a watery smile, “When he handed me the keys, I about died. This baby is as smooth as the day she rolled off the showroom floor.” Leaning into the cab, she started the engine and the males groaned in happiness. She shook each of their hands. “I have to get back. Let me know when you need me to meet you.” She pulled a straw cowboy hat off the seat and pulled it on as she climbed into her truck.

“Uh, Brooke, you forgot something, honey.” Travis handed her an envelope and she took it with a curious look.

“You’re still paying me? But I didn’t do anything…”

Logan grinned, “Brooke, you recorded an entire song and played three of the instruments. Not to mention hours of auditioning. Yeah, you did plenty.” Decklan was nodding with a smile.

“Well, thanks then. Thanks so much. I’ll see you guys in a few days if you can figure everything out. If not, no hard feelings. It was worth it to meet y’all and getting to jam together.” They watched her hop into her truck and put on sunglasses. Modern seatbelts had been added by her father and she buckled up as she pulled away.

Decklan said, “I’m going to fall for that girl. I’m serious.”

Logan nodded, “I’m right there with you, man.”

“Don’t y’all play with her. She ain’t one of your toys. There are plenty of women willin’ to give you what you need. She’s gonna be part of your band, the way you make your livin’. Keep it in your fuckin’ pants.” Travis was smiling but serious.

They headed back inside when she was out of sight and went through the audio and video of Brooke’s time with them. “Damn, the camera loves her. We have a ton of work to do today. I’ll run the contracts up to her before the weekend.”

“We’re going, too.” Decklan was staring at Brooke’s image on the screen. “I’d like to see Mama and everybody anyway. I can’t remember the last time we went home for a visit.”

They sat in the conference room and hashed out the details they were going to present to Brooke. “I need to get her a lawyer, make sure she knows we’re not takin’ advantage of her.” The brothers agreed.

Three hours later, Travis’s phone rang and he smiled at Brooke’s number on his caller ID. “Hey there, Brooke…wow, okay, you’re welcome, honey. You just now opened the envelope? Girl, you’re an original, that’s for damn sure. No, it isn’t too much. The single y’all cut today is gonna make shitloads of cash, baby girl. You’ll get a piece of that. Hey, don’t cry, honey. Oh wow. You’re welcome, Brooke. Girl, you earned it. It isn’t a loan or a gift. That’s a paycheck. Alright, honey, we’ll see you in a couple days. Uh huh. Bye now.”

He turned to the men across from him, “I like that girl an awful lot. Don’t screw this up.”

In Idabel, Brooke stared at the check for five thousand dollars made out to her for doing something she loved. And it didn’t give her blisters. Jackson was leaning up against the kitchen island.

“Sis, you have to do this. You know you want to. It’s going to be so good for you, for all of us. We’ll figure it out.”

Staring at her little brother, she whispered, “I can use this to hire a couple of guys to help with the hay, with moving the cows. For the first time in forever, we have options, Jackson. I can’t believe it.”

Unable to help himself, Jackson laughed loudly, “Figures you’d be the one girl on the planet to think about hay. Lord. Come on, I’ll help get the kitchen cleaned up. Be a glamour kitten and wash while I dry.” They worked together, laughing the entire time.

Afterward, she ran upstairs to check on her sleeping sisters and took a quick shower before collapsing on her bed, staring at the check again. Whispering out loud, “Five thousand dollars for one day, oh my god. Maybe I can figure out a way to do this. Maybe it could happen.”

She eventually calmed down enough to sleep, thinking about everything, remembering how she’d felt singing with the brothers.

How it felt to smile into two pairs of laughing green eyes.

Logan drove his SUV over the rough road leading out to the Kincaid ranch. They’d been in town a couple of days, visiting with their family and generally raising hell. They loved being home because people honestly didn’t give a shit who they were now. Logan was still the kid who got arrested painting the water tower with his initials, Decklan still the one who started a brawl at the homecoming game when a rival player groped his girlfriend.

To these people, they’d always be small town boys, no matter where they went.

The night before, they’d gone to a barbeque and asked some of their old friends about Brooke. One of his cousins had gone to school with her and got out her yearbook. After flipping through several pages, Mindy said, “Here she is at State, that toe-touch right off her flip won it for them. I remember that day. We were in the same grade but she was already on the Varsity squad. Things come real easy to her; she’s just real smart and stuff.”

The men adjusted themselves subtly at the image of Brooke in her cheer uniform doing a mid-air split. Mindy flipped a few more pages. “That was her with her ex-boyfriend Brad at his prom. That guy was a real dick. He was a senior, she was a sophomore. She gave him, you know, and he told the whole football team about how great it was, had pics of her sleeping after that he showed everybody.”

Samuel had been their friend through years of boy scouts and hunting trips. He stepped up behind them, “I still have a copy I got. At first, I kept it because, well, I really liked it. Then my mama found out and asked me how I’d feel if that were Mindy or my sister. Now I keep it in archive to remind me about that. Changed the way I treat women, let me tell you.”

He added carefully, “I’ll show you because it will likely come out at some point if y’all get her to join your band. Can’t imagine how many people have a copy of it.” Taking out his phone, they noted he had it buried pretty deep in his phone’s memory. “There it is. Such a pretty girl and a real sweetheart, too.”

Logan and Decklan stood on either side of his phone and took in the sight of Brooke obviously naked with a hotel bed sheet curled around her tanned lithe body. Her breasts and mound were concealed but her long legs and curve of her hip, one bare shoulder and sculpted arms, her lean torso were clear. Her blond hair was spread around her in a tangle.

Leaning back, they took a deep breath and asked, “What happened when she found out?”

Mindy laughed, “She beat the hell out of him right before a game. One of her friends told her when they were waitin’ for the guys to come out of the tunnel. She threw down her pom-poms and stormed inside the locker room. She beat him down in front of all his friends before kickin’ him in the balls and spittin’ on him.” The little brunette was holding her stomach, “Then she got pissed because she had blood from his broken nose on her uniform. It was fuckin’ priceless. I don’t think she’s dated since, actually. Least not anybody I know.”

Samuel added, “A few months later, she lost her parents and she quit school to take care of her brother and sisters. Works that place pretty much alone during the school year.” He looked over Mindy’s shoulder, “You found the one of the talent show. Brooke won it the minute she opened her mouth. Her last rodeo, Jackson played the drums, Molly played guitar, while Brooke had her fiddle. Little Becca played tambourine. Fucking adorable, all those pretty kids on stage together.”

“She threw up right before she was so nervous then went out there like friggin’ Faith Hill.” Mindy glanced in the back of the yearbook. “Here’s the dedication the school did for her folks. It was so sad. She had to carry Becca at the funeral, poor baby was only four. Not a dry eye watching the four of them. They been strugglin’ ever since.”

Everyone they asked knew the Brooke Kincaid story and most of the guys knew about the picture. No one thought less of her and they hadn’t heard a nasty word against her. Well, as long as they didn’t count Brad’s new girlfriend. Not even close to Brooke in beauty or personality, she was a spiteful little thing with nothing good to say.

Travis had gotten to town a couple of hours earlier and was following them in his truck. When Logan glanced off to the right and saw Brooke on horseback, he nearly drove into the ditch. He came to a careful stop and said sincerely, “Decklan. Man, I don’t know if I’m strong enough. Look at her go.”

She was riding hard across her pasture, bent low over her horse in jeans and a tank top, cowboy hat on her head and her hair streaming out behind her. Top speed and she held to the saddle like she was tied to the horse. They watched her leap a fence and keep going, cutting around hay bales and water troughs.

Leaping another fence into the main yard of her house, her siblings stood there clapping. Reaching down, she grabbed the littlest one’s hand and pulled her up behind her then was off again with the little girl laughing, holding Brooke around the waist.

Logan was in the middle of the road right before the turn to her house and Travis finally honked behind him. Coming out of his daze, he looked at Decklan who appeared just as miserable. “Logan, we gotta be so careful.”

Nodding, Logan pulled onto the dirt drive and they got out as Brooke jumped back inside the yard and carefully lowered her sister before sliding off the horse to the ground.

There was amusement in her voice as she greeted them, “Hey, guys. I didn’t know y’all were coming today.” She glanced at her appearance with a grimace. “I’m gross and we all smell like hay and horses.” Taking off her hat, she ran her fingers through her hair and used her hands to get some of the dust off her clothes.

Decklan grinned, “I think you forget we grew up just like you, Brooke. Hauling hay and working cattle, raising Tyson chickens. Don’t you worry, honey.” Turning to her younger brother, he held out his hand, “You must be Jackson. Decklan Bradshaw.” All three of her younger siblings had their mouths open and robotically shook the twin’s hands. “We hear y’all play, too?” They nodded their heads but didn’t say a word and the brothers had to laugh.

“Jackson, Molly, Becca. Please close your mouths and conduct yourselves. Goodness. Y’all wash up and I’ll put Buttercup away. Lunch in thirty, c’mon, hustle.” Brooke led her horse to the barn with the three men following. “So, I hear y’all been asking questions about me around town.” Logan and Decklan looked at her guiltily and she smiled. “No worries, I’m real used to small town life. Believe me.”

As she unbuckled her saddle and pulled it over the horse’s back, she met their eyes, “So how many times have y’all seen the motel picture and heard the beat-down story?” At the horrified expressions on the Bradshaw’s faces, she smiled, “I’m not surprised, promise. I’m glad you know because it will likely make the rounds if I tour with you. One of those sons o’ bitches will make sure the media gets it. Better you know now. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll tell you Brad was my only boyfriend so though my skeleton is a whopper, there aren’t any others.”

Logan and Decklan were blown away that she’d only had one boyfriend. Just one?

Travis said, “I tell you what, Brooke, you are one pleasant surprise after another.” Looking at the other two males, he asked, “What picture?” Brooke took her phone out and flipped through it before tossing it to him. He glanced down and his eyes got wide as he did a double-take. “Dear lord, Brooke.”

Her shrug let them know she’d probably heard all kinds of comments about the photo, “I keep it on my phone. Better to take away the forbidden aspect of it. Trust me it makes it much less fucking embarrassing.”

“There is nothin’ about this picture you should be embarrassed about. Not one thing, honey,” Travis told her firmly.

“Amen,” Logan and Decklan said at the same time.

Brooke laughed with a blush and racked her saddle, stripping the blanket off before starting to brush the filly down. She seemed to enjoy the soothing rhythm of brushing down her horse, taking her time, and doing a thorough job. Walking her to the stable, she filled her feed and gave her sugar cubes and carrots while talking soothingly. “You are such a good girl, always so reliable. Yes, I just love you, pretty baby. I’ll let you wander the pasture later, Buttercup but I have stuff to do right now. You ran good, rest for a little while, honey.”

She washed up to her elbows before turning to the men, “Y’all hungry? I made tons of food last night and didn’t realize how overboard I’d gone until I put the leftovers away. I insist. Come on up to the house.” Passing them, she led the way and entered the kitchen through a side door.

Motioning for them to sit at the huge farmer’s table, she brought them heated plates of steak fingers with gravy, steak fries, potato salad, turnip greens, and peach cobbler. By the time she had the food down, her brother and sisters had filed down with clean faces. They took seats and Brooke told the men with a smile, “I’m not old enough to buy alcohol yet so I can’t offer you a beer but I have sweet tea, Koolaid, and bottled water.” Bringing them each what they wanted, she excused herself with a warning to her siblings to behave or else.

The moment Brooke was out of earshot, Becca said shyly, “Y’all are so pretty. Prettier than on TV even.” Her voice was filled with breathless awe.