Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“I think Shane can handle this nicely,” Trev said with a nod. “We’ll sort all of this out. I promise. And if things work out, we’ll have another couple of hands. Hopefully you can train them before Brooke decides she wants to roam the country with film crews. You know it’s not unlike cowboying except the cattle are way more dramatic.”
“Costume design.” Max said the word as though tasting it. “I like it.”
Rye nodded, a little choked up. “Our baby sister is going to win an Oscar one day.”
Bay took a long breath. She needed her brothers. She needed her family. They all needed Bliss as a homebase. The rest was negotiable.
If she didn’t kick them to the curb simply because she could. If she felt what they did. If she’d been telling the whole truth about living in the moment because her future wasn’t here, wasn’t with them.
Shane seemed to think for a moment and then pointed a finger Bay’s way. “You are going to take the art show seriously. You’re going to listen to everything Stef says, and you’ll wear whatever Brooke puts on you. I’ll handle the legal stuff. Well, I’ll bring Gemma coffee and do what she tells me to do.”
“Throw in some cash and you’re my best client,” Gemma agreed.
“If I’m taking charge of this household, then I won’t sit around and hope things work out. I’ll be proactive, and I’m not always going to sit down and have a long chat with you. The first thing we’re doing is taking our savings and buying a reliable vehicle,” Shane announced. “We can’t borrow from Stef long term. It’s time to figure out how to make this work with two artistic careers and me in the middle managing everything.”
“And we’re going to figure out what’s happening with Kale Kingman,” Bay replied.
Shane stilled.
“I’m sorry. You know I don’t like to deal with the bad shit, but I was wrong to question you. I won’t ever do it again. You say you saw something, you saw it. You would never make shit up.” Bay held out a hand. “I’m so sorry, brother, and when I make bail, I’ll clear things up with our girl, too. As for the rest of it, I’ll follow your lead. I might have talent, but talent means little without discipline and drive, and both of those things are housed in you. We need you. Brooke and I need you. It doesn’t work without you, brother.”
Max and Rye started arguing about who was the talented one and who was the one with discipline and drive between them. Bay ignored them.
Shane took his hand. “All right, then our path is set, and I need to figure out what’s going on in Brooke’s head. Try to stay out of trouble.”
Bay shrugged. “I will. I don’t actually think I’ll have much of a choice.”
“I’ll see you at home, brother,” Shane promised and he stood taller, seemed far more confident since they’d properly defined his job and his place.
He watched as his brother walked away a more secure man than he’d been before.
Hopefully it would be enough to convince Brooke to forgive him.
Chapter Fourteen
Brooke stood in the shadows of the catwalk of the theater, watching as the actors moved with ease through the set. Shane had worked on that set. The set designer hadn’t stuck around to make changes or adjustments. He was already back in LA working on another project, so Cleo had to deal with everything on her own. Except Cleo had started to treat Shane like a stage manager, which was good since the stage manager they had was barely eighteen and way more interested in picking up women than doing his job.
But his grandma was on the board, so Shane was taking one for the team.
The team. Were they a team? It felt like it, and then it felt like they were assholes who thought women were possessions.
What would she have done if she’d walked in on a woman basically trying to molest one of her men? Bay would tell the woman no and mean it and deal with it if she didn’t give up. Shane would struggle to not offend her.
How would she have handled it?
She took a long breath and tried to focus on the costumes. The actors were moving well. Cleo had reset the play in Colorado, with the three sisters having moved from Denver and missing their old cosmopolitan lifestyle. They were stuck in a tiny mountain town.
They couldn’t seem to find the beauty, and that was the part of the tragedy of the play.
Was she making the same mistakes?
The actress who played the youngest of the sisters settled on her spot. “I’ve never been in love before. I’ve dreamt of it, day and night, but my heart is like a fine piano no one can play because a key is lost.”