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)
Shane’s eyes went wide. “His tonic?”
It was infamous around these parts. Mel’s tonic was brewed to keep aliens away. Apparently only some of the bad aliens were driven off with beets. The rest required rot gut whiskey. There were probably more alien home cures, but she only knew about the two. “He didn’t know what else to do,” Brooke admitted. “I was sixteen. It wasn’t like I hadn’t had a nip or two, and it helped. Compound fractures hurt. And that is why I don’t ever ride motorcycles.”
She could remember how worried her brothers had been. How Rye looked pale, and Max’s eyes had been red rimmed.
“What are you thinking right now?” Bay had a hand on her head, stroking her hair.
“I was thinking about how close I came to going into the system,” she said quietly. “It wasn’t good for you. I wouldn’t have even had a sibling. You know I never really thought about what could have happened after our dad walked away and didn’t leave a forwarding address.”
“I’m still shocked that he walked out after your mom died.” Bay sounded outraged.
It was funny, but that was the least worst thing that happened at that time. “It wasn’t like he was around much anyway. By that time he mostly drank and complained about whatever we were doing. I don’t remember a lot about him. Just that I used to call him the angry man instead of Dad.”
When she thought about her bio dad, all she remembered was how angry he was. With her for being a kid. With her brothers for not doing enough. With her mother for not being enough. Her father leaving was nothing but an afterthought in her mother’s death.
“Wow. I can’t imagine taking on a kid at eighteen,” Shane said with a shake of his head.
She glanced up at him, loving the way his longish hair curled slightly at the ends and how broad his shoulders were. He was a beautiful man, and his sweet smile belied his history. Would she still smile like that if she’d been through what he’d been through? “No, sweetie, you were literally tossed out into the cold at eighteen and forced to find your way with nothing.”
They were remarkable men. The truth was they’d survived a lot. Survived and stuck together, and Bay was having his first big art show and Shane… Shane held everything together. He didn’t understand how important he was.
Shane leaned over and kissed her forehead. “We had each other, at least.”
“They gave us some money and offered to help us find jobs, but we had already decided to rodeo,” Bay said. “Shane was an excellent rider, and he was everyone’s favorite because he would go around fixing things for them. He’s always been handy and able to organize things. Shane’s always found a way to make us somewhat comfortable.”
Because he had to make himself valuable. Her heart constricted because he’d done it today. He’d spent his day off organizing a house for them to live in, a room for her to work in. He was offering her everything he could.
This was so not what she’d expected, but she had to go with it. All she could think about was how Gemma had found herself when she let go, when she lost the world she thought she wanted and found a place to call home.
“How did your brothers make it work?” Shane asked. “I can imagine it would be hard to survive. They were kids and you were practically a baby.”
He wasn’t exactly wrong. She’d been so young, and she’d clung to them. Instead of resenting her, they’d changed their lives so they could keep her with them. “Rye took a job as a deputy, and Max did odd jobs while trying to keep the business running. He’d worked as a trainer for years by that time, but our dad had never taught him how to keep the books.”
“Who did?” Bay shook his head. “I bet it was Stella.”
“Marie,” Brooke replied. When she thought about it, raising her had been a town project. “Stella came out a couple of times a week with food, and she would clean and teach us how to run a house. She would make sure I had everything I needed. Since my dad wasn’t dead, CPS assumed he was taking care of me. The whole town got together and pitched in. The man who was our mayor for a long time was basically my grandfather, though we didn’t share an ounce of blood. He taught me how to fish and took me and some of the other kids camping. He came to all my school events and cheered at my volleyball games. For the first couple of years, Mel posed as my father. That was fun. Then one of my teachers turned out to be from a planetary system we’re at war with. That was when CPS got called in but…” She grimaced. “Stef took care of it. Damn it. I want to stay mad at him.”