Smolder (Wildwood 2)

“I gave him your list of possible suspects, but I have no idea if he’s questioned any of them,” West said.

“Thanks for that. At least I did my part.” Lane reached over and saved his report on the computer before he shut off the screen and turned to face his brother. “Stopped by to see Mom earlier.”

“How’s she doing? Harper and I are stopping by to pick her up in the morning and take her to breakfast.”

“Dad will probably be there.”

West made a face. “He’s not invited. I already warned Mom that I won’t even come inside the house. She’ll need to meet us outside.”

“I talked to him. Well, more like he talked at me.” Not that he wanted to rehash the encounter, but he had no one else to discuss this with. Only West.

“Oh yeah? Did he make you feel guilty and call you a shitty son?”

“Nailed it.”

“He’s a jerk. He throws out those insults so easily because he’s the one who’s shitty,” West pointed out. “Easier to be mean to your own children than look at yourself and all the crappy things you did when they were younger.”

“He still does those crappy things. Don’t forget that.” Lane rubbed a hand along his jaw. He’d forgotten to shave this morning and he had some decent stubble growing. “Mom wants everyone to get together for dinner soon.”

“That sounds like torture.”

“We should probably do it. It’s been a long time since we’ve all been together in one room. It would make her really happy.” He blew out a heavy breath. “I’m worried about her. She looked good today, but when she fainted on us, I’m telling you, West, she looked freaking gray and she wasn’t making much sense.”

West’s expression was troubled. “What do you think is wrong with her?”

“I don’t know. Wren took her in this morning to have a bunch of tests done but we won’t know the results for a few days. Maybe even a week.”

“We’ll take care of her. No matter what happens, we’ve got this.”

Lane met his brother’s gaze, saw the sincerity there, and relief trickled in, small but steady. He was dealing with his own guilt but he knew West suffered too. Probably even more so since he’d picked up and left Wildwood for years. When he came back, he hadn’t made much of an effort to see their parents. “I’m glad you’re back.”

West grinned. “Seriously? You seemed pretty pissed at me when I first showed up.”

“Yeah, well, I like being pissed at you. Gives me purpose.” Lane smiled back.

“I hear you have a new purpose lately.” When Lane tilted his head to the side, West continued. “Something’s up between you and Delilah. Like, for real this time.”

Lane’s smile deflated. He didn’t want to talk about this with West. It made him uncomfortable. West and Delilah had been a couple once upon a time and for all he knew, they might’ve had sex.

Fuck, he didn’t even want to think about that.

“For the record, I can read your mind and no, I never had sex with Delilah. We only kissed. I was too scared.”

/> Lane’s jaw about hit his desk. “Too scared?”

West started to laugh. “You should see the look on your face. Yeah, bro. I was what, sixteen? I didn’t want to get a girl pregnant. I was willing to feel her up any which way I could and if she wanted to feel me up, she could have a go, I wasn’t going to stop her. But having actual sex with her? Dee and I didn’t go out long enough to make it to that point in our relationship.”

He hated hearing these details. Didn’t want to think about his brother and Delilah feeling each other up. It freaked him out. Worse, it made him feel guilty for being with Delilah, which was fucking ridiculous but there ya go. He couldn’t fight his feelings. They were what they were.

“It doesn’t bother you that you two used to be a thing and now I’m . . . ” What? Having sex with her? Messing around with her? He’d told himself to keep it casual, and that was great and all, but he needed to cut this off. Nip it in the bud before emotions got tangled up and he ended up hurting her.

And hurting himself.

“It doesn’t bother me. Delilah is a great girl. She deserves happiness.” West paused, his gaze direct. “And so do you. If you like her, Lane, you should make a go of it. She’d be good for you.”

Lane remained quiet for a moment, rolling his pen back and forth across his desk. “Mom wants to invite Harper and Dee to this family dinner.”

“That’s great. I know Harper would love to come. Hell, I want her to come. She’ll be my backup and calm my ass down in case I want to do something crazy like sock Dad in the mouth,” West said jokingly. Sort of.