On account of her being alone.
Chapter Seven
Teague should have known that his brother wouldn’t do the right thing and sit this vacation weekend out. He couldn’t have been more frank when he’d last spoken with Tucker. What part of, ‘stay the hell away’ didn’t his twin understand?
“Apparently none of it,” he muttered. His brother’s head was as hard as a two-by-four and twice as thick. It was a trait all the Simon men shared, so Teague should have known better, especially considering his own constitution was equally stubborn. But still…
He’d been hoping for relative quiet.
It was Friday morning and the sun had been up for a few hours. Just back from an early morning run, Teague had planned on a solitary breakfast and a day out on the lake. Alone. Good God, it had been hard enough escaping the kids and the dog from next door—Harry and Morgan were the most inquisitive children on the planet and Bingo thought he belonged to Teague.
And then there was the grandmother.
Louise, Brent Campbell’s mother, had shown up two days earlier, and it wasn’t a compliment to say that Sabrina had been right about the woman. She liked to poke her nose into places it didn’t belong and she did so with a smile and a gentle voice that was hard to argue with. Hell, he’d barely been able to finish working on the gazebo and decking because Louise had taken a shine to him and wouldn’t leave him alone.
She was forthright and fierce and it was obvious Sabrina and her grandchildren meant the world to her. He got that—family and blood above all else. Even though he’d come to like her company (in small doses), she really needed to focus on something other than his personal life.
Louise: Are you seeing anyone?
Teague: Not really.
Louise: What ’s that mean?
Teague: It means not really.
Louise: Sounds like a bullshit answer to me.
Teague: That ’s pretty blunt.
Louise: Blunt, but true I ’d say.
Teague: I guess you got me there.
Louise: Well what are we going to do about that?
Teague: We ’re not going to do anything.
Louise: Don ’t be a smartass.
How could you argue with that kind of logic? He couldn’t win with her and Sabrina was no help. She seemed relieved that her mother in law’s focus had shifted from Sabrina to Teague.
His time up here had gone from being too quiet, to dealing with a bloody puppy that liked to shit on his deck—God help the little bastard if he caught him in the act. A couple of kids who talked more than anyone he’d ever met in his life, and an older woman who seemed intent on getting him laid.
And now this.
“Shit,” he muttered.
He sipped his coffee, a scowl firmly in place as he watched his brother pull up behind Teague’s truck. It was the last day of June and there had been a steady influx of cottagers into the area looking to relax on this Canadian long weekend. There were quite a few Americans up as well and he knew from experience the partying would last until after the 4th of July.
Abby Mathews slid from Tucker’s truck and Teague took a moment to admire his brother’s fiancée. A tall redhead, she moved with the natural grace of an athlete and had a smile that could knock most anybody’s socks off. His brother was one lucky son-of-a-bitch because she was, without a doubt, a keeper.
Tucker was also damn lucky he’d brought her along for the weekend because if not for the pretty woman at his side, Teague would have told his brother to turn the truck around and leave. He’d come up here because he was sick of being coddled. Sick of the pitying looks that were sent his way when they thought he wouldn’t notice. He was done being looked at like he was some kind of tragic figure.
None of them knew what had really happened over there.
None of them.
Teague tossed the rest of his coffee over the side of the deck and waited for Tucker and Abby to climb the stairs.