Swear (Landry Family 4)

At least my baby twin sisters, Camilla and Sienna, are as confused about their lives as me.

Mallory clears her throat. “So . . . how do you feel about one more blind date?”

“I feel like that’s the most ridiculous question I’ve ever heard. My debt is paid. Move along.”

“But I saved the best for last,” she promises as I swerve through traffic and let loose a slew of profanities.

“Hey! Where are you?” my brother asks.

I check the overhead signs and relay the information. “Why?”

“Great! This is perfect. Can you do me a favor?”

“Depends on what it is.”

Sliding my truck between two semi’s, I get rewarded with a loud honk from the one behind me. I give him a little wave. He doesn’t know I’ve driven heavy machinery in the middle of gunfire in a war zone. Twice. I do the honorable thing and ignore him flipping me the bird.

“I need you to swing by a place not far from you,” Graham says. “I’ll text you the address.”

“I’m going there for what?”

“To check it out,” he says blankly. “I told them we’d swing by and give them a security plan and estimate.”

“By ‘we’ you mean me.”

“Semantics.”

The text comes across the screen and I see I’m not far at all from where he needs me to go. Still, I need to get back to the office and have little interest in picking up a small job on the side.

“I don’t really have time for this,” I sigh. “What kind of thing is it? We talking personal security? Business? What?”

He takes a deep breath that worries me. Something about the way he does it causes the hair on the back of my neck to rise, but before I can call him out on it, he replies. “I’m not sure. I just had a quick conversation about it and am doing it as a personal favor to a close friend.”

“I suppose I could send Mike.” I start to mentally go through the schedule and remember where he’s working today and if he can make it to this side of town before the end of the day.

“This is a personal favor, Ford. I need you to go. Not Mike.”

I can’t tell him no. Graham does everything for our family and keeps the businesses running like the well-oiled machines they are. There’s nothing I could ask of him that he would deny. Even though I have no interest in this little mission, I have to do it, and he knows I will.

“Fine,” I groan. “Just check it out and provide some kind of plan?”

“Yeah. Just go and see what you think. I have confidence you’ll work it out when you get there.”

“You owe me, asshole.”

We say our goodbyes as I take the exit I need. Before the country song on the radio is over, I’m pulling up in front of the location.

“He’s got to be kidding me.”

I parallel park my truck across from a row of storefronts. Glancing at my phone, I read the address on Graham’s text again. Then I look back at the numbers just below the mint green awning with the word “Halcyon” spelled out in bright pink letters. The numbers match.

I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Why in the world would Graham send me here? He knows my business plan and the types of customers I want to attract. This is not it. This is almost disrespectful.

With a groan, I grab my phone and call my brother back and mince no words.

“Are you fucking joking?” I ask. “You sent me to some little shop called Halcyon?”

He tries not to laugh. “I take it you made it.”