Herd That (The Valentine Boys 1)

That was true. They sure the hell had.

But, she’s survived, and they admired her for it.

Our family came to be out of tough love. What we’d all experienced had made us different than other families. And though Georgia and Nico loved their kids, they knew that one day it’d be possible that they’d leave them before they were ready. So they prepared them for life by not sugar-coating things or pussyfooting around the big stuff. They made sure to always give it to them straight. And in the end it caused them to be a little harder around the edges, but also able to take a hit if needed.

That, and they gave as good as they got.

“They like you,” I told her. “I think they liked you even more because you didn’t run out screaming or crying like Banks’ date did last month when he brought her to a family dinner.”

She raised her brows at me.

“What happened?” she asked.

I grinned and resituated myself in the seat before switching hands and resting my right one on the console in between us. She leaned over closer as if she was about to hear something juicy.

Which, she was.

“Banks has been crushing on this girl at the coffee shop,” I started. “So, after about a hundred requests to join him on a date, she finally agrees. Only, Georgia and the kids crash his date. Georgia offers to leave but the date insists they stay and eat dinner with them. Banks can see it’s going to be a disaster, but seeing no way out he agrees. While he was using the restroom, Georgia got a call from Nico and left the room. In between that three minutes they were gone the kids did or said something to the girl. The girl passes Georgia crying and rushes out, never to be seen again. The kids are all innocent and shit, and Banks is pissed as hell because the kids won’t tell them what they said or what happened. They’re like little vaults.”

She shook her head. “They didn’t tell any of you what happened?”

I shrugged. “Those kids are weird just like we were. Something happened and we didn’t tell on each other. Not for nothin’. My dad could’ve beaten the shit out of me and I would’ve kept my trap shut.”

Her frown was ferocious.

“Did that happen often?” she whispered.

I flicked my blinker on and opened my mouth to answer, but chose to change the subject instead. She didn’t need to know about that dark, dirty stain on my soul. My father, the piece of shit, had really done a number on all of us. I seriously did not want the woman sitting next to me to have to deal with knowing what my father did to me. Then she’d feel bad and I’d have a guilty conscience and I’d be second guessing whether she was with me because she liked me or because she felt sorry for me.

Because I’d had that happen before.

The one and only time I’d tried to make a relationship work in the last five years, it backfired big time because the woman thought I needed fixed.

I didn’t need fixed. You couldn’t fix something that was as broken as I was. And honestly, I didn’t want to be fixed. I wanted to forget that part of my life had ever happened. I didn’t want to be cross-examined every time I scowled or had a bad day. I didn’t want to talk about it. And I certainly didn’t want anybody feeling pity for me.

“We’re here,” I said as I took the turn into the parking lot. “I love this building.”

When I built one, it’d have a similar style as this one.

The Smoke Cattle House was a small meat distribution center. They sold smoked meats such as turkeys, bacon, and sausage. They’d branched out and started selling fudge, preserves, and baked goods when they’d built the new store.

And since it was so close to my house, I found myself getting food there a lot.

“It’s massive,” she said softly. “When I envision my house, this is it.”

The building itself was a large old-style barn. The wood was made out of old barn wood the Cattle Company had actually torn down and bought off an old man just down the road from our house. But despite having old barn wood on the exterior and interior, it had a modern feel to it.

“Let’s go inside,” I suggested, seeing her start to shiver in the no longer running vehicle.

Her eyes took everything in as we walked up the path that led to the front door. The drainage pipe that led down the front lawn. The grate that they were using to cover a large gap in the grass that I assumed they were about to start funneling water into. And even the bird shit that was splattering a few places on the stairs.