Crazy Heifer (The Valentine Boys 2)

“My birthday is in a couple of days, actually,” Callum finally said. “But we don’t celebrate it.”

I frowned. “What? Why?”

Codie and I stood there, watching as all of the brothers and Georgia winced.

Nico wrapped his arm around his wife and pulled her into his side.

“Callum and Banks’ birthday is on the day that my father tried to kill us,” Georgia choked out.

I covered my mouth.

“No,” I whispered.

The day that his brothers had passed away. His mother also. The day that the worst of the worst happened, and they’d almost lost their lives as well. And their father had tried to kill them.

Their father had forever ruined their birthday for them. He’d made it into a day that they wouldn’t celebrate.

A day that they would forever remember as a day that they’d forever want to forget.

Callum stood up and dumped a handful of paper napkins in the trash that everyone had used to clean their mouths and hands during breakfast.

I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Callum,” I said. “I didn’t know.”

He touched the tip of my nose with his index finger. “It’s a bad day now, baby,” he said. “A day that we don’t even acknowledge.”

And those words stuck with me for the rest of the day.

Hell, they’d practically burned holes into my psyche as I thought about how sucky that was.Chapter 16I didn’t choose the mug life. The mug life chose me.

-Coffee Cup

Desi

“This whole business thing was surprisingly easier than I thought it was going to be,” I admitted.

“It’s all who you know.” Candy smiled. “My dad’s a godsend, and it helps that he knows everybody there is to know when it comes to businesses and construction in town.”

I agreed wholeheartedly.

“Did your dad get a chance to talk to the Valentine boys?” I asked. “Callum was talking about how he was making plans and writing down what things he would like to see in a house.”

“I was leaving my house today and saw Banks and Ace arriving.” She wrinkled her nose.

“Your house?” I asked. “You live with your dad?”

She waved her hand side to side.

“Kind of,” she admitted. “I live on the same property as him, although he lives on the back side whereas I live on the front side. You have to pass my house to get to his office and house.”

I nodded in understanding.

“Gotcha,” I said.

“I almost wished Banks happy birthday yesterday, but then I decided that I didn’t want to risk having him throat punch me.” Candy’s lips tipped up at the corner.

“You know what happened?” I asked carefully.

Candy’s eyes locked on mine.

“Everybody that has lived in Kilgore for any amount of time knows what happened,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s burned into everyone’s brains. Even I felt sympathy for Banks that day.”

I pushed my uneaten food to the backside of the table and stared into space as I thought about how shitty it was that my man and his twin brother couldn’t celebrate their birthday because of what had happened on that day all those years ago.

“I don’t like this,” I admitted. “I feel like it’s unfair. I know that something bad happened. Hell, I don’t blame him for not wanting to do anything. But… shit. I still think they need something.”

Candy shrugged.

“I had a friend who tried to give Banks a Zephy’s cupcake a couple of years back. They’d just arrived back in town, and she thought she was being nice. Banks literally jumped down her throat. The poor girl cried,” Candy remembered.

I winced.

“I think I’ll make them something special tonight for dinner,” I decided. “Invite them all over to the house again. Tomorrow is the Spartan race anyway, and we were talking about going out to eat. But I think this day might be something that should be done at home.”

“I think that’s probably why they go out,” she admitted. “More people. Less time to think about what happened.”

I looked absently around the bakery.

“What about if we do it here?” I asked.

Candy scrunched up her nose. “I’m fine with that… but do I have to be here?”

I lifted my eyebrows up at her.

“You were the one talking about getting all the coffee stocked,” I said. “And… I think that I’d like it if you were there. Here. Whatever.”

She looked at me skeptically.

“I think that Banks would rather be anywhere that I wasn’t,” she said. “But you are right. I’d like to get all this stocked. And… if you disguised this day as being about helping unpack and unload, and then happen to have stuff out here to eat… well then, I think that it might work out better. The family will all be here, around, but not actually celebrating anything. You know?”

I rubbed my hands together as an idea started to form in my brain.

“I was going to try out a couple of cakes, too,” I said. “Now would be the perfect time for them to taste test!”