Your Captivating Love (The Bennett Family 2)

“Mmm, I can think of a few ways. I’ll whisper them to you tonight when we’re alone. Now, let’s work.”

Once inside, Logan says, “Listen up everyone. Nadine will tell you everything that needs to be done, and then we’ll divide the work among us.”

I tell them everything as quickly as possible. While I list the tasks, the Bennetts exchange glances, pointing at each other, already dividing everything among themselves. I have a feeling they’ve done this before. While I’m certain the older siblings had to shoulder a lot of the physical work at the ranch, that need wasn’t there anymore when the twins and Summer grew up. Yet they all look ready to work. I can’t believe my luck to have them on my side. After taking a punch at every turn, this seems almost too good to be real.

“You don’t worry, Nadine,” Mr. Bennett tells me. Putting a hand over my shoulder, he adds, “We’ll take care of this together. Everything will work out.”

I blink, staring at my hands, my eyes stinging all of a sudden. What must it be like to grow up with a dad—a family—you can count on?

“It’s a good thing we each brought a toolbox,” Sebastian says, pointing at the twins and his dad. “That way, there’ll be no waiting time.”

“You each have a toolbox?” I ask, my eyebrows raised.

“Men and their toys,” Pippa says. “Don’t try to understand.”

“I brought no toolbox, just my humor,” Summer chimes in. “I can’t hit a nail to save my life, but I can crack jokes.”

“You’re not wiggling your way out of this, little sister,” Pippa admonishes her. “You’re here to work, not entertain.”

“I’m happy to do work if you find something that won’t put me at risk of cutting my fingers,” Summer retorts.

Within seconds, Pippa finds Summer a job cleaning the back room. “No danger of harming yourself here, Summer.”

I was expecting Summer to protest, but she happily nods. “This place will be kick-ass,” she remarks.

“Thank you. I have great plans for it.”

“Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help,” Alice offers. “I opened a restaurant, and Summer regularly has events at galleries. We have some experience.”

“That’s very kind of you to offer.”

“Girls have to stick together.” Alice winks at me.

Pippa looks at her with disbelief. “Since when is that your creed? You always wanted to be one of the boys when we were young.”

“I grew up,” Alice says, throwing her hands in the air, though I have a slight suspicion there is more to it than she says. By the way Pippa looks at her, she thinks so too. Not wanting to see Alice cornered, I step in.

“You had in-family gangs?” I ask.

All three girls roll their eyes. “When you have so many siblings, there’s no other way. We had cliques,” Pippa says.

“Pippa stuck with Sebastian and Logan,” Alice says. “The twins each had their group. I was gravitating between everyone.”

“And absolutely everyone loved me,” Summer chirps. “Being the little sister has its perks.”

“Oy,” Sebastian calls from the front. “How about we don’t make a working clique and a non-working clique? No one’s allowed to slack. Come on.”

With a smile, Summer heads to the back room. Pippa, Alice, and I start working on the walls while the twins and Logan take care of the rotten floor.

***

Logan

“I haven’t worked this hard in years,” Daniel complains as we work on the floor.

“Great. You should be reminded what hard work feels like now and again,” I reply dryly. Blake and Daniel have lived the high life ever since our family started making money. When we set up the company, Sebastian and I decided to give every family member shares, so Blake and Daniel receive a good income without being involved in Bennett Enterprises. That’s not to say they don’t work... occasionally.

They do small projects of their own from time to time. Fun projects. One’s more likely to find them partying on a yacht rather than working. The Bennett work ethic seems to have skipped these two. Sebastian says they’ll get their shit together eventually. I say if we’d cut their monthly allowance, eventually would become right now. Yeah, I’m all for tough love. I should cut them some slack, though; they didn’t hesitate to show up here today, and they’ll always have my back. Family comes first for them too, just as it comes for me.