Page 229 of Five Brothers

It’s in my name. I’m eighteen. He can scramble to get back what I haven’t yet sold, but he’ll have to find it first. The first thing I did was hide everything.

“We should talk,” he tells me.

I agree.

“Wolfe Room,” I state. “Tonight. Eight o’clock.”

“How do you know about that room?”

I hang up, walk out the door, and step onto the sidewalk. How does he know about that room is the question?

I’m glad I didn’t let him keep me on the phone. Part of me stillremembers back when he was a good father, and it hurts. Paisleigh has never known that version of him.

The wind blows through my hair and across the sliver of stomach left bare in my sleeveless white blouse. I step in my heels, one foot after the other in my tight, white pants, barely noticing the boys until they’re there.

Army. Dallas. Trace.

My heart leaps in my chest. It’s been days, but it feels like years. The Bay seems so far away.

Army isn’t wearing a shirt. A major no-no on Main Street in St. Carmen, and Trace wears a green T-shirt. It matches his eyes.

I see them, they see me, and I slow, thinking they’re going to stop. Time halts as I wait for it.

But they don’t.

And neither do I.

Army passes me, his familiar eyes following me over his shoulder as he goes.

Trace and Dallas veer around me, glancing at me but continuing without a word. My heart splits.

I don’t know if I keep walking, or how I get to my car down the street, but when I look back, they’re gone.

And that’s how easily things can change.

30

Macon

“A little higher,” I tell Santos.

He grunts, exhaling, “’Kay.”

We lift the beam, the sun beating down as we balance high on the scaffold and I drill a bolt through the wood. The handheld tool stutters, signaling the bolt is tightened.

“Got it?” he asks.

“Yep.”

He releases the beam, taking out a bandanna and wiping down his face. People work below, the walls rising quickly while Dallas pulls up with a truckload of Sheetrock.

“Five extra bedrooms, huh?” Santos laughs. “You making plans?”

“Just making room for the unexpected.”

“Yeah, that’s usually how babies happen.”

He laughs again, and I let him. The new addition onto the house will fill up faster than we know, and I want it to be ready. Iron will get out of prison, and I don’t want the lack of space to be an excuse for Army to leave. Or Dallas or Trace. Liv will always have her room here, but at least I can count on that one not to give me any surprise nieces or nephews until she’s absolutely ready.