Page 10 of Waiting in Wyoming
He tried. It came out more as a grimace.
“Well, close enough.”
He waited until she was finished doing all the annoying things far-too-cheerful nurses did and he was alone before making the call.
His brother Mac answered the phone.“What in the hell is going on up there?”
“I ran into a spot of trouble.”
“No kidding. Some woman from that inn called Powell. Said you’re in the damned hospital. We’re on Houghton’s jet now.”
Brandt winced. His older brothers, Mac and Alex, were apparently riding to his rescue. Which meant so was… “All of you?”
“All of us. And yes, we’re bringing her with us. She’s in a full-on fit—and Mom sent her personally. You just keep getting into trouble up there and she is Powell-panicking about Bubby-Brandt. What in the hell happened this time?”
Brandt filled him in quickly. “I can take care of myself.”
“Apparently not. Every time you go to that damned place, you end up in the damned hospital.”
“Not quite.”
“We’ll be there soon. You have a place to live yet?”
“No. I have a few houses to choose from, but I’m staying at the inn. I was on my way to check in when this happened. Bastards jumped me on a property I recently bought directly behind the inn. The place I intend to make into my permanent base up here once some updating and remodeling are done.”
Because his woman would want to live close to her family, and Brandt was a man who wanted a few acres or so to spread out on. The property behind the inn had seemed perfect at first, with a cute little walking path she could take to the inn every day.
That property had been nothing but trouble since.
“Then we’ll check in, too. See what’s so special about these Talleys you keep getting tangled up in.”
“You be an ass to any of them, and I’ll disown you, Mac. Take my word for it. I care about these women. A great deal. Behave. Got me?”
“Whatever. It sounds to me like they are nothing but trouble. Every last one of them. Kind of like Alex’s new neighbors, actually.”
He heard his sister snap something at Mac. Of course, she would. Powell was close friends with Meyra’s cousin Charlotte. Who had dated Mac for two weeks. It had not gone well. At all.
Brandt’s twin sister should know how to behave—and keep the other two in line. Mostly. Powell could be rather terrifying when she wanted to be—all one hundred pounds of her. Headored his twin, but she could be kind of scary when she was determined about something.
Brandt wanted out of there. He wasn’t going to subject Meyra to his family without him. He just wasn’t.
He knew how Mac operated, after all. His brother would go in, guns blazing, thinking he was riding to his baby brother’s rescue, demanding questions Meyra wouldn’t be able to answer. And Mac would just overwhelm and frighten her.
Brandt wasn’t about to let that happen.
And Mac was theniceone of his two brothers. Alex was a cranky asshole most of the time—Brandt wouldn’t want Meyra dealing with Alex without him there, either. Alex would say something he shouldn’t—or try to carry Meyra off himself.
Alex had a reputation with women, too.
For that matter, so did Mac.
No. He didn’t want either of his brothers around Meyra without him.
When the doctor came in, he told him that. “I need to get to the inn. My family is coming. I need to be there before they get to Meyra.”
“They going to cause her problems?” The doctor rumbled when he spoke and could be damned intimidating. “I’ll call Joel. Have him meet them at the inn. You aren’t going anywhere.”
“I need to get there. They can be…problematic. Intense. I don’t want them to inadvertently overwhelm her or upset her.” They wouldn’t mean to, but Alex and Mac were dynamic, dominant, used-to-running-the-world Barratts. They’d make mincemeat out of Meyra if Brandt wasn’t there to protect her.