Nevvie felt Mary’s grip on her hand go lax. Then Nevvie heard an alarm trip out at the nurse’s station. A nurse and a doctor hurried in, the doctor silently taking out a stethoscope to listen to Mary’s chest.
Kyle and Jacob both started crying. Nevvie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. I don’t believe in You, God, but she did. Take care of her for us.
Both brothers seemed to be in a daze. After a few minutes, they stood and each of them kissed Mary’s forehead. Nevvie stood and did the same. Then she carefully tucked Mary’s hands under the sheet and pulled it up over her face. She slung her purse over her shoulder, grabbed her brothers by the hands, and, following a nurse, led them to a small consultation room where Mary’s doctor soon joined them.
The blur soon started. On autopilot and taking charge, Nevvie arranged for a local funeral home to come get her. Mary had told the boys she didn’t want a service, and that she wanted to be cremated and interred in Florida next to Michael.
Nevvie suspected that was partly due to their lack of finances, but when the men asked the funeral home representative about the costs, Nevvie shushed them. “It doesn’t matter. I’m taking care of this.”
The men nodded, looking even more like the little brothers she remembered.
After getting the arrangements made, Nevvie ordered them to go home and sleep. “Have you all told your bosses what’s happened?”
They nodded.
“Okay. I’ll come over and bring dinner around eight tonight.” She felt giddy, like she could bounce off walls, and knew that was a sign of her extremely sleep-deprived status. “Go home, and sleep. We’ll talk when I come over tonight. I have to get some sleep.”
Back at her hotel, she texted Tom and Tyler she was going to sleep and not to bother her. Then she set up a wake-up call with the front desk, stripped off her clothes, and fell into bed.
* * * *
Nevvie wanted to kill whoever it was calling her at that ungodly hour. She pried open an eye and saw it looked barely daylight outside from the color of the light seeping in around the curtains.
Then her mind poked her enough to remind her she was in a hotel room.
In Sheridan, Wyoming.
And that the ringing phone was most likely the front desk.
She grabbed it and an automated messaged confirmed it was her wake-up call.
With a sigh she climbed out of bed before hanging up the phone. If she didn’t get moving, she knew she’d collapse into bed again. The front desk gave her the number to a pizza place nearby. She called in an order and picked it up on her way to the apartment.
The men still looked lost. From their red, puffy eyes, she knew they’d been crying. She put the pizzas on the table. “Did you get any sleep?” she asked.
They nodded.
“Good. Come eat.”
They did.
After a quiet dinner, Jacob asked, “Nevvie, would you please take her to the cemetery there in Tampa?”
“No.” Both men looked startled, but she clarified. “You’re going to do it.”
When it was obvious Jacob was going to object on the grounds of they had no money to make the trip, she held up a staying hand. “What are you going to do now that she’s gone? Honestly?”
The men looked at each other. “We have to move,” Kyle said. “The apartment was in her name. We used to live in an old trailer before we got her divorced from the asshole. This was from her government assistance. We’ll have to be out by the end of the month.”
“And what about your jobs?”
The men shrugged. “They’re jobs,” Jacob said. “With Mom gone, now I guess I can get a second job.”
Neither man had careers. Jacob worked on cars for a friend of his, but wasn’t a certified mechanic. Kyle was a janitor at a local office building.
Neither of them fast-tracked to success. Sheridan, while a nice place to live, had limited opportunities for someone without training or a higher education.
“You don’t have any family here. You don’t have girlfriends. You have sucky jobs and the winters here are brutal. Right?”
The men nodded.
She was working on pure adrenaline at this point. In the morning, she might wonder if this was a stupid idea, but for the time being it sounded great to her.
“I’m renting a moving truck tomorrow for you,” she said. “I’ll help you pack, and we’ll get you to Florida. Tom’s company just started a survey division. They’re hiring.”
“We don’t know anything about surveying,” Kyle said.
“I know that. They’ll train you.” She leaned back against the kitchen counter. “And you’re both going to go to school, at least to a trade school, so you aren’t stuck living your lives in some shit hole like this.” She waved her hands around at the apartment. “Do you think she would have wanted to you end up like Jim? The only requirement I’m going to ask of you to help you out is that you both work your asses off and make something out of yourselves with this opportunity. It’s not a freebie. If you screw up, I won’t bail you out. You won’t get a second chance with me if you mess it up. And if you ever get the chance to help someone else in the future, then do it. Don’t spit in the face of good fortune. Deal?”
Both men stood and hugged her. “Deal!” they both said.
Chapter Twenty-Five
It still seemed like a good idea in the morning. Her first call was to Kenny and Maggie at the office to tell them what she’d done. They agreed to hold two positions for Kyle and Jacob. “This isn’t a gimme, either,” Nevvie said. “If they screw up, they get fired like anyone else. I don’t want them treated any differently than any other employee.”
“Okay,” Kenny said. “Will do.”
Nevvie suspected from what she knew of the two men that they not only wouldn’t screw up, but that they would make full use of this opportunity.
Her next call was to a U-Haul dealer to rent a truck. And then to the rental-car agency to change her rental terms from local to one-way.
It wasn’t until after she made the arrangements that she told Tom and Tyler what she’d done.
“You’re on fire this morning, baby girl,” Tom said. “Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah, I have something to focus on.”
The men had remembered to put the phone in speaker mode. “Do you want me to fly out and join you?” Tyler offered.
“No, I’m okay. I want to do this.”
“And where, exactly, are they going to live when they get here?” Tom asked.
“They can get an apartment. If you mean immediately, they can stay at our house for a few days. We’ll help them find someplace affordable that isn’t like the dump you rescued me from in Suitcase City. They’ll be making enough money they can afford something better than here. You saw what a shit hole they live in.”
She thought she heard Tyler start to say something, but Tom shushed him. “Just keep us informed, baby girl. Love you.”
“Love you,” Tyler echoed.
“Love you, too.” She hung up and called Peggy to check on the boys. She was surprised when Karen answered the house phone.
“What’re you doing there?”
Karen laughed. “They’re out having lunch before going to the grocery store. I’m babysitting.”
A bright spot. “Aaaand?”
“Oh, there’s love in the air, all right. I’m just staying out of their way.”
After Nevvie finished her calls, she consulted the list she’d started. While she did, she munched on a few pretzels from the bag she’d bought in hopes they’d settle her stomach. She didn’t want to suck down too much of the antacid she’d bought last night, even though it had helped a little. At least everything happening had taken her mind off Alex, who was still at large, according to Bob.
And if she wasn’t in Florida, Alex couldn’t find her. She wouldn’t feel like she had to look over her shoulder all the time.
* * * *
Tom disconnected from Nevvie’s call and look
ed at Tyler. “What is your problem?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You wanting to race in there and save Nevvie when she obviously doesn’t need saving.”
“I just don’t want her going through this alone is all.”
“If she needs us, she’ll tell us. I know you mean well, but sometimes you have a tendency to go overboard.” Tyler had acted odd ever since they found out about Alex. Tom wondered if it was stress or something else. “You, on the other hand, tend to keep shit to yourself until it finally blows up in your face. So spill it. What’s going on?”
Tyler glared at him. “I’m worried about Alex hurting her or the boys. All right? I couldn’t protect her the last time, and I bloody well don’t want him trying again.”
Tom had suspected as much and grabbed Tyler to hug him. At first resisting, Tyler finally returned his embrace.
Tom nuzzled the top of Tyler’s head with his chin. “It’s okay,” he gently said. “Nevvie knows you love her, but she’s got things she needs to deal with on her own. She’s a big girl. We’ll keep her safe, I promise. But let her work through this in her way. Okay?”
“It’s not that easy for me. You know that.”
“I know it’s not. But instead of smothering her, talk to me. I’ve got big shoulders. Vent to me. Please?”
“Fine.”
* * * *
It’s not fine. It’s not fine at all. But Tyler wasn’t about to tell Tom that and get him worried. After a few minutes, he broke their embrace. “I need to go. I have errands to run.”
Tom pulled him back and ground his hips against him. “Aw, can’t we play first? Bet it’ll take your mind off everything.”
Tyler smiled and kissed him. “Later, love. It’s research for my book.”
“Ah, okay.” Tom kissed him again. “But I want a rain check for this afternoon.”
“Done.”
Tyler didn’t like fibbing to Tom like that, but it was necessary. Tom would rat him out to Nevvie, and that could not be allowed to happen.
There were three other customers at the gun store when he arrived. He kept the 9mm Glock in a locked case in his trunk, along with his shooting glasses and earmuffs.
Jack waved to him when he entered. “Here for another session?”
Tyler nodded. “I’ll need some ammunition, please. Three boxes, to start. And targets. The large ones with the body on them.”
“Here you go.” Jack handed him the boxes and targets and started a ticket for him. “Lane three is all yours.”
“Thanks.”
Tyler put the muffs on before entering the target range. He set up at his lane, hung a target and ran it out, then loaded the gun. His practices were going well. As Jack had predicted, he was becoming quite a good shot.
Tyler squeezed off the first shot, which went between where a human’s eyes would be. As he did, he pictured Alex LaRogue’s face. His concealed weapon permit hadn’t arrived yet, but it was still early. Once he received it, he would carry the gun on him. He’d already purchased two different holsters, one for the waistband of his pants in the middle of his back, and one for under his arm.
He wasn’t sure yet how he’d hide it from Nevvie, but he’d figure that out later. When home alone, he’d practiced drawing the gun, unloaded of course, from both holsters. Knowing how to shoot it would do him absolutely no good if he couldn’t get to the bloody thing.
For right now, he was only interested in making sure every shot counted.
He squeezed off another round, this one hitting the bull’s-eye over the target’s heart.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Nevvie felt like she’d been away from Savannah for eight weeks instead of eight days. When she’d told Peggy about moving Kyle and Jacob to Florida, Peggy had insisted they come there first to rest.
“Besides,” Peggy said, “if they’re family, I want to meet ’em.”
While amused, Nevvie felt sympathy pangs at how ill at ease the two men first seemed to be upon meeting everyone. Nevvie pulled them aside before dinner. “Listen, they mean it when they welcome people in as family. So suck it up, you just got adopted.”
The brothers laughed and hugged her again. “You have no idea what this means to us, Nev,” Kyle said.
“Yeah, well, thank me after Kenny and Maggie put you through the wringer at work. They’re taskmasters.”
“We won’t let you down,” Jacob swore.
Nevvie knew they wouldn’t. The men had already been half packed when she’d returned to their apartment the next morning. It looked like they’d spent half the night scouring Sheridan’s liquor stores for packing boxes. They also sold their beater cars before they left Sheridan, which netted them a few hundred dollars each. They’d already decided to share a car at first when they got to Florida, since they’d be working together anyway.
In fact, Peggy had to order the brothers out of the yard when they insisted on doing yard work for her the first afternoon they were there.
“Y’all are guests, I said. Now sit down and play with your nephews. If you still want to pull weeds tomorrow, have at it. But it’s too hot out there right now, and you’re both tired. So just rest.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they said.
* * * *
Nevvie was making herself a cup of hot tea in the kitchen after lunch when Peggy walked in and hugged her. “I want to tell you how proud I am of you.”
Nevvie blushed. “What’d I do?”
“When I first met you, I remember how I commented to Tyler how you reminded me of a scared little dog we once had. It had been abused and it clung to me. That’s what you reminded me of with the boys. It was like you were afraid to let them out of your sight.”
Nevvie laughed. “I was that bad, huh?”
Peggy shrugged. “Understandable, now that I know what you’ve been through. But now do you know what you remind me of?”
“A crazy lady?”
“No, sugar. You remind me of a fierce momma bear. And I don’t just mean about your babies, either. I mean about Tyler and Tom, and even Andrew a little. And now those two boys. I feel sorry for anyone who tries to mess with your brood.”
Nevvie blushed. “They’re family.”
“They’re adults. You didn’t have to do what you did. Not many people would have done what you did.”
“Are you saying I’m wrong?”
“Nope. Just the opposite. I think you’re a damn fine woman and I can’t tell you how proud of you I am to call you my daughter.”
Nevvie hugged her. As she did, she thought about the urn of ashes sitting on the bedside table in Kyle and Jacob’s bedroom. “Thanks, Mom,” she whispered. “You don’t know how much that means to me.” She sniffled. “Can I ask you a question, Mom?”
“Of course, sugar.”
“Is Andrew gonna be our new daddy?”
Peggy burst out laughing as Nevvie dissolved into a giggle fit. “I don’t know, but I sure do like the way he makes me smile. I haven’t laughed this much in years.”
“Well, for the record, Tommy, Tyler, and I are all for it if it happens.”
“Karen’s already asked if we could have a double wedding. That girl is gonna be the death of me.”
* * * *
Nevvie left Adam and Mikey in Savannah. She turned in her rental car there, and drove the SUV from Peggy’s house home to Tampa. They arrived late in the evening, so Nevvie insisted they leave the truck parked in the driveway for the night. Tom had lined up a storage unit for Jacob and Kyle, and they were eager to unload and start working as soon as possible.
After dinner, and agreeing on the agenda for the next day, Nevvie was more than happy to collapse in her own bed, flanked by her men. At that point, she was so tired she didn’t even care about Alex. If he could manage to get the drop on them with an alarm system and four men who would likely defend her to the death, then she deserved to die.
The next morning, after sleeping over ten hours to catch up on what she didn
’t get while on the road, she didn’t feel quite as sanguine about the Alex situation. “I told Mom about us wanting to build a house up there,” she confessed.
“You did, huh?” Tom asked.
“Yeah. Are you mad?”
“No, baby girl, I’m not mad. I was wondering if this whole thing wouldn’t settle your mind on the matter.”
“It’s not like we have to move up there right away,” she said. “It’ll take a while to buy a place and build a house.”
Tom arched an eyebrow. “You’re telling me how long it’ll take to build a house? Not like I do this for a living or anything.”
“You know what I mean.”
“You’re unusually quiet, Evil Genius.”
Tyler looked at them. “If it was up to me, we’d all be living in Savannah at this moment. You know that. At least until they recapture Alex.”
Nevvie threw her arms around him. “It’ll be okay. I know it will.” He finally returned her embrace. Something about him felt different, off. “Are you feeling all right? Do I need to call your doctor?”
He rewarded her with a smile. “No, love. Nothing like that. Physically, I feel fine.” He kissed her. “Let’s get today’s chores completed so I can get back to writing.”
“You don’t have to help, Ty. I’d rather you get your work done.”
“No, it’s not that. I have some more research I want to do today. But I want to help.”
“Oh, okay.” Nevvie suspected there was more to it than that, but they had too much to do to for her to worry about it.
* * * *
After they finished unloading Jacob and Kyle’s things into the storage unit, they went home, cleaned up, and Tom took them to the office to introduce them to Kenny and Maggie and get their employment paperwork filled out. They would start working the next Monday.
That night, Tyler cooked a huge spread for dinner and Nevvie was able to put Alex out of her mind.
When they turned in for the night, Nevvie snuggled up against Tom while rubbing her butt against Tyler. “I think I’d like you two to distract me tonight.”