Page 66 of Riding the Sugar High

“Since when do you even care about Mom’s business?” Logan spits back. “You split the second you could without looking back.”

“Split?” Aaron stands, eyes flared, and his chair scrapes against the floor with a horrible noise. “You’re not seriously sitting here telling me you wanted me to take over the farm.”

I watch as Sadie waves goodbye over her mom’s shoulder, and it looks like neither of the brothers even noticed Josie left. Should I follow her? Should I try to stop them?

“Fuck, no. You never loved it. If you did, you wouldn’t have run to Uncle Jerry to work at his”—Logan grimaces—“accounting firm.”

Aaron’s face darkens. “You didn’twantme there, Logan.”

“You’re right. I didn’t,” Logan says before shaking his head. “But don’t act like it was my fault.”

Aaron rushes around the table, and when Logan stands, I also jump to my feet. This has escalated so quickly that I wouldn’t be surprised if they resorted to physical violence, and should that happen, I’d need to get out of the way quicker than I can breathe. Though Aaron isn’t as big as his brother, he’s nearly as tall and definitely as pissed off.

“I might not be as pious as you and your vegan ass, but I’m not an idiot, Logan. Iknowyou’re sinking her business,” Aaron hisses, keeping his voice low so Josie won’t hear him from the kitchen. “It’s been successful for decades, and you’re destroying it.” When Logan looks away, Aaron nods. “I thought so. So what’s the plan, huh? How do you think Mom will react to the farm failing? To her son being arrested again?” He gestures in my direction. “How do you think she’ll feel when she finds out this is all a sham, and you’re actually harboring a criminal who’s stalking someone else?”

Logan’s shoulders tense. “Don’t say another word about Primrose. I let you spew your bullshit about her once, but I won’t do it again.” Then, gesturing at Aaron’s chair, he mumbles, “Now sit down before I make you.”

Aaron’s lips harden, but he doesn’t say a word, and I wish I could turn into wallpaper and disappear in the background.

When he takes a step forward, Logan stands in front of me.

“What, are you afraid I’m going to hit your girlfriend?” Aaron spits as he backs up.

Logan doesn’t take his eyes off him. “She doesn’t need to be the target to get hurt.” He points his thumb at the kitchen door. “And I think you’ve hurt enough people today.”

Silence envelops us, and from the kitchen comes a faint cry that makes my heart clench. Sadie.

Oh, god, they made her cry.

Aaron huffs out a breath, blinking quickly as if to hold back tears, and runs his fingers through his dark hair. “Shit,” he mumbles as he walks toward the kitchen, and only once he’s far enough, Logan turns to me with a frown.

“Let’s go.”

“Don’t go anywhere,” Aaron calls. “We’re going to show Sadie we just had a disagreement. That everything is fine.” He rubs the back of his neck nervously, then turns around and enters the kitchen.

Sadie’s crying intensifies as she calls for her dad, and it’s so sad, I almost want to cry myself.

“Are you okay?” I ask Logan.

He presses his lips together, his jaw sharpening under my eyes. ”No.”

* * *

Aaron and Logan are on the couch, Sadie tucked between them watching cartoons, and though she looks perfectly content, the tension in here is all but suffocating.

Josie has been gone for five minutes. When I saw her slip away with a bottle of wine, I figured she was headed for the recycling bins outside, but this might be a runaway situation.

Silently, I walk past the couch and to the back door. I find Josie there, sitting on the step with the bottle by her side.

I open the door, and her eyes meet mine over her shoulder. “How’s it going?”

“Hey, Prim.”

I sit beside her. “Are you doing okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”

Her breath stinks of red wine, so I’m assuming the bottle she took out was not empty. It might be now, based on the droop of her eyes and the way she’s grinning.

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