Page 13 of Backed By You
“The replacement parts will be here in a few weeks,” I tell her, then look to my brother. “Did you need something?”
Rhett scratches the back of his neck. “Can’t a guy check in on his brother once in a while?”
I grunt.No.
Callie picks up the backpack sitting on her swing. “He really is a ball of sunshine, isn’t he?” she comments, tugging the straps over her shoulders.
My brother chuckles awkwardly, glancing between the two of us.
“Where are you going?” I ask, hating how accusatory I sound. What the hell do I care where she’s going at eleven o’clock on a Sunday?
“On a hike,” she says, Hulk at her side as she descends the few porch steps.
I stare at her choice of footwear.Fucking tennis shoes. For a hike on some of the steeper trails around here, that could be seen as a deadly mistake. “You should be wearing proper hiking boots,” I tell her sternly. “They’re taller to help support your ankles. You’ll twist yourself up in those things.”
She pauses, raising a single delicate brow. “Now you’re going to tell me what I should and shouldn’t wear?” She scoffs. “You’re unbelievable. Is it that difficult for you to mind your own business?”
I scowl. “I’m trying to help you.”
“Yeah, right.” She rolls her eyes, walking past me as she waves to my brother, adding, “Good luck with Mr. Sunshine.”
“Nice chatting with you,” Rhett calls.
I watch her go, feeling more frustrated than I have in years. She claims I can’t mind my own business, but why the hell can’t she listen to the sound advice I’m trying to give her? She may be proving to be a pain in my ass, but that doesn’t mean I want to see her get hurt.
“You two seem…friendly,” Rhett says, breaking into my thoughts with that knowing tone of his. The same one he’s used since we were kids. He’s always had this way of reading people when they don’t want to be read.
I face him. “What do you need, Rhett?”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “Just wanted to let you know your lumber order is in. Should be delivered by Wednesday.” He leans against the porch railing and studies mewith that irritating smirk. “So, you wanna tell me what that was all about?”
“What do you mean?” I walk past him toward the pile of stakes I set out this morning to mark the water lines. I need to shift my focus before I risk a glance in the direction Callie disappeared to in front of my nosey brother.
“That.” He gestures vaguely to my tenant’s cabin. “You practically growled over her shoes. Since when do you care what people wear hiking?”
“I don’t.” My tone comes out sharper than I intended.
Thankfully, instead of giving me shit, he chuckles. “Right. That’s why you were glaring at her like she stole one of your beloved power bars.”
I ignore his obvious prying and pick up the stakes, setting them where I want them.
“So, how is it going out here, really? I mean, I know you only just got in a few days ago, but… You’ve been pretty quiet lately.”
I’ve always been quiet. “Fine. Busy.”
An amicable silence falls between us. Out of all my siblings, Rhett’s been the easiest to talk to. Not that I’mchoosingto talk to him right now.
Rhett clears his throat, never one to leave silence unfilled. “So, speaking of projects… You free next weekend?”
I glance over my shoulder, eyeing him suspiciously. “Why?”
“Glad you asked.” He grins. “Since Butch and Duke decided to do this double wedding thing—me, being the genius brother I am, thought: Hey, let’s hit this double-thing over the head and do a bachelor party for the two of them.”
I stare at him.
“It’ll be great.”
Doesn’t sound great to me.
