Page 24 of Next Door Midlife Alpha
At least, mostly. Home was no longer the sanctuary it used to be. The clanhouse was a symbol of all that’d been achieved not only by him but by the generations of Brighams who’d come before him. It was the one place he could let his guard down and be himself, and he never had to worry about what secrets he was keeping. Will’s presence had changed all of that.
He slipped in the front door and listened. Itwasn’t his job to monitor his brother’s comings and goings, but he didn’t love the thought of Will having free reign of the place while Dylan was gone. Thumping music came from upstairs, quickly switching off.
Lila came trotting down. “Hey, Dad! I thought I heard you come home.”
“Yeah, I’m here. How was your day?” He kissed his daughter on the forehead, feeling a small amount of tension leave his body.
“Fine. I spent most of it at Grandma and Grandpa’s. Bella and I are going out tonight, so I’m on my way to meet her now.” She slipped on the sandals she’d left by the front door.
Dylan had always missed her terribly when she was in Boston for the school year. He knew he’d get plenty of time with her now that she’d graduated, but he still wanted her company. It was a little difficult to know how grown up she was and that she didn’t rely on him the same way she used to. “Are you getting dinner?”
Lila smiled. “Yes, Dad. I’ll eat. I promise. I think we’re getting pizza, actually. I haven’t had a chance to catch up with Bella since I got back into town.”
“You two have fun.” He remembered when Lilaand Bella were just little bitty things, out playing in the sand.
“We will!” She reached for the door handle.
“Hey.” He stepped a little closer, not knowing who else might be in the house. “Have you seen Will?”
She made a face that she didn’t bother hiding for his sake. “He was on his way out when I was coming in, but he didn’t tell me where he was going. I can’t say that I asked. I think I saw him out on his boat a little while ago, though.”
“Okay. I was just curious. I’ll see you later.” He closed the door behind her, wondering if he’d ever get used to not asking her precisely when she’d be home or reminding her to keep him updated on where she was and who she was with. Those precautions had been necessary at one point, and he’d slowly pulled back on them as she’d gotten older. He’d told himself that it was all for her benefit and safety. Now that he had to let her be her adult self, Dylan realized it’d been just as much for him.
With a sigh, he headed into the kitchen. Since Will wasn’t there, maybe he’d be able to relax a bit. He took a beer from the fridge and cracked it open, knowing he was just fooling himself. Will wasn’t theonly reason he had such a time getting comfortable these days.
He sighed again when he heard a knock on the front door. Any clan members living on their stretch of beach would come to the back door. Someone knocking meant someone to deal with, and he wasn’t in the mood. He’d already had a shitty day, and he hadn’t yet figured out how he’d shake it off. Beer in hand, he marched to the entryway and swung open the door.
It was Stacey. She stood straight and stiff on the porch, her mouth a hard line and her eyes glittering like sapphires. “Hey, Dylan.”
“Hi.” He managed to get out that one syllable before the remainder of the air in his lungs disappeared. Dylan had been thinking about her all day. She’d haunted him as he’d gotten ready for work, knowing she was right next door. Things hadn’t gotten any better once he’d left. When he’d led a group on a guided seashore walk, a woman had been there with her two young kids. She wasn’t Stacey, but the love in her eyes when she looked at her children reminded him of her. His lunch break had felt lonely and desolate, even though he knew he was doing the right thing by staying away fromher right now. He’d spent the afternoon arguing with his bear, but now she was at his door.
And she looked pissed. “Is everything okay?” he asked.
“No, not really. I need to talk to you, if you have a moment.”
“Sure.” He opened the door wider and ushered her inside. His bear had been pestering him all day, and now it rose even further within him as if to say, ‘See? I told you so?’ Something was definitely wrong with Stacey. He could tell that this wasn’t just anger on her face but worry and fear. He closed the door behind her and lifted the bottle in his hand. “Can I get you a beer?”
“No. Wait, maybe I’ll take one,” she amended. “Why not? It might make some of this easier.”
“Sounds like it’s pretty damn bad,” Dylan noted as he fetched another drink. Whatever it was, he wanted to fix it. “I assume no one’s bleeding, so come sit down.”
Her elbows were tight against her sides as she followed him to the kitchen table, her shoulders drawn up around her neck. She sat stiffly in a chair across from him, the same chair she’d sat in the day she’d brought over lunch. That hadn’t been all that long ago, but so much between them had changedthat it might as well have been months. “Is your brother home?”
He had several brothers, but he knew she could only be asking about one. Dylan didn’t like where this was heading. “No, not at the moment.”
“Good.” She took a swig of beer before she began. “I hate to bother you about this, but I can’t think of any better solution.”
“Go ahead,” he urged, more desperate by the second to find out what was wrong. If Will did something to her, then to hell with any blood ties.
“He was out on the beach with a metal detector today,” she began, speaking quickly as though she might not get it all out otherwise. “I was in my yard with the kids, and Elijah was pretending to be a pirate. He asked Will if he was hunting for buried treasure, and the guy totally flipped out on him. Will ran up to the fence, got in Elijah’s face, and told him to mind his goddamn business.”
Dylan stared at her, his body frozen as his mind reeled. She had no idea just how much she was telling him. Will had been on the beach with a metal detector. That wasn’t anything Dylan had seen him do, which meant he’d timed it carefully so he could do it while Dylan was gone. Will had been practically scouring his den when they’d spoken a fewdays earlier. Dylan had been wondering what’d made Will come around again, but now he knew. It was so obvious! How could he not have seen it before?
“I really am sorry to bug you about this,” Stacey continued. “I know your brother’s behavior isn’t your responsibility.”
“He’s a guest in my house, so he’s at least somewhat my responsibility.” Dylan looked after the entirety of the clan, but Stacey didn’t—couldn’t—know anything about that. Will wasn’t exactly part of the clan and hadn’t been for a long time. That didn’t detract from Dylan’s urge to protect Stacey.
She nodded as she rubbed her thumb up the side of the beer bottle, playing with the drops of condensation that’d already started to form there. As incensed as she’d appeared when she first arrived, she now looked like all the wind had been taken out of her sails. “I really am sorry to bother you with this. He’s your brother, and I don’t mean to speak ill of him to you. He scared Elijah, and in turn, that scared me. I should’ve come over and talked to him myself instead of running over the second you got home, but I just didn’t feel comfortable approaching him.”
