Page 6 of Careless
After Mom had died, leaving seven kids behind, Teagan had stepped in, taking over that mothering role even though she had been far too young. It had killed me trying to help out, knowing that Teagan was putting her own feelings and future aside to make sure that the youngest could survive. I had put all of my effort into not only helping the younger kids but getting that scholarship. And when I’d gotten into college on a full-ride and ended up in the NFL—albeit a late-round draft pick, I had made enough money to buy the house we stood in, start my own business, and ensure that the rest of the family never had to go into debt to pay for school and could get out of Matthew Ashford’s home.
“You know, I think this is the best IPA you’ve made,” Sterling said, and I nodded tightly.
“I’m just glad that you’re old enough to drink it now,” I said dryly.
“I prefer the Pilsner.” Teagan shrugged. “I’m not an IPA person, sorry. I don’t like to chew my beer.”
“Please do not get her started on IPAs,” Finnian said with a dramatic sigh. “Do you know what your yearly special is going to be yet?”
I did, but I wasn’t about to tell them. They wouldn’t mean to, but they would tell one person, and then they would tell another, and suddenly Ashford Brews would make not only the local paper but the next town over, and my secrets would be out.
We were a decent business for the town, and my two years in the NFL had made sure that I at least had an entryway into this random life of mine. Maybe if I hadn’t gotten hurt, things would’ve been different, but I was home, making this work.
I might surround myself with shadows and secrets in Ashford Creek, but I knew I was running away from them too.
For a damn reason.
But it wasn’t as if I was going to let my family deal with those problems. They dealt with enough as it was.
“Here, I’ll finish up the guacamole,” Teagan said as she rubbed her shoulder against my upper arm.
“I forgot how short you were,” I said, trying to push the darkness from my mind.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m taller than Briar.”
“Well, she’s not here, is she?” Teagan’s eyes filled, and I cursed. “What? What did I say?”
“Just thinking about who else isn’t here.” She looked across my open-concept kitchen into the dining room, and I sighed.
Malcolm. That’s who wasn’t here.
Bodhi’s twin brother, the rock star of the family, literally. A drummer prodigy who had made us all so fucking proud. I still couldn’t quite believe that it had been over three years now. Three years since Malcolm had died in a bus crash while he was on tour. A bus crash that had nearly taken Briar out along the way.
Briar had come back to Ashford Creek to heal and had ended up needing her future husband more than she needed us, and I understood that.
We Ashfords knew how to remind others of their own darkness.
“I love you, Teagan,” I said as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
“Love you too, you oaf.”
“Why am I an oaf?”
“Because I don’t have a crush on Rune.”
“The more you say it, the more I feel like it’s real,” Finnian teased.
“I’m going to throw this avocado seed at you.”
“If you do, then you have to clean up the mess,” Sterling said as he took the plate of lettuce and tomatoes from me. “Go sit. We’ll handle this.”
I sighed. “Okay, but don’t you dare get out the yellow cheese. You know the rules. No yellow cheese when we make Tex-Mex in this house.”
We grumbled about it, but I just laughed, taking a seat at the long table that I had pried out of Bodhi’s hands when he had finished making it.
“I do like family dinners,” Finnian said after a while. My belly was full, and I had another beer in my hand. I’d only had two, but I wasn’t planning on anymore. I did not need to get drunk tonight, not when I knew one of Dad’s old friends had spotted him in town. Somebody needed to be alert.
“You only like it because you didn’t have to pay for it.” Teagan shook her head, a smile playing on her face.
