Another person walked into the room, and I narrowed my eyes at Beckett’s new assistant project manager, Clay.
“I thought we had a meeting about the upcoming project, but if we’re going to talk about castration, I think I’m going to head out,” Clay said cautiously.
I shook my head, rolled my shoulders back, and did my best to become Annabelle Montgomery, Lead Architect of Montgomery Builders. Not broken, weary, and confused Annabelle of Jacob’s past. “No, this is a work environment, and we are not going to discuss…that. Instead, we’re going to go through the major projects we have coming up.”
“First, I want to hear about the fact that Jacob Queen moved into the house next door,” Paige said, and I could’ve thrown my coffee at her. It wasn’t scorching, and it wouldn’t hurt her. But it would startle her and make me feel better. Yes, startling would be nice.
“Jacob, who?” Clay asked.
“That Jacob?” Archer inquired. “Oh, God. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I said.
“You know, I’m going to get some coffee. I’ll be right back,” Clay said, turning on his heel and practically running out of the office.
“Great, we scared the new guy.” I sighed.
“He’s tough. Storm introduced us. If he can handle the Denver Montgomerys, he can handle us,” Beckett said.
I threw my hands up into the air. “Okay, we’re going to put this out there into the world, and then we’re not going to talk about it again.”
“Why don’t I believe that?” Beckett asked.
I pointed my finger at him and narrowed my eyes. “No. Stop it. No sarcasm.”
“That’s just not going to happen in this family,” Archer said, sarcasm dripping from his tone.
“Anyway,” I said, ignoring my twin, “Jacob Queen moved into the house next door. And he still hates me. Told me to my face. And almost said no to donuts.”
“From the pink box place?” Paige asked, her eyes wide.
I gave a tight nod. “From the pink box place.”
“That’s sacrilege,” Archer whispered.
“I know. He took them, but I’m pretty sure he probably tossed them. He didn’t want them, didn’t want me in the house. Though after he started yelling, he didn’t want to deal with cops more, so I followed him in. The donuts were still on the entry table when I left.”
That made my brothers blow up, and all of them started shouting at once.
“I’m fine,” I yelled over them.
“Excuse me?” Beckett cut in. “That asshole had the nerve to yell at you, and instead of dealing with cops, something we’re going to talk about, you just walked into his house?”
I grimaced. “It’s not how it sounded. I was perfectly safe. He didn’t even lock me in.” I blinked as Beckett’s, Benjamin’s, and Archer’s eyes all narrowed.
Paige winced beside them and shook her head, mouthing, please stop.
Archer might be my twin, and I might be a couple of minutes older than him, but they all acted like my big, overbearing brothers sometimes. It was a little ridiculous. Paige and I had to deal with them and their macho tendencies in many instances. Usually, I could deal with it, but I was a little shaken after seeing Jacob that morning and discussing what had happened with Jonah. But now, I had a feeling I would have to discuss it again.
“You guys do not have to do anything. I promise. We talked it out…sort of. He’ll likely continue to hate me, but we’ll just deal with being neighbors. Not everybody has to like who lives next door.”
“He has no right to hate you,” Benjamin growled.
“No right,” Beckett repeated. “I’m going to kick his fucking ass. He treated you like shit after everything happened with Jonah. And it wasn’t your fault.”
I held up my hands, holding back tears. “I’m fine,” I said, my voice cracking.
“That’s it, now I’m going to kill him,” Archer said, rolling up his sleeves.
“Please, stop. We’re adults. We can handle this. Sure, it’s a lot of emotions. And none of us knows exactly what happened during everything that went down. None of us talked about what happened. Hell, in this family, we do an excellent job of not talking about the fact that I’m a widow.” They all went silent as they looked at me.
“Seriously. I lost my husband. Yes, he was my best friend, but he was my husband in the eyes of the law. That meant I had to go through the paperwork of death when it came to losing an eighteen-year-old to cystic fibrosis. I’ve dealt with that. I’ve dealt with my emotions, and I handled what I had to do with the rest of my life, trying to figure out how to grow up with part of the world watching me. I dealt with it. But we don’t ever speak about it. And that’s okay. We don’t have to discuss my past in excruciating detail. But if we don’t talk about it, you sure as hell know that Jacob and I have never talked about it. I don’t know how he feels about me, really. I don’t know exactly why he hates me, other than the fact that I took time with his brother away from him.”
“Jonah wanted an escape,” Benjamin said insightfully. “None of us were sure about you marrying a kid when you were a kid yourself, but we understood why you did it.”
I flinched at that, but knew he was right. “I know nobody wanted me to marry him—other than his parents and Jonah. But I did. I wanted to make Jonah happy.”
“And you did. He had happiness leading up to the wedding and the days you had left with him,” Paige whispered. “And I’m sorry Jacob was hurt, but he doesn’t get to treat you like shit.”
“You’re right. I told him he didn’t get to, and we’ll deal with it.”
“Are you still going up to see his parents?” Beckett asked, his gaze on mine. I shrugged.
“Yes. I eat there almost every Sunday. And you know with Kelley being sick, I just need to be there for them.”
“That’s why Jacob moved here,” Paige said, her eyes wide as it dawned on both of us.
“Damn,” I whispered. “They never mentioned it to me.”
“They’ve had a lot on their minds,” Archer said, wincing.
“Or they didn’t want to bother me with the fact that they knew their son hated me. Still does. It’s fine. I’ll deal with it. Jacob must be here to help his mom, and that is an admirable trait. He was always great for Jonah. So, yes, we will find a way to make it work. Now that it’s out in the open, nobody needs to go and kick anyone’s ass or castrate anyone.”
“What’s this about castration?”
I looked up at my father and groaned. “I swear, we need to close the door the next time we talk about this.”
“Or we can just not talk about it ever again,” Beckett said dryly.
I snorted. “Hi, Mom and Dad, come on in.”
“I take it you’re talking about something weird since your little assistant is out there hiding?” my dad said, and I grimaced.
“He’s the assistant project manager,” Beckett said through gritted teeth. “He’s not my little assistant.”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with an assistant,” Paige said. “But I prefer office manager.”