Teague (7 page)

None of them.

Teague tossed the rest of his coffee over the side of the deck and waited for Tucker and Abby to climb the stairs.

“This is my fault,” Abby said, holding up a plain brown paper bag. “Don’t get mad at your brother.”

Teague’s eyes shifted from Abby to Tucker. His brother was dressed in faded jeans, Birkenstocks, and a Foo Fighters T-shirt that had seen better days. He hadn’t shaved in a while (though Teague couldn’t fault him for that since he was sporting pretty much the same look) and his hair was longer than normal.

Tucker Simon was also pissed.

“Don’t start,” Teague warned.

“Start? As far as I’m concerned, we never finished our last conversation on account of you hanging up on me. Which honestly is pretty damn immature.” Tucker’s eyes narrowed. “So technically I’m not starting anything and don’t pull that crap with me.”

“Really?” Abby took a step forward so that she was between the two men. “We’re going to do this now?” She poked her fiancé in the shoulder. “You told me you weren’t going to get into it with your brother. It was the only reason I let you tag along.”

Score one for the fiancée, Teague thought to himself.

“You
let
me tag along?”

“I was fully prepared to come up here by myself.”

“You wouldn’t come up here without me.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Tucker, but yes I would have. I don’t need you to navigate my way out of the United States into Canada. Any moron with a passport and a GPS can get here.”

Any other time and Teague would have been amused by the expression on his brother’s face, but as it was, he was just plain irritated by it all.

“Unbelievable,” Tucker growled. “Since when did this become about me?”

“I told you that if you didn’t behave, there would be consequences.”

“Consequences.”

“Damn right,” Abby said, turning to Teague with a smile. The bag was still in her hand. She offered it to Teague, though her words were for his brother. “Keep that up and no sex for a week.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Tucker’s brows were furrowed and the look he gave Teague was ferocious.

“Muffin?” Abby asked.

“Sure,” Teague replied. “I’ll take one.” He grabbed the bag and rooted through the contents until he found a banana nut—his favorite. He took a bite and savored the flavor—it was still warm so he knew it was from the bakery in town.

Abby took a step toward Teague. She reached up and kissed his cheek, cradling his head between her hands. She leaned in and whispered. “He loves you and you’re going to have to let him in because he’s driving me crazy.” She took a step back. “Trust me Teague, you don’t want to deal with crazy Abby.”

She glanced back at Tucker. “We’re good?”

The boys didn’t answer and with a look of exasperation, she disappeared inside the cottage.

Tucker sighed and walked over to the railing. He leaned against it and gazed out at the water.

“You might want to give Mom a call. You know how she gets.”

Teague opened his mouth but closed it just as fast. What could he say? His brother was right.

“I’ll call her later today.”

Tucker turned around. He cleared his throat. “You don’t look as bad as I thought you would.”

“That’s a half-ass compliment.”

“Wasn’t meant as a compliment.”

“Good to know.”

“Don’t get me wrong. You still look like shit, just not the kind of shit I saw a few weeks ago.” Tucker watched him for a few moments. “You getting much sleep?”

Teague shrugged. “Some nights are better than others.”

“I see you’ve done some work on the gazebo. Your shoulder must be good.”

“Like new,” Teague replied. Damn thing hurt like hell sometimes, but that was to be expected considering a bullet had ripped into muscle and nicked bone. At least his leg had healed from a similar wound.

The brothers settled into a familiar silence and for a bit at least, Teague got some of the peace he’d been craving. Of course it didn’t last long.

“Richard Bowen stopped in at the office to see me a few days ago.”

Teague’s head shot up. He wasn’t expecting that.

“Said he’d been trying to get ahold of you. Said he’d been trying since last week. I take it he’s still trying?”

Teague shrugged. “My cell’s been dead for days and I haven’t bothered to charge it.”

“That’s probably a good thing.”

Teague ignored the comment. Richard Bowen didn’t exactly have a fan club in the Simon household. “What did he want?”

Tucker’s mouth tightened. “I can tell you what he didn’t want.”

“Tuck—“

“He sure as hell didn’t give a shit whether or not you were doing all right. Hell, he didn’t even ask about your injuries.”

Teague wasn’t surprised. Richard Bowen wasn’t the kind of man who thought about anything beyond the next story and adventure. The guy ran on pure adrenaline and was on the road to crazy town. But he was one hell of a journalist and had been Teague’s wingman on many an assignment. The two of them had traveled to the most dangerous places on the planet, reporting and documenting for various publications including
Time Magazine
and
Vanity Fair
.

They’d seen and done a lot together and if Bowen was sniffing around…

“What
did
he want?” Teague asked again, back ramrod straight. His muscles were tight and restless, he walked the length of the deck, eyes never leaving his brother.

Tucker sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “He didn’t say exactly but it’s obvious isn’t it? He’s got another gig and he wants you along for the ride.”

Teague stared out across the water. Was he ready to go back out in the field? After the disaster that had been Syria?

“You’re not seriously considering going out again are you? You told Mom that you were giving it up. That you wouldn’t put yourself in danger again.” There was accusation in Tucker’s voice and Teague rounded on his brother, fists clenched tight.

So much for the coddling and kid gloves. Seemed as if his brother had come all this way to ride him hard. Good. It had been a while since anyone had treated Teague like the man he was.

He was spoiling for a fight and who better to get into it with than his twin?

“I told Mom what she wanted to hear in order for her to be okay with everything that went down over there. Jesus, she almost had a breakdown.”

“Well shit, Teague. Your kid nearly getting his ass blown to bits will do that to most people.”

“It’s part of the job,” Teague snapped. “It’s part of what I do. It’s part of who I am.”

I don
’t know how to be anything else.

The words echoed inside his head and Teague shook them away. No use thinking about it too hard. Not now. Not when he was about to pound the crap out of his brother.

“Well maybe it’s time for you to take a look at something else. How many lives you got anyway? You’re not a goddamn cat. You’re flesh and blood just like the rest of us.”

Teague took a step toward his brother, but Tucker wasn’t backing down. The anger inside Teague was fierce. It was hot and dirty and mean and he flexed his hands prepared to do something about it.

“I suggest you move the hell out of my way.”

“Or what?” Tucker’s face was dark. “You gonna take a swing at me?”

“You can count on it.”

“Go ahead. One shot to your shoulder and I’ll have you on the ground crying like a baby.”

“Fuck you,” Teague retorted, words barely discernable because he was so damn angry.

“Oh.
”

At first Teague wasn’t sure who’d spoken. But then Tucker looked past him and said, “shit.”

That was followed by another “oh” and a round of furious whispering. Teague glanced over his shoulder and spied the twins perched on the top step. He was breathing heavy and had to take a moment because he wasn’t sure he could speak through his anger.

In the end it didn’t matter because Harry piped up first.

“The F-word is so bad.”

“Like it’s the worst word ever,” his sister Morgan said, nodding her head in agreement before stepping onto the deck.

Bingo darted past the kids, barking like a champ and scratching at the patio door. Teague knew the damn thing wouldn’t stop the racket until…

The door slid open and Abby appeared, a wide smile on her face as she bent over to rub Bingo behind his ears. “Hey little guy,” she murmured and then tossed a box at Teague. “I’m guessing this is what your friend is looking for?”

Tucker walked past him, glancing at the doggie treat package in Teague’s hands as he did so.

“Since when do you own a dog?” Tucker asked.

Teague ignored his brother and opened the box so that he could grab two biscuits. He knew by now that one didn’t cut it with the little rug rat.

“Bingo is mine,” Harry said.

“Mommy says that you shouldn’t complain about Bingo pooping on your deck since you’re the one giving him treats.” That was from Morgan. The little girl skipped over to Teague and smiled at Abby. “You’re pretty.”

“Thank you,” Abby replied.

“You’re almost as pretty as my mommy, right Tigger?”

“Tigger?” his brother repeated.

“Don’t even…” hHe said through gritted teeth, glowering at Tucker.

He fed the damn dog his biscuits (why in hell he’d bothered to buy them the other day was anyone’s guess) and glanced at his watch.

It was just shy of eight a.m. He had a headache. He was thoroughly pissed off. And he hadn’t even had his second cup of coffee yet.

Was it too early for a do over?

Sabrina spent most of the day in town. It had been forever since she’d had some time to herself and she made the most out of it. She shopped for the odds and ends needed for the twins upcoming birthday and visited several local antique stores to browse, something she hadn’t done in ages. She ran a few errands—the post office and the drug store—and then on impulse walked into the local salon.

Her feet were in bad shape—her fingers were even worse—and luckily there were a few cancellations to accommodate her. So as Sabrina sat there enjoying a foot massage, she let one of the stylists talk her into dark burgundy highlights. The stylist, Breanne, also insisted that Sabrina would look fabulous sporting the new trendy bang look, and after a slight hesitation, Sabrina let the girl have at it. Whatever. It was hair and if it looked like crap, it would grow back.

She read a couple gossip magazines and wasn’t surprised that members of the Simon family were in both of them. She shook her head with a wry smile. Cooper Simon was quite the ladies man and apparently he liked them married.

“What did I tell you?”

Sabrina glanced into the mirror, eyes wide with surprise. She slowly touched her hair, eyeing the new silky highlights that shimmered under the lights. And the bangs—who knew they’d make her eyes more luminous?

“Do you like it?” Breanne asked with a smile.

“I love it.”

Sabrina walked out of the salon feeling like a million bucks and blushed when an elderly gentleman caught her admiring her reflection in the window. She couldn’t help it. With her saucy bangs, blue toes, and French manicured fingers, she felt something that she hadn’t felt in a good, long while.

Pretty.

Her car was parked near the water and she headed in that direction, already thinking ahead to dinner. A salad and burgers sounded about right and hopefully her mother in law would go easy. Sabrina wasn’t in the mood for a lecture.

And she sure as hell hoped that Louise and the kids had left Teague alone like she’s told them. He had company—she’d seen the car in his driveway this morning—and she was pretty damn sure he didn’t want her kids over there if his friend from town was visiting.

The drive back to the cottage was nice. She cranked the tunes and sang along to Luke Bryan as she navigated the winding road. She could see the lake over the tops of the trees and the deep blue shimmered under the late afternoon sun. It was supposed to be a gorgeous holiday weekend and she would try her best to enjoy the hell out of it.

She would. She had to…for her kids’ sake.

She dialed down the volume when she pulled into her driveway. Huh. Teague’s friend Candace was still there.

She grabbed the parcels out of the back of her car and hid them in her bedroom. The cottage was empty and a quick glance down at the dock left her frowning.

Where were her people? It was too hot for a hike, though that wasn’t her mother-in-law’s thing anyway.

Sabrina’s gaze swung to the Simon cottage and she heard Bingo barking.

She sighed and shook her head. “Does no one listen to me anymore?”

She marched over to Teague’s place and hesitated at the bottom step that led to the deck out back. There was laughter—male and female—and she heard Morgan’s excited voice, followed by Harry’s giggles. For a moment she stood there in the shadows, listening,
loving
the sound of her children’s laugher. They were so resilient. So much stronger than she was.

Bingo barked and her head shot up. The dog was on the top step wagging its tail madly and…

“You gonna come up?” Teague watched her intently. Had his eyes always been so dark?

“I…”

“You changed your hair.”

Her hand crept up to the soft waves at her shoulders and she hated that her cheeks were probably as red as the apples in the bowl on her kitchen table.

A head poked up beside him and Harry grinned down at her.

“Mommy! Did you know that Teague’s a twin like me?” Her precious boy’s smile was as wide as his little face would allow. “Except his twin is a boy twin.”

“I did know that.”

“He knows all the hockey players that I like.”

“Really,” Sabrina murmured.

“Uh huh and even some New York Yankees.”

“Are you coming up?” Teague asked again.

She hesitated. “I don’t think so. It’s almost dinnertime. I just came over to get my kids and take my mother-in-law off your hands.”

Teague cracked a smile. It was a bit lopsided and disappeared almost as soon as it had come. But it was enough—more than enough. The man could be dangerous when he chose to be.