Crashing into Fate (Maple Grove #25) - Lynn Hagen

Chapter One

It wasn’t as though Arlan needed a home. It was just four walls and a roof that provided shelter and warmth.

Seriously, having a home was overrated. Having a sappy brother with a vindictive wife was overrated, too. Chloe had never liked Arlan, no matter how hard he’d tried to get along with her. Arlan cleaned the house, looked after his niece and nephew, and cooked for everyone, but Chloe had never once thanked him for his efforts. And now she’d gotten into it with Charles, Arlan’s brother, demanding Arlan find another place to live.

Arlan hadn’t waited around for Charles to ask him to leave. Although his brother needed to grow a backbone, Arlan wasn’t going to make Charles kick him out.

Admittedly, he was going to miss Tasha and Zack. He loved his niece and nephew, had gotten into a routine with them, and now he was walking toward town, unsure where he was going to stay for the night.

All he had with him was his backpack that had some clothes he’d tossed in there, and some personal things like deodorant and his toothbrush. He would get the rest of his stuff later.

Like when Chloe wasn’t home.

He’d seen the signs. Arlan had known this night was coming. Chloe had become more and more irritated with everything that Arlan did, with the things he said, and the fact that he was still breathing.

Arlan still couldn’t believe Charles had settled down with such a diva. His brother was a big buff guy, but when it came to his wife, he turned into some meek wuss.

Ugh. It hadn’t been Arlan’s fault that he’d lost his job and apartment. Times were tough in Maple Grove. And it wasn’t as though he’d planned on living with them forever. Still, the vibes he got from Chloe had always left him feeling cold.

It also wasn’t as if her family wasn’t a train wreck, too. Her parents thought their children should provide for them now that they were in their golden years. The two barely had an income between them and thought their three sons and daughter should pay all their bills.

The mother had even mentioned her offspring should buy them a house.

And Chloe didn’t like him? At least he pulled his weight around the house, had contributed in some ways instead of thinking his brother owed him something.

Arlan moved to the shoulder of the road when headlights splashed over him. Fuck. He knew the sound of that truck. Arlan wasn’t in the mood to talk to Charles. He just wanted to find a place to stay for the night and then find a job first thing tomorrow.

“Why did you just walk out?” Charles asked when he pulled alongside Arlan.

That last thing Arlan wanted to do was have this conversation. Charles would always take Chloe’s side, so it was a moot point. “It’s time I struck out on my own.”

Arlan kept walking while Charles slowly drove next to him. “In the middle of the night?”

“Less traffic to deal with.” Arlan hiked his bag farther up his shoulder. “I’m surprised you noticed I was gone.”

Charles pulled over and got out. They night be brothers, but Charles was ten years older, a lot taller, and had their dad’s looks. He had a strong jaw, dark hair, and a nice build.

Arlan was slim, short, and had inherited his mother’s blond hair and hazel eyes. He was a twig compared to Charles, and Arlan suspected that was what Chloe hated the most about him. How was it Arlan’s fault that he was better looking than Charles’s wife?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Charles asked. “Of course I noticed you were gone. I just don’t understand why you left.”

Charles was going to make Arlan spell it out, and he didn’t want to. Not now, not while a headache pounded at the back of his skull.

In truth, Arlan didn’t want to make Charles angry with him. He loved his brother, loved their relationship, and Charles might give him the cold shoulder if Arlan said it was all that ice queen’s fault.

He also didn’t want to be banned from seeing his niece and nephew.

“Look…” Arlan rubbed the skin over his brow. “It’s just time I moved on, Charles. You’ve got a wife and family, and I’m just in the way.”

“Since when?”

Charles appeared genuinely perplexed, as if he’d been blind to his wife’s overt animosity toward Arlan. How could his brother be so thickheaded? It should have been as obvious as the nose on his face. Chloe always