and Kal looked up from the backyard of their parents’ house. They had spent the day there trimming trees and sweating their asses off clearing the backyard, trying to get the house finished up so their parents could sell it.
“You got a hot date?” Jackson asked.
“I invited Carmen over.”
Kal arched a brow. “ Next-door neighbor Carmen?”
“Do we know another one?”
“Hell if I know,” Kal said. “I can’t keep track of all the names of the women you date.”
Rafe lifted his chin. He didn’t date that many women. Or maybe he had. But that was before. “Yeah, it’s next-door neighbor Carmen.”
“I didn’t know you two were dating,” Jackson said.
“We are. Or we just started. I don’t know. Anyway, I want some time alone with her, so if you two wouldn’t mind . . .”
“I’ll take Becks out after she gets off work,” Jackson said. “She’ll like that.”
Kal nodded. “Consider me gone.”
He knew he could count on his brothers. “Thanks, guys.”
“Now let’s get this landscaping done before I die of heatstroke out here,” Jackson said.
“See, this is what happens when you get old,” Kal said.
Jackson frowned. “Fuck you, little brother. I can outwork you any day of the week.”
Kal shook his head. “You poor old man. Need a cold glass of ice water?”
“Actually, that sounds pretty good,” Rafe said. “Would you mind, Kal?”
“Yeah, since you’re the youngest, and since you just insulted me, you can go grab us all some ice water.”
“Normally, I’d tell you both to go fuck yourselves, but since I can go inside and cool off, I’ll go make us drinks.”
Kal put his shovel down and pulled his gloves off, then went inside.
“I think he baited me on purpose,” Jackson said.
Rafe laughed. “Probably. But at least he’s getting us a cold drink.”
“True enough.” Jackson shoved his booted foot on the shovel and into the dirt against the fence line where they’d be putting in new shrubs.
“Hey, speaking of Kal, did he talk to you at work yesterday?”
“About?”
It wasn’t Rafe’s place to give Jackson a heads-up about what Kal talked to him about, so he knew he’d have to keep it vague. “Work stuff.”
Jackson slanted Rafe a warning look. “You know I can’t talk about personnel issues with you, Rafe. Even if it’s about your brother.”
If Kal hadn’t talked to him, Jackson would have said no. The shutdown meant he had. “Sure, I understand.”
They went back to work for a few minutes. Then Jackson stopped and leaned against the top of the shovel. “Did Kal talk to you?”
Rafe smiled at him. “You know I can’t talk about brother-to-brother conversations. Sworn to secrecy.”
Jackson grinned and shook his head. “Asshole.”
Rafe laughed, and they went back to shoveling.
Kal came out and handed each of them a tall glass of ice water.
“What did you do in there?” Jackson asked. “Take a nap?”
“Maybe.”
Rafe downed two gulps right away, cooling his parched throat. Cold water had never tasted so good.
“What were you two laughing about?” Kal asked. “I heard you inside.”
“Family and work secrets,” Rafe said.
“Nah. He was talking shit about you,” Jackson said.
Kal looked over at Rafe, who shook his head. “It’s all lies.”
“And I made lunch while I was in there. Now I’m going to eat it myself.”
At the mention of food, Rafe’s stomach grumbled. “You made lunch? What did you fix?”
“Does it make a difference?”
“No,” Jackson said. “You know we’ll eat anything. But what did you make?”
“Turkey sandwiches with avocado and chipotle aioli, and a watermelon salsa.”
Rafe dropped his shovel on the ground. “And we’re breaking.”
Kal laughed. “Thought you might say that.”
They went inside and washed up, then sat at the kitchen table where they’d grown up. It still bore the scars from elbows and forks and fights at the dinner table.
“You think Mom will want a new kitchen table at the new house?” Rafe asked.
Jackson looked down at the table. “Probably. This one’s pretty scarred up.”
“You’re the one who stabbed the steak knife in the wood when we argued over whether we were gonna stay here or not.”
Jackson shrugged. “I was fourteen, Kal. And I didn’t stab you, did I?”
“No, but it was a heated argument that night.”
“And as usual,” Rafe said, “I had to play the peacemaker.”
They both looked over at Rafe.
“I don’t remember it exactly like that,” Jackson said.
“I remember,” Kal said. “Rafe, you were on my side, arguing with Jackson that if he wanted to leave, he could go by himself, because you liked it here and you and me were staying.”
Jackson cracked a smile. “And I said I