be—oh. No, I don’t think he’s like that.” I shouldn’t continue but it was nice to talk to someone honestly about my family. “But if he’s not careful, he’s going to fuck it up anyway.”
“How can he work that much?”
“Grams. She has this rule about who can be in the inner office. She waived it for Kendall obviously, but she doesn’t think Dad and Aiden should have much else going on in their lives. She wants to micromanage everything, and to do that, she won’t approve more positions to lighten the load on Dad and Aiden.”
“Wow. She’ll even burn her own family for money.”
I should defend Grams, but Grams was who she was. “Yeah. Basically. But Kate’s a librarian. She doesn’t work in the oil industry and therefore doesn’t see Aiden all that much from what I hear.”
Kate bounced our way, her smile tight. “He’s going to try to get away.”
“Is this a busy time of year?” Bristol asked.
Kate sat next to her, braver than anyone in King’s Creek would’ve been to sit that close to Bristol. “Every season is busy for the inner office. Even when production is down, there’s just as much or more to do.” She forced a brighter smile. “So, what brings you two to town?”
Kate peppered Bristol with tentative questions about what had happened and got Bristol to talk when she asked if Bucket was okay. Kate even asked about Daisy. And when Bristol talked, Kate rested her elbow on the table with her chin on her palm and listened. Like, really listened.
I tried to interject with details, but the bond between the girls was growing so strong so fast, I just sat back and watched.
“What’d I miss?” Aiden bypassed me to go behind Kate and drop a kiss on her head.
Kate’s expression lit up and she raised her face to his, but he’d already rounded the table to sit by me. He nodded to Bristol as he picked up the menu. “How’s it going?”
“Fine.” The tension was back across her shoulders. She sat straight in her chair instead of being half turned to chat with Kate.
“Bristol was telling me about her injury,” Kate said. “I’m so glad Dawson was around to meet Daisy when she went for help.”
Aiden’s brows rose. “Your dog?”
I told the story of finding Daisy at my door. Aiden didn’t bat an eye at the conditions Bristol had taken Bucket out in.
“That’s a good dog,” Aiden said as he got out of his chair and walked away without explanation.
Typical Aiden. Spared his admiration for animals, not for people. At least it was a sign he wasn’t one hundred percent robot.
Kate didn’t take her eyes off her husband, her hazel eyes liquid. “Want to come over to the house? It’ll be easier to chat.”
“Sure. Let me get the check—”
“Oh, that’s what Aiden’s doing. He just never tells anyone. Hates the back-and-forth.”
“Too much human interaction for him?”
Kate ignored the jab, used to me bitching about how uptight my brother was. She put her hand on Bristol’s arm. “Their mom’s pictures inspired me to fill the house with local photographers’ photos. I love showing them off.”
The sun was sinking by the time we left the pub. I drove Bristol, and Kate and Aiden each had separate vehicles. I parked on the road in front of their secluded property. Bristol stared at the house. An entire trailer court could fit on the acreage Aiden had purchased by the river. The place was big and there was a lot of land, but the place was like Aiden. Straitlaced and not flashy.
The sprawling two-story home was beautiful, but simple, a plain design with clean lines. A modern take on the old farmhouse. Steel siding and rock that carried across to the three-car garage that both Kate and Aiden were pulling into. Timber beams decorated the porch and framed the door, but Aiden left his garage door open for us to enter through.
“This place is nice,” Bristol murmured.
“Yeah.” But when Aiden put in long hours, I bet it was just as empty for Kate as my house was for me.
Kate grinned and beckoned Bristol to follow her. I’d never seen Kate so bubbly, but she probably didn’t come across someone as socially ambivalent as Bristol often.
Aiden hung back and hit the control for the garage door, closing us inside. The door to the house closed and I was alone with my brother.
I shoved my hands in my pockets, sensing big-brother interference. “Go ahead.”
His intense gaze bored into me.