No, that wasn’t true. She asked so many questions, I sometimes wanted to knife my eardrums. But at least she let it go if I so much as gave her a certain look. It was a respect I didn’t get from my brothers.
I’d taken her by Bettie’s again, this time for a chocolate malt. As planned, it kept her quiet most of the way home. But when we got there, all of my brothers were home, sitting in the living room with ominous looks on their faces.
I frowned. “What?”
Sophie’s eyes bounced between us as she nursed her malt. She might as well have had a bag of popcorn too for as entertained as she was. She plopped down next to Cole, who kissed her head briefly before returning to his part-time job of glaring at me.
“We let you off the hook enough times. It’s time you came clean about Daisy.”
“What is this, an intervention?”
“Sorta,” Cade answered. “Sit.”
“Pass,” I said, heading into the kitchen to put away my keys.
They followed me with Sophie in their wake.
“Come on, Keaton. Why’d you and Daisy break up?” Carson asked. “You’re not getting out of it this time.”
“Wanna make a bet?” I threw my keys onto the counter and turned to eye him.
He rolled his eyes. “Just tell us.”
“I can’t.” I stepped to the fridge, figuring I was about to need a beer.
I heard Cade frowning when he said, “Because you don’t know how you feel?”
I turned on my heel and slammed the fridge door empty handed, fuming at the intrusion. “I know exactly how I feel, it’s just none of your business.”
All three of them narrowed their eyes at me.
“What?” I snapped.
Without looking at her, Cole said, “Sophie, take your milkshake up to your room.”
“Why?” she asked with her mouth full.
“Because we need to talk to Uncle Keaton.”
She gave me a Oooh, you’re in trouble look as she took a long pull off her straw and headed for the stairs.
Ten bucks said she sat just out of sight and listened to every word, the little sneak.
We were silent through her exit.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said through my teeth, turning for the door. “Don’t follow me.”
“Not so fast. Cade, stop him.”
Cade outpaced me and blocked the exit, leaning on the threshold and inspecting his nails.
“Really?”
He shrugged. “Why are you bein’ weird?”
“Because if it wasn’t clear, I didn’t want to break up with Daisy.”
“Then why did you?” he asked.
“Are you gonna make me move you? Because I will,” I promised.
“You gonna make all three of us?” Cole said from my elbow.
“If I have to.”
Before I could get out of the way, Cole pinned my arms behind my back and Cade braced me from the front. I kicked him in the shin, but when he buckled, Carson took his place.
“Cade, go get the zip ties,” he yelled over his shoulder.
“What the fuck?” I thrashed, but Cole had me too tight to get far. “God help you when I get loose, dick.”
“If you get loose,” he corrected.
I stomped Carson’s bare foot and he grunted but didn’t let me go. They wrangled me into a chair, the three of us flailing and yelling until Cade entered the kitchen with an evil smile on his face and a bundle of zip ties in his hand.
I roared, breaking loose long enough to clock Carson in the mouth, but the three of them had me outmatched.
“Had to do it the hard way, didn’t you?” Cole said, pulling a zip tie around my wrist too tight. The wooden dowel of the chair pressed into my vein, the plastic tie biting my skin, and I imagined standing and breaking the chair over his back.
“Jesus, you split my lip,” Carson panted when I was subdued, thumbing his mouth and inspecting the digit.
“I’m gonna split more than that once I get free.”
“What do you think, should we hose him down with the sink sprayer?” Cade asked thoughtfully, his chest heaving.
“Let’s see if he behaves first,” Cole decided, trying to catch his breath.
I rumbled and fought my bindings until I realized I was just hurting myself. There was no getting out of it, easy to see by my brother’s expressions as they watched me, amused. It took me a minute after that to calm down enough that I could see straight.
“All right,” Cole said. “What the hell’s going on.”
“Nothin’! We just broke up. It didn’t work out. What the hell do you want from me?”
“The truth, for starters.” Carson worked his bottom lip, which had started to swell. “You two had practically moved in together overnight, and out of nowhere it’s just over with no explanation?”
“It’s none of your business,” I ground out.
“She didn’t cheat on you,” Cade guessed. “I know you didn’t cheat on her. Her family approves of you, and I can’t imagine you got in a fight. I don’t think she left you either.”
“Well don’t you just know fucking everything?” I spat. “You oughta go on the road.”
They laughed, the fuckers.
“You must be right,” Carson said, elbowing Cade.
“Eat a dick,” I suggested.
“Which would mean,” Cole picked up where Cade left off, “you broke up with her. Why the hell would you do that?”
“It’s none of your—”
“Business,” Cole finished. “Yeah, yeah. Does it have to do with the shelter? I could see her dumping you over that.”
Carson’s forehead was wrinkled up in thought. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Maybe we should get the hose,” Cade suggested.
After a heavy sigh, Cole said, “All right. Make sure it’s real cold.”
“Don’t. Don’t you fucking—” Cold water shot me in the mouth, then soaked my face and hair. I sounded like a grizzly bear caught in a trap, roaring and gnashing.
“You gonna tell us yet?” Cade asked, his finger still on the spray trigger.
I burned a hole in him with my glare.
Cade shrugged. “Your funeral.”
Before he got off another shot, I shouted, “Wait!”
The room was silent, my head hung. If I didn’t tell them something, they really would keep me here all day. But I couldn’t tell them everything. I scrambled for a half-truth.
“I … we’re quitting the homeless shelter.”
They stared at me, gawping.
“We’re what?” Cole asked stupidly. “Why?”
“Because we don’t have any equipment, asshole.”
“Right now we don’t, but we’re getting it back soon enough.”
I shook my bowed head. “We just … we can’t do it. It’s costing too much, and now that I have to pay for the expense of repairs out of pocket, there’s no way we can take on any more charity.”
“We don’t have any more expenses on the project past labor. Everything’s paid for.” Carson noted. “You gonna fire the guys?”