“She’s more stubborn than you,” Griffin said, moving into the room with the movers.

  Jennie should have figured her brother would walk in and hear that. “I’m not sure anyone is,” she said.

  “Don’t be so sure,” Griffin said. “You’re right there with me.”

  She winked at Penelope. “I appreciate everything you’ve done. Both of you.”

  “This is all your brother,” Penelope said, her hands open around the kitchen, gesturing to the house that would now be hers. They moved out of the way for Griffin who returned with some boxes in his hands full of kitchen things.

  “Yeah, I know. Why are you moving things and I can’t?” she asked her brother. “You said you paid them to do it. Doesn’t seem fair if you ask me.”

  “I didn’t just recover from an injury like you. So, nope. Entertain my fiancée. She needs it or she gets in trouble.”

  “I don’t think Penelope ever gets in trouble,” Jennie said.

  “I’ve gotten into plenty of trouble,” Penelope said. “But your brother is normally there playing the hero too.”

  The two of them started to open boxes and pull things out. “Don’t overdo it,” Griffin said to her.

  “Put a lid on it, Griffin,” Penelope said. “Your sister is allowed to put her own possessions away.”

  “That’s right,” she said. “Don’t even think about going through my dressers and touching my clothes.”

  “I wouldn’t think of it,” he said. “I don’t even touch Penelope’s clothes. She’s possessive that way.”

  “Don’t listen to him. He’s one to talk with his wardrobe. I’m sure it cost a lot more than mine,” Penelope said.

  She’d never thought her brother would be someone to dress up, but he had more suits than she’d ever seen before. He actually looked wealthy when he was working. Though today he looked like the older brother she remembered in worn jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers.

  “That’s your cousin for you,” Griffin said to Penelope. “Not like I want it or buy it.”

  Interesting. “You let someone else buy your clothes?”

  Griffin stopped. “I see where you are going with this and I’ll tell you I gave in just like you are too with me. I’ve been on both sides. Eli has an image he wants. I get it. I can buy my own clothes, but he didn’t want that. He wants what he wants and now shit just shows up a few times a year without me knowing when.”

  She started to laugh. “So it’s not like you’ve got a clothing allowance. He actually shops for you?”

  Penelope was grinning. “It’s funny, isn’t it? No one gets between Eli and Griffin. I’ve learned that.”

  “I can tell Eli no and have plenty enough times. The same with Penelope. They always listen but don’t follow directions.”

  “That’s right,” she said. “Put me in that category too.”

  This was making her feel much better. “As I’m learning.”

  Her brother left the room and she and Penelope got back to setting the kitchen up. It didn’t take much work, as she didn’t have a ton. She didn’t need it living alone.

  All her clothes that were on hangers in the closet at her apartment were now being brought in by Griffin. “Just set them on the bed. I’ll hang them up the way I want.”

  Two hours later, the house was in order. Her TV and internet were set up, which Griffin did the minute the movers left. The food she had was all put away and she offered to order pizza to feed them for lunch.

  “I’ve got to get to work,” Griffin said. “Thanks though. Let me know if you need anything or if you have any questions about the house. I’m your landlord. If something is leaking or making a noise, I want to know.”

  “You’ve walked me through everything three times,” she said. “If you do it a fourth you might go to work with an eye twitch from me screaming louder than Zandra when she wants her bottle.”

  “Alexa just wants to be heard,” he said, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. “Kind of like you. I remember you used to do that when you were younger too.”

  “Really?” she asked softly. It’s not like they talked much about their childhood. Nor would she know anything about when she was a baby. When she was older, she made sure she wasn’t heard so that she didn’t get her father’s attention.

  “Yes,” he said. “You were a loud baby.”

  “I’m surprised Dad didn’t throw a fit over it,” she said and wished she didn’t.

  “Mom or I got you fast enough to quiet you down,” he said.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  “You shouldn’t keep it in either,” Penelope said softly. “Right, Griffin?”

  “Penelope is pushy and wants me to talk about my feelings. She doesn’t always get her way though,” Griffin said gruffly.

  “I think it’s more she is trying to get me to talk about mine too, but it’s not going to work.” There were things that just didn’t need to be said or lived through again.

  “There, Penelope,” Griffin said. “Now you’re getting ganged up on. But if you’re ready, we should go get our daughter.”

  “I’m all set,” Penelope said. “We’ll see you Monday night so that Griffin and I can have our Valentine’s Day date. That’s a special holiday for your brother and me.”

  Jennie was looking forward to babysitting her niece and loved that it was only five minutes away and not over a half hour now. The blush on her brother’s face told her not to ask why it was special and she reminded herself not to be jealous he had the life she always dreamed of having herself one day.

  Maybe there was hope for her yet to find someone, but she wasn’t holding her breath.

  6

  Last Word In

  The following Friday, Alex was standing at the bar in the casino. He was alone and sick of sitting in his house that way.

  He wasn’t out to find a chick as much as he wanted to be around other people.

  He figured he might try his hand at cards and maybe run into a few guys he knew. He’d never been one that cared if he went out alone. He knew enough people on this island and had no problem talking with strangers.

  Between his name, his family, his job, and working for Carter on the side, he crossed paths with a lot of people. Hell, everyone knew the three Bond brothers whose father had been the chief of police back in the day.

  “Looking to pick someone up?”

  He turned to see Eli standing there in his suit minus a tie, lifting his hand to the bartender. He was guessing a club soda was placed in front of the owner of Bond Casino just now.

  “No. I’m bored and needed to get out of the house.”

  “Never any boredom here,” Eli said. “I’m surprised you’re alone though. You couldn’t wrangle your brother here?”

  “I texted Jarrett earlier and didn’t hear back. He could be working for all I know. Mac wouldn’t come out. He’s home with his wife snuggled on the couch I’m sure.”

  His brother Mac had been married now for a year and a half to Sidney. He sure did love his sister-in-law and enjoyed even more busting on his brother that he’d seen Sidney first. Of course she’d turned his offer down flat a few times and laughed it off when she did.

  Sidney was good for his stuffy brother.

  “There is nothing wrong with going home to your wife. You know, the same woman each night,” Eli said, winking. “You might want to try that sometime.”

  “It’s more fun to change it up,” he said, grinning. His family was used to hearing him say that even though he didn’t really believe it.

  “No one would expect anything different from you,” Griffin said from his other side. Those two were rarely away from each other it seemed.

  Alex knew he would run into Griffin here. He expected it and that was why he decided to come.

  He’d been thinking about Jennie and wanted to know how she was doing. The last thing he would have said was that though. Not when he’d like to change that image and had only been joking with his cousin.

  “I’m sure some could have said that about you before you knocked my cousin up,” he said, grinning. Most didn’t bust on Griffin. The guy was intimidating as all hell and only cracked a grin around Eli half the time.

  But since Alex spent enough time with Ethan and Egan, he knew there was another side to Griffin. They’d taken him in like a brother. Griffin was also aware Alex spent time with Ethan and Egan too and probably what they did half the time.

  They weren’t always out getting chicks. Sometimes they were catching a Red Sox or Celtics game in the city, but more often it was for female companionship.

  “Burn,” Eli said to Griffin.

  Griffin’s lips twitched just slightly as if he wanted to smile. “I put a ring on it,” Griffin said.

  “And you’ve never been happier,” Eli said.

  Griffin smirked at Eli. “Shit. Are you going to turn into a therapist here on the floor again? Ever since you met Bella she’s turned you into more of a woman than you were.”

  Alex almost spit the beer out of his mouth that he’d just sipped. Okay, this was what Egan and Ethan had told him about in terms of Griffin.

  “Dude,” Eli said. “We both can’t be alpha males in this relationship. Then we’d just be fighting for that last steak each night.”

  “And we know who would end up with it,” Griffin said.

  “I’d serve it to you with a little French maid costume on if it made you smile,” Eli said, laughing and walking away.

  “Asshole,” Griffin said. “He loves getting the last word in.”

  “Something tells me you will before the night is over with.”

  “Always,” Griffin said. “I let him win a few rounds to make his ego puff back up.”

  Alex figured it was a game the two of them played and made Griffin not seem so unapproachable.

  Well, in that aspect. The fact the dude was bigger than him and wearing a suit that probably cost more than his mortgage payment each month was only one other thing of many to make him intimidating.

  But he’d never backed down or away from much in his life. As he’d said before, he wasn’t jealous of his cousins and wouldn’t be of Griffin either.

  “How is Jennie doing?” he asked. He figured it was safe enough to inquire.

  “Good,” Griffin said. “Stubborn as ever, but her shoulder is healed. I didn’t get a chance to thank you before for taking care of her.”

  “Just doing my job,” he said.

  “I get it. But she said you knew who she was. Or you recognized her.”

  “Not until we were outside and I got a good look at her.”

  Which was the truth. He was in rescue mode when he saw her go into the house. When he came back out after he realized he was taking smoke in and had his helmet off and went to see her with her head between her knees, he realized who it was when she looked up.

  “She took a few years off my life, let me tell you, when I got that call.”

  “I’m sure,” he said. He knew that feeling well and felt the same way.

  He wondered if that was why he stayed away from commitments too. That his job was risky and he didn’t want a woman to feel what Griffin was saying.

  No. Those were just excuses and he knew it. One of many.

  The truth was, after Lizzie, he was more pissed off at women in general and didn’t trust them more than anything else.

  It’d been years now and he should just move on, but he couldn’t. She was still on the island time and again. He’d hear her name; it was hard not to since her parents had a vacation home here.

  It wasn’t until he was living in Plymouth that he ran into her and they started to hang out. Go to clubs, meet up, have some fun.

  He was looking for more than she was, he later found out...the hard way.

  “Anyway,” Griffin said. “Thanks again. Doing your job or not, I appreciate it. She’s pretty much all healed up. Or at least she is telling me that enough that I stopped asking.”

  He watched Griffin walk away and was going to move to another table for a few bets. He got what he came for, but he wasn’t ready to leave either.

  When his phone went off in his pocket, he pulled it out to see his brother was at the casino asking where he was.

  He replied back he was at the bar and waited after he ordered another beer to have ready for him.

  “I didn’t think you were around,” he said when Jarrett walked up to him.

  He handed his brother the beer. “I was on a call. Besides, you didn’t ask. You just said you’d be here tonight if I was out and about.”

  “True,” he said. “Crazy day at work?”

  “Nah,” Jarrett said.

  “More like something you can’t talk about?” he asked.

  Jarrett nodded. “You know that. Nothing to be worried about. There is crime everywhere. Even on little old Amore Island. How much have you lost tonight?”

  “I’m even so far,” he said. “Feeling kind of lucky too. What about you?”

  “Blackjack works for me,” Jarrett said. “Not sure if I’m feeling lucky or not, but I’ve got a few hundred to throw away which is normally what happens when I come here.”

  “The same,” he said. He could put that money into his house, but he worked more than he played and he wanted the night out more than anything.

  They made their way to a table. Late February and even though it was a Friday night it wasn’t that busy and they were able to both take a seat and be dealt in.

  “How are you feeling?” Jarrett asked him.

  “What?” he asked. “Fine. Why do you ask that?”

  “The fire,” Jarrett said. “You had some smoke inhalation. How are you feeling?”

  “It was over a month ago,” he said.

  “Shit. I’ve lost track of time. Have you been getting texts from Mom lately?”

  He sighed. “Yeah. You too?”

  “Yep. Mac said he was too. I figured with Sidney in the picture and talking to Mom more we’d have a reprieve, but it’s not working that way. She complained she hasn’t seen me since Christmas.”

  “The same,” he said. “It’s not like our schedules always allow us to be there the same time. I’m going into work tomorrow.”

  “I’m on call this weekend. Starting tomorrow, which is why I don’t mind having a drink tonight,” Jarrett said.

  “I’m not sure why Mom thinks we are always waiting around for her to make us a pot roast.”

  Jarrett grinned as he looked at his cards and then folded them. “I’m over the comments on when it’s my turn to settle down. Being the baby and all, I push her to you, then she laughs at me. Seriously, dude. You’re making my life harder.”

  There they all went again with the stupid image he’d created. “That’s my goal in life,” he said.

  “Yeah, well, maybe you need to change that goal to find a woman instead and get her off of both our backs.”

  Alex looked at his cards. He tapped the table to be dealt another and grinned when he saw it and watched the rest of the table, then flipped his cards. “Two pair,” he said, pulling the chips in. “Do you really think that would work?”

  “Probably not,” Jarrett said. “But since you’re feeling lucky, maybe you can let me know if anyone caught your eye here tonight.”

  “I wasn’t looking,” he said.

  Their cards were dealt for the next hand once they placed their bets. “You sure you’re feeling okay?” his brother asked him, laughing.

  “I feel great,” he said. Now he just had to believe that lie.

  7

  Friendly Disposition

  “Should you be painting with your arm?” Alex said.

  Jennie Zale turned in the hardware store to look at him. “Not you too. I don’t need another person telling me what to do.”

  “Still have that friendly disposition, I see,” he said with a smirk on his face as he reached for the brush that she was stretching up on tiptoes to get.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “Wow,” he said. “That’s surprising.”

  “What is?” she asked. “Thanking someone for doing something for me? I’d call that manners.”’

  “Me too, but the last time we talked there were no thanks for popping your shoulder back in place.”

  She stared at him. He was still grinning. “Didn’t you say it was your job or something?”

  “It is,” he said.

  “Yeah, well, you weren’t a bowl full of sunshine yourself that day.”

  He sighed. “No. I wasn’t. I should apologize. I don’t take a lot in life seriously, or so everyone says. But my job is one thing that I do. You put yourself at harm for no reason.”

  “Saving the life of a person is reason enough,” she said, lifting her chin.

  He put his finger on her head and pushed it down some to knock the wind out of her sails. She frowned at him and he laughed. “I’ll give you that one. A cat doesn’t fall in the same category as a human.” He held his hand up. “And before you get all animal lover on me, I’m not saying anything about that, but a human life shouldn’t be risked for a pet. It’s drilled into our heads and I believe it.”

  “So if you had a dog that was in a fire. Your best friend, let’s say. You wouldn’t go in to get him?”

  “Maybe it’s a her,” he said.

  She snorted at him and it reminded him of when Griffin did it too. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  “Meaning what?” he asked, frowning.

  “You look like the type of guy that has women all over him.”

  She was grinning this time and he wasn’t sure what to make of that. “You’re not,” he said.

  “I’m not like most women.”

  “As I’m learning. And I’ll apologize for snapping and swearing at you that day. But again...unnecessary risk.”

  “I get it,” she said. “I guess I should apologize too for giving you a hard time. I’m a little sick of men in my life telling me what I can and can’t do. I might have a little bit of a trigger when it comes to that.”