Page 11 of Don't Leave Me Behind
He picks the furthest chair from us. Turning his back to us, he shoves off the ground, rolling his way across the room to us in big, dramatic rows.
“Fucking child.” Ethan whacks Mercer upside the head. “Kate’s in town.” He crosses his arms, his signature resting bitch face coming out to play.
“Okay,” I drag out the word, a little confused. This was not the direction I saw this conversation going. Kate is Brooks’ ex-fiancée. They were high school sweethearts until Kate discovered she liked alcohol and drugs more than life with Brooks. Brooks nearly tore himself apart trying to fix her. He hasn’t smiled since.
“Are we worried about it?” Mercer pulls a beef stick out of his pocket, like that’s a totally normal thing to be carrying around on your person. Ethan rolls his eyes at me, and I smirk.Fuck, I missed this, missed them.
“Yeah, we’re worried. Last time she came to town, she fucked around and left with ten K from our brother.” Ethan’s voice rises with a passion I envy. I’m surprised when he doesn’t start pacing like he does in the courtroom. “I don’t see how Kate being in town can do anythingbutworry us.”
“Well, you’re a worrier, so you’re always worried.” Mercer kicks his feet up on the desk near where Ethan is leaning, dirty cowboy boots a little too close to his expensive suit. Ethan grumbles, scowl burning holes into Mercer’s badge. Bringing a knee up, he shoves Mercer’s legs back down to the ground, boots thudding againstthe floor.
“So what? We need a preemptive intervention?” Mercer asks around a mouthful of beef stick. The man is constantly eating.
“Brooks is a big boy. If he wants to get tangled back up with a toxic mess, who am I to stop him?” I sip my coffee.
“You two are hopeless. You could at least pretend to care that Satan incarnate is going to try to get her hooks into our brother again.”
“Yeah, yeah, I care. But it’s been, what? Eight years since she’s been around? Brooky knows she’s bad news. He’ll steer clear. What I really think we need is a plan of action for…Leni.”
I nearly spew coffee out of my mouth when Mercer says this. “Wha—what? Why do you say that?”
Ethan quirks an eyebrow at me as I clean the coffee that did manage to slip onto my uniform shirt. Thank God, my uniform color matches the coffee. Patsy will kick my ass if she has to order me anymore.
Mercer throws his head back and groans, “Because of you, dickhead.”
“Me?” I splutter. Jesus, how do they already know she’s here? Or that I’m hiding her? Do they know I kissed her? That I slept in the bed with her?
“Yes, you! I told her you moved back, and now she’s not coming home all summer. She’s a teacher, summer is our only chance to see her, and you’re fucking it all up.”
He’s being dramatic, I know this. I know he doesn’t mean it, and yet, I can’t help but feel a little pang of hurt at his words. That’s me, though. Clayton Traeger, the boy from the wrong side of Hillcreek who is bound to fuck up everything he touches.Damnit.
“Leni is an adult.” Ethan narrows his eyes at Mercer. “Shemakes her own choices. It’s not anyone’s fault if she doesn’t come home.”
“It kind of is.” Mercer glares back. “If Traeger would just get his head out of his ass and tell her he loves her, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Leni would be living on the ranch, popping out cute little Traeger babies.”
I inhale coffee straight down my windpipe, full-blown, choking on it as the mental image starts to take place in my mind. Mercer stands up to slap my back while I hack my lungs up, trying to clear the coffee out of my airway. I’m gasping for air by the time I sit back in my seat. Try as I might, I can’t get the image of a pregnant Leni standing barefoot in that tiny cabin kitchen out of my mind. It does something funny to my chest, and I shake my head to clear the thoughts away.
“Jesus, Merc, are you trying to kill him?”
Ethan rolls his shoulders, trying to keep from shaking as he stifles a chuckle. Bastards, all of them, I swear. It’s obviously not a big secret that I had feelings for her, but most of them think Mercer is razzing me. I don’t think they know how on the nose he actually is most of the time.
Mercer shrugs. “I’m serious, though. I cannot go a whole year without seeing our Leni girl. Remember her freshman year?” He turns to Ethan, knowing that I don’t remember because I wasn’t here for it. Ethan screws up his face, a snarl forming as his hands come up to crack his knuckles. There’s definitely a story there. One I’m not sure I want to know.
“Fix it.” Ethan jabs a finger at me, then turns on his heel and marches off.
“I hate you,” I mumble to Mercer.
“No, you don’t. You love me, and you love my sister. So, whoever you’re secretly banging, you can send them packing and figure out a way to get Leni home this summer.”
I flip him the bird before pretendingto ignore him in favor of writing my supplemental report for the state police. But really, I’m thinking about the woman with soft brown curls and bright green eyes currently sitting in a cabin on the ranch. Just a few miles away from the main house.
Fuck.
Chapter 5
How Many is a Few
Leni
