Business And Then Pleasure

I was stopped outside the gates of Eden, frowning when they didn’t immediately open for me like they normally did. I grumbled as I got out of my car. I was getting more annoyed as the day went on. I walked over to the hidden call button that would connect me directly to Brennan. I pressed the button repeatedly a dozen times, relieving the slightest bit of my aggravation.

“Hello?”

“Doc?”

“Caleb?”

“Hey, I was looking for R.H.M. Where is he?” I asked.

“Out of Eden for a bit. I’ll let you in so you can wait for him. Give me a few minutes,” she told me before she stopped responding.

I frowned at the gate before going back to get in my car. I was beyond annoyed, and was already ready to go home. When the gates finally opened, I drove through slowly, sighing when Doc and Rose waited for me just inside the last one. I wasn’t exactly sure what I expected, maybe Brennan waiting for me anxiously. After all the worry he was putting all of our family through, it was the least that he could do. I sighed as I put my car in park before getting out to walk over to them.

“Where is he, Jayda?” I repeated my questions as I walked up to them.

“He went to a support meeting,” Rose piped up, making Jayda’s head whip around so she could glare at her niece.

“Rose! You shouldn’t be telling R. H. M.’s business like that. It is his alone to tell,” she lectured the younger woman.

Before I could respond, Taco stepped out of the shadows of Brennan’s office building. When I was around, he always hovered threateningly, almost like he was daring me to let my eyes wander down even a tiny bit of her nude body, which they never did. I may be a manwhore, but I had respect for relationships. I raised an eyebrow at him over Rose’s shoulder. I understood his worry. Rose and I had shared a drunk, albeit passionate, weekend together after the hospital discharged me when I was admitted for a bad case of pneumonia. He had nothing to be worried about. I wasn’t interested in her anymore, and she definitely wasn’t interested in me. She was completely in love with Taco. It had been a great loss when he left the biker gang, but he was great with Rose. We had all been happy when he found his wife in her.

“Anyway,” I said a little louder, cutting off their bickering, “when is he coming back?”

“He should be back any minute now,” Doc told me.

“So, while I wait, do you want to tell me how he’s really doing?” I inquired.

“He’s doing okay. He misses Phoenix,” Rose told me. “He is working so hard to heal. He goes to a different support meeting every night. He has been grouchy and angry but calm. He’s actually addressing his feelings now. He told me that he loved me the other day.”

“He did what?” I asked in shock.

“Before he left to go home from dinner at my house, he hugged me and said, ‘You are a good girl, Rose. Thank you for everything. I love you.’ I was completely shocked.”

“I am too, and I wasn’t even there,” I replied to her.

We were silent for a moment, all of us thinking about our own private things before Rose leaned toward me. “Have you seen Phoenix? I sent her to Apple Grove.”

“Yes. She is at Joey and Maddie’s house. So is Armadillo.”

“Are they happy?” A soft voice questioned from behind me, causing me to pivot on my heels.

“Brennan! You startled me,” I exclaimed as I gripped my chest.

“Are they happy together?” He repeated.

I tilted my head, debating how best to answer him. He looked rough, like he was not sleeping well. I could tell just by looking at him that he was severely depressed. I gave him a small smile.

“He hasn’t made a move on her. If I recall correctly, he told her that you were sorry and that you were trying.” I shrugged. “But as for making a move on her, it hasn’t happened.”

He glanced at Rose and Doc. “I’ll handle this from here. You may go and enjoy the rest of your night. Goodnight, ladies.”

“Ummm, goodnight, R. H. M.”

He tilted his head toward the office building. “Shall we?”

“After you.”

I followed him inside and up to his office. “I know you’re lying, Caleb. He left just so that he could make a move on her. I don’t believe that he hasn’t. So, I ask you again, are they happy together?”

I sighed as I sat down. “I’m telling you the truth, Brennan. He has been nothing but respectful to her. He really cares about her. He is trying to help her keep it together while she’s trying to hold on to hope that you will come for her.”

His eyes widened as he sat forward in his chair. “She’s waiting for me?”

I nodded. “Yes. She loves you, Brennan. She hasn’t stopped trying to heal so that when you come for her, she will be able to love you the right way. She just wants you to love her back, to want her.”

Brennan jumped to his feet to pace, obviously agitated. “If wanting her was all this was about, she would have never left. I showed her every fucking day just how much I wanted her. I couldn’t keep my hands off her. She was the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen. I love her so much it hurts. I wish I had been able to tell her. She wouldn’t have left. She would still be here.” His steps faltered, and he stopped, putting his hands in his pockets as he lowered his head while he took a deep breath. “And I would still be the same man I was, unable to tell her what she so desperately wanted to hear from me.”

“Then what is it about, Brennan?” I asked softly.

“It’s about deserving her. It’s about becoming the man that busts his ass to be the man that she needs. Not the man she wants, the man that she needs. If she hadn’t left, I am not sure that I would have ever gotten better. I would have stayed the same angry man who was incapable of telling her that he loved her. I don’t want to be that man, Caleb. Not anymore.” He raised his head to meet my eyes.

“I’m tired. I’m tired of being angry. I’m tired of being afraid of love. I want to be strong enough to have everything. I want to be able to have hope and thrive in a happy relationship. I want to be able to give that to her. She deserves everything good in life. She deserves better than the man that I was when she was here. She deserves the kind of man that loves her without doubt. And I really want to be that man, brother. I want to be the one who holds her when she cries. I want to be the one that makes love to her and gives her everything that she wants.” He dropped his head again. “I want to marry her and raise a family with her. I want to love her forever.”

I tilted my head as I studied his face. I hadn’t heard him speak so passionately since the girls had been born. It was refreshing to see that for as depressed as he was, his passion for life had been renewed. I nodded.

“I understand, Brennan. And please believe me when I say that whatever you need, you have all of our support. All you have to do is ask.”

“Thank you, Caleb. So tell me, is she doing okay? Does she need anything? Does she talk about me?” He rattled off questions so fast that I was sure that I missed a few.

I leaned back in my seat with my hands splayed over my stomach. “She’s okay. She has really taken a shine to Maddie and Ramira.”

He groaned. “So, what you’re telling me is that she knows how to punch people in the throat now?”

“Yep. And she’s not just going to let you get away with stuff anymore, so it’s best that you heal a little.”

“I’m trying, Caleb. Really hard. I go to meetings for parents who have lost their children. Another group that I attend is for partners of addicts. Then there’s the other one I go to, which is for widows and widowers. I am trying to do everything that I can to mend myself. I really meant it when I said that I wanted to be the man she needed. But before I can be that man for her, I need to be that man for myself. That is the only way I can be him for her.”

I could not help the smile that lit up my face. Having Leah walk away from him might just be the best thing that could have happened to him. Having helped a dozen people in their healing process, it was nice to see that my brother had finally hit rock bottom and was really ready to heal.

“I am proud of you, Brennan.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, I guess I should get out of your hair and let you rest,” I told him as I got to my feet.

He nodded. “I’ll walk with you.”

We took the elevator down before walking down the street. When he veered off toward a house I knew in my soul was Leah’s, I turned left, heading down a different street. Before I could even knock on the door of the house I went to, it was yanked open, revealing Doc standing there in nothing but an almost completely sheer robe.

“I hoped you would come to see me before you left,” she murmured seductively.

I stepped into her house, immediately taking her into my arms. “How could I not, Jayda? You are amazing.”

She giggled as she jumped up to wrap her legs around my waist as I carried her down the hallway to her bedroom. “You say that to all of your women!”

I smirked down at her as I deposited her on the bed before starting to remove my clothes. “Yeah, but sometimes I mean it…”