Page 56 of Taming I Do
“I had someone drop me off.”
“Great. So not only did you come back after you swore to stay away, but now your asshole friends have been here, too?” I thrust my hands through my hair. I had to get Colin out of there, and fast. Before Dad or one of my brothers came by. “Let’s go inside. I’ll put on a pot of coffee, and we’ll figure out a way to get you out of here before someone sees you.”
“I don’t want to stay away anymore. I’m ready to come home.” Colin didn’t move but stayed as still as one of the beams holding up the porch.
The fact my brother had the balls to stand there after everything he’d put the family through made me see nothing but red. “Get your ass in the house or I’ll call the sheriff’s department. I’ve got enough info on you to put you away for a good long time. Is that the way you want this to go down?”
“No. I need to figure out what to do.”
“Don’t say another word until you’re sitting at my kitchen table.” I cast a glance around, not trusting my brother that he didn’t have someone watching us from the woods. How had the best night of my life suddenly turned into the worst?
Colin shuffled his feet, eventually following me through the front door. “Can you leave the dog outside?”
Buster had followed us in, continuing to growl.
“I’ve never seen him act like this.” I glanced back at my brother, then motioned for Buster to go out front. I grabbed aclean rag and tossed it at my brother, then threw a pot of coffee on to brew. By the time we finally sat down at the table, two fresh-brewed mugs of coffee between us, I gritted my teeth and gave my older brother a long, hard glare.
“Show me what you did to your arm and tell me what the hell you’re doing back.” I’d pulled the small sewing kit my mom had given me from a drawer. It had been a good long while since I or Colin had stitched each other up, not that either one of us had ever been very good at it.
Colin lowered his arm, revealing a deep gash on the underside of his forearm. “I didn’t mean for things to go this way.”
“How did you manage to cut yourself?” The edges of the wound were jagged, not like he’d sliced it clean with a knife.
“Doesn’t matter. Can you put a couple of stitches in?”
“I can try but it’s going to hurt like a bitch.”
“Good. I deserve it.” Colin dabbed at the cut and tipped his chin toward the cabinet where I kept my whiskey. “Got a shot I can use to dull the pain a bit?”
I grabbed a bottle along with a short tumbler.
Colin’s hand shook as he downed the shot. He nodded and I cleaned out the wound, less concerned about being gentle than I was about making sure I wiped away all of the blood.
“Shit.” Colin made a fist with his other hand and bit down on his lip.
“Change your mind about going to the hospital?” I asked.
“No. Keep going. I need help.”
I shook my head. “Tried that once. As you’ll recall, it didn’t go so well.”
“It’s the dog-fighting ring. At first all they wanted me to do was move some money for them. But it’s gotten out of hand. Folks come in from all over. Big names, Jasper. I’m trying to get out, but I’m in too deep.”
“Don’t tell me you were stupid enough to go back to them after the last time I bailed you out of trouble.”
“I tried to get a job somewhere else. Nobody wanted to hire a guy with a record. What was I supposed to do?”
“Uh, stay clean, keep your nose out of trouble—you could have started with that.” I squinted as I threaded the needle I’d soaked in whiskey. Why now? Why did Colin have to show up when we had so many things riding on getting Ido named the most romantic small town in Texas?
“I tried.” He reached for his mug and took a gulp of coffee.
“What the hell do you want me to do?” I knotted the thread. “Dad’s struggling to hang on to the orchard. The whole town’s trying to schmooze a beauty queen who’s here to judge the Most Romantic Small Town in Texas contest. I’ve kind of got my hands full already without taking on your bullshit as well.”
“I’m sorry. I should have been here for you.” Colin scrubbed a hand over his face.
I took in a breath through my nose. “Here comes the sting.”
I pierced Colin’s skin with the needle, taking my time to try to make the stitches as even as I could. As much as I wanted to help my brother, I’d been there done that so many times I could have written a sad country song about it. Colin never wanted to change his ways, he just wanted help getting himself out of whatever hot water he found himself in. As soon as the problem was solved, he’d make all kinds of promises he never intended to keep, then go back to his old ways.
