“Well, good thing you brought lamps and a TV,” Dawson said dryly as he turned to face him.
Brandon reached up and ran his hand down the back of his head, already feeling the tightness in his neck. “I know it doesn’t make sense to you,” he said. “But?—”
“Doesn’t have to,” Dawson said quickly. “It’s fine, Brandon, and you know how to get home.”
He met his brother’s eye, a smile softly curving his mouth. “Maybe just for a shower,” he said.
Dawson chuckled. “You can do that at Duke’s.” He pulled Brandon into a hug and added, “Seriously, brother. Come anytime. For whatever you need.”
“Where’s my mom?” April asked.
Both Dawson and Brandon turned to face her. “I don’t know,” Dawson said. “I haven’t seen her for a while.”
Brandon met April’s eye, and the younger woman looked down the hall. Brandon suddenly knew where she was, and he led the charge out of the bedroom.
“Duke,” he called, though he arrived in the living room only a couple of steps later. “Where’s Zona?”
“I don’t know,” Duke said, still sitting on the couch, now scrolling through his phone. “Hey, you’ve got service out here at least.”
“So you can call if you need paramedics,” Dawson muttered.
“Or maybe just if you want me to bring you a hamburger,” April added.
Brandon grinned at her. “Where do you think your mom is?”
“Iknowwhere she is,” April said, her gaze drifting to the front door.
Brandon looked that way too, where the door stood wide open. It didn’t matter, because the cabin didn’t have air conditioning or heat. He would have to build a fire in the potbelly stove in the corner to heat the place this winter, and in the summer?
Well, he wouldn’t be there then, thankfully. Because a place without air conditioning in the brutal Texas heat? No, thank you.
“My guess is she’s at Lenore’s,” Brandon said.
“I didn’t see that big picnic basket of food she packed,” April said.
Brandon’s heart started to thump in a weird way. “So she took that next door.”
“That would be my guess,” April said, frowning. “Now we’ll make the drive home, and then back again, to give you another round of food.”
“I’m fine,” Brandon said. “I know my way to the grocery store.”
“You’ve met my mom, right?” April asked.
Duke burst out laughing. He got to his feet and said, “Nice try, brother. Zona will never leave here if your fridge isn’t full of food.”
“Yeah, well, the fridge doesn’t work,” Brandon said.
“She’ll stock the shelves instead, then.” Duke rounded the couch and headed for the front door. “We better go make sure Zona’s behaving.”
“I second that,” Dawson said, and he followed Duke out of the house.
“You guys should let me talk to her,” April said, rushing after them.
Brandon stood in the cabin alone now, marveling that in only a couple of hours, they’d unpacked everything he owned and set it up where he was going to live for the next three months.
No, he didn’t have electricity or running water, but the cabin had good bones. It possessed a nice spirit, and if Brandon could stop his family from completely embarrassing him….
He might be off to a good start here at Lenore’s homestead.
