Jackson took a swig of his beer. “I never thought I’d be a married man either, much less a father.”
“Much less be married to me.” Reagan snuggled deeper against Jackson’s side.
“None of us saw that one coming.” Easton chuckled, and the others joined in.
Jackson and Reagan’s love story didn’t begin as mundanely as Luke and Melody’s. The boys didn’t know about Reagan’s existence or her relation to English until their mentor needed her. So much about their family was revealed during that dark time.
The boys — as the whole town referred to Easton and his brothers — never knew English was once married and had a daughter, who had been estranged, until Becky told them. Someone from English’s past found him and beat him into a coma, meaning the boys had to locate Reagan because, as his biological family and medical proxy, she was the only one who could make decisions about his care.
Reagan and Jackson clashed the first time they met, but because the threat against English also extended to Reagan and her mother, they were forced to work together until the threat was eliminated. The two fell in love in the process. Some might find it weird for English’s daughter and his ward to now be married, but it made sense for their small family.
“Ease up on E and Ben,” English spoke up. “There’s nothing wrong with bachelorhood. Not as many headaches that way.”
All eyes shifted to the family patriarch. Since his divorce from Reagan’s mother, English had remained a bachelor, pretending to be content with his solitary lifestyle. The family knew better though, and Reagan, in her characteristic straightforward manner, was the one to call him out.
“Puh-leeze! We all know you’d give up bachelorhood in a second if you thought things would work out with Becky.”
“You’re talking nonsense.” English’s face reddened with embarrassment.
Easton grinned. “As much as I appreciate you having my back, Reagan’s right. We all wonder when you’ll get your head out of your ass and make an honest woman of Becky. Hell, she’s probably wondered the same thing. It’s as plain as the nose on your face how the two of you feel about each other.”
“No offense, English. You know I love you, but I agree with everyone else.” Melody shot him a sheepish look. “We think you and Becky would be great together. I don’t understand why you two don’t go for it.”
English scowled and fell silent. Easton admired his restraint. Instead of fighting a losing argument, he chose to retreat and let the conversation drift to other things. And the group would move to other topics, but the one of English and Becky would come up again.
They all knew the story of how their mentor met the woman. Becky was with a guy who used and abused her. He beat her and kept her on drugs to keep her pliant. She stayed too high to do anything but what he wanted, including pimping her body out to his buddies. Her ex took her to the Fire Bar one night, and the boyfriend hit her in front of English. He tossed the guy andhis friends out of the bar and offered Becky help in escaping her boyfriend and getting her life back on track. He drove her to rehab that night.
Once Becky got clean, English gave her a job at the bar and found her a place to live. She never laid eyes on the abusive boyfriend again. When the boys came to stay with English, Becky helped him learn how to be a mentor and a father figure to teenagers who came from unstable and abusive homes.
Easton pushed away from the table, deciding he’d had enough family time for now. “Time to get back behind the bar. You guys need refills or something else from the grill?”
Melody tilted her head, her eyes pleading. “Don’t go back yet. We never get to all hang out anymore. We’re always busy with work, or you guys are off on a case.”
With the noise of the bar and the location of their table at the back, Melody didn’t have to worry about being overheard. Few people knew of the boys’ work outside of their business enterprises. They preferred to keep that part of their lives off the radar, taking their cue from English. After he settled in Fire Creek, their mentor used his training as a CIA operative to help people in trouble who had exhausted all avenues for assistance.
The boys used the training they received from their time in the Army to continue the work English started. They took his handle from his CIA days to call themselves the next generation of Legends.
As word-of-mouth spread about their work, the boys stayed busy with cases, sometimes working on them together, most of the time taking care of them alone. Though the work wasimportant to them, they did miss evenings spent hanging out together and having a good time.
“Sorry, Mel. Duty calls.”
He hoped his easy smile would earn him some understanding. He loved spending time with his family, but he also loved his job. He didn’t want to leave the responsibility of running the bar on a busy night to his staff when he was there and able to work.
“Oh, no.” Reagan waved her finger at him. “You’re not fooling anybody. You’re going to flirt with those women some more. I’m telling you, Easton, you’re playing with fire. Promise you’re going to let the waitstaff handle that table. Promise you’re not going to go home with one of them.”
“Not even the single one? Because I think she’s a sure thing. A man has needs, you know.”
His teasing caused Reagan’s eyes to narrow threateningly, and his grin only widened.
“Don’t worry about me, sis. I know how to have a good time without leaving the ladies with the wrong impression. They know upfront that it’s only a temporary arrangement, and we all walk away satisfied. I’ve never had a stalker, and I don’t intend to get one any time soon. It’s all good. I promise.”
Easton walked away before Reagan or Melody could take up their arguments again. He loved them for their concern, and he wasn’t mad that they wanted to interfere. Other men might be annoyed to have women try to dictate how they live their lives, but he didn’t mind.
He liked having people in his life who cared. Bouncing around from foster home to foster home, he’d never had thatgrowing up. The closest he’d come was with the social worker who affectionately referred to him as “rabbit” because he ran away from every foster home he wound up in.
When he first came to stay with English, he expected to eventually run away from him too. But he didn’t. Somewhere along the way, he decided to stay with the gristly man and the stubborn boys who lived above the only bar in a podunk Southern town.
And he’d never regretted it a single day.
