Keep It Simple (MMG Series Book 4) (9 page)

Five months later

“Thanks for coming
to get me.”

Amanda eyed my cart full of suitcases. “Is this all you have?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm and I couldn’t help but laugh. Four suitcases was only a small portion of what was due to arrive next week.

“Lyndsey and Grant are shipping the rest tomorrow,” I informed her.

“How did Lyndsey take you leaving?”

“She was sad. We all were. However, she got me two months longer than originally planned.”

Lyndsey, Grant and the kids came to get me at the airport when I arrived back in Scotland. Lyndsey immediately knew something was wrong. The moment we got to the house, she sent Grant and the kids off to play and made us both a cup of tea.

“Spill,” she commanded in her motherly way.

I told her how Cas and I met. I explained how he made me feel inside and out. I then told her how Max and Ellie wanted me to come home to live.

As much as it saddened her to let me go, Lyndsey felt it was the right thing to do.
“Your future has never been here with us, honey. It has always been with your brother. Just think, now you have a new sister-in-law and will soon have a baby niece or nephew to dote on. If I could, I would keep you here forever, but I can’t. Fate is a funny thing. You will have to go back in order to see what it has in store for you… and maybe Cas. You never know, you two might be destined to end up together. Or, you might not. If you don’t go, though, you will never know. Remember, whatever happens, it is meant to be.”

Amanda pulled me into a big hug. “I, for one, am thrilled you are finally here.”
Let’s hope Max feels the same way,
I thought. As if reading my mind, she said, “Your brother is going to shit when he sees you.”

A sigh escaped my lips. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

I wanted to come home right after Ellie and Piper were kidnapped, but Max said it wasn’t safe. He’d been putting me off ever since their kidnapper, Dooley Shane was dead and buried, Ellie and Piper were both physically healed and baby Mac was thriving. So why was my brother still dragging his heels? My semester ended over a month ago. Finally, last week I decided I wasn’t waiting any longer. I needed to see Max and Ellie and meet my baby nephew.
I needed to come home.
I called Max before the plane took off last night to tell him I was on my way, but he was grumpy and distracted, so I chickened out.

Once we loaded my bags in the car, Amanda turned to me and asked, “Where to?”

“Piper texted and said everyone was going to be over at Joss and Kurt’s house today. Do you mind taking me by Max and Ellie’s to unload the bags before dropping me by there?”

“Only if you promise to meet me at Patterson’s for drinks tomorrow night. Remember, I’m leaving next week to spend the rest of the summer with my grandparent’s in Canada,” she reminded me.

Over the past five months, Amanda had texted me a handful of times with news of Cas sightings. One of which so happened to be on Valentine’s Day. I was crawling into bed the morning after a full night of drinking with some friends, when my phone dinged with a text.

Amanda:
You still up?

Me:
Going to bed now.

Amanda:
I wanted to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day and to show you this:

Below her text was a picture of Cas. He and Bobby were sitting in their usual places at the bar. I blinked back the tears. No matter how hard I tried to forget him, I couldn’t.

Me:
He looks good.

Amanda:
Get your ass back here and you can see how good he looks in person!

Me:
I’m trying.

Amanda:
Got to run. Happy Cupid Day. TTYL.

Me:
Bye.

Amanda pulled up outside Max and Ellie’s house and helped me unload the bags.

Half an hour later, I was standing on Joss and Kurt’s front porch waving goodbye to her. My heart raced as I pressed the doorbell.
Please be happy I’m here.
The door swung open and there stood Kurt. A look of surprise flashed across his face before he pulled me in for a hug.

“Since when do you ring my doorbell, girl? Get your ass inside this house,” he scolded. With a slight push of his hand, I was through the front door and staring down at a room full of people. My eyes hit first on Max and Ellie. Max was focused elsewhere, but Ellie was staring straight at me.

“Sarah? What are you doing here?” she exclaimed. Handing the baby to Max, Ellie darted across the room and flung her arms around me.

I glanced over her shoulder to a very concerned looking Max. “If I’m interrupting, I can come back later. I was just hoping to see all of you and my new baby nephew.”
Please don’t be mad.

Max stood with Mac. Three strides later, he had his free arm wrapped around me and I was being pulled into his massive chest. “What are you doing here, baby sis?” he sternly asked.

I didn’t want to answer him, especially in front of all these people. I nervously glanced around the room. Piper was sitting in what had to be Gage’s lap with a big smile on her face. I hadn’t met Gage yet, but I had heard all about him. My eyes swept from them over to Garrett, who gave me a chin lift and a smile. The man standing next to him caught my attention.
Wait!
That looks like Cas’s friend Bobby. What is he doing here?
Sitting on a bar stool next to Bobby was Dillon. Suddenly the pieces began to fall into place.
Oh God. Please tell me I’m wrong.
My eyes darted past Joss and Kurt and landed on…
Cas
. The shocked expression on his face mirrored mine.

Oh shit!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Two women and a baby walked in and the room broke into chaos. I began to panic, as Max shuffled us off to one side.
No-no-no-no, please tell me Max knows nothing about Cas. Wait! Is that the reason Max didn’t want me coming home, because he’s mad at me? Bloody hell!

Max wrapped his arm around me again, and kissed the side of my head.
He doesn’t seem mad, but he also doesn’t seem himself, either. Shit, what do I do?

“Please don’t be mad,” I told him. I wanted to look over at Cas, but didn’t want Max to suspect anything on the off chance he didn’t already know. Mac gurgling in Max’s arms caught my attention. With a head full of dark hair and big blue eyes, my baby nephew was the spitting image of his daddy. “Max,” I whispered, “he looks just like you.”

“Don’t let Ellison hear you say that,” he mused. I reached over to tickle Mac’s belly, but before my fingers got to their destination, he grabbed them and pulled them to his mouth. My heart completely melted. “I just spoke with you last night. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I would have picked you up at the airport,” Max scolded. I opened my mouth to explain, but was interrupted by Piper shouting at everyone. I watched Ellie slip out the back door and didn’t miss the stricken look on Max’s face. “Here,” Max handed me Mac and bolted after Ellie. My eyes shot across the room to Cas and my stomach dropped at the less than pleased look on his face.

Cas and I managed to dodge each other most of the afternoon. This did not, however, stop him from glaring at me every chance he got. I was introduced to more people than I could remember. Dillon’s friend Isabella and her best friend, Sally were both lovely, and Isabella’s daughter, Amelia, was absolutely adorable. I spent half the day trying to steal her from one person or another. By the time I finally got my hands on her, she was in serious need of a diaper change. This was a perfect excuse to slip into the pool house to catch my breath…and get away from Cas.

I had barely started in on the diaper change when Cas caught up with me. “So, Max’s baby sister finally returns home.”

So much for trying to get away.

“Tell me, did you know?” His sexy-as-sin voice sucked up all the air in the room. Like a wilting flower in need of sunlight, I closed my eyes and soaked him in. Amelia began fretting and I tried focus on changing her diaper instead of the gorgeous man standing across the room glaring at me. He looked good. Actually, in his green t-shirt and striped board shorts, he looked great.

“Know what?” I quietly asked.

“I worked for your brother’s best friend? Your brother was a client? You were bringing a world of shit down on my head by fucking me?” His harsh words scored through me. He was angry. I got that, but the road ran both ways.

I lifted my eyes to his and was immediately sucked in by all that was Cas. His sun kissed skin brought out the blue in his eyes. For a second I let myself get lost in the memory of how it felt to be taken by him. Then the reality of the situation crept back in and I was faced with what an arsehole he was being. “As I recall, you didn’t offer up any more personal information than I did, Cas.”

“Bullshit!” he hissed. The door swung open behind him and in walked Dillon.

Of course, Amelia picked that second to let out a shriek of protest. “She doesn’t like getting her diaper changed,” I half-heartedly explained.

Dillon shot Cas a look and smiled when Amelia gurgled at him. “I’ll get her. You two go have fun,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. I’ve got her.”

I turned to tell Cas to wait, but he was already gone. He thought I set him up.
How could he think that of me?
Before I could find him and explain, I was being herded out to the pool to swim and chat with the ladies. After that we were called in for dinner. Directly after dinner, Piper was in my face telling me we had to go and the next thing I knew, we were loaded in the car and pulling out of the driveway.

“Ummm, what just happened?” I asked.

Gage was the one to respond. “Did Max and Ellie know you were coming?”

“No,” Piper and I both answered. “Did you not see the look of shock on their faces when she walked in?” Piper asked.

Gage shot Piper a look and she responded by sticking her tongue out at him. It was great seeing Piper happy and all, but it still didn’t answer my question, so I repeated it.

“What just happened?”

“Let’s just say Max hasn’t been dealing well since the impromptu birth of his son,” Piper answered.

What the hell did that mean?
I thought about the hurt look on Max’s face earlier today. “Did Ellie hurt him, because if she did…”

Gage cut me off, “Calm down, sweetheart. Ellie hasn’t done anything to Max. I don’t know if Max told you what happened the day Mac was born, but let’s just say it was some seriously bad shit. Your brother and I have both had trouble dealing ever since.”

“Max and Ellie having it out today is actually a good thing,” Piper interjected. She shot Gage a worried look, before adding, “At least, we hope.”

Max called and told me about what happened the day Piper and Reyn were shot and Mac was born. Apparently he left the majority of the story out. I said as much to Gage and Piper. Piper said it would make the perfect bedtime story. Somehow I doubted that, so I changed the subject.

“So Dillon and Isabella are together?” I asked.

Piper launched into the story of the night Isabella showed at Dragonfly looking for Dillon. Mac gurgled in his infant seat and I reached over and tickled his big toe.

“Isabella wants me to babysit Amelia. Do you think Max and Ellie would mind? I spent a lot of time taking care of Grant and Lyndsey’s son and could really use the money,” I told them.

“Since Ellie has Deloris helping her with Mac, I’m sure she’d be fine with it,” Piper responded.

Trying to play it cool, I brought up Cas. “Soooo, I saw Garrett hired some new guys. How are they working out?”

Piper craned her head around the front seat to look at me. “Oooh, are you interested in Garrett? You guys would make a cute couple.”

I gave myself a mental slap on the forehead for subtlety. “What? No! Garrett is like a brother to me, I just wanted to know how his business is doing and how the new guys are working out,” I explained.

“Oh. Well, let’s see, Bobby, the beefy one, is a big teddy bear. You know, he basically saved our lives the day we were kidnapped. The hot one, Cas, is a giant ass.” For some reason her words bothered me. From the scowl on Gage’s face, they bothered him as well.

“You think Cas is hot?” Gage asked her.

She patted him on the arm. “Relax, Cowboy. He’s too big of a dick to catch a woman, much less steal me away from you.”

Trying not to show any expression, I said, “What makes him an arse?”

Piper giggled. “I love the way you say ass.” Then she launched into this long drawn out story about how Cas was ordered to watch out for she and Reyn and how they both terrorized him because he never talked to them. She said he constantly busted her doing all sorts of things she shouldn’t have been doing.

When Piper was done with her explanation, Gage laughed. “Princess, Cas was just doing his job. And honestly, you were crawling down the hall on all fours with your…”

“That’s enough, Gage Blackwell. Sarah does not want to hear about that,” Piper interrupted.

“Actually, I do,” I cut in.

Gage laughed. “See? She wants to hear all about it.” Piper rolled her eyes at him, which made him laugh even harder.

Neither of them told me the story, though.
Damn it!

After feeding Mac a bottle and putting him to bed, Piper and I moved into the room I was staying in. She told me everything that happened the day they were kidnapped. I was shocked and a little angry.
Why didn’t Max tell me?
No wonder he was acting so strange the past few months. The man was traumatized! And then there was Cas.
He protected Piper and Reyn
. When Piper recounted Max’s visit to her hospital room, and how he thanked her for saving Ellie, I burst into tears and told her I needed to call and talk to my brother. She convinced me Max and Ellie needed this time alone without any interruptions. I could talk to him tomorrow.

We were in the middle of breakfast the next morning when Max appeared. With a smile on his face, he looked happy and relaxed. Good for him. I was not. I was hurt and angry. For months he had been lying to me.