“They got bullets here, too, Luke. This is Texas.” Joseph’s grin was contagious. “Come on. That was a sweet one.” He held up his hand and Luke slapped it in a reluctant high five.
“If you ever wanted a fresh start, here’s your chance, kid.” Luke caught Joseph’s hand and held on. “Hear me. One way or another, you’re going to do your homework. Upsetting Mama right now? I won’t allow that. She needs peace and quiet.”
“Quiet? Around here? With so many of us? I want to see that.” Joseph tugged his hand. “I hate math. The rest is okay.”
Since he’d hated math, too, Luke found it hard to argue. “Do your best. That’s all she expects.” Joseph nodded and disappeared inside the house, which was closing in on Luke.
Luke walked slowly to his car and started it up. Instead of doing a U-turn and heading for freedom, he eased into the driveway and turned off the engine.
What would it be like to be living in Austin all by himself again?
He’d barely appreciated it for the time he’d had. Now he’d bask in every single second he had alone.
When his mother got stronger, he could reconsider what he wanted. Life in Austin had been too hectic to help her out with the family, and more than anything he wanted to give back. Whatever Connie Hollister needed, wanted or didn’t even know to ask for, he would do. She and Walt had saved him. For now, she thought small-town life would give her and her family what she dreamed of.
Luke missed his father. Walter Hollister would have talked her out of a move like this.
These nights, he wished he could turn to his older brother Alex for advice or to complain, but Alex was gone, too.
Luke had to keep it together.
And he was already exhausted. A trip into Austin to see his old desk, his old partner, his old chief and the case he’d dogged for months closed by someone else wasn’t high on his list of favorite day-off activities.
At this point, it didn’t matter. All he could do was what had to be done.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK?” Jen asked as she held up the drawing Cole had put together with suggestions for the landscaping outside her new house. “With the wrought iron fence. This place will be nice, right?” For their first day of work, the fencing guys seemed to be making good progress. They’d started as soon as the sun came up, so she’d missed out on her extra Saturday sleep, but it would be worth it. Posts would be finished along one side of her property by the end of the day.
Her mother snorted. “How much will that fence cost? There’s so much of it.”
Since she’d asked that about every single improvement Jen planned to the house, which was already almost three times larger than the home she’d grown up in, Jen snapped, “Forget that. Decorative fencing will add prestige to this place. How does it look?”
“Pretentious,” her mother drawled, standing in the driveway, scanning the area. “Like you don’t want anyone to visit. I mean, a fence like that with a gate? Who do you think you are? Royalty?” her mother scoffed. Working split shifts as a waitress had always kept her mom humble. “Do you think a fence with spikes at the top is necessary?”
“Most mothers would be happy their daughters were improving the security of their homes.” For a woman who could still remember the panic of being chased all the way home from the bus stop by a pack of kids who thought it was funny to watch a skinny redhead cry, this fence was a dream come true. Then, she’d wanted something else between her and the world besides a single flimsy door. Anyone who thought about coming over the top would be discouraged before even trying.
Once she was inside her fence and her house, she would have no worries anymore.
Jen waved the piece of paper at her mother. “It will mean you’re safer, too, after you move in. That’s important to me. Think of all the space we’ll have, and nothing but the best of the best. Just what you deserve.”
Brenda Barnes shook her head slowly. “How many times are you going to bring this up? I’m not moving in with you. One of us would murder the other in the first week and then what would happen with all your precious lottery money?”
“Well, you could take it and run off to Mexico. We aren’t that far.” Jen fluttered her eyelashes at her mother. There was no doubt in her mind who would kill whom. The Great Cake Baking Assignment of 2016 had proven beyond any doubt that her mother was tough as nails. They’d managed to make dozens of cakes for the Paws for Love bake sale, and only extreme love and true devotion had prevented Jen from telling her mother where she could put her measuring spoons. “If I’m dead, I won’t be slowing you down, will I?” That had been her mother’s number one complaint—Jen worked too slowly in the kitchen.
Since Brenda had been waiting tables at Sue Lynn’s for as long as Jen could remember, she was an Olympic-level star in the kitchen. Jen might as well have wandered in off the street. Between Brenda and Rebecca, she spent zero time cooking and liked it that way.
Jen had worked every job she could find for years to pay off all the debt she’d picked up in college, yet having to cook had never been one of them.
After she’d hit the lottery, Jen had concentrated on the job she was good at, teaching math to surly teenagers. The baking thing had been a moment of insanity that turned into a two-week long sentence and dishpan hands.
“You need to get a hobby.” Her mother slid into the Honda Civic that had been missing the back bumper ever since she bought it.
Jen wandered over to the driver’s window and motioned for her mother to roll it down. “I have a hobby. Spending money completes me, Mom.”
A reluctant laugh escaped her mom’s lips. “Lie to everyone else, but your mother knows.” She narrowed her eyes. “We are never going to live together again, Jenny. My house is perfectly spacious now.”
“Can I buy you a new car, then?” Jen motioned at the back. “I know bumpers are extravagant and all...”
“Have you talked to your brother about your investments lately?” Brenda asked as she always did when she was ready to end a conversation.
Jen and Will, her stepbrother, were closer now than they ever had been. Since they’d mixed like orange juice and toothpaste when they were kids, that wasn’t saying much. This time Will brought with him the world’s coolest daughter, a niece Jen wished lived in Holly Heights instead of Austin. If Chloe were here, she’d have opinions on every bit of the landscape drawing.
“I saw him just last night. Besides, you know we meet every week to talk about investments and charities and Paws for Love. Don’t worry. Will’s got his eye on me.” Since he was the golden boy who always reassured her mother. The fact that Brenda was only his stepmother had never convinced her to take Jen’s side over Will’s.
And the guy was smart, even if he had fallen like a rock for Sarah Hillman.
“Get a hobby.” Her mother pointed to punctuate every word. “Or a date. And if you put up razor wire or hire men with dogs to patrol this compound, I will ask Bobby Hillman how to steal every penny you have for your own good.”
Brenda tilted her head. “You understand? Now give me a hug. I’m going to be late for the dinner shift.”
Jen awkwardly stuck her head in the window and wrapped her arm around her mother’s neck. For so much of her life, Brenda had raised her all alone. When she’d married Will’s father, they’d had a hard time working two new people into their lives and her mother’s tiny house. After her divorce, her mother had done her best to make sure Jen and Will stayed connected. Her mother’s smell of fresh laundry and lavender was expected and reinforced Jen’s decision to convince her