Page 82 of A Case of You

Brandon kept his voice low. “Thanks again, Trace. We owe you big time.”

She shrugged. “He’s family. Hey, you came and rescued my ass on I-75 that night. This was easy.”

“I really appreciate it, though.”

She cocked her head as she stared at him. “Bran, I pried my head out of my ass that day at the pool. Maybe it’s a good thing you weren’t there for that. You might have ended up in jail.”

“Might?”

“Exactly. Anyway, it taught me two very valuable lessons that I will never forget. That Pat was an idiot, that I should never put someone above my daughter, and that Jeff and Stu love Emma as much as I do. Make that three lessons. And I can’t ask for better than that. You found not one, buttwomen who love her. You did a damn sight better than I did.” She shrugged again. “Would have been nice ifoneof them was bi, just sayin’.” She grinned.

Stuart’s face heated, pleased at the praise, but he only smiled and didn’t say anything. This was more between Brandon and Tracey.

Brandon chuckled and shook his head. “The Frightful Five are ready whenever you are.”

“Yeah, well, it’s going to be a while.” She glanced toward the living room. “I want to make sure I’ve completely rebuilt my bridge with Emma first.”

Brandon reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “If it means anything, I think you’ve redeemed yourself.”

“Oh, I get off work at three tomorrow. I can come take Jeff to the doctor.”

“You sure? That’d be a huge help.”

“Yeah. I’ll stay with him until the girls are home. And I promise to goyouon him if he argues with the doctor. My mom game has improved lately. You’re a great influence.”

Brandon smiled. “That’s my girl.”

Once they finished dinner, Brandon and Stuart headed out to retrieve Jeff’s truck. Maybe all the commotion was why Stuart had forgotten the call from Jake and didn’t remember it until they were almost to the dealership.

“Jake called me before I left work.”

“Your brother, Jake?”

“Yeah.”

“What’d he want?”

“Same shit, different day. He sounded drunk. Apparently, Shelly left him and filed for divorce. I hung up on him and blocked his number.”

“He went out of his way to harass younow? That makes no sense.”

“He told me some bullshit that I had to move back to help Dad out.” He snorted. “That’snothappening.” He pulled out his phone. Jake had left one voice mail. “I wonder what he said.”

“Play it. Just out of curiosity.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I want to hear it.” They turned in to the street behind the dealership, where Jeff’s truck sat parked, and Brandon pulled in behind it.

Stuart put his phone in speaker mode and hitplay.

“Listen, you sonofabitch. Dad fucking needs help, and I’m done being a laughingstock in this town. You fucking embarrassed me, made my wife leave me, and that shit ain’t right. Get your ass back here,now, or so help me Iwillcome down there and drag you home. You have a responsibility to your family, and we damn sure can’t count on that spic Eileen married. This is your last warning.”

Rage filled Stuart. He started to delete it, but Brandon stopped him. “No, you need to hold on to that.”

“Why?”

“In case he tries something else.”