Page 19 of The Love Ambush (The Sullivans #1)

Levi

“D aphne seems great,” I say to Brodie as he steers us out of the resort and back toward the main road.

“She is,” Brodie says. “She’s amazing.”

He seems sincere. “I really never thought I’d see the day you settled down.” I’ve said this a couple of times already today, but I still can’t get over it. I need to understand what changed for him.

“Get used to it, man,” Brodie says. “Me and her are forever.”

“So, what? You just reversed your opinion about marriage completely?” I mean, it’s been over a year since I’ve seen him in person, but this is a huge shift from the man I knew him as.

“I met a woman who is like no one I ever thought I wanted, but I want to wake up next to her every morning for the rest of my life. She challenges me, and takes care of me, and lets me take care of her. It’s all about meeting the right person, Levi.

She’s my soul mate.” He pauses, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, before glancing over at me.

“She sees me for who I really am under all the bullshit, and she still wants me. You have any idea what that’s like? ”

I really don’t. “You’re a lucky man.”

He grins. “And I’m never going to forget how lucky. All that shit I used to say about marriage and all those casual flings, I think it was all more about me not thinking I was worthy of this kind of love.” He winces. “Shit. I sound like my therapist.”

“No. I think it’s great,” I say, genuinely happy for him. “So, if you’ve done all this maturing, what was up with all that ‘woman’s work’ shit? I would have been happy to stay and help Daphne. It’s so 1995 to only expect the women to help.”

Brodie snorts. “Did you see that pinched look on Gentry’s face?

She’s so easy to rile up.” He glances over at me.

“Seriously, man? I’m an asshole, but I’m not that much of an asshole.

Daphne wanted some girl time with Gentry and the kids.

She pulls everyone into her family, and they’re next up.

” He shakes his head. “I was just trying to get under Gentry’s skin. She’s my kid sister. It’s what I do.”

“Can you really not keep sending her money? I don’t think you understand how stressed Gentry is with the kids. It’s not easy, man. Especially with her working full time, going to school, and taking care of a house that’s going to need a lot of repairs in the near future.”

He glances over at me, brow creased. “Whenever I talk to Gentry, she says the house is great and everything’s fine.”

“Maybe she hasn’t noticed that the siding is looking worn out and will probably need to be replaced soon.

Or that the air conditioning unit is as old as the house, which probably means the heating unit is close to the end of its life, too.

She’s going to have some major expenses in the next couple of years. ”

“How do you know so much about her house? Have you been spending a lot of time over there?” He narrows his eyes at me. “Stay away from my sister, man. Gentry’s relationship material.”

Clearly, he still has an issue with the idea of me dating Gentry. Just like he did three years ago when I tracked him down at the local bar and told him I kissed Gentry. He was going through some stuff and, when he forbid me from dating his sister, I listened.

Brodie was right. Back then, I wasn’t the right guy for her. Now, though... “Gentry wants nothing to do with me. And I’m not—”

“But you want something to do with her. When did this start?”

“It doesn’t matter. What I’m trying to tell you is that Gentry’s struggling and she could use your support.”

“What do you mean she’s struggling? She makes good money, right? And the kids are teenagers. They must practically take care of themselves.”

“Last night Emily snuck out and went to a party. She got drunk, and Gentry spent most of the night tracking her down and taking care of her.”

Brodie grins. “It’s nothing worse than we did as teenagers. Remember that one party at—”

“She’s a fourteen-year-old girl. And a seventeen-year-old boy took her to the party. It’s different for girls, man. Sophie and Emily both give Gentry nothing but attitude. They’re kids, and they need a lot of time and attention.”

Finally, this seems to sink in. He taps his fingers on the steering wheel. “Call my father. Tell him he can come to the wedding.”

I stare at the side of his face, shocked. “I’ve just used up all the favors I had with Annabelle to make sure your father got the message not to come to this wedding. You hate your father.”

“I do.” Brodie sighs and drags a hand over his face. “But Gentry needs him more than I hate him. You said he has a good job now, right?”

“According to Annabelle, but how can he help Gentry if he’s not a good guy?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he says, staring straight ahead at the road, knuckles going white on the steering wheel. “If he has money, he owes it to Gentry to help. Make sure he comes to the wedding, and I’ll talk to him. Make sure he does the right thing.”

“Not sure that’s a good idea.” It seems unlikely this guy will step up after abandoning them, but I don’t remember much about him. “You could just keep sending Gentry money.”

Brodie sighs. “I can’t do it, Levi.” He glances over at me, his expression devastated. “Daphne barely makes enough to live on in Denver. And… Look, you can’t tell anyone. Not a soul. Promise?”

“I promise.”

He puffs his cheeks and blows out a hard breath. “I, um, I…” He looks at me, swallows hard, turns back to the road. “I don’t have the money, man. I’m in debt up to my eyeballs.”

Shit. “How’d that happen?”

“I was an idiot,” he says. “It’s not like either of my parents taught me how to handle money. Everything I’ve sent Gentry the past couple of years I’ve covered with credit. I’m too deep in the hole. I have to start paying shit off if I’m ever getting out of debt.”

He’s clearly miserable, but I’m pissed. “Selling this car might be a good start at getting out of debt.”

He shoots me a glare. “Fuck you, Levi. You think I don’t know that? I’m selling it as soon as we get back home.”

And now I feel like an asshole. “Sorry. That was a stupid thing to say. I’m just worried about Gentry.”

Brodie sends some serious side-eye my way. “You think I’m not?” He clears his throat, his mouth twisting into a smirk, clearly moving on from the tough talk. “What exactly is your interest in my sister, man?”

“Why? You going to threaten to beat me up again if I say I’m interested in her?”

He glances over at me, considering. “You’re really serious about her this time?”

“I was serious about her the first time.”

He snorts. “Dude, you weren’t serious about anything back then. You were definitely not looking to settle down with my sister.”

I sigh. “Probably not. It doesn’t matter, anyway. She thinks I’m an asshole and a player because I kissed her three years ago, never called her, and then you told her I went home with another woman the same night.”

He runs a hand through his hair. “Shit. I don’t remember that. Sounds like something I’d do, though. I was pretty pissed at you for kissing her. I was not about to let my best friend break my sister’s heart.”

“I believe your exact words were that you weren’t going to let Gentry steal your best friend.”

He chuckles. “That, too. It was a shit night. Shit couple of weeks.” He pauses, looks over at me. “I can talk to her if you’re really serious about her. I can tell her I made up that stuff about you going home with someone else.”

“Really?” I ask, surprised. “You’d do that?”

“Of course, bro. Just treat her right, okay? You can’t treat her like a casual fling or break her heart, because then Gentry won’t want you around. If I have to choose, man, I’m choosing her.”

“That’s fair. I swear, I only have the best intentions with Gentry.”

“Good. Now, get in touch with dear old dad and make sure he comes to the wedding.”

“You really want the man you hate more than anyone else in the world at your wedding?”

Brodie’s jaw tenses. “This isn’t about me. It’s about my sisters. Dad needs to step up and take care of his family.”

“What do you think Gentry’s going to say about that?” I do not want to get on Gentry’s bad side. She’s never mentioned her father to me, but if Brodie hates him for abandoning their mother and the family, it stands to reason that Gentry feels the same.

“Gentry’s not going to say anything until he’s here.

I don’t want to risk getting her hopes up just for him to disappoint her like he usually does.

Once he’s here, we’ll sit down with him and discuss the options.

Tell him to get here the day before the wedding, but he has to stay somewhere Gentry won’t run into him before we’re ready. ”

“Don’t you have a wedding to plan?”

Brodie snorts. “Between Daphne and her mother, there’s nothing for me to do. And I’ll feel better starting this new life with Daphne if I know Gentry and the kids are taken care of.”

My ears pop as we head into the mountains. “Where the hell are we going? I thought we were just hitting the golf course.”

“There’s not a decent one in Yuletide,” Brodie says. “We’re going to this ski resort town about twenty minutes from here.”

The reality of what we’re actually doing and how long we’re going to be away hits me. “Yeah, no. I’m out.”

He doesn’t slow down, and barely glances at me. “You got something better to do?”

“I’m going to help your fiancée and your sisters set up for your wedding. I’m not going to go play all afternoon while they do all the work. I don’t even like golf.”

Brodie snorts. “You love golf.”

“I used to love drinking beer while I rode around in the golf cart, but I’ve never liked the game, Brodie. I’ve told you this.”

He glances over at me, brows high. “Seriously? I don’t remember that.”

“Because you never paid attention. We went out, we had a good time, and I went along with whatever you wanted to do, because I always had fun. It’s not what I want to do anymore.”

His brows rise, and he smiles as he nods. “I get it, you’re trying to impress Gentry. You can do that after we play golf.”

“Come on, man. Even if you aren’t involved in the wedding planning, you should be there with your fiancée to help get everything ready.”

His shoulders drop, but he pulls off the road and onto the wide shoulder. “She doesn’t want me there.”

“Sure, she does. She’s marrying you, isn’t she?”

“Just because I suggested one time that we have Elvis marry us, she and her mother decided I should stay away from all wedding set-up or planning activities. It was a joke. They didn’t think it was funny.”

Probably not when everyone’s stressed out planning a wedding. “So, you show up and you do whatever they ask without comment, and they’ll be thrilled to have your help.”

His expression lightens, and I realize Brodie is possibly more sensitive than I ever realized. “You think so?”

“I do. Come on. Let’s show those ladies how helpful we can be.”

He swings a U-turn and heads back toward town. “Fine. If I get yelled at, I’m blaming you.”

“I’d expect nothing less.”