Falling for the Wingman (The Kelly Brothers, Book 3) (2 page)

“What was he doing here?” her mother demanded in an angry whisper.

“No idea.” Alex tried to brush past her mother, but the pissed-off matriarch grabbed her by the arm and hauled her back.

“Don’t give me any sass, Alexandra. What did he say to you?”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Just what you’d expect him to say after coming home and finding Kourtney gone. He was here for answers.”

“He embarrassed us in front of the McClures.”

“If Kourtney had handled breaking up with him like a grown-up, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Why didn’t you try to stop him? Do you have any idea how much he upset your sister?” Her mother donned the same wounded Southern belle simper Kourtney had worn minutes before.

Alex massaged her temples. She had to get out of this crazy house before she said something she regretted. Or worse, before Caleb came charging back in. “Let me handle him, Mama. You go back to the McClures, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t make another scene.”

She grabbed her keys off the hook by the front door and ran to her rebuilt ’57 Chevy pickup. When her engine started, it was a low, barrel-chested growl. Solid and reassuring, not predatory. But she liked it that way.

Sweat coated her palms as she drove into town. She needed to know the real reason Caleb was in town, and prayed to God it wasn’t because of her emails.

Chapter Two

Caleb pulled the label from his bottle of Bud and soaked in the atmosphere of the nearly empty bar. The last time he’d been here, it was right in the middle of football season, and the place had been packed. A wide gray line painted along the walls and floor divided the interior into two sides, each with their own entrance. The Alabama side was decorated in crimson and white; the Auburn side, orange and blue. And from what he remembered, most of the locals didn’t cross the iron gray line once they picked a side. He’d chosen one of the few tables in the neutral territory since he couldn’t remember which side Alex preferred.

His mind drifted back to the scene at the house, and his head swam. Kourtney hadn’t just left him—she was marrying someone else. How long had that been going on? Had she been secretly seeing that guy while sending him those emails? And if so, should he believe anything she said?

Do I even know her at all?

His stomach churned at the question. Worse, he’d left before he’d gotten the answers he’d driven hours to get.

“Hey, Earl, how are the Braves doing?” a familiar voice asked as the door swung open on the orange and blue side. Alex strode into the building like she owned it.

“We’re up by a run,” the older man behind the counter replied and pointed to Caleb. “Your friend’s over there.”

“Awesome. Do you mind if I help myself?” She jumped up onto the bar without waiting for an answer and swung her legs over in a blur of skirts and cowboy boots. She reached into the fridge and pulled out four bottles of beer. “Just put these on my tab.”

“How about you just apply those to the cost of that new battery I need installed?”

“I like the way you think.” She grinned, her nose and eyes crinkling, and popped the top off one of the bottles before putting the other three in a bucket of ice.

As she cracked another joke with Earl, Caleb studied Alex. She was as different from her older sister as two siblings could be. She lacked Kourtney’s curves and elegant blond refinement. Alex’s auburn hair tumbled past her shoulders in messy waves, and he wondered how much pressure she’d been put under to wear the sleeveless dress that clung to her lean figure before flaring out around her hips. A few freckles lay splattered across her nose and cheeks, but they only enhanced her girl-next-door image. Even though he’d been dating her sister, he’d always found Alex easy to talk to, especially since she shared his love for classic cars.

But as she made her way to him, her steps slowed, and her grin turned hollow. She set the bucket on the table and slumped into the chair across from him. “I see you decided to play it safe here,” she said, first pointing to the gray line beneath the table and then at his half-drunk bottle of Bud.

“I’m only here for answers.”

“I was afraid of that.” She took a long swig of her beer. “So, what do you want to know?”

“How long has Kourtney been back?”

Alex’s brown eyes widened, and she took another long drink. “A while.”

“How long?”

She finished off the remaining beer in the bottle and reached for a new one. “Listen, I know what my sister did to you was really shitty—”

“How long?” he repeated, this time with a growl edging into his voice. The more she evaded his question, the tighter his gut squeezed.

Alex focused her gaze on the bottle in her hand as she opened it. “She moved back home shortly after you left.”

He jumped to his feet, his hands curling into fists. He needed to punch something now. “Motherf—”

“Hey, watch your language.” She rose from her chair and pushed him back into his, handing him her open bottle in the process. “Here, drink this and calm down before I have to call in a favor to keep you out of jail.”

Now it was his turn to take a long swig. The beer she’d given him was more intense than the bland lager he’d been drinking, with a strange fruity note at the end. He glanced at the label. “Purple Haze?”

“Yeah, I know—girly beer. But at least it goes down easily.” As though to prove her point, she opened another bottle for herself and took another long drink. “So, tell me the real reason why you’re here.”

The anger drained from his shoulders, and he slid back in his chair. It had been bad enough to come home and find the woman he’d come to love gone, but now he was reeling from the shock that she’d moved on so quickly. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.” She gave him that relaxed smile that reminded him how easy she was to talk to.

“What’s the use? She’s marrying that prick in a week.”

Alex snorted with a laugh. “You’re dead-on about Ryan. And technically, it’s less than a week since the wedding is Saturday.”

Caleb groaned and pressed his palms to his face, dragging the heels of his hand from his eyes to his temples. “This is not the homecoming I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?” she asked, her voice unusually serious.

“Kourtney, waiting for me at the airfield with the other families, ready to welcome me back by wrapping her arms around me and giving me a kiss that would help me forget about all the shit I’d gone through during the last nine months.”

Alex nodded, her gaze sympathetic. “I’m sorry she did this to you.”

“Not as sorry as I am. I knew she didn’t like the idea of me being gone for so long, but I figured she’d at least wait for me to come home, especially since each letter she’d sent me seemed to imply that.”

“Shit,” Alex whispered under her breath before gulping her beer. “Would it help if I told you you’d be better off without her?”

He snorted. “I know you don’t get along well with your sister—”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“But you don’t know her like I do.”

Another snort, this time without the mirth. “That’s where you’re wrong. I know her far better than you ever will, and as much as I hate to say it, I’m not surprised she did what she did.”

He stiffened like she’d just drenched him with cold water. “Why?”

“Because Kourtney has always needed to be the center of attention. Your deployment left her alone with no one to worship her, so she came back here and found a new dumbass who was wowed enough by her cleavage to tolerate her behavior.”

It would be all too easy to accept Alex’s explanation and walk away, but he couldn’t forget the woman who’d written those emails.

Courage is doing what you know is right, even when you’re afraid. Hope is what gets us through the dark moments when we doubt ourselves. And love is what makes the impossible possible.

He closed his eyes and let her words ease the doubt in his soul. That was the Kourtney he wanted to know. She was more than just a pretty face. She also had a beautiful heart that spoke to him in a way no other woman had.

“I just want a chance to talk to her.”

“Why?”

“Because I know if I get her alone and let her know how much she means to me, she’d come back.”

“She really has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?”

“Maybe,” he said with a half smile and ran his hand over the good luck charm in his pocket. “Do you think you can help me win her back?”

Alex choked on her beer. “Me?”

“Yeah. After all, you said you know her better than anyone else.”

“I think you need your head examined.”

“Come on, Alex. Who would you rather have as a brother-in-law? Me or that prick?”

She banged her empty bottle on the table. “Holy crap! You weren’t thinking of marrying her, were you?”

“Should I show you the ring I bought her?”

“No, no, no, no!” Alex massaged her fingertips into her forehead. “Why are guys so fucking stupid?”

“And you were the one telling me to watch my language.” He took a sip of the raspberry-flavored beer, his mood lightening. He was wearing her down, and if he could get Alex on board, she’d help him find a way to get Kourtney back. “So, would you be willing to be my wingman?”

“Give me one good reason why you’re so head-over-heels stupid for my Barbie-doll sister.” She reached for the last bottle in the bucket.

“Are you going to be okay to drive?”

“I live two blocks down the road. I walked over here.” She opened the bottle, catching the edge of the top against the table and smacking it firmly with her hand. She draped her arm across the back of her chair and crossed her boot-clad legs, doubt written all over face. “If you want my help, you need to convince me that you love Kourtney for more than just her double-Ds.”

He raked his fingers through his hair, unsure how much he should reveal from those deeply personal letters. “Can’t you just take my word for it?”

“Nope.” She grinned before raising the fresh bottle to her lips.

“Fine, you win.” He took a drink to steel his courage before spilling his guts. “Afghanistan wasn’t a fun place to be, especially in the middle of a war.”

“No shit. My friend J.T. still has nightmares about that place.”

“Then you have some idea how it was over there. I saw things I never want to see again. But no matter how dark it got, your sister always had something to say to bring me back into the light. Whenever I felt like there was nothing good left in this world, I’d always find an email from her that reminded me that things weren’t as bleak as I imagined them to be. That’s why I fell in love with her.”

Alex’s face blanched, making her freckles stand out more than before. She finished off her bottle like a college student trying to set a funneling speed record and squeezed her eyes shut afterward. Her face tightened in pain, drawing her shoulders up toward her ears. A full minute ticked by before she finally said, “Damn it. I wish you hadn’t said that.”

“Now you know why I want her back.”

When Alex opened her eyes, a mixture of grief and pity shimmered from their brown depths. “But what if she doesn’t want you anymore?”

Caleb swallowed hard. It wasn’t something he was ready to consider. Not yet. “All I need is a chance to speak with her alone, to find out what changed while I was gone.”

Alex stared at the floor and chewed her bottom lip, the empty bottle in her hands rocking from side to side. “I think I’m going to need another drink.”

He eyed the collection of empty bottles on the table. “I think you’ve had enough, Alex.”

She shook her head. “If you’ve had the day I’ve had, you’d need a six pack, too.”

But she set the bottle on the table and smoothed her dress over her lap. “So, all you want is a chance to talk to Kourtney alone?”

“Are you agreeing to help me?”

She finally met his gaze, her eyes sharp and clever as though she hadn’t had a single drop of beer. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” he asked, arching a brow.

“I’ll need a favor from you in exchange, as well as your complete cooperation with my plan.”

He crossed his arms and leaned back. “What are your terms?”

A mischievous smile curled her lips. “First off, if I’m going to be your wingman, you will never, ever, refer to me as ‘Goose.’”

For the first time since he’d left home, a full-bodied laugh erupted from his chest. “Agreed. We’ll have to come up with a unique call sign for you.”

“Second, how long can you stay in town? If my plan is going to work, we’ll need a few days.”

This sounded promising. “I can stay until Sunday morning. Even though I’m on my post-deployment R&R, I have to report back to Eglin so I can meet the movers Monday morning.”

“Plenty of time. Where are you staying?”

Uh-oh—the first hiccup in his hastily thrown together plan just revealed itself. He’d been so certain he’d be able to coax Kourtney back that he hadn’t even thought about overnight accommodations. Hell, he hadn’t even packed a suitcase.

And Alex knew it, judging by the “I thought so” expression on her face. “Let me make a phone call.”