A Simple Twist of Fate (7 page)

He could have a statewide exclusive on nails and Beck’s answer would be the same. “No.”

Callen put a hand behind his ear. “Care to expound on that? Maybe give us ten or fifteen lawyer words to explain your dismissal of Leah’s idea.”

“We’re fine as we are.” Except for the money trouble, all the secrets, the townspeople who hated them and this thumping need for Sophie.

“We?” Callen’s mouth dropped open after he barked out the word. “I have yet to see you pick up a hammer.”

Beck considered that his best decision since coming to Sweetwater, possibly his only good one. Declan and Callen were work-with-their-hands types. They liked to argue and build. Beck preferred the planning, so he stuck to that.

And he didn’t get stuck spending hours outside in the rain. As far as he was concerned, that made him the smartest Hanover brother. “I’m administrative staff.”

“Well, when it comes to hiring personnel I’m overruling you.” Callen turned to Leah. “Give me this Tom guy’s number,” he said, holding out his palm as if expecting her to have it on her and handy.

Typical older-brother-always-in-charge move. Well, Beck had had enough surprises and talk for one evening. He got up, ignoring the screech as his chair rubbed against the floor.

Leah called after him. “Where are you going?”

“Bed.”

“It’s eight o’clock.” Callen’s voice suggested he wanted to add “dumb-ass” to the end but left it off.

Beck answered as if he heard it. “Shut up.”

Chapter Seven

Callen watched Beck disappear around the corner then heard the thudding of angry footsteps on the stairs. Callen knew he probably pushed too hard, but watching Beck flail around like a lovesick, suffocating fish over Sophie had gone from being amusing to pathetic. Callen didn’t fully trust Sophie but he recognized attraction when it zapped in front of him, and those two had it bad.

Then there was the part where Beck wanted, maybe needed, to fix the estate situation. He stared at the same damn claim documents day after day. He made calls and argued people to death. He put his body between law enforcement and the rest of the family.

But he couldn’t solve Charlie’s mess, and Callen didn’t know how to make his very smart but very idealistic brother understand that simple fact.

“Hmmm.” Leah drummed her fingers against the table. “He’s been saying ‘shut up’ a lot lately.”

“We probably deserve it most of the time, but he’s into Sophie to the point of being stupid,” Callen said.

Leah picked up the cue. “Was Declan that messed up over me?”

“Sort of.” As far as Callen could tell, his brothers wallowed in different forms of woman-related stupidity. “Declan didn’t hide how much he wanted you. He was just a disaster at keeping you.”

“Poor baby.” Leah smiled as said it. “He tried so hard.”

“You finally took pity on him, and we are all grateful.”

“Happy to help.”

“Beck, on the other hand, is in denial.” Since more than a month had passed and Callen still hadn’t gotten a true feel for Sophie, he could understand Beck’s confusion. “Maybe that’s not a bad thing.”

“You definitely don’t trust Sophie.”

“I know what you just said, but do you? Really?” Part of Callen wanted to kick Sophie out before Beck got any more attached. Hell, before any of them did. Even with the snooping and excuses, there was something charming about her. And she sure was easy on the eyes.

Leah tapped her finger on the side of her mug as she hesitated between each word. “I’ve watched her. It’s like she thinks there’s something hidden here and she needs to find it. With all of us walking in and out and checking on her, she’s not getting the job done all that quickly, and her guilt seems to be mounting as the days go by.”

Callen picked up on the same change. The Sophie he met originally stayed quiet and slipped from room to room. The more time around the house and Beck, the more she’d opened up, even joked and smiled . . . except for those times when the burdens of the world showed in her frown. “But what does she really want?”

“That’s just it. She’s looking through your grandmother’s stuff, which makes me think this goes back to when Sophie worked for her. For whatever reason, she doesn’t trust us enough to tell us, but I think she’s close to telling Beck.”

Cal knew the real answer. “She’s close to sleeping with him.”

“And I’m betting she’s someone who will want the truth out there before they take that step.” Leah sighed. “Trust me, I understand that part. Declan knew about my anger over Charlie but the enormity of my vendetta was much harder to disclose and I messed up the timing.”

A pretty big understatement, but Callen understood her need to move on. “It worked out.”

“Bottom line is I’m not picking up a danger or revenge vibe from Sophie.”

“Me either, which is the only reason I’ve agreed to let Beck handle this his way, but the chance of his brain abdicating to his d—” Callen cleared his throat. “Let’s just say he may not be thinking straight.”

“I don’t believe whatever is driving Sophie will hurt Beck. I think she’s really attracted to him and it’s throwing her common sense off.”

No way was Callen taking women’s intuition or whatever Leah relied on as gospel. “I wish I could be sure about that.”

“The sparks between them are pretty intense, even though they appear a tad clueless about what the rest of us can see without strain.”

Callen would have used other words and probably pointed out their idiocy, but he decided to go with Leah’s G-rated version instead. “Yeah, I know.”

“Look, I don’t want him hurt either. I don’t want any of you hurt.” Leah reached across the table and put her hand over Callen’s.

The warmth of her palm seeped into his skin. The touching. She did it automatically. It was one of the many things he liked about her. The openness and acceptance. Once she’d decided Declan was hers, she adopted the entire family. She coddled and pushed them around. For Callen it was like having a sister for the first time.

Not that it had been a smooth ride. They had a bumpy start, Callen’s suspicions of her being more finely tuned than Declan’s, but they worked through it. In many ways, she knew more about Callen than his brothers did. For years he’d separated himself from Declan and Beck, convinced they needed a better influence. Behind the scenes he’d watched, ready to step in and help.

But Leah, with her investigating and the stacks of files she and her father collected on the Hanover family over the years—she knew a part of Callen’s life he didn’t want told. And a month ago she’d handed him a sealed file that contained paperwork about that life. Information that he knew from the pleading in her eyes held a secret. Without words, she told him not to open it because it contained a death blow of sorts.

To this day, he hadn’t done more than move the envelope around. It remained closed and he had no immediate plans to change that. Not when he’d finally found Declan and Beck again. Not when the good times had finally started to make inroads into all the bad.

Callen couldn’t lose them a second time.

Declan needed a house and security and a place to call his own, so Cal was prepared to deliver Shadow Hill for him and spend every cent in the bank account to do it. If Beck needed Sophie, Cal would figure out how to stay out of the way and let that happen, no matter how much he itched to shake the truth out of her now.

He squeezed Leah’s hand. “I don’t doubt you or your concern for this family.”

A soft smile played on Leah’s lips. “You did at first, with good reason. All I’m suggesting is we give Sophie more time. I think she’s worth the effort and Beck doesn’t seem to have a defense against her.”

“Poor bastard.”

“Maybe she’ll come clean and none of this will matter a few days from now. That’s what I did with Declan.”

“No, you were honest with Declan from the beginning. You didn’t hide your anger at our family or dislike of the situation. Sophie is playing a different game. She’s pretending to be something she’s not.”

“As I said, I think she wants to tell us, or at least tell Beck, about whatever secret is driving her.”

“You really believe that?” The idea of scraping Beck off the ground after Sophie emotionally pummeled him was one of the things that kept Callen up at night.

“I really want to.”

“Meaning?”

Leah nibbled on her lip. Her telltale sign of indecision. “Nothing.”

An idea flashed in Callen’s brain. It flickered then clicked to full wattage. “Why, Ms. Baron, are you still investigating Sophie?”

Leah dropped his hand and sat back in her chair. “How could you even—”

Nice try
. “Skip the fake shock. That might work with the others but not with me.”

“Right.” She exhaled. “But I’m really not.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m befriending her. Truly, honestly, completely, and hoping that will give her whatever comfort she needs to come clean about this thing with your grandmother.”

That was some woman-speak thing and Callen refused to get sucked into it. “That sounds like we’re saying the same thing.”

“No, but that, my dear Cal, sums up why you’re not a people person.” That smug smile of satisfaction returned.

“I think I’m lost.”

“You’re being a guy.”

He didn’t see a reason to duck that one. “Obviously.”

“By that I mean you want to rush in and bumble your way through this by ordering everyone around and trying to solve it even though no one asked you to.”

He picked at the label on the bottle. “Yeah, and?”

“We have to step more carefully.”

That was not the strategy he planned to use. “I like my way better.”

“Of course you do, but it’s not going to work here. We’re dealing with something delicate that needs a softer touch.”

The argument forming in his brain faded when Leah continued to stare him down. Whatever her plan was for solving this mess, she intended to implement it. Despite the message screaming through his brain to confront the Sophie issue head on, he knew he had to sit back, let her have a few days, then step in and demand answers as he’d wanted to do from day one.

“Just figure it out fast. Beck’s getting wrapped up tighter about her every hour,” he said.

“I’m on it.”

Nothing about the promise eased Callen’s anxiety. He trusted Leah, but Sophie was a wild card.

He was about to point that out when gravel crunched in the driveway outside. “Sounds like Declan’s home.”

Leah didn’t do anything to hide her feelings for Declan and her joy at seeing him. The freedom and love in her smile burned away some of the frustration tumbling in Callen’s gut over Sophie. Declan had chosen well. Callen had to hope Beck possessed the same mate-finding skills.

Leah stood up and brushed her hands down the front of her slim-fitting sweater as she moved to stare out the back window. “Then Operation Sophie will have to wait until tomorrow.”

Oh, yeah. No question what was about to happen next. The one person in the house Callen didn’t have to worry about was Declan. He was doing just fine.

The lucky bastard.

Callen grabbed the bag of pretzels, intending to hit the TV room. “I’m too young to witness whatever been-apart-for-four-hours reunion is about to happen here.”

She flashed him a killer smile. “Smart man.”

“Have fun.” He picked up another water bottle and headed for the doorway.

Leah’s voice stopped him. “Cal?”

He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“It’s going to be okay.”

Damn, he hoped she was right. “I trust you.”

***

Beck hit the top of the steps, ignoring the rumble of conversation and short spurts of laughter coming from the floor below. He wanted to join in, just lose himself in a relaxing evening at home. That had been the plan before his dick convinced his brain that going to Sophie’s house was a good idea. His lower half had been getting him into trouble since he was fourteen, and very little had changed.

He went over to her place thinking he’d apologize for flashing her in the bathroom. Really, he wanted to get her to open up. Maybe if she were on her turf she’d feel more comfortable. It all made sense in his head, then Tom showed up.

Stupid fucking Tom.

The sound of Beck’s footsteps bounced off the walls and echoed down the hallway to the bedrooms. He was about to take a left at the top of the steps and head for his bedroom when the bathroom door grabbed his attention.

His mind spun back to this morning for the hundredth time. The shower, her shortness of breath when Sophie raced in the room. The evasion and obvious panic caused by something other than the up-close-and-a-bit-too-personal view of his erection.

She was looking for something. Callen had been beating that verbal drum since they moved into Shadow Hill. The mysterious behavior and her steadfast refusal to talk about anything personal made suspicion easy. Not to mention the times Beck had seen her shifting things around on shelves and stomping her foot on loose floorboards.

But the bathroom? Beck couldn’t imagine what she needed in there, except the obvious, and the obvious was always the wrong answer with her.

He turned and stepped into the bathroom doorway. His gaze swept over the small space. Someone, probably Sophie, had hung up his towels. In the fight with Callen, he’d forgotten, but the overturned bottles were back in place and the shampoo spill gone. No one would ever guess this had been the sight of a strange meeting just a few hours ago.

And he still needed to apologize for his shower behavior. Sophie might be playing them, but that didn’t mean she deserved being harassed. That sort of thing wasn’t his style—he actually filed lawsuits about stuff only a bit harder than that—but his usual common sense abandoned him when she was around.

His visual tour took him to the vanity. Then the question kicking around in the back of his head, just out of reach, stumbled to the front. The shampoo and stuff sat on the back of the toilet, but there was a vanity. Something had to be in there taking up space.

He dropped down and balanced on the balls of his feet. Fighting off the sudden revving inside him, he opened the doors. An old brush and a forgotten box of tissues. He felt around, thinking whatever was so important to Sophie could be small.

Nothing.

Well, nothing unusual and nothing to get breathless over. She raced in there for a reason, but he wasn’t seeing it. Not on the ceiling or walls. Not in the most logical place, behind closed doors.

He stood up and stared into the mirror above the sink. After a few seconds he ran his fingertips along the edge and opened the door to the medicine cabinet hidden behind. Some random bottles with prescriptions in their grandmother’s name and the stuff Declan insisted on using for sore muscles, regardless of the smell. Beck had no idea how Leah tolerated that.

But she was not the woman on Beck’s mind right now.

He braced his hands against the sides of the sink and tried to concentrate. Sophie had a reason for everything she did. She intended to come into the bathroom and take something out.

Now Beck had to figure out what.