Beauty from Pain (44 page)
Authors: Georgia Cates
Tags: #romance, #adult contemporary, #m leighton, #samantha young, #georgia cates, #down to you, #on dublin street, #beauty from pain, #beauty series, #up to me
back into my back pocket when a quiet voice stopped me.
“What’s going on with you, little girl? I’ve been gone for
over eighteen months and all I get is a hug and a peck on the cheek
before you disappear? Where are the tears, where’s the
hysterics that I’m home safe and sound? What’s working in
that complicated brain of yours because I can tell something is on
your mind?”
I hiccupped a little
laugh and let my forehead fall onto the strong chest in front of
me. Even battered and bruised Rome was the kind of guy that
stood between the people he loved and anything that might possibly
hurt them. He patted the top of my head and laid a heavy hand
on the back of my neck. “I missed your pretty face Shaw; you
don’t know how good it is to be home.”
I shuddered a little and
wrapped a careful arm around his waist so that I could give him a
squeeze and not hurt him. “I missed you too, Rome. I’m
just stressed out. School is crazy right now, I’m working
three or four nights a week, and my parents won’t get off my back
about this guy I just broke up with. You know I love it when
we’re all together. I thought your mom was going to have a
heart attack when she called to tell me what happened to you.
I’m so glad you’re okay, I don’t think this family would be able to
handle another Archer son going down.”
“No, probably not. I
can’t believe she still has you playing chauffeur for my idiot
brother.”
his and we started to make our way to the dining room. “It’s
the only way he’ll come. If I have to miss it because of
school or because something comes up he just blows them off.
Half the time when I get to the apartment he doesn’t even know what
day it is and has to scramble to get out the door; today would be a
prime example of that. If I show up he feels obligated to
ride with me no matter what or who he’s in the middle of
doing.”
Rome swore under his
breath. “It wouldn’t kill that kid to play nice with mom and
dad once a week. He shouldn’t need you to be his
babysitter.”
I shrugged my shoulder
because we both knew that all the Archer brothers had a role.
Remy had been the good son, the straight A student, the future Ivy
Leaguer. He was also the one saddled with the role of keeping Rule
out of jail and running interference when his twin got into trouble
that he couldn’t talk his way out of. Rule was the wild card,
the one that lived life to the fullest and made no apologies for
those he might offend or hurt along the way. Rome was the
boss; the twins adored him and followed his lead through good and
bad because lord knew with the way the three of them looked there
was lots and lots of bad thrown their way. With Remy gone it
wasn’t a surprise to anyone that Rome had become even more
protective of his remaining brother and that I had fallen
seamlessly into the role of trying to keep Rule on some kind of
straight and narrow path.
“It’s the least I can do
for Margot and Dale. They’ve always done so much for me and
asked for so little in return. Suffering Rule’s wrath once a
week is a pretty easy sacrifice to make.”
eyes that were so much like his brother’s that it sometimes hurt to
look into them. Rome wasn’t anyone’s fool and it wouldn’t
surprise me if he knew more about all the things I kept locked up
than he let on.
“I just don’t want you
being the target of Rule being Rule. Mom needs to get over
her shit and so does he. Everyone is grown now and life is
too short for you to be constantly playing the peacemaker between
those two.”
voice as we got to the entrance of the room. The table was
already set and everyone was already in their regular seats.
Dale was at the head of the table, Margot on his right with an open
spot for me. His left side was left open for Rome, and Rule
had taken the seat at the opposite end of the table as far away
from both of his parents as he could get. “They need to move
past the fact that he’s never going to be Remy, and he has to stop
intentionally cramming that fact down their throats. Until
one side gives and learns how to forgive it’s always going to be
this way.”
He pressed a super light
kiss to my temple and gave me a little squeeze back. “I don’t
think any of them realize how lucky they are to have you little
girl.”
I let him go and went to
take my seat between Margot and Rule. I tried not to wince
when Rule sent a narrow eyed look in my direction, knowing Rome and
I had more than likely been whispering about him. I slid into
my spot and flashed Dale a smile as he started passing the
typically lavish brunch around. I was about to ask Rome what
he planned to do with his time off when Margot had me snapping my
head around in shock.
“Would it be too much of a
stretch to expect you to come to brunch in a shirt that buttons and
in a pair of pants that don’t look like they came from a thrift
store? I mean your brother has several broken bones and was
in a horrific accident and he still manages to look more put
together than you, Rule.”
to stop from snapping at her to lay off of him. Mostly
because family gatherings were supposed to be informal and fun. I
knew good and well if I had showed up in jeans and a t-shirt she
wouldn’t even have blinked, but because it was him she viewed it as
a direct attack on her.
He picked a couple pieces
of bacon off the platter I handed to him and didn’t even bother to
respond to her. Instead, he turned to Rome and asked what his
plans were while he was home. Rule wanted him to come to the
city for a week and spend time with him and Nash. I saw
Margot’s mouth tighten at the dismissal and Dale’s eyebrows pull
down in a frown. I saw varying degrees of the same look every
Sunday we were here. It hurt my chest because even in a
rumpled shirt and torn jeans Rule was the kind of guy that owned
whatever look he was wearing. It was the same thing with the
mass amounts of tattoos that covered him from head to toe and the
array of metal that dotted his face here and there.
There was no denying Rule
was a good looking guy, probably too good looking to be honest, but
he was complicated and the beauty he possessed was buried and
camouflaged under things it was easy to look past. Of all the
brothers, he has the clearest, most arctic blue eyes, his hair,
even when it was decorated with purple or green or blue, was still
the thickest and the shiniest and even with every color under sun
dancing across his skin, of the three of them Rule had always been
the one the girls gravitated to. Just like the brunette at
Starbucks this afternoon. Her name was Amy Rodgers, and I had
spent all four years of high school being tormented by her and her
cheerleader cronies. She dated jocks and boys that bled blue,
not guys that rocked mohawks and had their eyebrows and lips
pierced, but even she couldn’t resist all that was Rule Archer in
his magnetic glory.
“And what’s going on with
your hair son? A color actually found in nature might be a
nice change of pace, especially since the whole family is together
and we’re all lucky to have your brother home in one
piece.”
silently took the bowl of fruit Margot handed me. Now that
they had teamed up on him there was no way he was going to stay
quiet. Normally he ignored his mom and shot sarcastic one
liners at Dale, but being interrupted and attacked from both sides
while he was trying to catch up with Rome wasn’t going to
fly. Rule had a short fuse on a good day but corner him when
he was hung over and being reluctantly civil at best–the fur was,
no doubt, going to fly. I shot Rome a panicked look across
the table, but before he could interject Rule’s voice snapped out
like a verbal back hand across the face.
“Well, pops, purple is
found all throughout nature so I don’t know what you’re talking
about and as far as my clothes are concerned, I figure we’re all
lucky I bothered to even put pants on, considering the condition
Shaw found me in this morning. Now if you’re both done
criticizing every move I make, can I continue my conversation with
my brother I haven’t seen in over a year, considering he
nearly got blow up by a roadside bomb?”
shoved his chair back from the table. I let my head fall
forward and rubbed between my eyes where a headache was starting to
throb.
“One afternoon Rule, one
freaking afternoon is all we ask of you.” Dale stormed out of
the room and Margot wasted no time bursting into tears. She
buried her face in her napkin and I reached over to awkwardly pat
her shoulder. I cut a look at Rule but he had climbed to his
feet as well and headed toward the front door. I shot a look
at Rome who just shook his head and lumbered to his feet.
Margot lifted her head and looked at her oldest with pleading
eyes.
“Tell him Rome, you go
tell him that this is not how you treat your parents. He has
no respect.”
finger at the door. “You tell him that this is
unacceptable.”
Rome looked at me then
back to his mom. “Sure, mom, I’ll tell him, but I’m also
going to tell you that you had no reason to lay into him like
that. Who cares if he wants to wear jeans and have hair like
a god damn Smurf? What matters is that he’s here and he made
an effort. Shaw took time out of her life, her busy schedule,
to make that happen for you and dad. You waited exactly three
seconds before purposely picking at the scab, both of
you.”
Margot gasped but Rome
wasn’t done. “You and dad need a wakeup call. I could
have just as easily come home in a body bag instead of a
cast. You’ve already lost one son, you need to appreciate the
ones you have left, regardless if you agree with the choices we’re
making or not.”
The tears came harder and
she leaned her head on my shoulder. “Shaw loves coming to
visit on Sunday; we should just stop asking her to bring Rule
because clearly, he doesn’t want to be here. I’m done trying
to make him be part of this family, it just hurts too
much.”
Rome shook his head and
both of us sighed. He followed his brother out of the room as I
continued to pat Margot on the shoulder. This woman had been
kind to me, treated me as a daughter when my own had no use for me,
so what I was about to say to her came from a place of refusing to
watch another family collapse in on its self.
“Margot, you and Dale are
wonderful people and good parents, but you have to stop living in
the past. I’m not going to come see you on Sundays anymore,
not unless you figure out how to accept Rule for exactly who he is
and love him anyway. I miss Remy and it was tragic how he
died, but you are never going to turn Rule into him, and I can’t
stand by and watch you continue to try. My parents have been
forcing me into a mold that hasn’t fit me for years and I only wish
I had enough will to refuse them the way Rule does.”
had to fight back my own tears when she looked at me with shock and
dismay.
“If Remy was here none of
this would be happening. You and he would still be happy together,
Rule would never have started acting so awful and Rome never would
have gone off and joined the stupid military.”
away because there was so much wrong with what she was saying that
it nearly floored me. “Margot, Rule was always a handful, he
just never bowed to your and Dale’s dictates. Rome was enlisted way
before the accident. And I’ve told you a million times Remy was my
best friend–we didn’t have feelings for each other like that. I
think you need to consider talking to a professional because you’re
rewriting history and, while you’re doing it, you’re losing a
pretty terrific son.”
“You can’t honestly
believe that? Rule is just as awful to you as he is to me and
his father.”
my temples harder. “He isn’t awful; he’s just harder to
love. Remy made it easy for you guys; Rule never has, but he
deserves the effort and until this family can see that I have
better ways to spend my time. If I wanted bickering and
bitterness I would just go home. I love you and Dale, but I
see what you’re doing to Rule and I will not be a part of it
anymore. Rome was right; you need to appreciate the family
you have and not spend your life comparing them to the family you
lost. Remy was my whole world Margot, but he’s gone and Rule
is here.”
She crossed her arms and
flopped her head down on the table. I knew there would be no
getting through to her so I walked to the front door. I
wasn’t surprised to see Dale leaning against the kitchen counter,
watching me with serious eyes.
“She isn’t going to do
well without you coming by. You’re an important part of this
family.”
hair behind my ears and gave him a rueful smile. “So is your
son.”
“Margot isn’t the only one
that needs to remember that, and you have to admit that hair is
ridiculous.”
time and walked over to give him a hug. “She needs help
Dale. Remy’s been gone for a while and all she wants to do is
push Rule to take his place. That isn’t going to happen, we
all know that.”
