Rowdy(87)

I paused with the beer halfway to my lips and just looked at her. That was probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever had to say about me.

“I’m really not interested in taking half of your inheritance, Sayer. I don’t make lawyer money but I do all right and I can support myself just fine.” I finally took a slug of the beer and put it back down on the table. “It sounds like you earned every single cent in the hardest way possible.”

She moved some of her hair over her shoulder and leaned a little closer to me so that she could prop her elbow on the table and rest her chin on her hand.

“I’m going to be really presumptuous and overstep my bounds for a second, so don’t get mad at me.”

I lifted an eyebrow at her but grinned because she really looked concerned about what my reaction might be. I couldn’t blame her. I hadn’t exactly rolled out the welcome mat for her thus far.

“I’ve spent some time with Salem. I adore her and think she’s about as perfect for you as any girl could ever be. I know you guys have some history lingering between you but from the outside the two of you act like you’re a team. Before you dismiss saying yes to money that is rightfully yours, you might want to think about the fact you are not operating independently anymore. That money could pay for a wedding. It could pay for a down payment on a house. You could use it for a new business, or for college if you have kids down the line. It’s no small sum, and honestly, Rowdy, you earned it just as much as I did.”

Fuck me. I hadn’t even started to think about what an unexpected windfall might mean if my relationship kept moving forward with Salem the way it was. There was no doubt she had ahold of my heart and had always owned my soul. Sure I was probably going to put a ring on her finger down the line and the way this group was popping out kids left and right that would probably be on the agenda at some point as well. I just hadn’t really thought about it in terms of being right around the corner.

“We are a matched set.” I liked Salem’s way of looking at how we fit together. Sure there had been others along the way but no one fit in the empty places the way she did, no matter how hard I might have tried to force them. “You’re right. I need to talk to her before just turning the money down cold.”

“She’s a very dynamic young woman.”

I laughed because that was one way to put it. “She’s a force of nature.”

“The tattoo she has on her back, the one you drew for her when she was a teenager, I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. I think your drawing is amazing and the fact she carries her favorite gift she ever received with her every day is pretty special.”

I had never really looked at it that way before, but Sayer was right. It was special. Really special, just like the relationship I had with Salem was. “I always thought I had bad luck, ya know?” I leaned a little closer to her as well. “My mom died because some dirty bastard tried to carjack her.” I sighed and felt the weight of that loss settle on me like it always did. “I’m sure you know that because you dug into my life trying to find me, but what you don’t know is that she was out that night because I was sick. I had a fever and was throwing up, so she was just running to the store real quick to grab some 7 Up and kid’s Tylenol for me. We didn’t live in a good part of town, so she never would’ve been out unless it was for me.”

Emotion crawled up my throat and made it hard to talk. I had to look down at the table because the sympathy in Sayer’s gaze was too much for me to handle.

“Then there was the Cruz sisters. I needed Salem and she left. I thought I loved Poppy and she didn’t want me. More bad luck.” I gave a broken laugh that sounded like it was coated in rust. “Then there was football. I was good at it, really good, but I didn’t love it and what I did love I couldn’t see a future in.”

I cleared my throat and then looked back up at her. “After the last month or so I’ve started to change my mind about that luck. Salem came back and set my world right even though I didn’t know it was upside down. Poppy will always be important to me in a different way that still really matters. Phil found me and taught me how to make a living off of art. My mom might be gone but everywhere I turn now I run into someone that loves me and considers me family . . . including you. That’s more good fortune then most men get in a lifetime.”

Her eyes got really shiny and she told me, “You’re going to make me cry.”

I grunted a little and decided to change the subject. “What about you? No one was pissed about you picking up and traipsing off to find your long-lost little brother?”