Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Noah

I went to the gym early, punching the bag as hard as I could. I hadn't slept well, which seemed like my normal now that I'd come back to Refuge Falls.

Refuge didn't seem like much of a refuge.

I snorted a laugh. Stupid joke.

"Dude, don't kill it." McCrae moved behind the bag and grabbed it, holding it steady. "Okay, go."

I went for a victory round and gave it all I had. It was nice to have someone holding it. I hadn't talked to my brothers that much since the family dinner.

After I finished, McCrae said, "Now you gotta hold it for me." He started punching, since his hands were already wrapped. "Mom and Dad say you've rented the Whipple place. I guess RJ hooked you up?"

I grunted and took a punch through the bag. "He's actually letting me stay there for free, but he's given me all these projects." I grimaced, remembering the list of stuff he'd left me. "So it's really not free."

McCrae let out a light laugh. "With the Whipples, nothing is free. The whole town knows that family is a bunch of horse traders. I bought a used pickup from his brother last June and they told me I was buying as is, but they forgot to mention that the AC didn't work. When I went back and told them, they wouldn't compensate for it, even though they were supposed to be open about it."

I rolled my eyes and decided not to take issue with it. RJ was giving me a good deal, even with the list of projects. "We all know what the Whipples are." They had five brothers like us, as well as two sisters. The father had owned the hardware store in town before he'd passed, and the mom was just as widely known. RJ worked for her in a real estate company now, a competitor of Kayla's company.

"I will say I'm glad you're back. Guess you can hold the bag for me in the mornings." McCrae winked at me between punches.

I grunted, holding back a smile. I liked the idea that this might become a regular thing.

"We can all hold the bag for you," Canyon said, sidling up next to me and nudging me out of the way. "I got this. Take a break. You look tired."

I refused to give up the bag. "I can do this all day." Maybe he thought he was giving me a break, but he was just insulting me.

Canyon grunted and stepped back. "You're the one getting in the middle of our routine."

Deflating, I had to admit he wasn't wrong. My brothers had established routines without me. "Sorry." I let Canyon take over, picking up a water bottle and dousing myself with it.

"It's okay. You can hold the bag for Damon when he gets here. He's always late because he has to drop the kids off."

Another dig to my ego. I knew he didn't mean it that way, but I hated that they all hung out without me. "Okay." I could hold the bag for Damon. It would give me a chance to catch up on how the kids were doing.

Canyon turned to me. "You're staying in fair shape, old man. I'm having a recertification for search and rescue on Saturday. Since you are going to be here for the summer, I could use you."

I balked. "No thanks." If I recertified and started doing search and rescue, it would seem like I was staying here permanently.

"No thanks to what?" Damon shoved me in the shoulder as he joined our group.

"For search and rescue," Canyon said, focusing on the bag. "He's staying through the summer, or longer. I just thought he could help us out."

Damon nodded at me. "That's a good idea."

I lifted my hands. "I'm here for the summer to help Mom and Dad, not to do search and rescue."

"I don't see you helping Mom and Dad," Damon grunted.

That annoyed me. I shouldn't have to justify myself. "I took Dad to the hospital. I bought them dinner."

Damon softly clapped, mocking me. "Wow. You are a hero."

I wanted to jam a fist into my brother's face. But how could I argue with that? These guys were here all the time.

"Who's a hero?" Kayla asked. I could see her out of the corner of my eye. She was dressed in her workout clothes, and her hands were wrapped. I was impressed.

Canyon eyed her. "Damon is just ripping Noah because he was proud that he took Dad to a doctor's appointment and then took pizza to the house."

Kayla grunted. "He also got Trent's arm broken." She pointed her wrapped hand at me and nodded to another punching bag nearby. "Want to hold the bag for me?"

Ignoring the verbal jabs from my siblings, I got behind the bag and held it steady while Kayla pounded it. I was the odd man out here, but they were letting me in the rotation.

"I still don't know how exactly Trent's arm was broken." I squinted at Damon. "Did you ever get to the bottom of that?"

Damon stopped punching for a second, giving me an irritated look. "They are both still holding to the story that Trent fell by himself."

"That's a lie," Kayla said. "Jason pushed him. He's been pushing him all year."

Damon fully turned to her. "What are you talking about?"

"I've caught Jason pushing him or doing something mean several times. They both stop and Trent acts like it's no big deal. I had a talk with Jason a couple weeks ago at Mom and Dad's."

Damon threw his hands up. "That would've been nice information to have."

Kayla grunted. "Don't act like this is my fault, bro. I've been helping watch them; don't be mad at me."

"Have you guys seen this?" Damon asked McCrae and Canyon. "Is Jason bullying Trent?"

"Yeah," McCrae said. "Well, I don't think I'd call it bullying, but he's been bossing him around a lot."

Canyon shrugged. "I don't know, dude. I don't watch them much."

For a few minutes, Kayla and Damon busied themselves with the punching bags. None of us said anything.

"Switch," McCrae said suddenly.

Everyone shifted, rotating in the next person. We did this for the next hour. They were all into it. I was tapped out, but I wasn't about to give up.

At the end, Damon grunted at me. "You look tired, bro. Maybe you should recertify, just to keep up with us. We are all going to recertify on Saturday."

This was news to me. "All of you guys do it?"

They all nodded.

Kayla took a sip of water. "Even your little sister, who almost died of cancer."

It was a bad joke, but all of us laughed.

I held my hands up. "Okay. I'll recertify."

As we walked out together, Canyon put his arm around my shoulders. "Drinks tomorrow night at Jim's. Then poker after."

"Okay," I said, moving to my Jeep.

Kayla pointed at me. "And before you deal with the Whipples, my competitor, you should talk to me about it." She grinned. "Though I am happy you're staying, at least for the summer."

Everyone said goodbye and then got into their vehicles. As I started driving off, I couldn't help but feel lighter. Something inside my chest was warm, and I had to pull over for a second to suck in a deep breath. Was this what a family connection felt like? It felt good.

Thursday night, I showed up at Jim's Place and McCrae waved me back to the semi-private room. All of my siblings were there, minus Dylan; they'd invited a few other people to join us, who were introduced to me as fellow police officers, a dispatcher, some friends of Canyon's from search and rescue, and two women Kayla worked with.

Strangely, it didn't feel awkward. We played a couple rounds of poker, and I felt myself loosen up.

I turned to Damon. "How is Trent?"

"He's fine. In fact," he said, standing, "I'd better go pick them up from Mom and Dad's." He looked around the table at our siblings. "Have any of you checked in with them today?"

I had forgotten that Mom usually picked up Damon's kids from summer camp and took them back to her place for a while.

"I saw them this morning," I told them. "I was helping them in the garden."

My siblings turned a curious look on me.

"What? You guys told me I need to help more, and I am." I focused on my cards, ignoring the others at the table. Even the people who weren't members of my family seemed to be in the know.

Kayla patted my back. "That's cool, bro. Thanks for doing that. I'm usually the gardener."

I shrugged and put down a card, taking a sip from my glass of water. "I'm here for the summer. You guys know this."

Damon put his cards down and grunted. "Then I'll plan on seeing you guys at family dinner on Sunday. And church." He headed toward the door.

Canyon gave me a pointed look. "Am I gonna see you on Saturday, then? To recertify?"

I nodded. "I told you I would."

The others at the table looked interested. One of them, a man named Kurt, said, "It'll be good to have you back on the team."

"Thanks," I said. Kurt was older than me and had been with search and rescue for a long time. He was doing good work under Canyon.

The usual conversations resumed around the poker table, and I relished feeling connected again. Even though there was someone who wouldn't let me connect with her, no matter how much I wanted to. The thought dampened my spirits.

Kayla elbowed me. "You okay?"

I jerked a bit and then nodded at her. "Of course. How are you?"

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I'm good. I've been doing some land deals. Part of me doesn't want Refuge Falls to expand, you know? I want it to stay a small town."

I nodded. It made sense. I had never really thought about the future of Refuge Falls, but over the past few days, I'd grown to appreciate that it was still a small town.

I leaned into her. "So are you dating?"

She scoffed and shoved my arm. "Believe me, if I was dating someone in this town, my brothers would be the last to know."

McCrae shoved to his feet, staring at his phone. "Emergency. I have to go." He looked at me, hesitated, and then turned for the door.

Alarm bells sounded in my head. "What's up?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Just a break-in."

Every part of me knew the break-in had to do with Ella, the one person they didn't want to discuss with me. I threw my cards down and followed him.

As I emerged into the parking lot, McCrae was already getting in his truck. "McCrae," I called after him. "Is this about Ella?"

He started his truck but rolled down the window. "You know I can't answer that."

I smacked the side of his truck. "Just tell me."

"I can't tell you anything, but I couldn't stop you from following me if you chose to." He put the truck in drive and rolled away.

My heart raced. I threw myself into my Jeep and took off to follow my brother out of town, past my parents' turnoff, toward the lake, and down the road that Ella and I now shared.