20. Detailed Fratricide Plans

Islammed my front door and Seven hissed at me and ran away in protest.

"Sorry, poo poo. I didn"t mean to scare you. I owe you a treat." I was getting one for myself anyway. A lot of Moose Tracks ice cream was in my near future.

Maybe I would have been able to calm down if I"d gone to spend the night with Hayes, but I knew I wasn"t good company and honestly couldn"t be bothered with the whole sneaking in and out of the hotel thing. I was feeling second place to everything in the whole wide world, and that wasn"t fair to Hayes.

So I came home to sulk. I made my sundae, made a mini one with whipped cream and tuna for Seven, and flopped onto the couch. I needed some good old-fashioned escapism to forget my detailed fratricide plans.

I pulled out my Kindle, opened the book I was in the middle of, and proceeded to read the same page three times. Gah. I couldn"t even get into the book I was reading, and it was just getting to the juicy part. That made me even more irritated so I turned on the TV and navigated to my comfort episode of Star Trek Voyager.

It was the one where Janeway and Chakotay get stranded on an uninhabited planet and have to eke out a new life for themselves. It was the stuck-on-a-deserted-island trope I loved, and I wished I could escape to some tropical island where I didn"t have to deal with anything but what kind of hut I was going to build and how to store all the coconuts.

The only company I could tolerate for the night was Seven, and for once he wasn"t at Hayes"s.At least I was important to my own cat. Could be the whipped cream and tuna that kept him by my side though.

How could Xander do this to me? Sure, he"d been a dick plenty of times when we were growing up, but he"d never been truly malicious. I didn"t think I could handle talking to him right now, and this was not a text conversation. But I knew exactly where he"d be tomorrow morning.

Anytime he won a game, my mother made him old-fashioned cinnamon rolls the following morning. She"d never fucking made me any sort of baked good. Well, tomorrow I was going to my parents', and I wasn"t just going to eat Xan"s precious reward breakfast, I was going to flush it down the god damned toilet.

That made me a whole lot happier just thinking about it. I fell asleep on the couch with the TV on and had lovely dreams about my brother being assimilated by the Borg.

But I still woke up early enough to make it to my parents' house in time for the sweet scent of freshly baked cinnamon rolls the next morning.

"Xander." I marched over to him, right past my mom plating up the warm food, my hands balled into fists at my sides. "What the hell was that?"

He looked up, his eyes widening in surprise. "Willa? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I don"t know, maybe I thought some hot cinnamon rolls would help thaw out my frost-bitten fingers. The ones that turned blue trying to get into the game I was invited to last night. The one you conveniently forgot to leave me a ticket for."

"Willa, dear." My mother"s voice was both syrupy sweet and chastising at the same time. "You don"t like going to Xander"s games. Why would you try to go to the one last night when it was snowing? Your father and I didn't even go in that weather."

Xander"s brow furrowed, genuine confusion etched on his face. "What are you talking about? I left your ticket at will call, just like I said I would."

I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "Well, it wasn"t there. I spent half an hour standing in the snow arguing with the ticket office, trying to convince them to let me in."

He stood up, his expression a mix of concern and hurt. "Willa, I swear, I left that ticket for you. I would never intentionally keep you out of the game. Do you really think I would do something like that?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but the words died on my tongue. The look on his face, the earnestness in his voice... could I have been wrong? Had it really just been a mistake?

"I..." I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling exceedingly small. "I don"t know what to think, Xan. It"s just, with everything that"s happened, the way you"ve been acting about, you know, Hayes, and everything."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Willa, I would never betray you like that, and honestly, it fucking hurts that you would even think it. You never would have before you started spending so much time with him."

"You do spend a lot of time with that boy." I expected guilt trips from my mother, which was part and parcel of being her daughter. "I thought with you being back in Colorado, we"d see you more than when you were in god knows where."

Guilt twisted in my gut, a bitter taste in my mouth. Had I been so wrapped up in my own life, in my relationship with Hayes, that I"d neglected my own family? When was the last time I"d spent any real time with Xander, or my parents, without being coerced into it?

"I"m sorry," I whispered, blinking back the sudden sting of tears. "I should have known better. I"ve just been so caught up in everything, and I guess I haven"t been a particularly good sister lately, have I?"

Xander"s expression softened, and he pushed his plate over to me while my mom wasn"t looking. "Hey, it"s okay. We"re family, Willabean. That means something."

I ate a bite of his cinnamon roll, my anger draining away, replaced by a hollow feeling of regret. He was right. Family did mean something, and I"d been taking mine for granted.

"Care-bear, why don"t we head back to bed and have a little fun." My dad walked into the kitchen, not even noticing that Xander and I were there. "I was hoping the weather would clear up this morning and I could get a tee-time, but it"s a no go."

Xander cleared his throat a little too loudly and for an extra-long time. I laughed and waved at my dad. "Hi, Dad."

"Kids, what are you two doing here? I thought I got rid of you both years ago." He came over like he hadn"t just propositioned my mother right in front of us and gave me a kiss on the cheek and Xander a clap on the back. "Good game last night?"

"Yeah." Xander made a face. "But now I think I know why you and Mom didn"t make it, you dirty old man."

My dad shrugged. "Rosemount men are virile, son. Don"t ever forget that."

"Gross, Dad."

My dad grabbed the cinnamon roll I was eating and popped the rest into his mouth. "You"ll thank me for it when you"re in your fifties, kid. Trust me."

Strangely, my mother was silent through the entire exchange, but she did have a secret little smile on her face.

"I think I have to go throw up now." Islipped out into the hallway and pulled out my phone. I needed to talk to Hayes, to explain what had happened and the realizations I"d come to.

He answered on the first ring, his voice warm and soothing in my ear. "Hey, babe. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just…" I sighed. I hated being wrong, but it was worse being wrong and a bitch about it. "I talked to Xander, and I think it was all just a misunderstanding. He swears he left my ticket at will call."

"Do you believe him?" There was no judgment in Hayes"s tone, just gentle concern.

I leaned against the wall. "I do. And it made me realize how I"ve been neglecting my family. I feel like a terrible daughter, a terrible sister."

"You"re not. Not even a little bit. I"ve seen you drop everything for your family, and they know that. Xan has been... challenging lately. We both jumped to the conclusion that he punked you."

"Okay. You"re right." His words were like a balm to my battered heart, easing the ache of guilt. "Thanks."

We stayed quiet for a moment, just listening to each other breathe, and I needed that safe space with him. It made it easier to deal with everything else in my world. "Hey, do you think I could bring my family to your game today? It would be kind of nice for our families to hang out together."

"Of course, babe. That"s a great idea. I"ll make some calls, get them set up in the box. Be forewarned, no Kelsey today. She"s got a music video to shoot or something."

Relief and gratitude surged through me. "Noted. I"ll save that surprise for another day. Thank you. For everything."

"Anytime. Now, go enjoy the game with your family. I"ll see you tonight."

"Not until later. I have that after-hours booking for the board game people at the shop tonight."

"Oh, right. Yeah. Gotta go, babe. Love you."

He clicked off before I could say it back. Weird. Probably had to make those calls to set up the tickets for the game. It was really last minute, and kickoff was in just a few hours.

I walked back into the kitchen with my good news. "Hey, so, do you all want to go to the Mustangs game today?"

My dad smiled, but my mom and brother exchanged a look. "Sorry, honey, but your brother and I have plans this afternoon. But why don"t you take your father since he can"t play golf?"

Sigh. I tried. "You up for it, Dad?"

"Since I"m not getting laid, I guess a Mustangs game will have to do." He wrapped me in a one-armed hug, and we walked out of the kitchen. "Let me just grab my coat, hat, and gloves. It"s gonna be a cold one. Should we grab some lunch on the way?"

I"d surprise him later with the fact that he wasn"t going to need his cold-weather gear or lunch since it would be toasty warm and there would be plenty to eat in the Kingman box. "No, let"s eat at the game. I love stadium food."

"Beer and nachos for the win."

An hour later, I stood in the Kingman suite at Mile High Stadium, my father already loading up on the nachos. He was delighted when I introduced him to Mr. Kingman, and they hit it off right away. Probably because Mr. Kingman started a conversation about Xander"s chances in the upcoming draft. Funny how they'd never really met before. But my mom did like to control everyone in the family's life, so there was that.

The game kicked off and the players took the field, and I couldn"t take my eyes off Hayes. He was all power and grace and determination. Every time he made a play, I felt a thrill of pride and love so strong it took my breath away. Plus, I think he might have changed his workout routine, because his butt was looking fi-ine in those tight pants today. Better than usual. He was moving up my mental list. He might even make it into the top ten this year.

Jules and Trixie plopped down on either side of me, which were open since my dad was totally engrossed in his new BFF. I couldn"t quite shake the feeling of being an outsider in my own life. Jules gave me a knowing and empathetic look.

"Been there, done that, got the I"m-the-only-girl-here t-shirt. But don"t worry, I got you, boo. I"m collecting a whole girl gang if you hadn"t noticed, so none of us have to be wallflowers at these things."

Trixie raised a finger. "I"ve been collected."

"Jules," I shook my head and stole a handful of her popcorn. "I don"t believe for a second that you"ve ever been a wallflower."

"Yeah, but everything is a competition in my family, including who's the center of attention. You"ll see." She winked at me. "Later."

I didn"t know what that meant but the Mustangs scored their first touchdown of the day, a pass from Chris to Everett, and the crowd and the box went wild, so I didn"t get the chance to ask. It was a really intense game, especially when Hayes got tackled really hard and it took him a second longer to get up. Ooph. I didn"t like that.

I had to leave a few minutes early to make sure the coffee shop was set up for the small event tonight. So I sent a text to Hayes to tell him how great he was and that I"d see him later, and I called an Uber so my dad could stay for the whole game.

As I hurried through the quiet streets of Thornminster, my mind buzzed with plans and ideas. This event could be a good test for the shop, a chance to see if I could cross that red line into the black with after-hours events like this.

I was so lost in thought that I almost didn"t notice the figure huddled by the front door of the shop until I was nearly on top of them.

"Xander?" I frowned, taking in the cardboard box at his feet and the distressed look on his face. "What are you doing here?"

He stood up, running a hand through his hair. "Willa, thank god. I need your help."

A muffled mewling sound emanated from the box, and my eyes widened. "Are those... kittens?"

Xander nodded, his expression pained. "I took Mom to the shelter today, thought she might like a cat for Christmas. You know, after seeing how much fun you had with the adoption event."

I raised an eyebrow, a sinking feeling in my gut. "Let me guess. She wasn"t thrilled with the idea."

"That"s an understatement," he muttered, kicking at the ground. "But that"s not the worst part. When we were leaving, there was this woman in the parking lot, crying her eyes out. She had this box of kittens and was freaking out about the shelter euthanizing them."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, a headache beginning to throb behind my eyes. "Xan, the shelter is a no-kill facility. They wouldn"t have euthanized them."

He threw his hands up, his face flushing. "Well, I know that now. But in the moment, I just... I couldn"t leave them there. So I said I"d take them."

"And now you"re here," I finished, my tone flat. "Xander, I can"t take a box of kittens right now. I have an event starting in..." I checked my watch, my stomach dropping, "less than thirty minutes."

His eyes pleaded with me, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout that had always worked on me when we were kids. "Willa, please. I can"t take them back to the dorm, and the shelter"s closed now. I don"t know what else to do."

I stared at him, my mind racing. I wouldn"t just leave the kittens to fend for themselves, but I also couldn"t have them running around the shop during the event. It would be chaos.

But as I looked at my brother, at the genuine desperation and fear in his eyes, I knew I couldn"t turn him away. Not after all the bridges we"d started to rebuild.

"Fine," I sighed, my shoulders slumping in defeat. "Leave them here. I"ll figure something out."

Relief washed over his face, and he pulled me into a quick, tight hug. "Thank you, Willa. I owe you one."

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled, pushing him away. "Just go, before I change my mind."

He flashed me a grateful smile before jogging off, leaving me alone with a box of mewling kittens and a rapidly approaching deadline.

I carried the box inside, my mind whirling with possibilities. Maybe I could set up a play area in the back room or...

The jingle of the bell above the door interrupted my spiraling thoughts, and I spun around, ready to apologize to my early guests.

But the words died on my tongue as I took in the sight before me. The entire Kingman clan, from Bridger to Jules, even Trixie, Kelsey, and Penelope, were piling into the shop, their arms laden with board games and weirdly embroidered pillows.

"Surprise!" Jules called out, her grin wide and mischievous. "I"m the one who booked the coffee shop for family game night. We do not fit into the living room anymore now that there"s a girls' team, and we needed a bigger space. I figured this way, we could support your business and get you to join us."

I gaped at her, my heart swelling with a mixture of gratitude and overwhelming affection. "Jules, this is... I don"t even know what to say."

She shrugged, her eyes twinkling. "You"re almost family, Willa. And family looks out for each other."

As the Kingmans began to set up, chattering and laughing and filling the space with warmth and love, I felt a lump form in my throat.

This. This was what I"d been missing, what I"d been searching for all these years. A sense of belonging, of unconditional acceptance.

And as I watched Hayes walk through the door, his eyes finding mine across the room, I knew I"d finally found it.

I was home.

The kittens chose that moment to let out a chorus of plaintive mews, drawing everyone"s attention to the box in my arms.

"Uh, Willa?" Hayes raised an eyebrow, amusement, and curiosity warring on his face. "Is there something you want to tell us?"

I laughed, the sound bubbling out of me like a spring. "It"s a long story. But first, who wants to help me wrangle some kittens?"