5. Derek

Derek's phone chimed,but he silenced it and took another swig of coffee. It was the end of a long day dealing with other people's problems, and his patience was at an all-time low.

Besides, he recognized the number of the animal clinic and he had nothing to say to them.Nate Silva had established himself around town as a damned good veterinarian, and that wasn"t easy to do in a ranching community.Derek trusted him to take care of his girl.

Except Sabbath wasn't his girl anymore.Like everyone else in his life, she needed more than he could give.Dragging her along to work every day had nearly killed her. Besides, he had no business hanging onto something so sweet.She deserved someone affectionate, someone who never yelled and would happily cuddle up to her at the end of the day.Someone like that little vet tech with the bright smile.It was easy to imagine Sabbath sleeping at the foot of his bed, curled up in the crook behind his knees.Something pinched deep inside Derek"s chest whenever he imagined it, but he couldn"t pry the image loose no matter how hard he tried.

"If you keep making that face, one day your ugly mug is going to stick that way." His brother James slid onto a stool beside him at the deli counter and pretended to examine his face.Then he grinned. "Aw, shit. Too late."

Derek ignored him and reached for his wallet, gesturing for the waitress to fill his thermos with fresh coffee.

"Thanks, Miranda," he said, sliding a five across the counter.

"Any time, sugar." She pocketed the cash with a flirty wink."It's the last pot anyway. Too late in the day to brew a new one."

"Hang on a second, Miranda." James grabbed a menu and gave it a quick perusal."Get me an iced tea and one of those new citrus buns, will you?He's paying."

Miranda looked sideways at Derek, but he just nodded and forked over an extra ten before returning his wallet to his back pocket.He leaned one hip against the counter, watching as his brother planted the first sugary forkful in his gob.

"What are you doing in town this late?" he asked.

His brother took a giant swig of iced tea and licked his lips before replying."Jennie's got the flu, so I"m dropping the kids off at scouts.I was supposed to work on Mrs. Cooper's fridge tonight, but she was a no-show."

As a general contractor, James wasn't technically licensed to repair appliances, but that had never stopped him.Tinkering with gadgets was his life.Folks would rather slip him some cash under the table than wait weeks for a factory-authorized technician to finally make it out to their rural area.Besides, it was practically a cultural phenomenon in Sweetwater to pay an Owens kid whenever work needed to be done.They'd been scrounging for odd jobs ever since they were old enough to hang onto a rake.All except the baby of the family.

Derek's youngest brother, West, only had one duty, and that was staying alive.His rare congenital heart defect hadn't killed him, but it sure as hell put the final nail in the coffin of Derek"s short childhood.

Their family had settled in Sweetwater more than a century ago, but the only thing they"d inherited was a scrap of useless land and a hefty dose of generational poverty. West"s surgeries bankrupted the family, and their father was forced to leave home and work the oil rigs just to keep the debt collectors at bay.He failed. With their mother in a constant state of nervous breakdown, it was up to the kids to keep the lights on and food on the table.Between the two of them, Susan and Bethanie had babysat nearly every kid in town.James had worked after school jobs for pocket money until he got an early work permit.Then he harvested livestock down at the poultry farm.To this day, he still turned a little green whenever he handled raw chicken.

But as the eldest, it was Derek who grew up overnight.

He was twelve the day he first climbed behind the wheel of their beat-up station wagon to drive his brother to the hospital.His hands were shaking the whole time.He still remembered the awful sound of his mother performing CPR from the back seat.

At thirteen, he quit school to haul rocks full-time down at the slate quarry.

When he was fourteen, he taught himself how to build a combustion engine from a library book and old parts,and he was fifteen when he got picked up at the scrapyard where he'd spend the rest of his life.

Bill collectors. Braces. Broken bones.Broken hearts. Somehow, Derek had managed it all.He"d bullied each of his siblings through their own high school graduations.But his role as head of the family didn"t end there.

It never ended.

So, he watched his brother suspiciously as he sat there, happily eating the gooey heart out of his cinnamon roll.There wasn"t a chance in hell that James had accidentally stumbled upon him.

"What do you need?" he asked wearily.

James took his time licking frosting from the side of his thumb."Me? Nuthin'."

Derek waited.

"Buuuuut..."James drew the word out with great reluctance."Susan's van broke down near the Stop n' Shop.Figured you'd want to know."

"And you just left her there?" he asked furiously.

James shrugged, aggravatingly unfazed by his temper."She wouldn't even let me peek under the hood.Said she was waiting for Ian to get off work."

"What the hell does she think he's going to do?" Derek asked acidly."That husband of hers can't even change his own oil."

He was out the door before James managed to cram the last bite of dessert in his mouth.His brother scrambled after him and nearly collided with Wade Guthrie on his way out.

"Watch it!" Wade snarled. He shoulder-checked James and sent him reeling, but Derek was there to steady him with a hand on his back.

Wade's bloodshot eyes narrowed, and he jerked his unshaven chin in greeting."Owens."

"Wade," Derek said flatly.

"Haven't seen you around lately."

"Nope."

Wade's body oriented toward him, like a hound pointing at a scent, completely ignoring James.He was only a few years older than Derek, but hard living had carved deep into his face, and he always looked as if he were coated in a thin layer of grime.

"You hear about Sutter?" he asked.

"I try not to," Derek said wryly.

"He's out on bond." Wade slid a dismissive glance toward James and added cagily, "Word is he's got some parts to move if you're interested."

Derek didn't react, but he felt a muscle twitch at the corner of his eye.He avoided looking at James, but he could sense how closely his brother was watching—and listening.

Ronald Sutter and Wade Guthrie were trash.Always had been. Dumber than a box of rocks, but crafty, and they had ways of making money that Derek had once desperately needed.It hadn"t been hard to look the other way when they asked him to strip parts off their mysterious supply of junk cars.Not when the cash flowing from their greasy fingers kept food on his family"s table.

He wasn't proud of it…but he'd be damned if he was ashamed.

That was a long time ago, but they never stopped trying to get him back.Or maybe Wade just enjoyed having some kind of imagined power over him.

"So…you interested in picking up some work?" Wade asked.

"No." Derek gripped James by the back of the neck and began to steer him toward the truck.

"Better think twice, son!" Wade snarled behind them.

Derek stopped cold and cracked his neck before slowly turning. James panic-grabbed his bicep, but it wasn't necessary.What did he think Derek was going to do?Splatter Wade against the diner like a bug on a windshield?Of course not. But he could. It would be easy.

A spasm of panic crossed Wade's face.

"Youbetter think twice," Derek said quietly."Bullies like you and Sutter are a dime a dozen, but this isn't the same podunk it used to be.The sheriff ain't your fishing buddy anymore.Eli's not going to look the other way when you start flashing stolen cash.Cash that I don't want or need.Now apologize to my brother for bumping into him."

"I don't—"

Derek took one deliberate step.

"Sorry!" Wade sputtered, eyes bulging.His fingers scrabbled at the brick behind him, like a cat trying to claw its way up a set of curtains."Jesus Christ! Lighten up!"

"Derek." James touched his elbow lightly, refocusing his attention on what mattered."Come on, man. Susan needs us."

Derek clenched his jaw and nodded, but he knew better than to turn his back on a snake like Wade.He waited until the man had scurried into the diner before following his brother.

James kept his mouth shut until after Derek had started the truck and shifted into gear, then he reached out and socked him hard in the shoulder.

"What was all that about?" he demanded.

"Don't worry about it," he said dismissively.

"Someone's got to worry about you, bro.You do a crap job of it yourself.Why does that guy have such a hard-on for you, anyway?"

Derek shrugged and stretched back in his seat, draping one wrist over the wheel to steer.It wasn't the first time one of his siblings had asked that question.Derek always ignored them, but James never stopped trying.He was like a terrier; never letting anything go.

"Where's your shadow?" James asked suddenly, craning his head to scan the back seat.

"My what?" Derek ignored the pang of regret tightening his throat.

"Sabbath. I don't think I've seen you without her in months.Did she finally stop chewing up the door frame if you leave her alone?"

"I got rid of her," he said stonily.

"What? Why?"

Derek forced himself to shrug, elaborately casual."I never planned on keeping her."

"Could've fooled me." James screwed up his face in confusion."Why bother shelling out for the fancy collar and dog bed and all that shit if you were just going to get rid of her anyway?"

Derek ground his teeth. "Because fuck you, that's why."

"Okay, so it"s none of my business." Jameslaughed.

"Like that ever stoppedyou."

James rolled his eyes and added, "It"s too bad,though.Her cuteness was all you had going foryou."

Derek couldn't argue withthat.

Susan was leaning against the dented fender of her Chevy Astro when they pulled up to the Stop n" Shop. Her hands were shoved deep into the pockets of her cut-off shorts, and her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that made her look like a fresh-faced teenager again.

"You rat!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at James. "I told you not to tell him!"

"Youshould have told me," Derek grouched, flicking her in the forehead with one finger.

"I'm a grown woman," she protested, ducking and swiping at his offending finger. "Besides, I already called Ian."

"Then where is he?"

Her gaze slid sideways. "He'll be here," she muttered. "He was just busy at work."

Derek looked pointedly over her shoulder at the four children, all under the age of ten, bouncing around inside the van.It looked like a game of seat tag was quickly spiraling out of control.

"So, I guess I"ll just leave you to wait it out," he said sarcastically.

Susan opened her mouth, hesitated, and then snapped it shut with a growl.She'd always been Derek's counterpart, the de facto mother to his role of pseudo-fatherhood, and she"d never willingly admitted when she needed help.

It was Susan who had left a covered plate in the fridge whenever Derek came crawling home from work in the middle of the night, and it was Susan who sat beside him at the kitchen table, sorting bills into piles based on how long they could be ignored.

She'd married an ignoramus straight out of high school, but Derek didn't blame her. Why wouldn"t she take the first chance she got to escape and live her own life for once? Buther brief leap toward freedom ended with a giant thud when she delivered her first baby less than a year after her vows on the courthouse steps, and a new one every eighteen months ever since.

By the time her little ones were grown she'd have spent nearly her entire life taking care of everyone but herself.

That's what Derek was for.

"Fine. You can take a look," she muttered, glaring at both her brothers.

Derek took the win and graciously didn"t say anything. He just reached around Susan and opened the driver side door to pop the hood.

"Uncle Derek!" A chorus of exuberant voices blasted his eardrums.

"Unca Deek!" the youngest chirped with a thick lisp.

Chubby toddler arms wrapped around his neck, smelling of peanut butter and jelly, and a wet, sticky mouth landed somewhere beside his ear.

"Unca Deeeeeeek!"

"Let go, Jeremy! You know he hates that!" That was Serena, the eldest, sounding exactly like her mother.

"No!"

Serena grabbed her brother and tugged, but Jeremy clung with all his might, plastering himself to Derek's back like a sack of overheated Play-Doh.Soon all the children were yelling and fighting, slowly strangling Derek in their tug-of-war.He popped the latch one-handed and escaped, dislodging his nephew and holding him up to get a better look at him.

The toddler grinned, showing off an enormous gap in his baby teeth.His fat little cheeks were flushed bright red, and his eyes shined like bloodshot marbles.

Derek ignored his giggles and pressed a wrist against his forehead and then the side of his neck.

"Did you know he"s sick?" he demanded.

Susan's eyebrow twitched. "Really?I can't believe I missed that!What would I do without your powers of observation?"

"Don't get smart," he warned.A quick look back at the van confirmed that Jeremy wasn"t the only one.The children were a disheveled, drippy mess.There was an edge in his tone when he asked, "Why the hell did you take them out?They should be home resting."

"Chicken soup doesn't make itself, genius.We're low on groceries. Ian doesn't get paid for another week, so I can't hire a sitter.What was I supposed to do?"

"You should've called me!"

She gave a rude snort and rolled her eyes."You"re always bitching that no one can wipe their nose without you.Then when I try to handle something myself, you throw a fit?"

He glared. "When have I ever—"

"Found the problem!"James shouted from under the hood, full of loud and aggressive cheer.He grabbed Derek by the elbow and hauled him over to inspect the damage."Steering belt, right?"

Derek gave the engine a cursory inspection, bypassing the A/C compressor and testing the tension on the two belts behind it.A rusted bolt wobbled, and the alternator shifted.

"Alternator belt," he grunted, catching his nephew's pudgy hand as it reached for the hood."Easy fix."

"I'll tell Ian," Susan said, slipping her phone from her pocket.

"What's he going to do?" Derek scoffed.He handed her the fussing toddler and gave his cheek a playful pinch before fishing his keys from his pocket."Take the kids back home in my truck and text me your shopping list.I'll take care of it."

Susan resisted as he curled her fingers around the keys."Don't be stupid!" she protested. "You've been working all day, and Ian will be here soon.I can wait."

He ignored her. "James! Get the car seats moved into the truck."

"On it," his brother grunted from inside the van."Give me ninety seconds."

Susan's face was pinched in that weird little way she'd had ever since they were kids, mouth twisted until it looked like she had no lips.She was still wearing the same expression when James took her by the hand and guided her across the parking lot, children trailing behind them like a row ofducklings.

"I"ll bring the van by later tonight," Derek called afterher.

"You're so stubborn!" she shoutedback.

She wasn't wrong, but Derek didn't consider that a bad thing. Stubbornness was all that kept him going.