Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 72969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“Oh, I know that, Hawk. I’ve never questioned that Mom loves either of us. Just how much of that love is focused on us compared to the Golden Trio.”
I chuckle. That’s our secret nickname for Falcon, Raven, and Eagle.
“But Mom would like to see us all married off for sure.”
“True,” Robin says. “And now you and I are the only single Bellamy siblings, assuming that Eagle is still fooling around with Scarlett Ramsey.”
“I suppose we’ll never know,” I say. “He’s never been real open about his personal life.”
“I know Leif Ramsey and Falcon are the best of friends,” Robin says, “and Leif and I have a past, so I know he’s a good guy, but I have to tell you, I’ve never trusted Scarlett.”
“Yeah, me neither.” I look straight ahead at the road.
“He was probably with her today,” Robin says.
I rub at the back of my neck. “Probably. He said he didn’t come up from Summer Creek and last I heard, Scarlett is living in Oakwood Falls.” I sigh. “I don’t really know. I’ve done my best to keep an eye on Eagle.”
“He’s not your problem, Hawk.”
I simply shake my head.
Robin is now the only one of us Bellamy siblings who doesn’t know what happened in that barn all those years ago. Who doesn’t know the real reason why Falcon went to prison.
I’d like to be everywhere all at once—to keep an eye on Eagle, keep him out of trouble.
But I can’t be.
Growing up, I always felt that my needs were the last ones met. It didn’t bother me, not really. I didn’t mind fending for myself. It made me strong, helped me learn that self-reliance is the best quality a man can have.
Still, there was someone I depended on all those years ago.
Someone I rarely let myself think about.
“Dad!” I yell, barreling into my father’s home office.
To my surprise, my father’s not sitting behind his giant desk. Instead, I find a young man with sandy-brown hair and blue eyes a lot like my own. He’s wearing jeans, and on his right ring finger is a ring with a turquoise stone and in his left ear a single silver earring in the shape of a star.
“I can’t find my mom,” I say. “Where’s my dad?”
The man rises from Dad’s chair. “He’s out on the north quadrant today, I think. Checking on some livestock. My name’s Ted. I’m your father’s new assistant.”
He comes around and holds out his hand to me and then drops his gaze to my knee, which is throbbing.
“Hey, little fellow, what have you done there?”
I’m nearly twelve years old. I don’t really appreciate being called little fellow. But whatever.
“I just need some Bactine and a bandage,” I say. “I couldn’t find any in the linen closet.”
“Let me help you out with that.” He reaches into my father’s bottom drawer and pulls out a first-aid kit. “How’d that happen anyway?”
I frown. “I was trying to hang out with Falcon and his friends. They rode off on their bikes, and I tried to catch up. But I ran over a rock and flipped headfirst over my handlebars.”
Ted chuckles. “Then you’re lucky you only skinned a knee, partner.”
Partner.
I like the sound of that. Dad calls Falcon partner all the time, but he never calls me partner. I’m always Hawk or Blue, for my eyes.
“Were they too fast for you?” Ted asks.
“No, I can ride as fast as they can. But they left without me, and I was trying to catch up.”
“I see.” He cracks a grin. “The big brother blues.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ted nods to the family portrait on the wall.
Mom and Dad are sitting front and center, and Falcon, the oldest, stands behind them right in the center—the place of honor.
Robin and Raven on either side of him, and Eagle stands next to Mom, while I stand next to Dad.
“Middle brother. I get it.”
“You’re a middle brother too?”
“Yep, right between Hank and George. Hank was always going off doing stuff without me, and George was the baby, always wanting me to play something stupid with him.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He leads me out the door and down the hall to the powder room. “Let’s fix that knee.”
I don’t need anyone helping me fix my knee. It’s certainly not the first scraped knee I’ve had, and it won’t be the last. I’m not a baby, after all. I know how to wash my wound, apply some Bactine, and then a bandage.
But for some reason, I let Ted help me.
It feels good to be taken care of.
“So your big brother leaves you out?” Ted says.
I sigh. “Yeah. All the time. He’s three years older than I am, and Eagle three years younger. Then there’s the girls, who are two years older than I am, but Raven is so girly. Robin can be fun now and then, but she’d rather be hanging out with Falcon and his friends, too. Flirting and everything.”