Hank thought about Jane. Quiet. Always working. Most of the time there, but always on the cusp. He’d known her since he was a kid and she’d always been the same. It wasn’t that she kept herself removed. Hank reckoned it had more to do with the fact she didn’t quite know how to get involved.
And Roxie had read the book. Hank had heard her laughing through the whole f**king thing. She knew Hank was pissed about it and didn’t say anything to him, but he also knew, if she found out it was Jane, she wouldn’t give a single shit.
“My thought is,” Lee carried on and Hank focused on him. “I tell the men. They tell their women. I’m not gonna say shit about how they react, seein’ as they can react however the f**k they want. I’ll wait ‘til Indy’s in a good spot and tell her, and same goes for her. Jane did what she did, the chips will fall as they fall.”
“Not thinkin’ any of the women will have an issue with it,” Hank noted.
“Seems the case,” Lee agreed.
“But even one of those guys loses it and gets in Jane’s face, how’s that gonna go down?” Hank asked.
The look on Lee’s face said precisely how it was going to go down. Jane barely had the courage to live her life. One of the men got in her shit about those books, she could break. Which could mean she’d leave the store. Which would mean Indy would lose her.
Which would not be good.
Just like her grandmother, Indy regarded everyone who walked in that store on a regular basis like blood family. Grandma Ellen had looked after Jane. Indy did in her way, too.
She’d lose her mind if one of the men lost it with Jane.
“My guess,” Lee started, “is that those men will also think about how that’d go down. And if they do confront her, they’ll have a mind to that.”
That, fortunately, was true.
“They also have a right to know,” Lee continued.
Hank nodded and sipped more coffee.
“You gonna tell Roxie?” Lee asked.
Hank’s brows went up. “The Rock Chicks knowin’ something she doesn’t know? And then her knowin’ I knew and didn’t tell her?” Hank shook his head. “She’d have a f**kin’ conniption. She rode my ass half our honeymoon about Ally and Zano.”
Lee grinned, but Hank didn’t find it funny. Ally making a scene with Zano at their wedding reception, clueing the Rock Chicks in to something the men already knew, was not taken kindly by his then-brand new wife.
Luckily, he was able to be creative in getting her to shut up about it.
“Darius says Zano is lookin’ into those books, too. You have a sit down with Ally, will you give her that heads up?” Lee asked.
“Yeah,” Hank answered. “And since I’m out, that’s up next.”
He took his last sip of coffee, rinsed the mug and put in the dishwasher.
Lee walked with him to the door.
At the door, Hank brought up their earlier conversation. “You’ll think about Ally?”
“Said I would,” Lee replied.
“She’s got what it takes, Lee,” Hank pointed out.
“She’s also got no fear,” Lee returned. “Never has. And sometimes that’s not a good thing.”
“You get scared before you do a job or do you just know you can get it done?” Hank asked.
Lee again said nothing.
“You’re measuring her by another yardstick, brother,” Hank noted quietly. “Careful of doing that. It’s not only not fair, she’ll cotton on and the results of that will not be pretty. But, I’ll point out, you’re holdin’ the key to her dreams. Our sister is the kind of girl who’ll bust the door down anyway. And she’s doin’ that. But it’d make it easier, you just hand her that key.”
For long moments, Hank withstood his brother’s intense stare before Lee lifted his chin.
Again, point taken.
There was no more he could do, so Hank opened the door.
“You leaving, Hank?” he heard Indy call from upstairs.
“Yeah, Indy. Got shit to do,” Hank called back.
“Sorry I couldn’t come down,” she yelled.
“Understandable. Another time,” Hank yelled back.
“Later,” she kept at it.
“Later,” Hank replied.
When he was done, he caught Lee smiling.
His smile died when they both heard more retching.
“Seven months, man, and you’re a dad,” Hank pointed out.
That did it.
And what it did was get him another smile.
* * * * *
Ally
“Babe.”
I snuggled into the pillows.
“Ally.”
I batted around my head like an annoying gnat was there.
The hand warm on my back slid to my hip and gave me a squeeze. “Baby, wake up. It’s nearly noon.”
My eyes fluttered open. I turned my head and saw Ren sitting on the side of the bed wearing jeans and a tee and looming over me.
His eyebrows went up and his tone was teasing when he asked, “Sleep is overrated?”
“Whatever,” I muttered, looking away and snuggling back into the pillows.
I heard his chuckle before, “Honey, your phone is buzzing with texts and Hank called. He’s on his way over.”
Shit.
I rolled from my side to my back and asked, “Why is Hank on his way over?”
“He didn’t say. He called me when he couldn’t get you and just said he was comin’ over.”
Interesting.
“And Eddie brought your stuff,” Ren went on.
Interesting.
Time to check for Firefly DVDs.
Also time to haul my ass out of bed.
I threw the covers back, leaned into him, touched my mouth to his then jumped out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
I was brushing my teeth when Ren walked in and slid a mug of coffee beside the sink. He looked into my eyes in the mirror, his smiling, before I watched him dip his head and kiss my shoulder.
Nice.
Then he left me to it.
I was in running clothes by the time I made it downstairs. I also had my phone in my hand and saw that I had texts from various Rock Chicks (Roxie asking me if I wanted to go shopping; Jules telling me her Uncle Nick was going to look after Max, Vance was on the path of some dude who skipped bond, so she asked if I wanted to go to a movie; and Daisy asking if I wanted to come over and do home facials).
I also had a text from my ex-landlord.
Ren came out of the kitchen when I stopped by the boxes on the floor in his living room and I looked up at him.