Deserving You (A McCord Family Novel Book 3) Read online

  Emmett frowned, the confusion clear. “It was an accident.”

  Dare gave a hollowed laugh. “So everyone keeps saying. The courts disagreed. It was criminal vehicular homicide. Want the full definition of what that means? The prosecution even claimed the dog was a figment of my imagination. The drugs created it. They never found a trace of evidence that a dog ran into my path.”

  “The dog was real.” Emmett said it as a statement, not a question. He heard the conviction in Dare’s voice. He believed him the dog was real.

  “Doesn’t matter anymore. I served my time and my parents are still dead. Sad part is I’m not really sad. I had planned to hightail it out of that hellhole as soon as Deja turned eighteen, taking her with me. I never wanted them to die. I just wanted to be rid of them. The only thing I hate, that I can’t stand, is I hurt Deja. I left her alone. I didn’t take care of her like I promised I would.” He rubbed his jaw. “I have no idea why I just shared all of that. Shouldn’t we be getting to your family’s house?”

  “Yeah, we should. Although, we’ll probably need to wait, especially if the fire isn’t out yet.” Emmett rubbed his jaw as well, contemplating what to say, how to say it. “I like your sister.”

  That is not what he intended to say. It just slipped out.

  Dare chuckled, the sound lifting the depressing mood that had filled the truck. “No shit. You look at her like a lost little puppy.”

  “I do not.”

  Dare raised a brow as if he couldn’t believe Emmett tried to deny it. “And your intentions toward her?”

  Shrugging, he glanced away as he smoothed his hand over the steering wheel. “Deja doesn’t like me like that. I don’t want to ruin the nice working relationship we have by asking her out.”

  “So in other words, you’re a coward.”

  Emmett snapped his head to Dare again. His eyes flashed a warning. “I’m not a damn coward.”

  “Prove it.”

  “I thought you didn’t like me. You’re practically shoving me towards your sister. Makes no sense.”

  This time Dare looked away. “Someone needs to take care of her.”

  “You’re going to leave her? That’ll break her heart. Is that what you really want to do?”

  “I already broke her heart, and it’ll just get worse if I stay.”

  Emmett started to ease his foot off the brake. “Yeah, she needs a brother who doesn’t go running away from his problems. Talk to her like you talked to me. It would help.” Emmett pressed the gas, the truck jerking slightly.

  Dare chose not to respond. The rest of the drive was made in silence. Emmett parked on the side of the road near the driveway when he noticed all the fire trucks lining the driveway. No bright fire lit the night sky. They must’ve taken care of the fire. Good. Now they had to wait for clearance to tackle the fence that was mangled in pieces.

  Bordering the road, a white wooden fence, recently painted last year, sat broken in pieces. Emmett guesstimated about twenty feet worth of fencing needed to be fixed. Austin liked to give Sophie wood all the time for her crafts. She created beautiful works of art that she sold on-line. She made good money. No surprise there because she had such talent. It made Emmett wonder if there was any wood on the property to repair the fence until they could properly fix it.

  Emmett started walking down the long driveway, Dare next to him. Neither spoke. There wasn’t much left to say. Emmett could probably say more, but it wouldn’t be wise. He couldn’t believe the words they exchanged to begin with.

  Stopping next to Austin near the porch steps to the house, he tried to ignore the question in his eyes. What had taken them so long?

  “So what’s going on?”

  Austin pointed to the barn and the corral. “They just got the fire out. Thankfully, it didn’t touch the barn, but it torched half of the corral. We’ll need to replace that. Zane’s talking to the fire chief with Ava. I didn’t want to…I’m so…”

  Emmett put a hand on his shoulder. “This isn’t like the last fire that happened. This isn’t your fault, and neither was the last one.”

  Austin grimaced. “It kinda was. I’m the one who dated a crazy ass woman, who then had her lunatic of a brother set fire to the farm.”

  “Are you still bothered about the washer issue? Because I never see you get down like this.”

  “The last few nights have been…rough, like I said. She’s worried about Deja and—” Austin looked at Dare and gingerly smiled. “Sorry.”

  “Sophie doesn’t need to worry about my sister. She’s fine.” Dare became rigid, his face hard with emotions that Emmett figured was a lot of guilt.

  “We just met, but I’m not gonna lie to your face. I would say she’s not fine. Deja hides her emotions well, but all it takes is one look into her eyes and you can see fear.” Austin squared his shoulders.

  “Are you saying my sister is scared of me?”

  Emmett took a step, standing between them. He didn’t think Dare would attack Austin or that Austin would throw a punch either, but just in case, he wanted to be prepared. “Deja loves you. She’s not scared of you harming her. I would say she’s just scared you’re going to leave, which sounds exactly like what you’re going to do.”

  Austin scoffed. “Which is why Sophie’s worried about her.” He started to walk away.

  “Where are you going?” Emmett hadn’t realized Austin was so stressed lately. Normally, Austin was the happy one, the fun one, the one who made everyone else forget why they weren’t feeling like themselves.

  “To check out the barn. I need to see what we have for supplies to repair the fence near the road. We need to do something for the night. Tomorrow we can fix it properly.” Austin kept walking.

  “I thought I was family.” Dare’s sarcasm wasn’t lost on him.

  Emmett chuckled, not even wanting to touch that subject. But what the hell. “Welcome to the family. We get in each other’s face, but it doesn’t mean we don’t care about each other. If you can’t take the heat, then do everyone a favor, especially Deja, and leave.”

  “You’re still an asshole.”

  “So are you.”

  They stood there, staring each other down, wondering who would make the first move. Emmett wasn’t going to back down. He saw three scenarios in his head. He’d either watch Dare walk away, have to shove him from throwing a punch, or wait for him to help repair the fence.

  “Yo, Emmett, I’ve got good news.”

  Emmett turned away from Dare to see his brother Ethan walking toward him.

  “Amidst all this chaos, I can’t wait to hear it.”

  Ethan’s smile widened as he winked deviously. “I found you the perfect woman so you can forget all about Deja. I know you’ll never make a move on her so I’m gonna help you move on. Already got you a date for Wednesday with a nice lovely school teacher.”

  Emmett stiffened. Could the day get any worse? “I don’t want your help. I’m not going out with one of your women.”

  “Oh, I’ve never dated her. Gabe and I had drinks the other night, and she was there with Beth. You remember Beth, right? I dated her a few years ago when…well, none of that matters. It didn’t occur to me then that she’d be perfect for you, but after you left last night, it did. So I called Beth this afternoon to get her number and I got you a date.”

  Rubbing his hand over his face to hide the embarrassment, he sighed. “Ethan, I’m—”

  “You gonna ask out Deja?”

  “Don’t we have a fire to deal with?” Emmett pointed behind his brother. The commotion near the barn and corral was still hopping.

  Ethan shoved his thumbs under his suspenders and smiled with delight. He had already taken off his turnout jacket and tossed it somewhere. “Fire’s extinguished. We took care of that beast without breaking a sweat. This issue with Deja…move on, bro. I’m helping you.”

  “My sister isn’t good enough for your brother?” Emmett almost forgot Dare was standing there until he spoke.

&n
bsp; Ethan’s brow rose in surprise as he glanced at Dare. “Sister?”

  Emmett cleared his throat, almost giddy inside that his brother just made an ass of himself. Serves him right for trying to meddle in his life. “This is Dare, Deja’s brother.”

  “Nice to meet you, Dare. Your sister is good enough, but I’m not so sure my brother is.” Ethan grinned at Emmett, it slightly mimicking one of his smirks that said he was up to no good. Which he clearly was. “If he doesn’t have the balls to ask her out, then he doesn’t deserve her. Now, about this date I set up for you. Her name’s Debbie. Cute as a button. She’s a teacher, very soft spoken. You’ll love her.”

  “I’m not going out with her. I’m not a damn coward.” Emmett started to walk away, ignoring the laughter ringing around the farm. He refused to be baited by his brother like that. He liked Deja. End of discussion. He whipped around. “Watch me ask her out. Tomorrow. Tell your teacher, thanks, but no thanks. I like Deja. And if you got a problem with that, Dare, come throw a punch.”

  ♡

  Dare watched as Emmett stalked away, wondering what the hell just happened. So much shit happened within the space of twenty minutes. He basically spilled his guts to a stranger. He almost got into a fistfight from words he didn’t want to hear. He was accepted into a family, then tossed out like he was a piece of shit. Now he wanted to punch someone again. Maybe himself.

  “Well, that worked better than I thought.”

  Dare averted his eyes from Emmett to his brother still standing by him. “What?”

  “My plan. It worked better than I thought it would. Debbie’s not my type, but I don’t want her to feel bad Emmett won’t be showing up, so I’ll have to take his place. Unless you wanna go out with her.”

  Dare puckered his brows as he tried to assess what the hell he was talking about. “You do realize I just got out of prison.”

  Ethan nodded. “What’s your point? You haven’t had a woman in a long time. Although, Debbie’s not the type to sleep with you on the first date. Just saying.”

  “Are you messing with me right now?”

  “No. Do you want me to?”

  “What the hell is going on?” Dare didn’t like how confused this entire conversation was going. He was two seconds away from saying screw it all and walking away. Because if he didn’t, he’d be sorely tempted to knock a fist into this guy’s face. He needed to punch something.

  Ethan laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, making him flinch. “Lighten up, Dare. Let me work my magic and I’ll find you a woman who’ll be willing to release some of that tension for you a lot sooner.”

  “I don’t want a woman.”

  Ethan dropped his hand and winced. “Oh, you’re gay. My bad.”

  Dare rubbed his hand over his face and groaned. “I’m not gay.” He pointed toward the direction Emmett walked off. “What did you mean your plan worked? I’m not about to let any of you assholes hurt my sister.”

  “I’m not gonna take offense to you calling me an asshole, but be warned, it’s the only time I’ll allow it. Emmett needed a little nudge to get his head out of his ass concerning Deja. If I bug him about other women, it’ll motivate him a lot faster. I didn’t realize it would work right away. You got a problem with my brother dating your sister?”

  Dare noticed how Ethan’s good-humored nature slowly disappeared and was replaced with an underlying wrath. “Maybe.”

  Ethan’s face suddenly brightened into a smile. “Honesty. I like it.” He swung his arm around Dare and forced him to walk with him. “Now, let’s talk about what sort of woman you want. I know lots of people.”

  Dare was too shocked to do anything but follow him and listen. Then he realized it would be kind of nice to hook up with a woman. Release some of the tension swirling in his veins. But what woman would want to sleep with a criminal?

  Chapter 8

  Emmett paused. His fist hung in the air. He normally wasn’t afraid to approach someone. And he certainly wasn’t afraid of Dare. No way in hell.

  Then why couldn’t he knock on the door?

  Because he’d probably ask questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

  He hadn’t received a phone call from Gabe yet, but he knew it was forthcoming. Ethan hadn’t wasted any time last night to spread the word to Zane and Austin that he was finally going to ask out Deja. It only seemed reasonable that Ethan would call Gabe to blab to him as well.

  Hearing that news, Austin’s mood had lifted, clapping Emmett on the back in an “attaboy” gesture. He still couldn’t believe Austin seemed so stressed. He knew the fire could’ve potentially set them back, losing money they couldn’t afford to lose. But Austin was the lighthearted one, the one who always saw the glass half-full, not empty. Zane was the opposite. Last night, it was like their roles were reversed. The issue concerning Sophie bothered him. He’d have to talk to Austin to see how he could help. He didn’t like seeing his cousin upset, and he didn’t like knowing Sophie was struggling, even for a moment.

  Thankfully, they had enough wood to make a makeshift fence last night. He figured Austin and Zane were busy this morning already properly fixing the fence. He debated going over there to help, even called to offer his help, but Zane declined, saying they had it all well in hand.

  A new corral needed to be built. Regardless with what they said, he’d help with that task. The car had hit the corral. The woman who poured the moonshine out of the car had dropped a cigarette she was smoking. That’s what started the fire. The cigarette had lit up the moonshine like a fuse on a stick of dynamite.

  He still had no idea why she poured the stuff out of the window. Ava would get to the bottom of it and then probably push for the stiffest penalty. Nobody messed with their family.

  Zane had gotten scared at the possibilities the fire could create, and rightly so. Although, it hadn’t been necessary for him, Austin, and Dare to all go to the farm last night. He didn’t mind helping. Dare didn’t appear to mind either. He had revealed a little of his personality last night, not by much, but enough to see he wasn’t that bad of a guy. He just made a mistake. A deadly one, but a mistake, nonetheless.

  He paid for his crime. Emmett figured he continued to pay for his crime every single day, and would until he died. It couldn’t be easy living with the fact he killed his parents.

  Which is why he was standing on Deja’s porch, his fist ready to connect with the wooden door. He wanted to help him out, even if he was an asshole on occasion. It had nothing to do with the fact he wanted to impress Deja or get into her good graces. Absolutely not.

  At least he kept telling himself that as he finally knocked on the door.

  The door swung open. Dare’s hair was disheveled, his eyes little slits, as if he just woke up. Emmett chuckled.

  “Something funny, McCord?” Dare grumbled as he wiped a hand over his eyes.

  “Did I wake you, Sleeping Beauty?”

  “Deja’s not here. Piss off.” Dare started to close the door.

  Emmett slapped his hand to stop the door and jammed his foot in the doorframe. “I came here to talk to you.”

  Dare stared at him with a critical eye, then must’ve decided it wasn’t worth to argue with him. He shoved the door open wider and gestured Emmett inside.

  “I need coffee. I got used to drinking that sludge they call coffee in the slammer. Deja buys much better stuff.” Dare walked away, clearly caring less if Emmett followed or not.

  Emmett took a seat at the table while Dare quickly started a pot of coffee. While the coffee pot started to work its magic, Dare turned around and leaned against the counter. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

  “I’m here to offer you a job.”

  Emmett figured not much surprised Dare, and if something did, he hid it well. Not this time. His jaw dropped as the questions in his eyes blazed fiercely.

  “What for? To get into my sister’s panties a little easier?”

  He rubbed a hand over his face to calm the irritation at
Dare talking about Deja like that. Sure, he wanted to look good in her eyes, like he cared about her brother. Not that he didn’t care about Dare. He had no opinion about the guy other than the fact he could treat her a little nicer. He wasn’t sure why he was offering him a job. Maybe because it felt like the right thing to do. And he needed someone to fill the position. His last employee he recently hired just decided not to show up anymore. Business was booming right now. If he didn’t want to lose the good paying customers he currently had, he needed to find a replacement immediately.

  Emmett lowered his hand and gently set it down on the table instead of slamming it like he wanted to. “Do you want a job or not?”

  “Did you ask my sister out yet?”

  “Do we need to talk about Deja right now? This has nothing to do with her. Maybe I’m just trying to be a nice guy here. Is that so hard to believe?”

  Dare’s lips thinned into a tight line, then he abruptly turned around and poured some coffee into a mug. Being the classic jerk he liked to be, Dare didn’t offer any coffee to him. He stood with his back to Emmett for the longest time, he figured that was his answer. That he should just get up and leave.

  Finally, just as Emmett was about to stand up, Dare turned around. “What do you do? Own some kind of landscaping business?”

  Emmett nodded. “One of my employees recently just stopped showing up and I need someone to fill the position quickly. Like, today. You need a job. I need an employee. That’s all there is to it.”

  “What’s the catch?”

  Standing up, he tried his hardest not to clench his fists, to appear calm and collected when he was anything but. “There is no catch. Are you always so cynical?”

  Dare shrugged. “To be honest, even before prison, most people weren’t nice to us. They always got something out of it.”

  Like sister, like brother. Deja and Dare were so much alike. Obviously molded by the childhood they had. Emmett couldn’t imagine what it was like growing up in a household where their parents didn’t care about them. Worrying about what people thought about them. Suspicious and wary of anyone who tried to offer help.