“Fuck off. All of us are supposed to fall hard like Dad. What’s wrong with getting a few pointers from our big brother?” Landon asked.
“Lou’s not like every other woman. We can’t share pointers about this, guys. This is going to be different for all of us. What I want to know is if the schoolteacher is Abel’s woman?” Jacob asked, putting the pressure on Abel.
“She’s not a schoolteacher, and she works at the casino at several of the tables. I like her. She’s nice.”
“Nice?” Gideon asked.
“Yeah, nice.”
Gideon turned to him. “Is that how you see Lou? She’s nice?”
“No. It’s not what I see when I look at my woman.”
“Okay, fine, she’s not the one, but I like her. She’s nice, and she’s a good girl, hard worker.”
Jacob shook his head. “You’ve got to be careful. If she’s not the one but she’s a nice girl, you’re going to break her heart when you find the right one.”
Abel shook his head. “You ever thought that the supposed legacy is not going to hit all of us?”
Their father interrupted them by laughing. “You boys, you really don’t get it, do you?” Maddox asked.
“What? What don’t we get?” Landon asked.
“You’re all going to find your woman. I agree with Jacob about this, Abel. I told all of you boys that you would find a woman for yourself, a woman you’re not going to be able to walk away from. Once you find her, and you will, the woman you’re with, she’s going to end up hurt. It’s not going to be something you can control. It’s just the way it works.”
“How do you know?” Abel asked.
“I watched my brother go through it.” Maddox pointed toward Stuart, his youngest brother, and their uncle. “He married the girl he dated in school. He was in love with her, and they had a child together. By twenty-seven years old, he was married with two kids, and then he met her.”
Jacob looked toward the corner where Michelle stood.
“Michelle caused quite a stir when Stuart first met her. He didn’t want to hurt his wife, but she wasn’t the one. It’s difficult for them all, and Michelle feels like she ruined a family even though she did nothing wrong. All she did was answer an ad.”
Michelle had gone for a job as a nanny. On the first meeting, Stuart had been torn.
“Be careful. Don’t become the bastard that Stuart has to live with. He has to watch his kids grow up with another man, and Michelle has to deal with the kids not being happy with her. It’s a fucked up situation,” Maddox said.
Their father left them alone, and Jacob wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore. Leaving his brothers to keep pestering Abel, he moved toward the entrance in the kitchen. Lou’s hair was now bound up in a ponytail, and she was kneading some bread with his mother beside her.
He’d never expected to enjoy watching his woman in the kitchen with his mother, but seeing Lou, it did something to him. This was what it meant to have a woman of his own, and being able to bring her home.
Lou looked up, her gaze landing on his, and she smiled. “Hey,” she said.
“Ah, Jacob, come on, show Lou that you know a thing or two within the kitchen.”
Entering the kitchen, he removed his jacket, and moved beside Lou to start kneading another batch of bread. His mother was one hell of a cook, and she loved to make several loaves of bread to give to her sons for when they left.
He loved her bread. He loved all of her food. If he didn’t work out three times a week, he’d have developed a serious problem. Jacob did love good food.
Standing beside Lou, he grabbed the bowl that had the risen dough. Removing the plastic wrap, he punched it down and gathered it out onto the floured counter.
“Well, well, well, I didn’t know you even knew what a kitchen was.” Lou bumped him with her hip, and he chuckled.
It was the first time she actually looked relaxed in his company.
“This is excellent work. Lou, you’re a darling.” His mother moved to the stove and started stirring a large pot. “I’ve been making plenty of leftovers for you to take home. You know I don’t like the thought of you guys living on fast food.”
“Fast food is a curse to everyone,” Lou said.