Fall: Rise & Fall Duet Book 2 (Shaken 4) Read online

  “She stayed behind with the dogs,” Pepper said. “But she wants us to send her pictures.”

  “Okay,” he said. He posed with his head tilted toward his sister. “We’re ready.”

  Pepper grinned and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She held it up. “On three. One. Two. Say cheese.” She snapped a photo.

  “What happened to three?” Eric asked.

  She turned red. “Oops.”

  He held the door open for everyone, but I insisted he go in ahead of me.

  The community center was old, but clean. There was a corkboard littered with flyers which I assumed were upcoming events. A few people milled around. Other than a dull hum of voices, it was mostly quiet. While I appreciated that because I wasn’t one for much noise, it bothered me.

  The place was in the center of a neighborhood. It should’ve been teeming with people. An asset residents took advantage of.

  How can they get more kids in? Is funding the issue?

  People were busy and had their own lives to tend to. But this was an important part of Lexie’s and Eric’s. They couldn’t be the only ones who enjoyed the space. Seeing the way he lit up when he realized where we were headed . . . I wanted others to have that same experience. For the community center to be a necessity.

  “Are you thinking of buying this place?” Lexie fell in step beside me.

  I’d lingered behind the others without meaning to, taking in the details.

  “How often do you come here?” If I understood the way someone actually utilized the community center, I’d be able to better assess how to encourage others to do the same.

  She gave me the side-eye. “Once a week for the art class. Then a few more times a month to volunteer for different activities.”

  “Is it always this quiet?” I glanced toward an open door, but the lights were off. A conference room, maybe?

  “Unless they have a children’s program, most of the time.”

  I grunted an acknowledgment.

  “You’re scowling,” she said as we continued through the wide corridor.

  “Aren’t I always?” One corner of my mouth lifted.

  She let out a huff. “Excellent point, Mr. Hollingsworth.”

  This woman gets me. And likes me. Not sure which part surprised me more. But she was right. I did wonder if the center could be better utilized and pay for itself . . .

  “Bob Ross has swagger,” Eric said as he disappeared inside an open door.

  “That’s a term he picked up from you.” Lexie elbowed me.

  I hesitated. I’d said Eric had swagger the day I’d been under arrest. Had I influenced him? That was a responsibility I wasn’t sure I was ready for.

  I followed her into the large classroom. A video screen and canvases were set up throughout the room. Including the instructor, about ten other people were there.

  Six vacant easels were set up on the back row. Eric put on a smock and sat down as if it were the most natural thing. I . . . was out of my element.

  “Sit over here, Lincoln.” He waved me over and my feet moved before I could think.

  I lowered onto the stool and watched as he checked out what supplies were at his station.

  “You should put that on.” He motioned to the white smock draped over my supplies.

  Lexie lifted a brow when I picked it up. I couldn’t say no to him. So I’d sit and watch with a ridiculous smock on.

  “Can you help me carry my paintings to your apartment?”

  Everyone in our group paused, sitting up at Eric’s question to me.

  “Certainly. Where would you like them displayed?”

  His eyes widened. “You’ll hang more of them up?”

  “All of them.”

  “Sis, did you hear that? We’ll finally have enough walls.” His smile was so big I was tempted to purchase a larger apartment just so there would be more wall space. Well, if I had the funds to purchase anything.

  “I heard.” She flashed me a grateful look.

  “Can I have your office as my room?” His expression was so open and honest and genuine when he turned toward me.

  “Yes?” I glanced to Lexie for help. He could have anything of mine he wanted. It just seemed like an odd request.

  The chatter from Teague, Pepper, and Beau had ceased. They’d suddenly become very interested in our conversation.

  “That’s my favorite spot in Lincoln’s place too,” Teague said.

  It is?

  I’d never heard him express that before, though I favored it too.

  “Although, you might want my room,” he continued. “The bathroom has a phone in it.” He nudged Pepper, and I didn’t even want to know what that was about.

  Again he caught me off guard. That extra bedroom was his room, though I was surprised he thought of it that way.

  “I’d like to see that,” Pepper said.

  “We should take a vacation over there someday.” Teague pointed at me. “You taking a vacation anytime soon?” Then he clamped his mouth shut and his face fell.

  He hadn’t meant an absence while I was in prison, though it was still a possibility.

  “No plans. But you’re welcome to stay anytime.” That was my way of telling him I had no intention of going anywhere.

  “None of you can have my room. I like the view,” Beau said.

  Did she think of her place in my home as her own? It was, but somehow it seemed as though her stopover was temporary and she had no attachment.

  I was happy to know she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Was happy she felt as though she was home when she was staying with me too.

  “Can I get some art supplies, sis? There will be a lot more space in my new room,” Eric said.

  “You’ll have to ask Lincoln if it’s okay if you paint there,” she said carefully, looking uncertain.

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” I asked. I liked the idea of them having their own belongings in my apartment. Maybe then they’d spend more time there. I thought after my confession to Lexie yesterday, she’d have moved back to her place. Perhaps she feared her father, and rightly so.

  I didn’t care why they continued to stay at my apartment. I just wanted them there.

  “Where is Lexie’s room going to be?” Teague gave an exaggerated wink.

  “She’ll live with Lincoln. Me and Beau brought most of her clothes and put them there,” Eric volunteered.

  “Hold up a minute. Are you two . . .” Teague motioned back and forth between Lexie and Eric.

  “We’re moving in with Lincoln. We just have to get the rest of our things.”

  The instructor started the video the second Eric finished speaking. I looked to Lexie for confirmation, but she refused to focus anywhere but the front of the classroom.

  “You didn’t think you should mention this?” Teague leaned forward so he could better see me.

  “We—” I cleared my throat. “We just discussed it.”

  His eyes narrowed. Then his face split into a grin. He elbowed Pepper again. “Told ya it would happen.”

  She threw her hands up. “I told you.”

  Everyone in the class turned around, and Pepper blushed bright red.

  “Did you know about this?” Teague poked Beau with a paintbrush.

  “I live there. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.”

  Eric zeroed in on the first set of instructions. His canvas already matched the one on the video screen. The rest of ours were blank.

  “Oh yay!” Pepper clapped her hands. “You two can come to our wedding as a pair.”

  “What she’s really saying is you won’t both bring random dates to our family gathering,” Teague said.

  Pepper put her hand to her forehead.

  “Have you decided on a venue?” Beau swiped a blue streak across her canvas that was completely the wrong color compared to what Bob Ross was doing.

  “We’re thinking about the old Grey Paws location,” Pepper said, also starting her painting.


  “It’s a mess.”

  My sister wasn’t wrong, though she could’ve used a little more finesse.

  “We’re hoping to have the demolition and cleanup done soon so we can make an outdoor area big enough for just us, Miss Adeline, the dogs, and the guys from the fire station to come,” Teague said.

  “What do you need to make that happen?” I asked.

  If that was the wedding my brother and Pepper wanted, then that was what they’d have.

  “We have contractors we use who can get the job done quickly and reasonably,” Beau chimed in, completely in tune with the same line of thought as me.

  Teague painted his own streaks as the video directed, though it wasn’t quite the same. “I may take you up on that.” He frowned. “As long as they don’t have anything to do with . . .”

  “They won’t,” I said quickly. I wouldn’t allow my father to taint the most important day of Teague’s life.

  “Who are you going to bring, Beau?” Pepper asked. “Miss Adeline wants to know. You know I’m not that nosy.”

  “No one,” she said sharply, adding another swipe of color to her canvas.

  “Do you want me to show you which brush you need?” Eric came up for air to check on me.

  I thought he was so absorbed in his own work, he wasn’t paying attention to anyone else.

  Before I could answer, he rummaged through the can containing several brushes and pulled one out. “This one.” He put it in my palm, then searched through the paint bottles. “Mix this and this.” He set two apart from the others and waited until I did as he told me.

  Uncertainly, I squirted some sap green and titanium white on the palette.

  “Take your brush and do this.” He demonstrated with his own paint.

  I attempted to mimic him and ended up with a blob of white paint in the green. At a loss, I tried again and made more of a mess.

  “That’s great,” Eric encouraged. “Grab a little more green and it will be perfect.”

  It wasn’t even close to perfect, but I appreciated his positivity. He truly was an incredible person.

  Lexie wore a small smile, her canvas abandoned to watch Eric attempt to teach me. I liked how she took joy from the little things. Would I ever do that?

  And I realized I just had.

  Painting made me incredibly uncomfortable because I preferred to excel at anything I did. Creativity wasn’t my strong suit. But Eric taking the time to help me brought me . . . happiness. And it was because he was so genuinely selfless, something I had so little experience with in life. Until Lexie and Eric crashed into my life.

  “Put color on the canvas,” Eric said. “We’re going to make happy little trees.” He was gleeful at the prospect.

  Tentatively, I brushed a stroke on the blank white canvas. It was uneven. The color was off compared to the instructional video. And it was the wrong angle.

  “Perfect.”

  It was anything but, though I appreciated the sentiment. So much so that I dipped the brush in the paint a second time and made another swipe on the canvas. It too was out of place, but when Eric nodded his approval, it didn’t matter.

  Brush in hand, I looked down the row of easels at my family. Not so long ago, this scenario would’ve been impossible. Beau may have been able to drag me to an art class, but I certainly wouldn’t have participated.

  And for the longest time, it had been just the three of us. Me, Beau, and Teague. Now Pepper and Miss Adeline were part of that. So were Lexie and Eric.

  Family.

  I’d spent my entire existence making certain my brother and sister were protected and happy. That would never change. But it finally occurred to me.

  While continuing to do those things, I could be happy too.

  And sitting in a community center painting with the people who meant most to me made me extraordinarily happy.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Lexie

  “Who invited him?”

  I whipped my head around to see who Beau was pointing at. A tall, brutally handsome man stood in the doorway to the rescue. He was solid muscle, which was easy to see even in his jeans and long sleeved FDNY T-shirt. And his grin was all kinds of amused.

  “I did.” Teague strode over, actually dressed very similar to the man. He held up his hand. “Glad you could make it, Cal.”

  He slapped Teague’s hand. “Hope I’m not late.”

  “Right on time. We were about to head up for dinner.”

  And I was starving. After the art class, Teague and Pepper headed back to Grey Paws to do their evening routine. Lincoln, Eric, Beau, and I had stopped by the commercial kitchen to make the batch of dog food for the next day. With the storage situation, there was no choice but to do most of it daily. Then we’d met back at the rescue for a late dinner.

  It appeared we were adding to the party, and I’d have to hand it to Teague. He got an A+ for choosing guests with eye appeal.

  He led the man toward the rest of us. “You know my sister, Beau.”

  Her fist balled as her entire body tensed. “Don’t even,” she said when he bent forward as if to kiss her cheek.

  His grin broadened as he ignored her and did it anyway. Beau stiffened and I was fairly sure fire beams from her eyes were going to laser him to ashes on the spot.

  “And you’ve met Pepper and Miss Adeline.” Teague gestured toward them.

  “When?” Beau demanded.

  “In between fighting fires,” he returned easily.

  Her fingers flexed and balled. Is she going to deck him?

  “Heroes are humble. Like Teague.” There was respect on her angry features when she looked at her brother, though I was pretty sure she wanted to punch him too.

  He cleared his throat. “And it’s been a while, but this is my brother, Lincoln, and his girlfriend, Lexie, and her brother, Eric.”

  The man lifted his chin. “Garrett Calhoun. Everyone calls me Cal.” He pointed his thumb at Beau. “Except her.”

  She flashed a saccharine smile. “I call you asshole.”

  Whoa.

  “And I call this interesting.” Miss Adeline rubbed her hands together. “Should we go have cereal now? I’m having Lucky Charms to watch this show.”

  Pepper cut her eyes to the older woman, though she stifled a smile. “We’re out because you already ate them all.”

  Miss Adeline held up her hands. “Must’ve been Sadie because it certainly wasn’t me.”

  Pepper glanced at the dog uncertainly. With Sadie, it was very likely she had eaten the cereal.

  “I probably should’ve mentioned the menu before the invite,” Teague said with a smirk.

  “I assumed it would be your cooking.” Cal slapped his back. “My bad.”

  “If we had any left, I’d share my Lucky Charms with you,” Miss Adeline purred.

  “Have you already forgotten about your crush on Lincoln?” Pepper asked.

  “Appreciation. Not a crush,” she corrected. “And he’s taken.”

  “That’s never stopped you from ‘appreciating’ anyone else.” Pepper used air quotes.

  “I can look all I like. That never hurt anyone.” She patted Lincoln’s cheek. “And you are still one handsome devil.”

  “What about me?” Teague protested. “You asked for firefighters and I delivered.” He pointed to Cal.

  “You certainly did.” She touched his shoulder as she ambled past. “I owe you.” She linked arms with Eric. “Let’s go, handsome. I want to hear all about this art class.”

  He followed, happily chattering about how cool it was everyone came.

  Lincoln stood beside me, hands in his suit pockets, scowling.

  I rolled up onto my tiptoes and brought my lips close to his ear. “You almost smiled at the art class. Don’t think I missed that.” I inched closer. “What’s that mad look about now?”

  He dropped his gaze to mine. “I don’t like him.”

  I glanced back at Cal, whose grin had faded, now that Beau
was giving him an earful.

  “Teague does.”

  His nostrils flared. “Beau doesn’t.”

  She most certainly did not.

  “Don’t get involved. She can handle herself.” I’d never seen Beau with that negative of a reaction to anyone, not even her father. But she didn’t need her brothers to intercede at this point.

  “She’s my sister. I’m involved,” he growled.

  I placed a hand on his chest. “Do it from a distance. You’ll be there if she needs you.”

  He blinked at me as if the concept were foreign. It was hard to take a step back from the people we loved and let them handle things their own way. I had very little room to talk when it came to that.

  “I don’t know how.”

  I kissed his cheek. “Try to figure it out.”

  He pulled me against him. “I had fun at the art class.”

  My mouth dropped open. I’d witnessed moments of that, but with Lincoln’s frequent stone-like expression, it was hard to tell sometimes.

  “You’re painting isn’t . . . that bad.” I snickered.

  He scowled and gripped me tighter. “That wasn’t the point of the evening.”

  “You’re right. Thank you for trying. It made Eric very happy.”

  “What about you?”

  I nodded, grateful that he also cared about my feelings. “Me too.”

  “I don’t like to try new things.”

  “Really? I’d have never guessed.” I grinned.

  “You push my boundaries,” he continued, unaffected by my sarcasm. “I need that.”

  I gripped the lapels of his coat. He had this ability to make me feel so much, not only with his words but his intensity.

  “Comfort zones are overrated.”

  “How about hellos?” He bent his head toward mine.

  “Definitely. Unless they’re your version.”

  “Good.”

  His lips landed on mine before I could respond. It had been too long. His hellos never came at the typical times of a normal hello. They happened when Lincoln or I chose. And I liked the spontaneity of them.

  This kiss held something different. Like we’d uncovered another layer of feelings to convey through it.

  His touch melted everything else away. My mind could only focus on him. I felt so much, so acutely, as if it were too much for me to hold.