Stepbrother Bastard by Colleen Masters Page A

grew up here, you know. Went all the way through
high school together before she pissed off to the big city. ”
    “ I
hardly call going to art school ‘ pissing
off ’ ,
but that ’ s
the gist of it, ” Mom laughs airily, setting the pitcher
down before John, who helps himself to a glass. “ When
I decided to come back here and get in touch with my roots, John was one of the
first people I reached out to. He ’ s
one of my oldest, best friends. ”
    “ That ’ s
one way to put it, ” John cuts in, wiping his mouth with the
back of his hand. “ To tell you the truth,
your mom here was my One Who Got Away. ”
    “ Huh, ” I say flatly, as Sophie tries
not to laugh at my surprise, “ That ’ s … interesting.
And now you ’ re, uh, renting out part of this
house to her? To us? ”
    “ Renting? ” John says, looking almost
offended, “ I ’ d
never take money from a friend. Especially not this one. Your mother ’ s
been staying here at the house as my guest. And now you girls are, too. ”
    There
it is. The little piece of information that changes the entire nature of this
getaway — the
less-than-pleasant surprise I knew would be waiting in store for me, courtesy
of my mother. She hasn ’ t just been visiting her
hometown these past few months — she ’ s
been living here with an enigmatic mountain man, who seems to have quite the
thing for her. And from the way she ’ s
beaming at him across the kitchen table, I can only assume the feeling is
mutual.
    “ There ’ s
one last free bedroom waiting for you upstairs, ” Mom tells me, completely
oblivious to my displeasure with her. “ Between
your sisters and John ’ s boys, we ’ re
at full capacity now! ”
    “ Oh … You
have kids, too? ” I ask John, trying to keep up with all the
new developments going off like firecrackers around me. On top of everything
else, there are going to be a bunch of rug rats underfoot?
    “ Yeah, ” John says, heaving a deep
sigh as he settles back in his chair, “ They ’ re
all around here somewhere. Could never keep track of ‘ em,
to be perfectly honest. ”
    “ Right, ” I smile weakly, trying to
keep calm, “ I, uh … I ’ m
just gonna step out back and get some air, OK? See the rest of the property. ”
    “ Take
your time! ” my
mom says cheerfully, “ You ’ re
on vacation, after all. Relax. I ’ ll
get started on dinner in a bit. ”
    “ Thanks
for the heads up, ” I hiss at Sophie as I pass her on the way
to the back door.
    “ You
got as much warning as any of us, ” she replies, following me
outside. Anna ’ s already disappeared somewhere, as
she always does.
    I
shut the patio door tightly behind me and shove a hand through my dark blonde
hair.
    “ What
the hell is going on? ” I whisper, glancing back at Mom and John
mooning over each other at the kitchen table.
    “ Mom ’ s
having a little love affair, I guess, ” Sophie shrugs, “ I
didn ’ t
particularly like finding out this way, but —”
    “ With
him?! ” I cut her off, “ I
mean, look at him! He ’ s like, a lumberjack or
something. He ’ s not her type at all. ”
    “ He ’ s
a contractor, not a lumberjack, ” Sophie corrects me, “ And
we don ’ t
know what her type is, if she has one. We only ever saw her with Dad. ”
    “ Exactly, ” I reply fiercely, feeling
suddenly close to tears, “ She loved Dad more than
anything. Smart, funny, put-together Dad. This guy is nothing like him. ”
    “ Maybe
that ’ s
part of the appeal, ” Sophie says, walking ahead of me down the
patio steps that lead toward the lake. “ Mom
obviously came back here to take her mind off losing Dad. It makes sense that
she ’ s
drawn to someone totally unlike him. ”
    “ How
can you be so calm about this?! ” I exclaim, catching her slender wrist in
my hand and turning her around to face me. “ Dad
just died, Sophie. This is —”
    “ Dad
died three years ago, ” she says firmly, doling out the tough love
I always need