My Not So Wicked Stepbrother (My Not So Wicked Series Book 1) Read online

  Was that glass I heard jangling in the rather large cooler?

  “Ladies, gather round. Gwendolyn,” she loved to refer to herself in third person, “brought you something extra special today if you win.” She pointed at Mario with her ridiculously long, painted gold fingernail. “Open the cooler.”

  Her boy toy obeyed like he was a dog and she would pet him afterward. I hoped she didn’t, especially not in front of me or the kids. I was pretty sure there were league rules against it. Poppy should probably plan on years of therapy. I knew I would have needed it if ol’ Gwennie was my mom.

  Mario obeyed and revealed Gwendolyn’s surprise, which was more like a gotcha!

  The smell hit us first. We all backed away, except Gwendolyn, who actually did some lifting and pulled out two crystal platters. Yes, I said crystal. She held them out as if she’d actually made them herself, which there was no chance of. A lot of what she did during practice was order takeout.

  “Look, my little darlings, smoked trout crostinis and curried shrimp tarts, annnddd,” she handed the trays to Mario before retrieving a nice, cold glass bottle of Perrier, “sparkling water. Isn’t that exciting?”

  All the girls looked at me to answer.

  “You know, Gwendolyn, carbonated drinks aren’t the best for kids to rehydrate.” I know what a hypocrite I sounded like, because who was going to be downing a Dr. Pepper after the game? That’s right, this girl. Win or lose I was stopping for one. “And a few of the girls have shellfish allergies.” I so lied. It was worth it for the twelve beaming smiles I received and to see Gwendolyn’s collagen filled lips pout.

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me this? I need an entire list of allergies. Do you know how much this food cost? What am I going to do with it? I can’t eat it. Do you know how many calories are in these little delectables?” She gave me a scrutinizing once over. “You probably don’t count calories.”

  She would be correct, but even if I did, I wouldn’t admit to it, especially not in front of girls who needed positive body reinforcement. “You’re right, I don’t, and neither should the girls.” I turned to twelve sets of wide eyes. “Let’s warm up.”

  I grabbed my large bag of soccer balls and headed out to the field in a huff, running different backhanded comments through my mind that I could lob at Gwendolyn. Why was weight such a factor in a woman’s life? She would have never said that to a man who was ten pounds overweight—okay, twelve now. Those additional two pounds were just the pre-pre-pre-period pounds I always carried, but who was counting? Apparently, everyone. I liked food. Sue me. I could run circles around the heeled princess.

  Before I went unhinged and challenged her royal highness to a race, I was relieved of the bag of balls I’d been carrying. My head whipped to the side ready to be super annoyed, but instead I was pleasantly surprised to see my favorite. Not just person. He was simply my favorite everything. I almost smiled, but then I thought, would he love me if I weighed less? My almost smile then turned into a scowl.

  Sawyer stopped and set down the bag of balls. “Are you okay?”

  I had to shake myself out of my head. “I’m fine.”

  Sawyer stepped closer and brushed some of my flyaway hairs back, causing me to shiver in the warm summer air. Did he ever notice my reactions to him?

  “Are you sure?” Sawyer asked.

  I was about to tell him I was, but then I wasn’t.

  “Hey there, Miss Emma,” Shelby’s Southern drawl echoed across the field.

  Sawyer stepped away from me, flustered. “I’m giving Shelby a tour of Edenvale today,” he tripped over his words. “This is the first stop.”

  “How nice.” I faked a smile.

  Shelby was upon us and before I knew it, she was hugging me. Why did she have to be so dang nice? And skinny? Like, I could feel her bones. She smelled like heaven too. I had no other choice but to hug the man-stealing goddess back. “How are you?”

  Shelby stepped back all smiles, wearing the cutest romper. Not many women pulled off the romper look, but she nailed it. Miss perfection leaned into Sawyer. “I’m doing just fine. This man here showed me the best place for breakfast. Have you ever been to the Brown Bear?”

  I thought this was their first stop on the tour, and yes, I had been there. I was the one who introduced Sawyer to it because they made the best apple cinnamon pancakes with warm apple butter syrup. You know, I could go for some right about now. I nodded my response to the Southern Belle.

  She rubbed her non-existent stomach. “I think I’ll be full for a week.”

  My stomach was more lived in. I would have been full only until lunchtime. “Well, I need to go get my girls warmed up.”

  “GO PINK LADIES!” she shouted and jumped up in the air. I guess Sawyer had filled her in about the team name.

  “Why don’t you grab us a seat over there?” Sawyer pointed to the bleachers on the east side of the field. “I’m going to help Em for a minute.”

  Shelby patted Sawyer’s arm. “You truly are the sweetest thing. You take your time.” Shelby waved at me. “Good luck, Emma.”

  “Thank you,” I mumbled while walking off.

  Sawyer caught up to me.

  “First stop on the tour, huh?” Came flying out of my jealous mouth before I could filter it.

  Sawyer narrowed his eyes while smirking. “This is the first stop in Edenvale. The Brown Bear, as you know, is in Pine Falls.”

  “Clever.”

  Sawyer nudged me. “Em, what’s wrong?”

  “Not a thing.” I picked up my pace.

  Sawyer and his long legs easily kept up. “Are you trying to ditch me?”

  “No. Why would I?”

  “That’s a good question.”

  “It’s a silly question, because I’m not.”

  “If you say so,” amusement played through his words.

  “I do.”

  “Well good, because it would be futile. I run faster than you.”

  I smiled at the fool.

  “There’s my Emma smile.”

  I wasn’t the only one smiling. As soon as the girls saw Sawyer, they all charged him. He was quick and started tossing the balls at them as if they were playing an impromptu game of dodgeball. The girls played right along. They started tossing balls back trying to hit him, but he was too quick.

  It was such an attractive sight. Sawyer fit so well into my world. Even when he gave me a wicked grin and threw two successive balls at me. I dodged the first one, but the second one nicked me in the butt. Sawyer flashed me his brilliant smile, pleased with himself.

  “Okay, ladies, let’s warm up.” I hated to end the fun, but it was important that we warm up.

  They each tried getting Sawyer once more before lining up to stretch, but each attempt was unsuccessful, until I bent over pretending to stretch. I grabbed the ball nearest me and zinged it Sawyer’s way, hitting him in his nice firm buttocks that I’d pretty much memorized the shape and contour of. He deserved an award for how good it looked in his khaki shorts.

  “I’ll give you that one.” Sawyer tossed the ball back at me. “Good luck, ladies.” He sauntered off without another word toward the woman who might finally capture his heart. I needed a Dr. Pepper right about then, you know, for the carbonation to make my ill stomach feel better. I really needed to get myself together and get over him. Maybe I should start looking for a new job now. Metallurgists were in high demand, especially female ones since there were so few of us. I could basically write my own ticket.

  I would have to think about it later. I had to focus on my girls. We went through our series of stretches and then we ran several drills for dribbling, passing, and shooting agility. It didn’t take long before it was time for us to take our side of the field where her highness Gwendolyn was already set up as if she was laying on the beach in Monte Carlo. I was waiting for Mario to start fanning her. Thankfully, some sanity awaited me in the form of Aspen, my friend and mother of Chloe, our fabulous goalie. Aspen would have been the
perfect assistant coach as we were former teammates back in the day, but as a single mom of a preteen, she was busy trying to make a living working at the bank and going to school so she could get a promotion. Aspen’s road hadn’t been an easy one, but she was a fighter and an amazing mom and friend.

  The always well put together Aspen, with tresses of golden brown, hugged me tight. “Hey, girl. You ready for today?”

  “Always. Our girls are looking fierce today.”

  Aspen pulled me a little closer and whispered in my ear, “Who’s the blonde with Sawyer?”

  It took everything I had not to look their way. I’d already noticed them front and center, chatting cozily. Miss Shelby was a leaner and was practically in his lap. I guess she was getting the deluxe tour. I took a deep breath and let it out. “Her name is Shelby and she’s the new office manager at the eye center.”

  “Looks like she’s managing something this morning,” Aspen remarked.

  Unfortunately for me, my friends knew how I felt about Sawyer. I may have been a little exuberant when he first asked me out. It wasn’t often I was asked out, especially by sane individuals, so I’d celebrated prematurely. There had been several conversations since on why he never asked me out again. My friends kindly thought it was because my mother had passed away and then his evil mother put the moves on my dad, but I think deep down we all knew why. It was me, plain and simple, because I was plain.

  “They make a pretty couple,” I responded.

  Aspen leaned away from me with her narrowed emerald eyes. “Are they seeing each other?”

  “Not yet, but from the looks of it, it won’t be long.”

  Our eyes both darted to the two of them laughing in the bleachers.

  Aspen rested her hand on my arm. “I’m sorry, Em.”

  I shrugged and plastered on a fake smile. “What for? I’m happy for him. He deserves someone like Shelby. As far as I can tell, she’s sweet as can be.”

  She pressed her lips together and thought for a moment. “I’m here for you if you want to talk.”

  I gave her one more quick hug. “Thanks, girl, but I’m good.” What other choice did I have?

  Back to my girls. Twelve reasons to make me smile. It was time for my motivational speech and the chant we had made up and shouted before each game. We gathered around in a circle, arms wrapped around each other, heads leaned in.

  “All right, my little warriors. You need to accomplish three things today. The first and foremost is to have fun. The second is to be your best. Remember, your best isn’t the same as anyone else’s. And third, learn something new on that field today. Study your teammates and opponents, learn from their successes and their failures. But remember, you only truly fail when you give up. And I know my girls aren’t quitters. Are you ready to go out there and take command of that field?” I shouted.

  “YES!”

  “Who are we?”

  “THE PINK LADIES!”

  “What does P stand for?”

  “POWERFUL!”

  “What does I stand for?”

  “INTELLIGENT!”

  “What does N stand for?”

  “NIMBLE AND NICE!”

  “What does K stand for?”

  “KICK BUTT!”

  Yep. Kick butt. That’s what I was going to do. I had a feeling it was going to be painful because it was my own that needed the kicking.

  Chapter Five

  I was still living off the glow of yesterday’s soccer match, but the closer I got to Carrington Cove, the more I felt the light being sucked out of me. It didn’t help that I kept getting flashes of Shelby touching Sawyer any way she could yesterday. You know, those little flirtations and touches that say all you have to do is say the word and I’m yours? Shelby was skilled at them. Her delicate hand resting on his chest or playful pats on the arm. And man, could that woman lean. Sawyer invited me to have lunch with them and continue the tour, but I passed on account of I liked to enjoy my food and seeing them would only upset my stomach. And you know Dr. Pepper would have been involved. Knowing my luck, it would have gone down the wrong way again and there was a good chance it would have come out my nose.

  I hoped he wasn’t bringing her to the barbecue. I was almost certain he wasn’t, as he’d asked me if I wanted to drive out to the Ranch together, but who knew. Maybe he liked having me around as the third wheel to provide entertainment. I was good at it. I’d been Jenna’s and Brad’s third wheel for years. I even ended up with them on their wedding night—in the emergency room. Poor Brad ate some strawberries by accident and had a major allergic reaction. It was so romantic, the three of us all night. Jenna and I cuddled up on the couch to watch late-night TV talk shows and discuss if this was a bad omen for them while we watched her new husband go from looking like a puffer fish to the adorable goofball he normally was. Fortunately, it hadn’t been. Unlike me, they weren’t cursed.

  I ended up declining Sawyer’s offer for a ride because being the third wheel was getting old, and I was doing that butt kicking thing by doing my best to distance myself from him. I almost wished I hadn’t agreed to go camping with him the coming weekend, but all our friends were on board and I knew Mom would love that we were all getting together to remember her. She would love that I was there with Sawyer, though I had to believe she could see by now it was a lost cause. I’d finally come to that conclusion myself.

  I cranked up my radio and tried to get in a good frame of mind. After all, there was a wedding to witness before our “family” barbecue. Carrington Ranch was a popular place to elope or have a planned wedding. We had a wedding officiator on staff all summer for any lovebirds ready to take the plunge at a moment’s notice. Our new officiator happened to be Sawyer’s older brother, Ashton, who was also a wrangler for the Ranch. Ashton had moved back to Colorado a few months ago from Las Vegas, a little down on his luck. He was recently divorced and had lost his job at the construction company he’d been working for. Like Sawyer, Ashton was a fun-loving guy and seemed like a hard worker so far. Not sure how Josephine had managed to raise such nice men. Maybe their dad was nice, but according to Sawyer, he wasn’t. He blamed his dad for his parents’ divorce. I knew infidelity was involved but that was about it. Sawyer had such bad feelings for his dad he rarely spoke of him, even though he apparently lived in Edenvale. Come to think of it, I should despise his dad too. If they’d stayed married, I might have only known Josephine as Sawyer’s mother and I would have avoided her like Diet Dr. Pepper. It was full-on sugar for me baby, or nothing.

  I took the main entrance into the Ranch today. After this little soiree I would swing by and talk to Mom. No sense showing up in tears.

  The Ranch was alive and full of people. Lovers and families could be seen walking in pairs or clusters along the well-worn dirt paths. Some looked as if they had just come back from the lake in bathing suits and wet hair. There were others on horseback and some playing volleyball. I loved this place. Honestly, growing up here had been like a storybook full of happy endings. I tried to remember that and hold on to those memories. Mom would always say that things were rarely as bad as they first may seem. I’d tried to believe that about Josephine, even though I felt Dad was moving on way too soon and that a decent person would have waited to put the moves on a man who had just lost his wife. But Josephine was happy to tell anyone who would listen, which was getting fewer and fewer, that she couldn’t resist her handsome man and all she wanted to do was heal his broken heart. Then she would lean into Dad and practically knock him over. What was with these women leaning on the men in my life?

  Was it awful for me to say that I’d hoped Dad’s heart would never fully heal? I knew mine wouldn’t. I didn’t think it was supposed to when someone who was such a part of you died. Sure, you were supposed to learn to cope and move forward, but you didn’t move on from them. You continued to carry them with you. Was Dad still carrying Mom with him? I couldn’t say for sure, and that broke my heart even more.

  I took a deep bre
ath and chanted out loud, “Happy place, happy place, happy place.” For Mom’s sake I would be happy. It’s what she always wanted for her children, so despite how life wasn’t turning out like I’d hoped, I would find a way back to my happy, or find a new happy.

  I took the turnoff toward the main house, passing by several of the cabins of varying size that dotted the property. It looked as if they were all occupied. That would have tickled Mom, as this had been her pet project. My parents didn’t need the money the guest ranch brought in. The land and rights Dad’s family had owned for generations made the Carringtons wealthy. Dad had only increased his wealth with the boom Carrington Cove was going through. Land was at a premium and Dad could name his price when selling off parcels or leasing.

  While Dad wheeled and dealed, Mom had made her dreams come true and opened the Ranch. At first it was more like a bed and breakfast, but as its popularity increased, Mom and Dad started having cabins built that could be rented out. Stables and the barn were next. Dad eventually built Mom her dream home about ten years ago. Our old cabin was now used to house the ranch hands who lived full-time on the property during the summer. We had some local year-round employees who lived in town or in Pine Falls with their families, though we only had guests from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Ranch and the animals needed year-round care and maintenance.

  Frankie, our cook, was one of those year-round employees. Even though Mom had been a terrific cook, we’d hired Frankie because her family needed the money when her husband lost his job. That was a long time ago and her husband had been gainfully employed for years, but Frankie had become more like family and she’d stayed on. I was hoping to keep it that way since we especially needed her during the busy summer months. She took such great care of our guests and she was part of the reason so many of them came back. The woman had a gift with food.

  I pulled around the semi-circle drive of the big, rustic house and admired the place I used to call home. The wraparound porch, complete with hearth, was my favorite. Mom’s too. No detail had been spared when this gorgeous place was built, everything from the huge boulders in the landscape to the way the aspen and pine trees were planted around the home.