Free Unexpected Family by Molly O'Keefe

you home, so keep your opinions to yourself.”
    “You always were tough, Lucy Alatore.”
    “And you always were trouble, Reese. But I hear you won yourself a big purse in Fort Worth.”
    “Yep.” He burped. “Lots of money. Thought Jeremiah could help me spend it.”
    “Not quite what you expected, huh?”
    “He used to be so much fun. So…wild. A night out with Stone and you had no idea what was going to happen. One time after he won we woke up in a fishing boat off the coast of Mexico. I’d gotten this.” He yanked his shirt up to reveal the legs of a woman tattooed on his stomach.
    “She’s a beaut.” Luckily, Reese was too drunk to pick up the sarcasm.
    “I thought he’d dropped out of contact because of the injury. I didn’t know he was taking care of his sister’s kids. Christ…what a nightmare for him.”
    Her head jerked sideways at Reese’s words. Did Ben think that Jeremiah hated him because he’d said that? “Did he say that?”
    “What?”
    “That his life was a nightmare?”
    “No, but God…look at it. Three kids? And that Ben…wow.”
    Wow kind of summed it up. But Reese’s attitude made her angry, like he was ready to walk away, writing off the whole situation. But to a guy like Reese, with his life, it probably was a nightmare.
    “And stuck here? ” Reese shuddered.
    “It’s not so bad.” Lucy’s words were as much of a surprise to her as they were to him. “It’s quiet. Pretty.” That much was true. These were aspects of this town she’d never appreciated growing up, with her eye always on the big city.
    But the big city had been one big disappointment.
    “I suppose that’s true. But God…there’s nothing to do here.”
    Nothing except work. If she had any creative spark left at all, she’d be getting so much work done right now. But that was a moot point.
    “Are you angry about your car?” she asked.
    “No. I mean, a little. But it’s just a car. It’ll get fixed.” Reese shook his head, the sadness wafting off him smelled like smoke from a damp fire. “I wish I knew what to say to Jeremiah, but I came up here, took one look at what he was up against and started drinking. I don’t know how he does it.”
    She took the pass up over the mountains. Out the passenger window Stone Hollow glowed in the darkness, the lights in the kitchen casting a golden glow. “Me, neither,” she whispered.
    Whatever help Jeremiah needed he’d made it obvious he wasn’t going to take it from her.
    “I’m leaving,” Reese said. “My car’s fixed on Monday, and I’m gone. I never should have come.”
    “You’re a friend, Reese. I imagine Jeremiah needs friends.”
    “I don’t know how to help, Lucy. I don’t know how to be his friend like this. I’m for good times and drinking and picking up women. It sucks to feel like this.”
    She pulled to a stop at the front door, hoping that Jeremiah wouldn’t come out. Reese dug his wallet out of his back pocket. “A hundred bucks?”
    Gouging the cowboy didn’t seem quite so enticing after talking to him so she shook her head. “Don’t worry—”
    “Here.” He handed her a fresh hundred-dollar bill. Benjamin Franklin stared up at her as if he didn’t recognize her, which seemed about right. It had been a while since they’d seen each other. “I have to go pick up my car on Monday morning. Can I hire you to drive me? Jeremiah would do it, but he’s so damn busy.”
    “Ah, sure.”
    “Great. Thanks.”
    Then he was gone, and she was a hundred dollars richer.
    This was ridiculous, she thought. A taxi? What nonsense.
    But that was a hundred dollars in her pocket. Honest to God, the only money she had right now. And not every ride would be a hundred bucks. But let’s say she charged twenty bucks.
    How much would she make in a Friday night?
    In a weekend?
    She couldn’t afford to be a snob about this. Couldn’t afford to put her nose in the air over the chance to actually earn money, to create a cushion for her