Western Spark

Look After My Men

Special Author Note: 

If you have NOT read Western Heat and Western Connection, there are SPOILERS in this short story for both those books. This story is a prequel to the West Brothers trilogy.

With that said, I hope you enjoy!

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You could hear a pin drop in the darkened house. It was around ten in the evening, and Peony sat in the kitchen of the main house with the cordless phone in her hands.

Tanner had just called from the hospital.

She was gone.

Tears slid down Peony's cheeks as she came to grips that the woman who had become her closest friend had died. She'd said her goodbyes when she'd visited yesterday, Veronica knowing it was time.

"Look after my men. All of them," she had whispered to Peony.

It was a tall order. She didn't know where to begin. Brett had been in an awful mood for the past two weeks after Veronica was put into hospice. Yelling at the crew, especially hard on Keith, who was eviscerated with the notion that the woman he'd loved for so long was dying and they couldn't do a damned thing.

The boys were going through the motions of their day, then off to the hospital to spend their evenings with their mother, often coming home exhausted, not able to focus on anything for school, or their chores. Liz was pitching in where she could, but she wasn't capable of doing some of the heavy work the boys did. The crew were kind, and took on overtime to get through it.

Now the real heartache was about to begin, Peony thought. Brady was only fifteen, Tanner about to graduate high school.

It wasn't fair.

The clock ticked a few times and she rose, wiping her tears away. They'd be home soon. Brett would need a night cap, and she busied herself making up some plates of pasta casserole for the boys to heat up if they wanted, the kettle ready to boil for tea, and she started the fire in the living room fireplace.

Calling over to her own house, she broke the news to Liz. More tears, more heartache, and Liz sniffled through the phone that she wanted to be alone when Peony told her to come over to the main house. Brett arrived by himself not long after.

She heard him before she saw him, the windows rattling as he slammed the back door. Steaming into the kitchen, he threw his keys across the counter, striding right past her towards his war room.

He halted as she pulled two whisky glasses down, his gaze travelling across her towards the bottle of scotch on the counter.

"Drink?"

Brett's eyes followed her hands as she uncorked his favourite single malt kept in the cabinet, the amber liquid gurgling quietly as she splashed a generous amount into each glass. It was just a Macallan fifteen year, but every night recently, Brett would pour a night cap and brood in the massive sitting room, staring into the fire.

Peony walked around the counter, and handed him a glass. He hadn't answered, so Peony assumed he'd want one and went with it. She began walking towards the living room and after a short pause, he followed. She sat in her favourite fawn wingback chair, and he sank into the couch, throwing several of Veronica's pillows out of the way with a growl.

"Where are the boys?" she asked.

"Keith is with them."

Keith had been there. It was a relief to hear that, given what he and Veronica had shared for so long. Peony glanced at Brett, a thundercloud of anger and grief storming out of him.