Welcome to Valley View (Valley View Book 1)

Chapter 25

FOURTH OF JULY

June flew by and the Fourth of July is upon us. The Brown Family promised the best celebration in the world, but I went to some pretty awesome bashes back in Chicago, so I'm interested in seeing what they can come up with that would compete with that. If anybody can do it though, I'm sure it would be them.

Jimmy received an emergency call from one of the farmers outside of town and even though it was the holiday, he agreed to go out there and check it out. That is one of the things I've learned about Valley View, it is a small community and many times there is only a single person who does that job. They certainly will bend over backward to make sure everybody in the town is taken care of. The only downside is that I was planning on going with Jimmy into the city to buy some last-minute grocery items. Thankfully, I was able to recruit Bobby to go with me.

Main Street in Valley View is decorated with a lot of red, white, and blue, I didn't even know you could get so many flags and streamers. There was a parade in Harlington this morning, but it was a little too early for Jimmy and I to try and make it. Jimmy said maybe next year we'll make the trip. At the end of the day, we would have had to leave early for the emergency call.

Just as I grab my purse, I hear a loud horn honk and I know that it must be Bobby. I peek out the window to double-check and then slip on my flip flops and head down the stairs. He's double-parked in front of the garage, so I quickly hop in the truck and he pulls off onto the street again.

"You know, your brothers all park properly and walk up to come to get me," I tease Bobby.

Bobby gives me a smirk, "You're family now, princess, get over it."

"Geez, what crawled up your butt this morning?"

"Nothing, I'm just a little hungover."

"Why on Earth were you out drinking on a Tuesday night?"

"Well...Mom," He glances over at me and then back to the road. "I wasn't planning on drinking, but then my buddy Harley came over and he had a 30 pack with him and it would have been rude to leave him drinking alone."

"Uh-huh and did Harley have to get up early for work today?"

"He did, but fuck he was slow as hell so maybe he was hungover too or maybe even a bit drunk. Such a youngin' can't hold his liquor well."

"So all that beer last night and we're getting even more beer and alcohol for tonight?"

"It's different, Tiff. Tonight we drink for a celebration."

"Which is different?"

"Of course, Patriotic Beer!"

"Ahh, I see. So what exactly can I expect at this celebration of freedom at the Brown Ranch?"

"We're just having a good ole fashioned cook-out."

"Just a cook out? Seems like there has to be more to it than that. You all have been telling me for weeks now how epic it was going to be. This isn't where you sacrifice me or anything, right?"

"Nah, love, we only sacrifice virgins and I think that ship has sailed."

I ball up my fist and punch his arm. He rubs it for effect, but I'm sure it didn't hurt him at all. "Asshole."

At the grocery store, we both grab a card. We are mostly getting drinks, but Betsy did text me a list of a few things she forgot when she did her big shopping trip for the cookout. To get everything done quicker we do a divide and conqueror strategy. After splitting the list in half, we agree to meet down the beer aisle.