Brokedown Cowboy

He almost opened his mouth to say he hadn’t offered to fix a damn thing. Because it was true; he hadn’t. He hadn’t offered to fix a damn thing in years.

There was no one around to complain if he didn’t. So sinks stayed leaky, windows stayed drafty and...well, he got drunk while his friend was having a problem, and motherfucker, he didn’t like that at all.

“Well, maybe I want to fix it if I can,” he said.

“That’s nice of you, Connor, but I don’t think you can. Unfortunately, I’m uncovering a lot of damage Marshall did to my credit when he took off a couple of years ago. Some of it was obvious and came to my attention pretty quickly. Some of it has been less so. There were other credit cards, an additional car loan, plus what I already knew about. Basically, even with the credit bureaus correcting some of it, I can’t get a new rental easily. And now that my landlord is selling...”

“That’s not fair!” Kate said around a mouthful of pizza. “Most everybody here knows you, Liss. And a lot of us knew Marshall. So we kind of know he was an ass.”

“If you had always known that, Kate, you might have let me in on it,” Liss said, smiling ruefully.

“I think I did tell you that,” Connor said through clenched teeth. “Repeatedly.”

Liss tightened her lips into a bud, and Connor could tell she was holding back a deadly reply. He didn’t really care. She’d been warned. She didn’t listen. And while he didn’t hold it against her, he had pretty much told her so the minute she’d shacked up with that idiot who was, well, an idiot.

Of course, Connor’d had to acknowledge, just to himself, that he might’ve been being unfair, because no man seemed good enough for Liss. Kind of like how no man would ever seem good enough for Kate.

But in the end, his instincts had been right on. Marshall had been a loser. Marshall had run off with Liss’s money and the truck they had just bought. And now this.

“That’s beside the point,” Connor continued. “How long do you have to move out?”

“Legally, I have thirty days. But it’s a private sale, and everything is moving really quickly. I figure I’m going to be out on my rear one way or the other. I mean, if it’s that or going to live with my mother, then I will stay until the very last second, but...”

“You should stay here,” Kate said.

Liss’s eyes widened, and he felt his own mouth fall open. “Here? As in...here here?”

“Well, Sadie has the B and B.”

Sadie winced. “I’m booked solid through Christmas. People coming to visit family, combined with the off-season discount, created a deluge of reservations.”

“Your bed-and-breakfast is your livelihood, Sadie,” Liss said. “I’m not going to take advantage of that. No one would expect me to do accounting for free.”

“I wouldn’t do accounting for money,” Jack said.

“You probably couldn’t do accounting for money, either,” Liss returned.

“I’m wounded, Liss,” Jack said. “However, speaking of all that, maybe somebody has a room and could use your services?”

Connor thought about all the paperwork he had left to do for the insurance. No, it wasn’t accounting, but he had accounting to do. Though Liss already did it for him. And he even paid her. It was one of the few administrative things that still got done on time and well, because he paid for the service, rather than pretending he would do it himself one day. And Liss had brought him groceries this morning. In exchange for nothing but a bowl of cereal. He used her services already, many of them, and gave back very little in return these days.

“You can stay with me, Liss,” he said, before he had time to fully process the implications of what he was offering.

“Really?” She looked shocked, and that made him feel even worse. Because why should she be shocked that her best friend was offering basic hospitality to her in her time of need? She shouldn’t be.

He was clearly an asshole.

“Yes, really. This house is huge. And I’m here all by myself. I’ve got three completely empty bedrooms, plus office space I never use.” Jessie had used the office to manage ranch staff, but he never had. It felt weird offering her space up. But she was gone, and Liss was here. Liss needed him, and he was going to help. “Anyway, it would just be until you can figure out a way to get a place of your own. Until you can find somebody who’s willing to go outside the box for you. Or until your credit improves, or whatever. And you can save up for your deposit and first and last month’s rent and all that.”

“Connor, I can’t stay here for free.”

“No, you’ll be staying here in exchange for groceries.” She already bought them for him, anyway. “Plus, I might need a little bit of help with my organization.”

Jack snorted. “You think?”

“We don’t all have obsessive-compulsive tendencies like Eli,” Connor said drily.

Eli, of course, chose that exact moment to walk back in, looking as if he was willing and able to lay down a little law and order. Sure, Eli was younger, but the two of them had banded together at a very young age to take care of the ranch and raise Kate. He’d had to start seeing Eli in a new light very quickly. There were only two years between them, anyway, but Connor had begun viewing him as an equal from the moment Eli had taken on household responsibilities.

And now that Connor lived alone in the big house, barely able to clean up after himself, he really appreciated all that Eli had done to make their lives better when they’d been kids.

Since then, Eli had gone from protecting the family to protecting the entire town. And while Connor didn’t go around gushing about it, he couldn’t be prouder. Even when Eli looked at him like he was a lost cause. Much like he was doing now.

“What did I miss?” Eli asked.

“Connor is defending his lack of housekeeping skills,” Jack said.

Sadie crossed the room to Eli and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply as though they hadn’t just greeted each other a few moments ago. “Hey, Sheriff,” she said.

“Not yet,” he said. “Don’t jinx it.”

“I’m not a jinx! I’m the human incarnation of a lucky rabbit’s foot!”

“Are you?” he asked, cocking his head to the side, the whole interaction way too cute for his formerly stoic sibling.

They separated slowly, Eli’s hand sliding over her hip before resting there. Connor’s stomach twisted.

“Connor isn’t just defending his housekeeping,” Sadie said. “He’s offering Liss a place to stay until she can find a new rental.”

“What happened with your old rental?” Eli said, frowning deeply.

Liss sighed. “I should have known that once the Garrett family got involved this whole thing would get epic. Long story abridged, my credit sucks because of Marshall, and my landlord is selling.”

Eli’s breath hissed through his teeth. “That’s a bad combination.”

“But it’s going to be fine,” Connor said, his tone insistent. “Because she can stay with me until she figures something out. I have plenty of room here. Anyway, she’s here every night as it is. And she already brings me groceries.”

“You’re a little too attached to the grocery thing,” Liss said.

He shrugged. “Hey, it’s your rent. A small price to pay for a bedroom at Chez Garrett.”

* * *

LISS FIDGETED, LOOKING AROUND the room at all the expectant gazes. The Garretts were her surrogate family, so it was no surprise they had all rushed to her aid. But she hadn’t told Connor for a specific reason. She’d found herself talking to Kate today during her lunch break, when they’d run into each other at the Crab Shanty during lunch hour. She should have known that the youngest Garrett wouldn’t employ discretion.

Anyway, this was a solution, and she did need a solution. It was just the idea of living with Connor was sort of a loaded one. For a variety of reasons.

Though resisting would be...well, stupid. Because it was this or living with her mother, and she could genuinely imagine nothing worse than living with her mother. Except, maybe, living under a bridge. Actually, though, the bridge might be preferable.