Stepbrother Broken (The Hawthorne Brothers Book 2)

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Authors: Colleen Masters
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take that, ” John says, lifting the bag from my back, “ I ’ ll put it upstairs in one of the
spare bedrooms. ”
    “ Oh. Sure, ” I tell him, receiving a gruff nod in reply.
    “ Thanks for going to pick her up, ” my mom says to John, laying a tender hand on his
bulging bicep, “ You ’ re
the best. ”
    “ Yeah, yeah, ” John grumbles amiably, “ So
you keep telling me. ”
    I
wait until our brawny host has disappeared into the lake house before rounding
on my mother.
    “ Funny thing, ” I say wryly, “ I don ’ t
remember you mentioning your pet lumberjack, when you invited me out here. ”
    “ Pet lumberjack? ” my mom echoes, cocking her head at me, “ You mean John? ”
    “ Yes, of course I mean John, ” I reply, “ A little warning would have been
nice, Mom. ”
    “ I could have sworn I told you …” she says absently, looking out across the wide lawn.
    “ No, ” I
tell her, “ You didn ’ t. ”
    “ Well … Surprise! ” she laughs, clasping her hands together, “ Isn ’ t he just the sweetest man you ’ ve ever met in your life? ”
    Nope.
That would have been Dad, I think to myself, resisting the temptation to say so out loud.
    “ John ’ s
been so kind to me since I ’ ve been back in town, ” my mom goes on, “ Really, I don ’ t know what I would have done without him. ”
    “ Yeah. He mentioned you guys were
old friends, ” I reply.
    “ Is that what he told you? ” Mom asks, eyebrows raised.
    “ Why, ” I
ask, “ Is there more to the story? ”
    “ Oh look! ” Mom gushes, ignoring my question completely, “ Here comes your sister! ”
    I
spin around on the patio and catch a flash of platinum blonde in the sunlight.
Walking up the long dock that stretches into the lake is my little sister,
Annabel. Though “ little ” is hardly the right world for her anymore. At
nineteen, she ’ s already the tallest of all the
Porter women, with long willowy limbs and big, beautiful doe eyes. All three of
us girls were toe heads when we were little, but only Anna retained her bright
blonde locks as she grew older. I haven ’ t seen her since the holidays, and
in the past several months she ’ s come to look more like a grown
woman than ever.
    “ Look, Anna! Sophie ’ s here! ” my Mom trills as Annabel
makes her way toward us across the grassy lawn.
    “ Yeah. I see that, Mom, ” Anna replies, climbing the patio steps, “ What ’ s up, Soph? ”
    “ Not too much. Just got in, ” I tell her, a little put off by her nonchalance.
    Anna ’ s never been super affectionate, even when she was a
kid. I respect her utter lack of bullshit, but sometimes I can ’ t help but wish for a big, giddy reunion with my
little sister. I really do miss her when I ’ m away at school. With only two
years separating us in age, Anna and I were best friends until we both hit our
angsty teenage years. I always hoped that we ’ d
reconnect once we were a little older, but Dad ’ s
death and my moving away scattered any chance of that. I often feel like my
little sister resents me for leaving her alone with Mom these past three years.
And to be perfectly honest, I wouldn ’ t blame her if she did.
    “ Why don ’ t you show your sister around the place? ” Mom says to Anna, all but skipping away into the
house.
    “ Sure, ” Anna
replies, watching her go, “ No problem. ”
    The
back door slams behind our mother, and Anna and I are alone at last. I jerk my
head toward the house, wiggling my eyebrows conspiratorially.
    “ So, what ’ s the deal with that? ” I
ask her.
    “ What, Mom and John? ” she replies, “ You ’ re
asking the wrong person. I didn ’ t even know she was staying with
him until I got in from Vermont. ”
    “ You mean she didn ’ t even tell you ? ” I
ask, gaping at my little sister, “ But … you
guys still live in the same house! ”
    “ Eh. Nominally, ” Anna shrugs, “ I stopped trying to keep track of
her years ago. It ’ s better to just let

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