“Come and get some of this yogurt, little brother. There’s even summer berries in the fridge for mixing in.”
“But I like my yogurt the way I like my women,” Reece said with a huge grin. “Plain and sour!”
Rolling his eyes, Brendon walked toward the laundry to get some clean clothes and consider the benefits of private schools in Switzerland before the Reed Boys had a chance to spread their Southern logic to Brendon’s vulnerable child.
After fixing his own bowl of yogurt, his brother settled down beside Ricky at the bar.
“Where’d you go yesterday?” Reece asked.
“Met a girl,” Ricky said around a mouthful of yogurt.
“Anyone I’ve already fucked?”
“Not this time. You’ve met her, though. She’s one of the new directors for your team. Travel and promotion, I think.”
Reece dropped his spoon. “That little rich jackal?”
“Yep.”
“You and some rich girl? Daddy would call that a sign of the End of Days.”
“Daddy just don’t like rich people.”
“True. Still . . . she don’t seem your speed, big brother. Kind of slow lane for a Reed.”
“Never needed a fast car to keep my interest.” Ricky finished his food and pushed the bowl away. “Is that why you’re here? To ask me about that?”
“Nah. Rory wants us at the office for a morning meeting.”
“Why?”
“Big client coming in from the Sports Center. I think they want us to evaluate their fancy security systems.”
Ricky nodded. “Perfect. Was planning to go over to the Sports Center anyway and spend some time with my jackal.”
“Momma says jackals do the Devil’s work.”
“My jackal says that’s just propaganda.”
The pair watched Brendon Shaw walk through his living room, thankfully now wearing sweatpants.
“What about what Momma says about cats being agents of Satan himself?”
The cat stopped, glared over at them. “Out, canines!” he roared.
Winking at his grinning brother, Ricky replied, “I’d have to say that Momma was probably right on that one.”
A brief knock on the door and Coop walked into Toni’s room. “Heard you were up here raging about TVs and wolves. Kyle thinks you’ve had a mental breakdown from your new job that he insists on calling stupid.”
Toni, fresh from the shower and having put on jeans and a T-shirt, quickly combed her wet hair off her face before grabbing socks and her running shoes. “It’s nothing.” She didn’t want to get into it. She didn’t want to talk about what had happened between her and that useless wolf.
She sat on the wooden bench by her bed to put her shoes on. “Look, Coop, I have to go into the office, but as soon as I get back—”
“Don’t worry about a thing, big sis. I’ve got it all handled.”
Toni stopped tying her laces to look up at her brother. “What do you mean?”
“Cherise and I canceled all our concerts for this summer. We’re staying home to take care of the kids.”
“You did what?”
“No, no. Don’t get upset.” Coop crouched in front of her and finished tying her shoelaces for her. “I know what you’re thinking, but I needed the break. I’ve been going nonstop for months. And Cherise . . . let’s put it this way. When I made the suggestion, she threw herself into my arms and kissed my face like I’d rescued her from a sinking boat circled by sharks.”
“But Coop—”
Done with her laces, Coop placed his hands on her knees and looked deep into Toni’s eyes. “You, big sis, deserve this. You deserve this. You’ve taken care of us, now it’s our turn to do the same for you. Let us.”
“But weren’t you supposed to play for the king of—”
“If you’ve played for one king, trust me, you’ve played for them all. Our family is more important. And although Aunt Irene is trying to help, she terrifies the kids.”
“I know.” Toni sighed.
“And a crap-load of computer stuff arrived yesterday and she was up all night in her room putting it together with Troy and Freddy.”
“Troy and Freddy were up all night?”
“Only until three, but that’s when they usually go to sleep anyway.” Very true. Toni tried to get them on a more normal schedule for kids their age, but their minds never stopped turning, never stopped going. When she did order them to bed early, all they did was stay up all night thinking until Freddy began to work himself into an ulcer and Toni found that Troy had written equations all over his bedroom walls. “So I don’t forget!” he’d told her when she’d found him at six in the morning with a tiny stub of blue crayon in his hand and wild eyes.
“And you know how Aunt Irene is when she gets into her work,” Coop continued. “So you need me and Cherise here. We can help each other and help you. For once.”
Toni thought about telling her brother that she was only going into the office to quit the job she was so ill-prepared for, but she didn’t have the heart. He was just so damn proud of himself. She hadn’t seen him look like that since he was ten and was asked to perform for Queen Elizabeth of England in London. Although he did ask Toni later, “Is that the redheaded one?” Then he’d whispered, “Isn’t she dead? Will I be playing for a zombie?” Her fault. She’d let him stay up with her so they could watch Night of the Living Dead while their parents were out of the house, and the babysitter was clueless.
“No,” Toni had explained. “This is that Elizabeth’s, like, great-great granddaughter or something. She was born, like, a hundred years ago or whatever.”
Thankfully Toni’s understanding of history had improved with age.
But whichever Elizabeth that had been, Coop had had a look on his face of pure pride then, and he had the same expression now. It meant a lot to him to help his family.
So although Toni was going to quit this job because she was woefully under-qualified, she didn’t have to tell her brother that. And maybe, if she was lucky, she could find a job better fit for her skills and Coop could spend the summer helping with the rest of the kids.
Hell, if it made her kid brother happy, who was she to argue?
“Thanks, Coop. I appreciate your help.”
“You’re welcome.”
Toni stood, picked up her backpack. “We’ll talk later, okay?”
“Don’t worry about it. I know that new job will keep you busy.”
“Yeah.” Toni started to walk out but stopped. “Can I borrow your phone until later?”
“Sure, but Freddy didn’t take that new one you got apart, too, did he?”
“No, no.” She took the phone from her brother. “But I don’t want to talk about what did happen to it.”
Toni left the room and walked down the two flights of stairs to reach the front door. With her hand on the knob, she glanced back down the hallway and saw Oriana, Kyle, and Troy suddenly dive into the living room. Only Freddy stood his ground. He waved at her, and Toni smiled, winked, and blew him a kiss.
She walked out of the house and stopped when she came face to face with Delilah.
“Are you just getting home?” Toni asked, glancing at her watch.
“Mhmm.”
Delilah tried to move around her, but Toni cut in front of her and asked, “Where have you been, Delilah?”
“Just walking.”
Delilah tried to step around her again, and again Toni moved, blocking her. “Walk around where?”
Slowly her sister raised those blue eyes of hers to look at Toni. “Just around.”
“You’re being careful, right? Manhattan isn’t Seattle.”
“I know.” She gently patted the oversized shoulder bag she always had with her. It kept her drawing pad, notebook, and pencils. It was her ability to draw like artists thirty years her senior that had made Delilah a prodigy. But that wasn’t why Toni still kept a close watch on her eighteen-year-old sister. No. It wasn’t her skills as an artist that made Delilah so unique . . . and they both knew it.