Chapter Nine
Duncan
“You’re doing a great job with this place," I said on Sunday morning.
We were all gathered at my parents' store.
I still called it that, but I had to get used to the fact that it wasn't that anymore.
At least not in the way it used to be. Dad had set up a bait and tackle shop downstairs, and Mom had transformed the upper floor into an art studio where she offered pottery classes and yoga.
Much different than selling milk and Snickers when we were kids.
"Everyone ready for round two?" Chase asked.
Mom had decided she wanted to do some cosmetic changes to her studio— again .
All my brothers had gathered here this morning, lending Mom our muscle and advice.
Everything happened much faster if we did it as a group.
Dad helped her as much as he could, but he was only a one-man show, so he couldn't leave his business unsupervised for too long.
We’d painted the room off-white as Mom asked, but we had to wait for the first coat to dry before applying the second. Knox, Finn, and Wyatt were going to shellac the floors later that afternoon.
"Not so fast," Mom said. "Do any one of you boys want some brownies? They should be ready by now."
“Anyone else feel like they’re five years old?” Finn asked.
Knox nodded while Wyatt and Griffin laughed.
She waved them off. "Oh, stop it. I want to spoil my boys. Being here and cooking brings back memories."
She was right. Only it didn't bring any good ones for me. All I could remember was my parents shouting at each other or bickering behind closed doors because Mom didn't want to disturb us while we were doing homework.
It was still bizarre to me that they were on good terms now. Hell, they even seemed to be flirting with each other, which was just plain weird.
I'd always thought that my parents' business was their own and that their divorce didn't directly impact me, but after the fiasco with Jeremy's mother, I had second thoughts.
Maybe some things from back then had left some marks.
It was one of the reasons why I simply didn't do relationships.
It wasn't worth the risk of destabilizing the balance Jeremy and I had reached.
“Want to call Jeremy in here and ask him if he wants brownies?” Mom asked as we all went to the kitchen.
Mom still used the old kitchen from our childhood. She insisted there was no need to renovate it, since the clients wouldn’t come in here. Knowing her, she’d eventually change her mind, but we’d help her when the time came.
“No chance. Dad’s showing him fishing rods,” I told her.
"I think I'm going to lose that boy to fishing, too, just as I did with you."
"Fishing is fun," I said, though I hadn't gone in years. It was something Dad did with Jeremy now.
"How’s it going with Riley?" Mom asked.
I noticed the shift around the kitchen island as my brothers all trained their eyes on me.
For fuck's sake! If they started giving me shit in front of Mom, I was going to lose it.
"It's good. She and Jeremy really hit it off."
"I had a good feeling from the moment they met. She just lit up, like she truly couldn't imagine anything better than spending time with him. That's a rare thing when you’re hiring help.”
”I agree."
My son had had enough nannies that I could tell the difference when someone wanted the job or just needed it. I couldn't believe I'd been so incredibly lucky to find Riley. There was no way I could screw this up.
Though, technically, she was only the nanny for the interim until Maggie returned. After that, Riley was fair game.
What the hell? Where did that come from?
"Is she doing something with him tomorrow?" Mom asked.
Jeremy’s school year officially ended yesterday, and he had some time off until summer school began after the Fourth of July.
"Yeah." Initially, I’d figured Jeremy could just spend time here with Dad at the store. But then Riley suggested that she could take him to a theme park. He wouldn't hear of anything else after that, so I gave in. "She's taking him to the park. He wants to ride the roller coasters."
"The boy loves roller coasters, but my stomach doesn’t tolerate it," Mom said.
I grinned. "Yeah, Ms. Williams said the same."
"It's a good thing that you have a younger nanny for Jeremy. She’ll be better at keeping up with him."
"Why would it matter that she's young?" Wyatt asked.
Griffin and Chase were trying to suppress grins. Knox and Finn didn’t even bother. I glared at them all.
Mom smiled. “I think Jeremy can connect better to someone younger."
"You're right, I think so too. Though, once Ms. Williams is back, we're still going to continue our arrangement. She's good for him, keeps him grounded."
"And makes you look fun in return," Knox said with a laugh.
"You know what? I actually agree. Since he's spending more time with Riley, he doesn't seem to miss me that much. Hasn't even asked once if I can take him out for ice cream," Finn said.
“We can always drop by uninvited,” Knox told Finn. “Would give us a chance to meet Riley too.”
I glared at them. Finn held up his hands in self-defense.
"What's going on?" Mom asked.
"Trust me, you do not want to know," Knox said.
She nodded once. "Fair enough."
"Really?" Wyatt said, clearly astonished. "You're going to give up so easily?"
"No, but some things mothers don't need to know," Mom said wisely.
"Hear, hear," Griffin said, laughing at me with a shit-eating grin.
What was it with my brothers? Sure, I'd been a bit possessive when talking about Riley, but that could be due to a number of things. For one, she was spending time with my son, so obviously I wouldn't want any of my womanizer brothers making things awkward.
And second…
There was no second point.
I couldn't lie to myself, especially not after our time in the pool.
We'd been completely professional since then, but it wasn’t easy. She'd prepared dinner twice last week and had made an excuse for why she needed to leave both times. Then again, maybe it wasn't an excuse. The sexual tension between us was there.
Her work hours ended at six o’clock. She didn’t need to spend evenings with her employer, which was exactly what I was—nothing more and nothing less.
I wasn't going to take advantage of that.
My strategy was to be around her when Jeremy was, too, so I couldn't even be tempted by looking at her in an inappropriate way.
Besides, she was nine years younger than me and probably wouldn’t even consider dating me. I needed to keep that possibility in mind. We were at completely different stages in our lives, after all.
You’re not dating anyone, Duncan. Why do you keep forgetting that?
"All right, I'm taking Jeremy to the city to buy some things for tomorrow," I said. "Mom, can you pack some brownies for him?"
"Sure. I’ll also bring some for your dad. I’ve made some with pecans especially for him.”
"Are you and Dad dating?" I blurted.
Mom froze in the act of putting tinfoil over the brownies. "Excuse me?"
"That's a good question," Knox said. There was an edge in his voice that I wasn't used to hearing from our youngest brother.
Not a single brother gave me shit or called me out on the question, which could only mean one thing: they were as interested in the answer as I was.
"You've been spending a lot of time together lately. We want to know what’s going on.” You could count on Griffin to always say what was on his mind. His honesty was refreshing. But he was also more impulsive than Wyatt, Chase, or me. That wasn’t always good. At least not in business.
"I thought you would be happy that your father and I are on good terms."
"We are," Chase clarified.
"But we'd like to know if there’s anything going on," I added.
Yes, it was their personal life, but still. If they ended up at odds with each other again, we'd have to pick up the pieces, and that was not a good time. Been there, done that.
"We're not dating, but…," Mom started. "Oh, it's weird to talk about it with my boys. I think we're flirting."
Knox winced. Actually winced.
Finn’s jaw hung open.
"Yeah. No, you're right, that is very, very weird. We do not need details," Griffin said.
I agreed, as did the others. Suddenly, everyone looked for something to do.
I excused myself from the group, going downstairs with the brownies she’d packed for Jeremy.
Why the fuck had I asked that? I thought knowing might make things less weird, but I was dead wrong.
Jeremy and Dad were bent over a fishing rod on the counter. Dad was explaining to him how to replace the hook.
"Ready to go?" I asked.
Jeremy looked up. "Sure. Grandpa was just showing me what to do if a fish runs away with my hook."
Dad straightened up, ruffling his hair. "I've shown him a few times when we were fishing, but it's easier to learn the mechanics of it when you don't have adrenaline in your veins and a fish on your line. How was it upstairs?"
“We’re making progress.”
"Good, good. Do I smell brownies?”
“Yeah, she packed this for Jeremy. Mom’s got a full tray upstairs. Some with pecans too.”
“Damn, she’s spoiling me. I’ll close up here and see if she needs help with anything. Maybe we'll grab dinner afterward."
Fuck no. The logistics of my parents dating wasn't something I wanted front and center in my mind.
"Okay, buddy, let's go," I said. "We need to buy some things for tomorrow."
"All right. Bye, Grandpa."
After Jeremy hugged everyone goodbye, we left the store and got in the car. The whole drive, my son talked nonstop about fishing, Spider-Man, and God knew what else. Sometimes I think he just talked to talk, and I loved it.
We headed straight to the grocery store next to our condo building. Jeremy insisted on buying all sort of snacks for tomorrow. Since I didn’t know the layout of the store, it took us a while to find everything even though the fancy-ass place was small.
“Dad, Riley said that if we find white truffles, she can make a veggie muffin snack.”
“A what?” That sounded disgusting.
“We saw it on TV, on a cooking show.”
I frowned. Why didn’t she buy them herself? I’d given her a credit card last week to use for that reason.
I realized why when I looked at the price tag. She’d probably figured it was too expensive.
A little while later, we left the grocery store with two loaded bags.
Once I was inside the car, Jeremy said, "Dad? Can we drop the truffles at Riley’s house?”
“Why?”
“So she can bake the muffins for tomorrow.”
“Jeremy, she can just bake them in the afternoon. This is her free time. We can’t encroach on it.”
“She told me to bring them to her house if we bought them.”
I found that hard to believe, so I decided to double-check with Riley. I called her right away, holding the phone to my ear.
“Hi, Duncan!” she answered cheerily.
“Riley, is this a good time?”
“Sure.”
“I just went shopping with Jeremy. We got white truffles.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. Could you drop them by my house?”
That took me by surprise. “Really? I figured he misunderstood. You don’t have to bake in your free time.”
“I don’t mind, honestly. And that way I’ll have everything ready to go for tomorrow.”
“All right. Then send me your address and we’ll drop by shortly.”
“Great.” Her voice was strangely high-pitched.
After hanging up, she texted me her address. It was twenty minutes away.
I smiled to myself, curious to see her in her element.
I had no idea what I’d imagined, but it certainly wasn't the scene I witnessed as I pulled in front of a bungalow. First, the windows were open, and music was blasting out. Several women seemed to be fighting. No, wait. They were just trying to talk to each other above the music, not fighting.
Jeremy looked around. "Are we sure this is the place?"
"Yeah. Riley must have friends over."
"Are they having a party?"
It seemed like it. I knocked at the door. Of course, no one answered. I rang the bell, but you couldn’t hear it over the music, so I texted Riley.
Duncan: We're at the door.
"They’re here," I heard a voice yell above me. "Turn it all down and behave."
I laughed despite myself.
A few seconds later, Riley opened the door. Her face was completely red, and her hair was all over the place. She was so damn sexy that I couldn’t look away.
Fuck me. How am I supposed to resist this woman?