3. Sullivan
Chapter 3
Sullivan
Danny was damn quiet on the way home, his attention directed out the window.
“Thanks for coming with me, buddy.”
“It’s cool. I liked her chair. Can I get one?” He glanced my way.
That was the first time he’d ever asked me for anything. “Not sure we can fit that big chair in your room, but we can probably put one in the living room if you wanted.”
Not that it went with my living room stuff. Then again, it was the same living room set-up since I’d bought the house ten years ago as a fixer-upper. Money was tight, but maybe making the house fit both of us would help drag Danny out of his shell.
He smiled and nodded. “Cool.”
Not exactly how I figured today was going to go.
Nora-freaking-Baker.
Booker’s Nora.
She’d always been his from freshman year on into what I thought was eternity. The prettiest girl in our class, of course Booker had gone for her. We’d ribbed him a bit for going for one of the smart girls instead of a cheerleader, but with baseball on the brain, my best friend hadn’t cared about that part.
I also had a feeling he’d charmed his way into tutoring, at first. Being on the high school teams required a minimum GPA and Booker had never cared about class.
Damn.
I hadn’t thought about Booker in a long time, either.
Once he’d left for college, we’d drifted apart. We didn’t have much in common with him being on a major league baseball team like the Rockets. Los Angeles and Indigo Valley couldn’t be any more different if it tried.
I had seen a few photos over the years of him and Nora at charity benefits.
Nora, always so quietly gorgeous at his side. Booker stole the spotlight, no matter where he was. Nora had always been happy to be behind the scenes, cheering him on.
I wonder when that had changed.
I stopped at one of the red lights on Hope Street. “How about we go to Gram’s house and see if we can get a decent dinner for a change?”
Danny’s lips twitched, but he nodded.
A great cook, I was not.
YouTube had helped me find my way around the air fryer to at least change things up from frozen dinners, but not by much. I knew I needed to figure out something more structured, but it wasn’t going to be tonight.
I pulled into our driveway and Danny hopped out, taking off to my parents’ place next door. I glanced over to see his Switch on his seat.
That was a good sign.
Then again, Anna Murdock had a way with boys—especially since Danny was their first grandchild. I loped after him and made a mental note to fix the flowers on the way home that Trouble had dug up.
The screen door slapped shut and I heard the delighted voices of my mom and dad. They doted on Danny and had been heartbroken when Mindy had taken off with him years ago. We were all determined that it wouldn’t happen again.
Proving how tight we all were, the front door of Anna and Joe Murdock’s house was never locked.
I shouldered my way in and found Danny sitting at the kitchen table with a package of his current hyper fixation—Fruit Snacks—in front of him and a big glass of water. While my place was a split ranch, my folks’ place was an eclectic farmhouse with lots of add-ons, making it a crazy hodgepodge of styles.
My father being a contractor meant the house was a showcase. Period.
The kitchen was massive and contained a big enough table to seat all of us, and smelled of something mouthwateringly spicy. My dad sat at his usual seat with his newspaper in front of him.
Some things never changed—even if he was probably one of the only people on our street to get a physical paper these days.
“Hey, Dad. Where’s Mom?”
“Flipping laundry.”
I gave his shoulder a squeeze then went to the coffee bar where a pot was always on. My mom was a coffee freak and had every iteration of bougee coffee. I couldn’t deny that her blend always tasted superior.
I filled a big mug and dumped in a half spoonful of raw sugar. “Guess who’s back in town?”
My dad tipped down a corner of his newspaper. “You got a scoop, Sully?”
I grinned behind my cup. “I just might.” I took a sip, and the scald was worth it. “Nora Baker.”
His eyebrows shot up as he folded the paper. “Haven’t heard that name in a damn long time. She and Booker move back?”
“Just Nora.”
“Huh.” He folded his hands over the paper. “Well, that’s surprising.”
I know. “She looks good.” I sat down next to Danny and stole a berry-shaped gummy.
“Is that so?”
“Get that look off your face, Dad.”
“What? I always liked that girl.”
“Woman.”
He rolled his eyes. “She’ll always be a girl, just like you idiots are my boys.”
My mom came down the stairs, her salt sprinkled curls haloing around her youthful face. She had on her typical workout clothes with a zip-up hoodie over it. “Oh, Sullivan. I didn’t know you were coming over.” She went right over to Danny and gave him a loud smacking kiss on his cheek. “And you too, sweetie. How was school?”
He scrunched up his shoulders, but he leaned into her instead of away like he did with me half the time. “Good. Mrs. Phillips went into labor in the middle of class on Friday.”
I glanced down at him. “And you didn’t lead with that when I asked about school?”
He shrugged.
I sucked back a sigh.
Just how long was it going to take before he started thinking of me as his dad and not some stranger babysitting him?
“Well, that sounds very exciting. I hope she didn’t have it in the classroom.”
Danny giggled. “No. But Mr. Phillips came running in to get her.” Danny glanced at me. “He’s the science teacher at the high school.”
“Guess that was a bit exciting then.” My mom swiped his overlong bangs out of his eyes.He didn’t shy away from her touch.
Danny popped a grape-shaped gummy in his mouth. “Yeah. We got out of taking our math test. Worked for me.”
I laughed. “Did you study?”
He nodded. “Yeah, easy stuff.”
My mom glanced at me with a pride-tinged smile. “Of course, my grandson is crazy talented.”
“Oh, brother,” my dad muttered, but he winked at Danny. “Crazy-smart is more like it.”
Currently we were wading a bit deep in the shit in kitchen, but seeing Danny’s bright smile was worth it. “We were wondering if we could crash in on your dinner tonight, Ma.”
“Absolutely. I have chili in the crock pot.” She brushed her hand over my shoulder with a delighted smile.
I usually felt guilty horning in on dinner, but my mom always made it sound as if it was her favorite thing when we stopped by.
“Sully says the Baker girl is back in town.”
My mom’s eyebrows shot up, gave me a quizzical look for a second and realization bloomed. “Nora Baker? My goodness, how’s she doing?” She went over to the sink and filled a pot. “You guys want it over pasta, rice, or potatoes?”
“Which chili?” I peeked around Danny.
“Cincinnati.”
“Pasta,” my dad and I said together.
She laughed. “Not sure why I bothered asking.” She put the pot on the stove and turned it on. “Is she just visiting?”
I shook my head. “No, she’s renting a house.”
“Booker too?”
I shook my head. “They split.”
She went over to make herself a cup of coffee. “Is that right?”
“Simmer down,” I muttered. “Dad already started in on that.”
“There are plenty of other single women in this town, Sullivan.”
As if I needed taking care of a woman on top of my current situation. “I’m perfectly happy with just me and Danny. Right, buddy?”
He shrugged.
“Way to be supportive.”
He gave me a side-eye glance.
I smiled encouragingly to show I was joking.
His lips twitched, but he just popped in another gummy.
“So, does that mean Nora and Booker are divorcing?”
“Divorced already.”
“Hmm. And how did you find this out?”
The fact that I knew some gossip before my mom was big. “Her dishwasher might be toast. I’m hoping I can fix it.”
“Yeah, she had water all over the floor. I got to sit in this cool chair. The lady was nice.” Danny lined up his Fruit Snacks in color order.
My mom locked eyes on me. “You took him on the job with you? He could have come here.”
“I know. You guys are always helping out. I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Good enough for my food, though.” She went over to the boiling pot and dumped in spaghetti.
“Ma.” After pushing back my chair, I went over to her and wrapped my arms around her from behind, kissing the top of her head. We Murdocks were tall, but us boys definitely didn’t get any of those genes from her. “It was an easy job. He got to play his Switch.”
She sighed and patted my arm. “We love having him.”
“I know.”
“However, your dog is a menace.”
I laughed and let her go. “I heard. I’ll pick up a flat of flowers to replace your daffodils.”
“Fine. Pansies, please.”
“You got it.”
“Now you and Danny set the table.”
“That, I can handle.”
Much easier than thinking about Nora being back in town.