Chapter 8 #2
“I’ll go next door and ask Swift if it’s okay for you to grab some things and pack a bag,” I told her as I stood and made my way to the door.
I was just about through the door when I heard Iris mutter quietly, causing me to pause and listen.
“This could be a disaster,” she said.
“Yes, but with that man along for the ride, it could also be a fun and spicy disaster,” Nancy muttered back excitedly. “You could use a little fun right now, dear. Just promise to tell me all about it later.”
On that note, I walked next door, but I couldn’t help but grin a little. Being with Iris would definitely be a disaster. Not on my part, but on hers. I was a giant red flag—one that she needed to stay far, far away from. But damn if Nancy wasn’t also right that it would be a fun and spicy disaster.
The car ride back to my place so far had been a quiet one. I knew Iris was processing a lot, so I let her have that space, but I also didn’t want her to worry too much about it since there wasn’t much else she could do at this point.
I knew she could have driven herself, but driving when you were emotional was never a good thing, so I offered to take her and would bring her back in the morning.
Not wanting her to feel any more uncomfortable than she already was tonight, I decided to ask her some questions to distract her.
“Iris, I know you have one sister—Anna—but you have another one if I remember correctly, right?”
She turned to face me but just stared for a beat before answering. “I actually have four sisters.”
“For real?”
At her sister’s wedding, Archer had mentioned her whole family was there, but I hadn’t bothered to talk to anyone if I didn’t have to.
I was the exact opposite of a social butterfly.
Plus, seeing Iris at the wedding in a skintight gown showing off all her assets made it hard for me to focus on anyone else in the room.
“Yes,” she said, pulling me from my thoughts of her in a tight dress. “I assumed you already knew that. I’m adopted, so I have four sisters that Mom and Auntie adopted.”
I knew Anna lived with her husband in Georgia, but I wasn’t sure about the rest.
“Other than Anna, do they all live here?”
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “Mom and Auntie live on a working farm in a small coastal town in Northern California, and my sisters are all scattered about.”
“Are you all close in age?” I asked, not knowing anything about how fostering and adoption worked.
“We’re all within ten years of each other,” she said. “Gale is the oldest of the sisters, in her mid-thirties, and lives in the converted guest house on the farm. She’s a forensic scientist but can do most of her work remotely, which is good since she is extremely introverted.”
Her face lit up while she talked about her family, and I loved seeing her ease out of her anxiety.
“Cora is the next oldest, and she’s the Nevada State Hydrologist up in Reno.
Then comes me, followed by Anna—who you already know.
Finally, there’s Hazel, who just turned twenty-six.
She’s a marine biologist and lives in a different coastal town not far from Mom and Auntie. Cora and Hazel are biological sisters.”
“All girls,” I noted.
She nodded before explaining. “In the beginning, they took in both boys and girls, but after Gale arrived, that changed. I wasn’t there at that time, but I was told she had a really hard time with any male presence,” she said softly.
There was clearly more to the story there, but I was trying to keep the conversation light, so I wasn’t going to pry.
“Umm…what about you?” she asked me. “Do you have family here?”
I knew this was on me because I was the one to originally ask, but I also knew that by answering her, I was about to open a can of worms.
“My parents still live in the house I grew up in on the southwest side of Vegas,” I told her. “I’m the oldest of four siblings. My sister Dani is next. She lives over by the UNLV campus where she works—she’s an ASL instructor.”
“ASL instructor?”
“Sorry. It stands for American Sign Language. Dani is deaf and teaches ASL classes at the university.”
“Oh wow. Does that mean you know sign language?” she asked.
“Yeah, I grew up learning it, though now we stay in touch pretty regularly via texting.”
“That’s awesome. I’ve always wanted to learn sign language—well, really any language,” she said, pausing for a moment as if to regain her thoughts. “Wait, you said you’re the oldest of four siblings. What about the other two?”
Now for the hard part. “Manny was next in line, but he passed away a few years ago.”
“Oh God, Hector, I’m so sorry,” she said, reaching her hand out to put it on top of mine.
I knew it was just meant to be a kind gesture, but damn if it didn’t feel nice having her soft hand on top of mine, even briefly.
“I vaguely remember Anna mentioning something about your brother working with her husband years ago as a cop and being killed on the job, but I forgot. I’m so sorry.”
There was a lot to unpack there, but I didn’t want to bring the mood back down again, so I continued on.
“No need to apologize. After Manny is my youngest sister, Rita. She’s an elementary school teacher on the north side of town.”
“That’s great that you all live so close,” she said wistfully. “I love my job so much, but I do miss my family. I get to see Cora quite a bit because our jobs intertwine a lot, even though she’s based in Reno. She spends a lot of time down here in Vegas, especially during monsoon season.”
We pulled up to my carport and parked. I looked over to see her face all lit up talking about her sister.
“That’s great,” I told her.
“It is,” she replied, smiling. “I love having her semi-close by.”
God, this woman was gorgeous and tempting at any given time, but when she smiled, she was a whole other level of temptation and beauty.
I stared down at her lips, wondering how perfect they would feel as I slid my tongue between them and tasted her—a thought I’d had nearly a million times since I’d first met her…and a thought I needed to shut down this very instant.
“Thanks for letting me stay with you tonight,” she said softly. “I’ve got a few friends I can reach out to tomorrow to stay with.”
“It’s not a big deal, Iris. I’ve got a spare bedroom that no one uses. You’re welcome to it as long as you need it.”
The bedroom that was right next to mine.
This may not be the best idea.