2. Declan
DECLAN
The next day at the office, I was exhausted. I’d had trouble falling asleep after the encounter with Liz. I had to do something about that situation, but that had to wait, because right now, I was focused on my cousin Reese.
I had five brothers, and two cousins from my dad's side of the family. Reese and Kimberly were practically like sisters to us. I was the oldest, and over the years, I had been given the nickname “the voice of reason.” I liked it.
The Maxwell family was well known in Chicago because my grandparents, and then my parents, ran the successful chain of Maxwell Bookstores until they sold it many years ago.
My brothers and I made our own way, as had Reese and Kimberly.
The sale of the business left quite a chunk of change in all our pockets—enough that none of us needed to work if we didn’t want to—but that wasn’t how we rolled.
We Maxwells were driven and at the top of our fields of expertise.
I hadn’t seen my cousin in a while. Reese had been in France visiting her sister, and I noticed she looked better now than when she left.
She went through a rough time when her ex-fiancé cheated on her with her best friend.
He’d been an annoying asshole ever since, but we were all here to support her and see her through this mess.
I was probably the one who knew the most details about it. Well, except Luke. He was the closest to our cousins.
"I'm happy you had a great time," I told her. "Thanks for coming to visit me."
"I missed you. Not just you specifically. All of you. France is great, but it’s hard being away from family."
"Thanks for making me feel special," I teased.
"Hey, you know you are.”
“Why didn’t Kimberly come with you today?”
She lived in Paris and worked for a travel agency. She visited the States every few months, but we hadn’t expected her back so soon.
“She’s even more jet-lagged than me, so she declared that she’s not getting out of bed yet. Anyway, I stopped by the office because I also went to London and met with Dad quite a few times, and… I've got a bit of news."
"How’s he doing? I haven't seen him in ages."
"He remarried," Reese blurted.
I jerked my head back. "Wait, what? When?"
"A few months ago, apparently."
" I was not expecting that. Why didn't he let anyone know?"
"That isn't all of it. His wife is about to give birth to a baby girl. She’s due in two months." Reese was saying this in a matter-of-fact tone, but she was a sensitive person. I knew it had to affect her.
“How are you and Kimberly taking it?"
"We're supportive, but it’s so unexpected.
After Mom passed away, well, you know how he's been.” He'd sunk into depression for years.
It happened decades ago and it was one of the reasons Reese and Kimberly had been over to our house so often.
My parents practically raised them. "I'm sorry that our relationship is so distant that he didn't think he could pick up the phone and tell us when it happened.
He didn't even tell Kimberly, and she's been in France for a while.”
“Does Dad know?” I asked.
“No. Anyway, the thing is he asked Kimberly and me to tell the family. And I worry about how Gran will take it especially."
"Of course you do."
"Yeah. I just don't know how to do it or how she'll react. I mean, he’s her son. He really should tell her himself."
I nodded. "Good point."
“But Dad thought it would be better coming from us girls. He says he’s waited so long to make amends with Gran that now he simply doesn’t know how to approach the subject.” She yawned. "Do you have coffee? I'm still a bit off with the time difference."
"Yes. I'll bring you one right away." We had a coffee station in a small kitchen next to the reception area.
I shared an office space in a high-rise on LaSalle Street with two of my brothers.
Luke, the second oldest and my opposite in every way, ran an architecture company. Tate dominated the wine industry.
Tyler and Travis sometimes stopped by too, especially for drinks on Friday evening in the rooftop bar.
Tyler was the goalie for the Chicago Blades, and Travis had sold his successful software company last year and was currently “enjoying life,” as he put it.
Our other brother, Sam, was working abroad with Doctors Without Borders, so we only saw him on special occasions.
I liked this space. My team was small with an assistant, Greta, and two associates, Harris and Louis.
An idea struck me while waiting for the coffee to brew. Once it was ready, I took the cup, and on the way to my office, I knocked at Luke's door.
"Come in," he said.
I opened it, looking inside. "Hey, do you have a few minutes?"
"For what?"
"Reese is in my office with some big news."
"Did that Malcolm moron pull something?" Luke asked, referring to her ex while getting up to join us.
"No, this is something different."
"Okay. I'll get back to my plans later."
We both walked to my office, and Reese chuckled when we came in.
"What did you do, bring reinforcements? I'm fine," she said, taking the coffee from me.
Luke winked at her. "Hey, cousin, long time no see. Why didn’t you come see me?"
"I wanted to, but you were on the phone. Declan, you got so spooked by my news that you brought Luke?”
"I'm not spooked," I said confidently as we all sat down around the desk. "But Luke has some strengths I don't." I knew how to put out fires, solve crises, and find solutions, but I wasn't good with advice in these types of situations.
"To catch you up, Kimberly and I found out that Dad recently remarried and we're going to have a sister."
Luke’s jaw dropped. “Holy fuck. Wait a second, why did you tell him first and not me?"
"As I said, you were on the phone. I was going to tell you."
"Right." I chuckled. “ Or she came to me because I’m the voice of reason.” Growing up, Luke had been the biggest troublemaker in the family. Whenever he had an idea, the rest followed along. Even though now I was thirty-eight and he was thirty-five, the dynamic hasn’t changed one bit.
“Course you are. That’s why you brought me in five minutes later.” He winked at me.
“Ah, if anyone looked up yin and yang in the dictionary, they’d find a picture of you two,” Reese said. “Anyway, I want to tell Gran.”
Luke grimaced. "We need a plan for that."
"Yeah. I mean, I think she's going to be happy. After she gets over the shock. But we definitely need a strategy." Reese ran a hand through her hair, turning to me. “You have any ideas?”
“Nope, that’s why he got me,” Luke said helpfully. “I’m the one with ideas. But honestly, Uncle Harvey should be the one to tell her.”
Reese shrugged. “He asked me to do it. Though his reasons sound a bit bogus. I think he’s ashamed that he’s waited so long. He said it’s best if Kimberly and I tell the whole family. But his reasoning doesn’t matter. I want to do this in a way that doesn’t upset Gran.”
“I honestly don’t think I can come up with anything on the spot. This is major,” Luke said.
I scoffed. “Well, well. You are out of ideas? Who would have thought?”
My brother laughed. “It’s the first time we’ve had a situation like this in the family. Always thought there were no secrets among the Maxwells.”
“Weeeell, that’s debatable,” Reese said.
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” she answered too quickly.
I cocked a brow. So did Luke.
“Cousin, you’re not very convincing,” he remarked.
Reese pressed her lips together. “I can’t spill secrets that aren’t mine.”
“You just told us about your dad,” I pointed out.
She held up a finger. “That’s different. Dad asked me to tell everyone.”
“But—” I began, but she interrupted me with a headshake.
“Drop it, pretty please. And let’s get back to the issue. Dad’s secret.”
Luke and I exchanged a glance. Reese rarely spoke about my uncle, mostly because he’d been absent our cousins’ whole lives.
I couldn’t imagine growing up like that.
Mom and Dad had always been a stable presence in our lives.
They were role models, and we all looked up to them.
They’d instilled important values in us, like work ethic and family loyalty.
They shaped us into the adults we’d become.
Granted, Tate and Tyler were the only ones who’d followed in their footsteps regarding marriage. They were both engaged. Reese tried, and it ended in disaster. And as for me, I was seeing far too many divorces to take “until death do us part” seriously. I dated, but that was it.
"Know what? Why don't I take you out to lunch, and we can figure something out?” Luke offered.
“That’s a great idea. I’m warning you though, I’m too jet-lagged to come up with good ideas. But I feel better just because I shared this with you guys,” Reese replied.
I barely held back laughter. This was a general strategy in the Maxwell family. When we weren’t sure about something, we went out for food.
Turning to me, he added, “Do you want to join us?"
Taking my phone from my pocket, I checked my calendar, noting that I didn’t have any appointments. "Sure. Why not?"
I had court tomorrow for the divorce case, but I had time to finish prepping for it even with a prolonged lunch break.
We all rose to leave.
“By the way, I got an email from Sam. He said he’s flying home for a week while Kimberly is here too,” Luke said. “I must say, I like knowing our brother is a little closer now.”
During his previous placement, he’d been in Central Africa.
He came home for a couple weeks last year after Tyler was injured during a fight with Reese’s ex.
He stayed for a while, as all of us were hovering around Tyler, trying to cheer him up.
I liked that Sam was in Honduras now. He could fly back home much more often.
"Declan, why do you look like you didn't sleep last night?" Luke asked as we headed out the door.
"Because I didn't."
"Still at war with your tenant?"
"Yes."
"What? What war?" Reese asked. "What did I miss?"
"You remember that I have someone living in the guest house on the property, right? She's driving me insane."
"Yeah. She comes home late into the night and dances to loud music. In. Her. Own. Home . Can you imagine something more disturbing?" Luke asked, rolling his eyes.
"It is disturbing if I can hear it," I countered.
"You have bat ears. I remember when we were kids. You could hear us talking through walls and across rooms. No clue how you did it.”
“It was a necessary means of survival. Your survival. If I hadn’t caught on about some of the shit you wanted to pull, you’d have gotten into even more trouble than you did.”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Luke said. “But anyway, if you can't sleep, you have to do something about your tenant."
“I know.”
The problem was that every time I closed my eyes last night, I saw an image of Liz, sweaty and flushed in workout clothes.
The next time I banged on her door, I was more likely to kiss her than scold her.