16. #2
“I’ll give each of you five thousand dollars to stop giving me shit, with the understanding that you will not try to shake me down for money ever again.”
“Settled. I hope the two of you have a very happy future together,” Robby said, sticking his hand out again.
“Good luck, man. You’re gonna need it,” Max added as they shook hands. “Have fun with that.”
I was too stunned to speak. My children had just sold me out for ten grand. What kind of monsters had I raised?
“Parker’s gonna need his cut too,” Robby said, pulling out his phone to text my oldest. He looked up at Ziggy. “Are you okay with that?”
Ziggy nodded. “Same terms apply.”
“Of course,” Max said, walking around the counter to throw an arm across my shoulders.
My first instinct was to brush it off, but then I decided to let the scene play out.
I had no idea my children were quite this diabolical or savvy, but honestly, why wouldn’t they be?
Apparently, they just hadn’t found the right opportunity to realize their full potential until today, and they impressed me.
With a mom like me and a family like ours, no one should expect anything less.
Max leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I just came into some money. Wanna run off and take that Alaskan cruise we talked about at Christmas?”
“Parker said he’s taking us to stay in a haunted hotel on the beach at Coronado Island in February, and I’m going to take us to Savannah and then down to Disney World, probably in May before the real heat hits.”
“We could do the cruise during winter break,” Max suggested.
“Sounds like a plan,” I choked out, mostly because I was trying not to laugh at the gobsmacked look on Ziggy’s face. “Now, can we discuss what you learned today?”
“I think I just . . . they just . . . Holy shit!” Ziggy stammered.
“You told me once that you appreciated my analytical brain and devious nature, Nip. What kind of children would you expect a woman like me to raise?”
“You know, I’m beginning to think I was safer in New York with people shooting at me than I am in Rojo.”
“Treat our mom right, or we might serve you a slice of that pie here in Texas,” Robby promised.
Ziggy looked at Robby and then at Max, both of whom were smiling menacingly, but he didn’t say anything before asking, “What was it that chick said?”
“Chick? Really?”
Ziggy closed his eyes, clicked his heels together, and quietly chanted, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”
He seemed irritated when my sons and I bellowed with laughter, but what did he expect?
◆◆◆
“Are you okay with what Ziggy told us earlier?”
Max took a deep breath, shrugged, and leaned his head against the back of the couch.
“Talk to me, Max.”
“Do you really think Dad wanted to send me away for my own safety, or is he just so upside down that he thinks I’m that much of a screwup?”
“Your dad has always been proud of you and Robby. From the day you were born, he was the proudest dad around.” To lighten the mood, I mimicked his voice. “Did you see that, Jewel? He blinked! Three seconds old and he’s already blinking? This boy is going places!”
“Whatever.” He said it grudgingly, accompanied by the hated eye roll, but I knew I’d accomplished my goal when he added, “I’m glad someone realized my potential.”
“You’re gonna do great things because you’re already a great guy who is becoming a great man. You’re funny, super-smart, and you’ve got my looks and charm. The world is your oyster, sweetheart.”
Since he’d fallen asleep during the last half of the video I’d had Max cue up, his voice caught me off guard. “Arrogance is a sin, isn’t it?”
I looked over and saw him still reclining with his eyes closed, but there was a smile on his face. “Honey, if that’s the reason I go to hell, I’ll laugh right along with the devil before he ships me back to earth to make sure I don’t take over.”
“You’re seriously going to date a mobster who owns a rugby team?” Robby asked.
“He’s a businessman who moved to Rojo to oversee his investment and decided to diversify his holdings by purchasing real estate in his new town.”
“He really owns all three houses across the street?”
“And another one by Brighten’s. His assistant lives in Margaret’s old house,” I explained.
Max snorted. “Does it still smell like hot dogs?”
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. She got a trespass order against me ages ago.”
Robby laughed. “That’s our mom. Making friends and influencing people every single day.”
“Do you really like this guy, Mom?” Max asked, suddenly serious.
“Maybe.”
“You’re never a half-in kind of person. You either love someone and would take a bullet for them, or you hate them and are probably the reason there’s a bullet headed their way.”
“You make me sound like a horrible person!”
“You’re not horrible, and you know it. If you were, you would have insisted Ziggy tell us all the details of what he found out about Dad, not just the bare minimum. We can take the truth.”
“You can’t handle the truth!” Max and I yelled at the same time.
Robby lifted his head and glared at us. “Really? I’m trying to be serious here.”
“Ziggy had a good point when he said he didn’t want you to know what he’d found or what he was going to do to fix the problem. If something happens to your father, it won’t be because of anything Ziggy did . . .”
“Are you sure?” Max asked.
“I am. He knows how I feel about your father and the relationship he shares with you.”
“We know you’re letting him go until his rope runs out and he hangs himself with it,” Robby admitted. “And that rope is getting really short lately.”
“I’ve got my own issues with your dad, and I’ve tried very hard not to let that color how you feel about him.”
“Yes, you have, and you’ve done a bang-up job, but we’re not stupid. We’re not blind, and we’re not deaf. We see how he treats you and hear what he says, and we know that the only reason you haven’t eviscerated him is because of us,” Max said.
“He did something I can’t forgive, Mom. As many times as I’ve knocked the shit out of Max, I won’t stand for anyone else doing it. Beating him is mine and Parker’s job. No one else’s.”
Now Max glared at Robby. “You couldn’t beat me if you tried.”
“Been doing it since you were old enough to walk,” Robby muttered.
“Let’s not fight tonight. We’ve survived a nice tutorial together and learned .
. .” When both boys scoffed, I said, “We’re learning the rules of the game, and even though we don’t exactly have a grasp on it, I think it’ll be very entertaining to watch it live.
We can go together and have a nice, relaxing evening while . . .”
“You can’t tell me watching that doesn’t make you want to just ram into someone and knock ‘em down while you dance on their shivering carcass!” Max announced.
“Graphic, but okay,” I said, staring at him in shock.
“I’m gonna try out for the team.”
“Like hell you are!” I nearly shouted.
“You might say no, but our new stepdad will want to keep us happy, so he’ll let us,” Max announced.
“Not if he wants to live.”
“You owe me ten bucks!” Max shouted.
Robby grumbled as he rolled to the side and reached into his back pocket. “That wasn’t fair. You caught her while she was calculating the dental and medical bills your semi-professional rugby career is going to rack up.”
“What was the bet?” I asked.
“That I’d get you to admit you were serious about Ziggy,” Max said, standing up to take the bill from his brother.
“I never said that!”
“When I called him our stepdad, you didn’t even blink.”
“Robby’s right. That wasn’t fair at all. The trauma of your rugby career distracted me.”
“Too late, Mom. We know you really like him, and we haven’t spent much time with him, but we like him too.”
“You do?”
“Yeah,” Robby and Max said in unison.
“That makes me feel better about the situation.”
“Good. Now take your rabid chihuahua across the street with you so we can watch a real movie in peace.”
“What makes you think I’m . . .” I shook my head, standing up to face Max.
I gave him a hug, holding his shoulders as I smiled at him.
“You’re right. I’m a grown-up. I’ve got nothing to hide, and you’re both almost grown and aren’t idiots.
I’ll have my phone if you need me, or if you open a window and yell, I’ll probably hear you. ”
“Love you, Mom. It’s good to see you smile like you do when you’re talking to him,” Robby said as I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’ll even put in a good word with Parker.”
“You know what this means, don’t you?” I asked as I walked toward the stairs.
“What?” Max asked.
“If Ziggy and I end up together, that means Ziva and Zara will be your sisters. How weird is that?”
“What?” Robby yelled over Max’s eruption of laughter.
“It will be your job to run off their prospective dates, not be one of them.”
I couldn’t hear what Robby said over Max’s guffaws, but I knew my point had hit home. The young women my sons had met while they were in Rojo for the wedding last year might become part of their family someday.
Maybe.
I was still thinking about it.