Chapter 11
GOOD EXCUSE
He shouldn’t have held her in his arms. All it did was awaken everything he’d held dormant for years.
But he would hold it back. At least for now.
The next week was about Archer. Being there for the kid. Giving him something it seemed he’d been missing in his life. A male figure to hang out with, play with and watch sports, even joke and have a good time.
Hearing what Farrah had said about Tucker only pissed him off.
One thing he couldn’t tolerate was cheaters. Which was probably why it rubbed him the wrong way how he went out at his old job.
Would some think he left because he was guilty? He’d thought that over, then told himself if anyone believed that of him, they didn’t know him and he wouldn’t give two shits about their opinion.
He should be more concerned about what his family thought and they knew him well enough to know it was all a load of bullcrap.
“Happy Easter,” his mother said when he came down on Sunday morning. “Do you want anything to eat?”
“I’m good,” he said.
He put his cup in the sink with the plate he’d had. “Late-night snack?”
“Nope. Breakfast. I beat you to the kitchen.”
He’d been up for three hours doing some work at the desk in his old room. He’d come down before his mother was moving, had coffee, made some toast, then went back upstairs.
“Oh,” she said. “Everything okay?”
“I’m good. No issues. Just had a bunch of ideas in my head and was looking things over that we’d talked about last week in the office.”
His mother put her hands up. “No work talk. You know the rules.”
He laughed. “I’m not going to say much more.”
He’d decided but wouldn’t say anything else.
Running into someone last week when he was out, them asking him questions about what he was doing, then busting his ass over it must be nice to not work and live at home, or off his parents.
Yeah, that rubbed him the wrong way.
He wasn’t concerned about money. He could get another job.
But maybe he wanted to give this a shot, and if he did, he was going all in proving his worth, not having anyone giving him shit for having this as a fallback career.
Which meant he had to grow some bigger balls to not let that shit bother him, when in the past it would have.
Guess he was more messed up in the head than he thought.
“Good. I hid some eggs for Maverick. It’d be cute to see him running around looking for them. Got him a basket too. One for Hunter, but he’s not going to know much different.”
“Should I have gotten something for them?” he asked. He wasn’t used to considering kids in any decisions.
He enjoyed being around them, even babies, but it was still new to him.
This holiday, there were two.
“It’s fine,” his mother said. “No one would expect you to think of it.”
He laughed at his mother’s smirk.
The door opened from the kitchen and Maverick came running in toward his mother, yelling, “Ring in eggs. Ring in eggs.”
“What?” his mother asked.
“I’m engaged,” Jocelyn yelled, moving to her mother, her hand out showing the ring off.
“Oh my God,” his mother yelled and hugged his sister.
He looked at Chance standing there with his eyebrow lifted.
He had been a dick when he found out who his twin was dating. Jumped to conclusions and thought she could do a lot better.
The happiness from his sister said no, she couldn’t. She got exactly what she’d been waiting for. What she deserved.
“Congrats.” He put his hand out to shake Chance’s. “Let me guess, the ring was in an egg?”
“Yes,” Jocelyn said. “Not hard to figure out. I went to make breakfast and opened the container and there was a plastic one in there for me.”
“I thought it was a nice touch,” Chance said.
“That’s very sweet,” his mother said.
“What’s all the yelling?” his father asked, coming into the room with his glasses on. Which said his father was in the office doing something. Even if he was only reading the news, he went in there routinely for the peace and quiet.
“I’m getting married, Dad,” Jocelyn yelled and hugged their father.
“Get ready to open up your wallet, Dad. Knowing Jocelyn, it’s going to be something special.”
“Nah,” Jocelyn said. “No long engagement. I promise. Nothing over the top either. I want it sooner rather than later.” His twin turned to Chance. “I want a baby. I don’t want to wait much longer.”
“Oh Lord,” his mother said. “I get it. Let’s try not to have to get a gown and then have it resized too much, please.”
Chance put his hands up. “Not my call. My hands are full with this one. Jocelyn says she has it covered.”
“Don’t worry, we know I’ve got it under control. Things are nuts with the house, but in a few months we’ll be settled.”
“Are you selling your condo?” Jayce asked his sister.
“I will put it up for sale once I have a closing date on the house. I don’t want to feel rushed.”
His head went back and forth. “So another month?”
“At least. Why?”
“We’ll talk later.”
No reason to bring it up now. He still hadn’t given his parents the final decision, but he could tell by the look in his father’s eyes, everyone knew what it was going to be.
Buying something here would put down roots they wouldn’t have expected. It’s not like he was going to continue living in his childhood room.
His plan was to look for apartments at some point. All his shit was sitting in a storage pod in the other driveway to the second garage next to his parents’ house.
“The Easter Bunny left eggs here for you too, Mav,” his father said. “Can you find them?”
He laughed over the excitement in his father’s voice. The grandkids had been good for his parents.
“Eggs,” Mav yelled. “Eggs.”
He’d only seen the toddler twice before, but Mav didn’t seem to hesitate to come over to him and tug on his pant leg to follow him into the living room.
“Guess I need to help,” he said.
“Make sure you leave some for him,” Jocelyn said. “Don’t hog them all like you did as a kid.”
“Fine, I’ll only look for two.”
He chased his sister’s future stepson into the living room to begin the search, all the while wondering if Archer had found his eggs this morning.
Did he still believe at eight? Shit, he better find that out so he didn’t slip. A good excuse to text Farrah later.
“Oh my God,” Stacy said to Diane and Carolyn Fierce later that night on the phone. “I hadn’t expected Jocelyn and Chance to get engaged so quickly, but she ran in to show me the ring right before dinner.”
“When it’s right, it is,” Diane said. “As our kids get older, they move faster. Time is ticking.”
“I know,” Stacy said. “I’m so excited for Jocelyn. She really loves Maverick as her own, but she told us today no long engagement. As fast as she can plan it, it’s happening. She wants a baby of her own.”
“Good for her,” Carolyn said. “Your house will be overrun soon enough.”
“Which leads me to something else. My other son, Jayce.”
“What about him?” Diane asked.
“I might need some help where he is concerned. I have to figure out what is going on in his life, but when the time is right, I hope you’ll give me some advice.”
“We’re your ladies,” Carolyn said.