Chapter 5 #2
Blaine had come in loaded for bear, as their father used to say, agreeing to remove Deacon from the area for the time being and to personally see to it that he stayed out of trouble.
It had taken about four minutes for Deacon to regret calling him.
As he’d followed Blaine’s truck to the ferry landing on his motorcycle, he’d had to resist the urge to turn the bike and head west, away from everything and everyone.
Deacon pulled a rumpled light blue dress shirt from the bag, smelled it to determine if it was clean—it was—and held it up for inspection. No question it had to be ironed before he could wear it to brunch.
Shit.
Moving to the apartment door, he looked out to see if Blaine’s police department SUV was gone. Seeing that it was, he went down the stairs and across the driveway to knock on the back door of his brother’s home.
Tiffany came to the door with baby Addie on her hip. “Hey, Deacon. What’s up?”
“I wondered if I could borrow your iron.”
“Of course. Come in.” Tiffany had her dark hair up in a bun on top of her head and wore a tank top with yoga pants. His brother’s wife was a beautiful woman. “The iron is in the laundry room off the kitchen. Or I’d be happy to do it for you if you wouldn’t mind watching Addie.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t, and I don’t mind.”
Deacon eyed the baby warily. “Will she mind hanging with her uncle Deacon?”
“She’ll love it.” Tiffany handed over the baby and took the shirt from him. “Did you sleep in this thing?”
He laughed as he tried to figure out how best to hold the squirming baby. “Despite how it might seem, I didn’t actually sleep in it.”
“You’re in luck. I’ve got a good iron.”
“Excellent.” He looked down at the baby, who watched him with a serious expression, as if she wasn’t sure what to make of this man who looked a little like Daddy. A much younger version of Daddy.
While Tiffany got out the ironing board, Deacon stood awkwardly in the doorway to the laundry room. “What’s up, Addie?”
“You know she can’t talk yet, right?”
“Duh, of course I do.” He had no idea when babies started talking.
Tiffany laughed, which meant she knew he was full of shit.
Deacon offered a sheepish grin and a shrug. “I think it’s awesome that you named her after our grandmother. She’s the best.”
“I absolutely love the name Adeline, and I love your grandmother. She’s a firecracker.”
“Yes, she is.” She lived in Connecticut in a senior community that kept her busy and entertained. Deacon had heard rumors of a “boyfriend,” but thankfully she didn’t bring that up during their weekly chats.
Tiffany got busy ironing his shirt with a ruthless efficiency that impressed him.
“You’re good at that.”
“I iron Blaine’s uniform shirts for him.”
“He’s a lucky man.”
When she smiled, her whole face softened. “We’re both lucky. He and my girls are the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“Huh, you really feel that way about boring old stick-up-his-ass Blaine? My brother?”
She laughed again. “I really do, and PS, he’s the farthest thing from boring.”
Deacon responded with a barfing sound that made Addie laugh, so he did it again and again when he kept getting the same reaction from her. Making his baby niece laugh, he found, was a rather delightful way to pass the time.
“What the fuck are you doing in my house?”
Deacon rolled his eyes at Tiffany and turned to face his surly jackass brother. “I came to borrow an iron.”
Blaine took Addie from him, which hurt Deacon’s feelings, not that he’d let on to Blaine.
“Then why is my wife ironing for you?”
“Knock it off, Blaine. I offered to do it.”
Deacon wanted to kiss Tiffany for coming to his defense, but he had a feeling that would earn him a knife through the heart, so he kept his appreciation—and his lips—to himself.
“I’m happy to have the chance to get to know my brother-in-law,” Tiffany added with a pointed look for her husband. She finished the shirt in half the time it would’ve taken Deacon and tugged it off the ironing board to give it a thorough inspection before handing it back to him.
“Thank you so much for this.”
“Any time.”
“No,” Blaine said, “not any time.”
“Don’t mind him.” Tiffany put her hand on Deacon’s arm. “You’re welcome here any time, and you don’t have to knock.”
“Yes, he does have to knock.”
Deacon ignored his brother and smiled at Tiffany, who was his new best friend. “Thanks a million.”
“Hope you have fun wherever you’re going.”
“I was invited to the brunch the Lawry and McCarthy families are having at the Surf.”
“Who invited you to that?” Blaine asked.
Deacon wanted to tell him to fuck off and that it was none of his business, but he took the diplomatic approach instead. “Mrs. Lawry.”
“How do you know her?”
“I met her at the wedding.”
Blaine eyed him with suspicion that Deacon should’ve been used to by then. “And she suddenly asked you to come to a family thing?”
“Yep.” He made a face at Addie that had her cracking up again. Her laughter was his new favorite sound.
“What’s up with that?”
“It may come as a shock to you, but I’m a rather nice guy. People tend to like me, present company excluded, of course.”
“I like you,” Tiffany said. “And Addie does, too.”
He winked at Tiffany. “I like you, too. I can already tell you’re much too good for my brother.”
The low growl from Blaine made Deacon’s day, and it was only nine thirty. “Have a good one, everyone.”
“Don’t be late for work on Monday.”
Blaine had wanted him to start right away, but it had taken a few extra days to transfer his license from Massachusetts to Rhode Island, which had postponed his start date. “I wouldn’t dare be late for my first day. I’ve heard the boss is a stickler for punctuality.”
Blaine muttered something under his breath, but Deacon didn’t hear it and didn’t care enough to ask him to repeat it. He headed for the back door with his ironed shirt in hand, a new friend in his lovely sister-in-law and a baby niece he couldn’t wait to see again.