Chapter Six #2
I headed to my half-brother Nick’s gym afterward.
I always asked if he was around when I was here, but today he wasn’t.
I did my usual routine at the weight section and then my cardio exercises.
Some people preferred to jog outside, and I could definitely do it in my neighborhood—it was quiet, and there wasn't a lot of traffic—but I wanted to focus on my workouts, and I did that best at the gym. But I also had an entire workout room at home for the days when I couldn’t make it here.
After finishing the workout, I saw a missed call from Maddox and immediately called back.
“Hey!" I said when he answered. "I’ve been training. Are you at Nick’s gym too?”
“No. Need to blow off steam in the middle of the day?”
“Something like that.”
“Right.”
I frowned. He wasn't being his usual self. Usually by now he would have already cracked a joke or given me shit about something.
"Brother, why do you have a stick up your ass?" We didn't do subtle in our family.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Yes. What happened?" I asked, going into the juice bar.
"I heard through the grapevine that Dad wants to return to Boston and open up a business here."
Every muscle in my body tightened. "Fuck no!" I exclaimed.
"My thoughts exactly," Maddox replied in a clipped tone.
“Define grapevine.”
“After we bought him out of the company, I started keeping track of his moves.”
Dad had held minority stock in Whitley Industries until recently. We bought him out—at his request. We figured it would get him out of our lives for good. He'd claimed he needed the money to settle some debts, but apparently there was plenty left for him to start a new business.
“Do you have details?”
“Not yet.”
"Let's not share with the whole family until we know more."
"Sure," Maddox replied. “But Nick and Leo know. I asked them to help me keep an eye out for him."
"Thanks for staying on top of this. I have to admit, I never thought it was necessary."
“I had a hunch it was." His voice was uncharacteristically dry.
He made it sound like it wasn't a big deal, but I was starting to think he’d just been placating us. That was very unlike Maddox.
“All right, keep me up-to-date.”
“That’s the plan.”
After hanging up, I decided to run another thirty minutes on the treadmill. I needed to blow off steam even more than before.
When I returned home, I was surprised by the delicious aromas permeating the house. Putting my gym bag down, I called "Diane?"
"Hi. I'm in the kitchen,” she replied. "I wasn't sure when you were coming back, but I thought I’d get started on making lasagna."
I went straight to the kitchen. She was wearing a dress now. Was she trying to kill me? She looked absolutely mouthwatering. It was short but not tight. Thank fuck, because then I wouldn't be able to keep my eyes off her. I was fighting to be on my best behavior as it was.
"It won’t take long for it to be ready," she said. "I made the sauce already." She was now frying the meat.
"Can I do something to help?"
"No, I'm used to cooking by myself. I'm not even sure how to delegate in the kitchen."
"You went grocery shopping?" I asked, looking at all the ingredients on the counter.
She smiled sheepishly. "There was nothing in the fridge, and I wanted to cook us something. You really live on takeout, huh?"
"Honestly, yes.”
"Cooking is one of my favorite things. And lasagna is my comfort food. I used to be in charge of all the cooking duties growing up."
"What about your mom?"
She sighed. "She'd been sick for years, so she couldn't always do it, but she taught me well. Whenever she felt better, I took advantage and asked her to show me as many recipes as possible."
"You had a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders growing up."
"Yeah, but it worked out. My sister and I split tasks. Celia hates cooking, but I never minded it. She went grocery shopping when she was old enough, and I had to be strict with her about the budget and everything."
She spoke about this as if it was the most natural thing in the world for kids to manage household budgets and do the brunt of the cooking and chores.
“Your dad?”
She shrugged. “Not in the picture.”
So we had that in common. Shitty dads.
"So, you don't cook because you don't have time?" she asked. "Or because you don't know how to?"
"Caught me there." I grabbed a Coke and stepped next to her. I seemed to naturally gravitate toward her when we were in the same room. Frankly, it was disconcerting. "I've maybe cooked three whole meals my entire life."
"That can't be true."
"And I'm pretty sure two of those were making ramen noodles in college."
She laughed. "Gabe, how do you even survive?"
"I get by. Don’t know why I never learned. Mom was a good cook, actually."
“Oh, is she in Boston too?”
It felt as if someone pressed down on my shoulders. I cleared my throat. "She passed away many years ago."
She turned to look at me, her expression sad. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
"You don't have to apologize."
"Celia and I have never talked about your family. Honestly, the only thing I know about you is that you're a great boss, and the part where you helped us with Mom. Didn't want to bring up bad memories or anything."
"No worries. Her death was unexpected," I said.
She bit her lip and took the meat off the stove, arranging it in the dish where she'd already put the lasagna. "Was it an accident?"
"No, she got sick. It just felt unexpected because it happened soon after we all found out that our father had another family."
A loud clank startled both of us. Diane had dropped the pan on the stove. "That sounds horrifying. I totally understand if you want to change the subject."
"There's not much to say. Dad had two families. He abandoned them both. Mom was devastated. Shortly after, the doctors discovered she had melanoma. She passed away quickly. Needless to say, it was a challenging time for the family. Our grandparents didn’t miss a beat, though.
I always thought the bright side was finding out we had three additional brothers. "
"Are you on good terms with them?"
"They're my best friends. I don't differentiate between my actual brothers and my half brothers, even though we didn't grow up together."
"That's honestly amazing. I don't know many people who would take that in stride."
"Some of my older brothers definitely didn't. But we all have a good relationship now.”
We fell silent after that as she poured the meat and the sauce in between lasagna sheets. Then she shoved everything into the oven.
"It only needs twenty minutes. I’ll use that time to set the table."
"I’ll do it, since you're cooking."
She looked at me playfully. "But you're the one who put in all those muscles to help me today."
She wasn't averting her gaze because she was uncomfortable with me; she felt this inexplicable attraction just as much as I did. What the hell had I been thinking, asking her to move in? I’d noticed from our first interaction that there were sparks between us.
But we were adults, and I was certain we'd be able to handle it.
I opened the overhead cabinet at the same time as her. Diane turned slightly to me, pressing her soft breast against my chest. She wasn't wearing a bra.
Fuck, I was wrong. I definitely can't handle this.
"I've got the plates," I said, fighting to keep my voice even. It was low and gruff, which was completely ridiculous. No one had ever had an impact like this on me.
"O-Okay," she stuttered. "I'll check on the lasagna." She glanced inside the oven. “Looks good.”
I noticed a slight change in her voice too. She was just as rattled as I was.
I brought the plates to the table, as well as forks and knives. "Want a bottle of wine?"
"No. But I won’t say no to a Coke."
"One Coke it is." I took a bottle from the fridge and opened it for her.