She waved him off. “But I can make up for it now. I know you’re grown, but you still need love. And I have plenty to give. Since this one”—she pointed to Evan—“is so clueless when it comes to his future, you’ll have to help him. Honey, Rita died years ago. But you didn’t. Move on.”
If only it were that easy. Sure, Evan missed Rita. But he didn’t suffer from some kind of survivor’s guilt or a heart frozen in grief. He swallowed but didn’t speak.
“There now.” She closed her eyes and smiled then opened them to stare at them with love. “I’ve finally said my piece. I can die happy now.”
“Aunt Jane?” Reid frowned.
Cash blinked and around his food, mumbled, “Huh?”
Evan groaned. Not this again. “Mom.”
She laughed. “Oh relax. I’m fine. I’ve been to a bazillion doctor’s appointments. I know my ticker is good, so I have that.”
Then why are you so tired and wan all the time?
“And I’m on birth control, so you all don’t need to worry about that either.”
Evan gaped. So did his cousins. His mother laughed harder, snorting when she could catch a breath. “Oh, that felt good. I’m kidding, you knuckleheads. But I might as well confess I found myself a nice man friend. We’re dating. And, well, it could get serious.”
Reid shot him a look.
Evan needed to sit on the stool he’d been standing in front of. “What? Serious?”
Cash paused, glanced from him to his aunt, and quirked a brow. “So, what? You getting Evan a new daddy?”
Reid choked on his food. “Cash.”
“Oh my God. Mom, what’s going on with you?” A second wind in life at seventy-one?
“You heard me.” She thrust out her chin. “But my love life is nowhere near as exciting as yours apparently is. Why don’t you explain just why you’re a ‘sexy moving man with a fine ass’? Because this I have to hear.”
Cash and Reid grinned, and Reid, that sly bastard, said, “Yes, Evan. Why don’t you tell us all about the woman with the knife, your phone, and ‘Dancing Queen’? Inquiring minds want to know.”
Chapter 5
Kenzie stared at the phone, half expecting it to bite her. Had she really said no to a date with Evan? Yes, yes, she had, because she didn’t need complications right now. And the way he made her feel certainly qualified as difficult, perplexing, and chaotic.
“Who was that?”
She jumped, not having heard her brother return to the living room. “Um, no one.”
“Really? Because it sounded like you were saying no to coffee, and the only guy you’ve talked to about a coffee date was Evan. I was there, remember?”
She didn’t need lectures on honesty from a thirteen-year-old juvenile delinquent. “Shouldn’t you be heading to bed?”
“Kenzie, it’s seven thirty on a Friday night.”
“And? You’re a growing boy.”
He rolled his eyes in the way only an adolescent could, sneering without sneering. “Admit you like the guy.”
“I admit he was nice. So what? I’ll probably never see him again, unless there’s something you’re not telling me. Did you steal his phone again? Will he be a character witness for the feds when they come to take you away or raid our house for some illegal mess you’ve once again gotten yourself into?”
He flushed. “No. And quit changing the subject.”
“There is no subject. Now go watch TV or something. I have more work to do.”
He stared at her, his brows drawn, then headed back upstairs. She felt bad about chasing him away…for all of three seconds. Her brother loved Netflix, and she really did have work to do. Especially since she’d spent much of the afternoon trying to ignore thoughts of Evan while the girls continued to talk about him.
