* * *
Evan dropped off the furniture with some help from Will’s brother and returned to the office three hours later. A traffic accident, combined with the five o’clock rush, had pushed him into a bad time to be on the road.
He checked the truck back in to the large warehouse space they shared with a local bakery’s delivery vehicles. The original office, which used to exist on the ground floor near the front of the building, had been under repair since Vets on the Go! had opened. It was supposed to be fixed at some point, but his cousins had decided to make the upstairs space the central point of the company. With all the business they’d had recently, no one had the time or energy to redo what had already been done.
Taking the stairs to the second floor, Evan walked down the long hallway, passing a watch repair shop and phone/computer repair store on his right and a clothing boutique on the left. “Clothing boutique” was being kind. Miriam, an older woman who equated female empowerment with sexual awareness, sold clothes when not running her workshops where women got naked and explored themselves.
As the new guy, he’d been pranked not long ago into dealing with her on behalf of his poor, beleaguered cousin Reid.
Evan still couldn’t believe he’d fallen for it. Especially since Reid had claimed not to be able to handle the woman himself. As if. Reid could and did handle everything that came at him. He’d been the one to come up with the idea of tailoring a moving company to employ veterans, making a future for his rough-talking older brother, Cash.
Added to that, they now employed more than a dozen veterans and had made a name for themselves as trustworthy and professional. Being a part of Vets on the Go! with his family made Evan proud and helped him feel included. As part of a larger family.
Too bad that like all families, this one had its share of dysfunction.
And speaking of which…
“Oh, there you are, Mr. Suave,” a deep voice growled from the main office at the end of the hall. “Reid was looking for you.” A large man with large muscles and an even bigger mouth stood in the doorway, looking like a mountain of irritability under that scowl.
“And now my day is complete.” Evan glared at Smith, the old new guy. Smith had only been with the company for a few weeks longer than Evan.
Smith Ramsey—Cash and Reid’s secret brother, who wasn’t so secret considering Smith and Cash resembled each other way too much to be a coincidence. But only family and Cash’s girlfriend knew the truth. Evan still wondered if Smith knew of the connection, but he’d leave that to his cousins to sort out.
“What’s wrong, Griffith? Not used to working up a sweat?” Smith smirked.
Evan resisted the urge to wipe that smirk off his face because one, the guy was huge, and two, the punch might be satisfying but the resultant mess they’d make of the office would be a nightmare. Evan preferred a peaceful resolution over a physical one, and he really didn’t want Smith rearranging his face. Ever.
Evan ignored him, not giving Smith the reaction he wanted, and stepped past him toward Reid’s office.
Vets on the Go! was situated at the end of the long hallway, a suite of four rooms, the main lobby being the largest. Behind the welcome desk sat Finley, a prior Navy guy, typing into a computer. No one waited in the seating area, and the other two offices looked dark behind the glass doors. Beyond the desk, Reid’s voice carried past his open door.
Finley glanced up from the computer, stopped typing, and picked up the quarter lying next to the keyboard. “Reid wants you.”
“I heard.”
Finley flipped the coin over his knuckles with a dexterity best left to thieves and magicians. He said he had magic in his blood, but Evan wouldn’t put it past the guy to also have a shady history. Like most of the colorful staff at Vets on the Go!, Finley had served his country and had an entertaining past. Because God forbid his cousins hire normal people.
The thought popped into his head:As ifyou’renormal?He had adjusted to the motley crew pretty fast.
He walked into Reid’s office and was waved into a seat. As usual, his cousin had a full cup of coffee by a stack of invoices and paper piles neatly organized on his desk. The demand for their services continued to skyrocket, and Evan couldn’t be happier. He usually downplayed his excitement, though he watched every single Vets on the Go! commercial on TV, getting a huge kick out of seeing his and his cousins’ faces flashing across the screen.
Reid hung up the phone and groaned. “Man, I need a break. Is it Friday yet?”
“Try Tuesday, five-ish. Want to go grab a cold one while we chat?”
“Hell yeah.” They left Reid’s office after Reid had gathered his things. “Finley, lock up and go home.”
“Roger that.”
Smith must have already left because Evan saw no sign of the gruff man. As he and Reid walked down the stairs and made small talk, Evan filled him in on his day and had Reid in tears by the time they reached their cars.
“Seriously? You got taken by a teenager?”
“Laugh it up. The kid was good. Smoother than Finley, and I—” His phone buzzed in his back pocket, and unfortunately his ring tone…was not what it should have been.
Reid blinked. “Your ring tone is ‘Dancing Queen’? ABBA, Evan? Really?”
Evan flushed. “That freakin’ kid.”
