“She wants you two over for dinner this Friday. No more excuses.” He glared at Cash, who raised his hands in surrender.
“Fine by me. I love to eat, and Aunt Jane cancook.” He took Jordan’s hand across the table and kissed the back of it. “But not better than you, honey.”
“Because I was so worried.” Jordan rolled her eyes.
“Not to exclude you or Naomi, Jordan,” Evan hurried to say, “but Mom has some things to tell these two she doesn’t want to share outside of family just yet.”
“Oh, sounds like you two are in for it.” Jordan’s eyes brightened. “No problem.”
Cash groaned. “Aunt Jane always had a way of making you feel two inches tall. But only when you did something bad.”
“Which for Cash was about all the time,” Evan said.
Reid nodded. “I was the good one. But not as good as Evan.”
Evan ignored the knowing smirks they shot him. “Not my fault I can do no wrong.”
Cash and Reid shared a glance.
Jordan patted his shoulder. “Ignore them, Evan. They just wish they could pull off manly, handsome, and sophisticated like you do.”
He beamed. “For that, I forgive you for setting me up with Miriam.” Because Reid and Cash had definitely been behind it, but Jordan had suckered him into that awful prank.
Jordan laughed. “Thanks. But you know, I’d do it again. So worth it to hear the horror in your voice when you saw what the ladies in her self-awareness class were up to.”
He felt himself blushing. They laughed, and talk turned to the varied personalities in the Vets on the Go! building.
After Evan and the others had eaten and drunk their fill, Reid explained his original reason for their meeting. Budget concerns.
Evan and Reid, once again, argued over where to direct their funds. Marketing and publicity continued to take priority in Evan’s eyes. But Reid thought they’d done enough, even though his girlfriend was their PR liaison.
Reid frowned. “I’m not saying fire her or anything. I just want to keep our amount the same. Let’s funnel our increased revenue into more trucks.”
“And maintenance?” Evan knew all about the headaches associated with keeping an organization running. “No. We have a set amount put aside for this. I told you that already.”
“Here we go.” Cash sighed. “The eggheads talk money and tax breaks. My head hurts.”
“Neanderthal,” Evan said in as insulting a tone as he could manage.
“He got you on that one.” Jordan nudged at Evan to move, so he slid out of the booth. To Cash she said, “Come on, love muffin. Let’s let the big kids talk while you and I take a hike. This is beyond my pay grade.”
“Mine too.” Cash shoved Reid, who almost fell onto the floor, and stepped around him.
Reid caught himself and muttered under his breath.
Once Cash and Jordan had left, Evan turned to Reid. “Okay, we hashed this out days ago. Why did you want them gone?”
Reid sighed. “I thought you should know.”
“Know what?”
“Your mom.”
“What about her?” Evan had been making up any time away from work on those days he had to take his mom to the doctor. Or grocery shopping, or to anywhere she needed to go. Several months ago they’d learned she might be sick. Now Evan needed to spend as much time as he could with her.
Reid cringed. “I, ah, saw her kissing some guy at the market a few days ago. Thought you might want to know.”
Evan blinked. “My mother? My seventy-one-year-old does crochet and has bingo night with her friends every Thursday mother? That mother? Jane Griffith?”
