“Where’s Corey?” I asked, moving to the sink to wash my hands.
“He went out. He should be back before it gets too late.”
“Out where?” I asked. My brother rarely left the house after five o’clock. Even when he did it was mainly for a doctor’s appointment or physical therapy. I was the one who dropped by his actual place a few times a month to pick up his mail and take it over to my mother’s.
“None of your business,” my mother chastised.
“I’m just saying, it’s probably a good thing he’s out, right?” I bit my bottom lip. “Um, do you know if he went out with friends or something?” As far as I knew, he still hadn’t contacted Don or anyone else at Rescue Four.
“Why are you so interested in where your brother goes? He’s a grown man.”
“I know that, Mama. I’m surprised. He’s barely left the house in months, aside from going to the doctor’s office and physical therapy. Suddenly he’s going out and socializing.”
I shrugged to play off what I felt. Truthfully, I didn’t want my brother going out and talking with Don, in particular. Don might say something before I got the chance to tell Corey about whatever was happening between us.
Not like it was serious or anything.
We were simply two adults brought together by some odd circumstances who happened to be attracted to one another.
This is inevitable.
Don’s comment from a week earlier came to mind. It was less a comment and more of a declaration. I hated the way my belly had quivered when he looked me in the eye and said those words. Worse still was the weakness in my knees. I didn’t take a full breath until he’d left.
“Jocey, did you hear me?”
Blinking, I turned to my mother. “Huh?”
A funny expression crossed her face. She tilted her head to the side but didn’t speak, and I grew uncomfortable underneath the weight of her stare.
“You were lost in thought.”
“Yeah...it’s this case I’m working on. No big deal.”
“I’ve seen your working on a case face.” She moved closer as I plated some chicken over rice. I avoided her gaze, but it felt like her eyes drilled into the side of my face.
My mother could see things in me with just a look. Too bad she hadn’t been as savvy when it came to my father.
“Mm-hmm,” she hummed.
Before I could divert her attention elsewhere, luck spared me when the front door opened and Corey came in.
“Hey, Mama. J.” He entered the kitchen and hugged my mother.
“You’re just in time for dinner,” my mother told him. “Go wash up.”
Minutes later, we all sat around the dining room table eating.
I peered across the round table at my brother. He’d barely spoken in the fifteen minutes since he’d returned home.
“Where were you tonight?” I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mother shoot me a look, but I kept my sights trained on my brother.
He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. “Excuse you?”
“You were out when I got here. The physical therapist you go to and the doctor's office are closed by now.”
He chuckled. “Private investigative ass.”
“I am what I am.”
