Sergio laughs. “Adrien, you are the last person on this earth I would want to poison.”
Adrien takes a slow sip. “Doubtful.”
“Seriously. I would be lost without you,” Sergio says with complete sincerity. He pours another cup of coffee and places it down in Holden’s spot.
“You take that. I’ll drink the sludge at the bottom of the pot.”
“You sure?” Sergio asks, even though he already knows what his disgusting answer will be.
“Yeah,” Holden says, grabbing the pot from Sergio and pouring himself the last remnants of the coffee. He takes an exaggerated sip from his mug and smacks his lips after he swallows. “Ahh. Delicious.”
“You’re disgusting,” Rose, Adrien, and Sergio say in unison as everyone begins to grab food, filling up their plates.
“So …” Sergio starts once everyone is eating. He takes a forkful of pancakes and chews while he waits to have everyone’s attention. “I wanted to apologize for last night … well, most of yesterday, really. It wasn’t my best showing.”
Holden claps him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. It’s all water under the bridge.”
“To you, maybe,” Sergio says, looking over at his best friend. “But I know I hurt Jeremy last night.” He takes his gaze to Rose. “And you as well. So I am sorry. I’ll be sure to let Jeremy know that today first chance I get.”
Rose points at him with her fork, which has a piece of pineapple hanging from it. “You better,” she says. “Because I’m not smoothing this one over for you.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“What? No apology for me?” Adrien asks, eyeing Sergio over the brim of his coffee mug.
Sergio wipes his mouth with his napkin. “I owe you more than an apology,” he says, nodding in Adrien’s direction. “I hope by the end of the day, I’ll have managed to make that clear.”
“I’ll be sure not to hold my breath,” Adrien says and takes a loud sip of his coffee. He eyes Sergio with suspicion—a look to which Sergio has grown accustomed. A look his brother has perfected over the years from being the younger of the two. The look that implies whatever game Sergio might be playing at, he’s on board even if his words say otherwise.
Rose checks her watch and rises from her seat. “I’ll take the rest of this to go,” she says and kisses Holden on the cheek, then heads for the back door. “You boys have fun.”
“Will do!” Holden calls out after her. “We’ll see you for lunch.”
Alright. So far, so good,Sergio thinks. No one is fighting. No one is glaring daggers at him. And he has a full belly of food to conquer the first half of his day.
“Take shotgun,” Sergio says to Adrien, holding open the passenger side door of Holden’s Range Rover for him.
“Are you sure?” Adrien asks, as he climbs in, not bothering to wait for an answer.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Sergio shuts the door behind him. He smiles and taps the door panel with his fist twice, then climbs into the back seat next to Henry. With one hand, he shuts the door, andwith his other, he waves Holden off, stopping him from buckling Henry in. “I’ve got it,” he says, then winks at Henry.
Henry hard blinks back at him and starts kicking his feet in his seat.
After getting into the driver’s seat, Holden turns on the car. “Who’s ready for some skiing?”
“Me!” Henry yells and throws up his hands.
“Me too,” Adrien says.
“Been looking forward to it all year,” Sergio says, catching Holden’s eyes through the rearview mirror.
Holden puts the car in reverse and looks over his shoulder at Sergio as he backs out of the garage. “I’m thrilled you’re both here,” he says. “I missed my brothers.”
“We missed you, too,” Sergio assures him.
“Yeah,” Adrien says, eyes forward as he gestures with his thumb over his shoulder in Sergio’s direction. “You have no idea how hard it is to wrangle this one by myself.”
Holden turns back around and hits the button to close the garage door. “Way more than a full-time job, I’m sure.”
