"I'm sure that makes it all okay, then," I retorted. "Look, we're both adults. I can be civil to you when I see you. All that I ask is that you do the same for me. I'm used to it and I'm not going to make a big thing of it if you can't help yourself. But please don't act surprised when I don't lower myself to your expectations."
Brody stared at me but didn't try to stop me when I moved around him once again.
As I left the laundry room, I smiled. It was the first time I'd clearly and concisely told Broderick Murphy exactly what I thought of him and it was freeing. I hadn't realized that there was a dark corner of my brain that housed my insecurities in regard to him. The deficiencies that he always seemed to jab, poke, and prod with frightening precision.
Somehow, in the last seven years, I'd moved beyond caring what Brody thought of me. Did it still irk me a little that he expected me to be the reactive, emotional girl I once was? Yes, but it no longer burned in my belly the way it would have.
I guess I'd grown up after all.
Well, only a little since I intended to charge him full price if he brought Jacks into the shop.
Mom was just placing the food out on the dining room table when I entered. She was in the process of setting a bowl of salad down when her hand arrested in midair as she studied my attire.
"You look...summery," she finally said.
I shrugged. "It was this or a pair of my old track shorts, crop top, and no bra."
"I'm sure this will be fine," she murmured.
"Do you need me to bring anything else to the table?" I asked.
Mom shook her head. I moved over to my usual seat and was just about to plop down when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me off my feet.
I clutched at the arms and squealed as I was spun around in rapid, wide circles. My eyes wouldn't focus and I staggered when he released me. But I still managed to punch my brother in the shoulder hard enough to make him yelp and rub the spot.
"Jeez, Cam, no need for violence."
Before he could defend himself, I punched him in the other shoulder.
"Ow! What the he—"
"Jackson Joseph McClane, watch your mouth." My mother's sharp remonstration interrupted his complaint. While she wasn't yelling, the woman had a way of projecting her voice in such a way that you could hear her, loud and clear, over any other background noise. I think if she hadn't married my father and become a nurse in his office that she could have had a career in the theater. "There is a child present and your mother who doesn't appreciate your foul mouth."
Speaking of the child, I realized that her name was the feminine of J.J.'s and my chest tightened. Brody had named his daughter after my brother. It was incredibly sweet.
J.J. shot me a baleful glare as he rubbed his sore shoulders. "Sorry, Mom."
"Now, if you two are done acting like idiots, how about we have a nice family meal together?"
My brother moved around the table, still glaring at me, and took the seat between Jacks and Sierra. That meant that the seat next to me was for Brody.
Great. Just great.
