Gabe laughed. “It’s been building and now you know. You’re more annoyed about the fact that Mom threw it in your face that you don’t take part in anything outside the office.”
“I don’t know why I’ve got to,” she said, slumping in the chair across from his desk. “You and Dad have it all covered.”
“Do you want another fight?” Gabe asked. “Because I’ll win this one hands down.”
She knew better than to make the comment, but couldn’t stop herself from repeatedly sulking over the lecture she’d just received.
“No, I don’t need my butt handed to me again,” she said.
McCarthy Construction was going to be handed down to her, Gabe, and Jayce. She and Gabe would run it. She didn’t think Jayce would ever have a part in it, but he’d still own a third.
“Good. Mom knows her limits. So does Dad. You don’t give Dad a hard time and he works more than Mom.”
“Because I leave that to you,” she said. She was done with this conversation. “Where are we ordering from?”
Gabe pushed his cell phone over to her after unlocking it. “This place around the corner has new ownership for the past year. I’ve been hearing good things. You lost. You get to pay. Be happy I’m keeping it close by.”
She felt as if her brother had set her up on purpose.
But it had more to do with the fact that he was right. She should just speak her mind rather than skirt around the truth.
Her mother hovering only irritated her more, making Jocelyn feel that even at thirty-four, after twelve years of full-time work and now managing all the company’s finances, she still wasn’t trusted to run the offices on her own.
She was scrolling through the menu. “I’ll take the Santa Fe grilled chicken with fries.”
Gabe reached for his phone that she’d pushed back. He hit a few things and held his hand out. “Credit card, please.”
She pulled it out of the back pocket of her jeans and tossed it at the smirk on his face. The minute her brother bet she wouldn’t be able to get her mother to cut back her hours, she was positive she was going to lose.
It was a sucker bet, but one of these days she’d get lucky when it came to winning.
Her card bounced off his chest and hit the desk with a loud whack. “This is the last time.”
“You say that all the time,” Gabe said. “It’s only you, me, and Mom, so not much. Dad is off somewhere meeting with people and won’t be back for a few hours.” Gabe tossed her card back to her and she caught it. “Thirty minutes.”
She stood up. “Enjoy it while you can. I’m going to call your wife now and tell her you’re taking advantage of me.”
Gabe laughed. “As if you’d let anyone take advantage of you.”
Shewasa sucker for trying to beat her brothers in anything. It just rarely happened.
After twenty-five minutes passed, she went to her car and drove the mile to the pub her brother had picked.
The outside looked the same as she’d seen before when she’d passed by. The sign was different, the name too. Rhea’s Chance Pub.
Guess she had paid little attention to it if she hadn’t noticed the name change.
She pulled the door open and realized she’d never been in here so had no clue what it might have looked like before.
The hostess asked, “Table for one?”
“I’m getting takeout.”
“Oh, to the right of the bar. They will get it for you.”
Duh, there was a neon sign on the wall that said “takeout” pretty much shouting for everyone to see where they had to go.
She marched forward and stopped at the bar. The bartender was helping someone else, but the moment he turned, a wave of heat surged through her. Not as intense as it had been back in high school, or at least she didn’t think so. Then again, she probably wouldn’t have recognized it for what it was back then.
