Cord eyed him. “Still up?”
Always.
“Yeah, got an order for a table. You just get off?” Cord worked part time at a marina while finishing his bachelor’s degree at the local college.
Cord grinned and puffed out his chest. “Yeah, I got off.” By the sneer of bravado, Jonah knew they were talking about two different subjects.
Cord confirmed it. “Her name’s Lily.”
Jonah shook his head. “Just promise me you'll wrap your shit up. The last thing this family needs is another mouth to feed.”
His brother was a self-proclaimed man-whore. Someday it would catch up to him, but for now, Cord was playing hard. It wasn’t lost on Jonah that a part of him envied his brother’s freedom. At twenty-one, he was making school lunches, coaching little league and going to parent-teacher conferences, all the while trying to raise his brothers and work a sixty-hour week.
“I’m careful.” He slapped his brother on the back. “Saw what you went through, not looking for a repeat.”
Jonah hadn’t dealt with an unplanned pregnancy. He was forced into unplanned parenthood.
“Yeah, well, we all do what we gotta do.”
“Yeah,” Cord whispered and walked ahead of him, through the mudroom door, and Jonah followed. His brother headed straight for the fridge. “SueAnn set us up. Sweet!”
Jonah eyed the fridge, making a mental note to have a stern talk with their housekeeper. Not that it would do any good. SueAnn made her own rules when it came to the McMillian boys. He’d hired her ten years ago. He’d given the boys chores, but it fell flat most weeks with them doing the bare minimum. Initially, she was hired to do light cleaning. Somewhere along the way, SueAnn had changed the terms, which now included homemade meals. Jonah had offered to pay her for the extras, but she outright refused.
“Fucking starving!” Cord pulled out the Corning Ware not even bothering to heat it up or serve himself a plate.I failed somewhere along the way.Unfortunately, Jonah was too tired to reprimand his brother.
The golden rule of parenting he’d learned early on …pick your battles.
This wasn’t one of them. He opened the fridge, grabbed a beer and chugged half the contents. He rested against the counter watching Cord devour SueAnn’s dish.
Of his two brothers, he butted heads with Cord the most. There was a deep-rooted disdain, and Jonah understood. Cord hadn’t always been such a little prick. For the first nine years of life, he’d been kind, carefree and loving. That changed after the death of their family. Cord took it hard, mourned deeply, stayed bitter for a long time and never missed an opportunity to remind Jonah,“You’re not my dad.”
No, I’m not.Those shoes were too big to fill. But Jonah had done his best to try. In Cord’s eyes, he’d always come up short.I get it.
“Did you order the parts for the car?” Cord asked.
“Should be in by next Monday.”
Jonah took another swig of his beer, battening down his frustration. It’d be another weekend of giving up his side work to help Cord.Story of my fucking life.Cord’s car had been hit in the marina parking lot while he was working.
“You fill out a police report?”
Cord lowered his head as he shoveled the food into his mouth.I swear I raised them with manners.Right?
“Not yet,” Cord mumbled between chews and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
Jonah dragged his hand over his face. He might’ve lacked in the manners tutorial with his siblings. This never would’ve happened under his mother’s watch.But she’s not here.
Jonah rested his hip against the counter, eyeing his brother. “Gotta do it soon.”
Cord nodded. “I know, I know, just been busy.”
Jonah snorted. “Getting off isnotan excuse.”
Cord straightened and smirked while scooping up the remnants of his dinner. “It’s the best excuse. You should try it sometime.”
That statement alone proved howout of touchCord was with Jonah’s responsibilities to the family. Jonah could’ve given an in-depth speech about everything raising a family entailed. But he knew it would’ve fallen on deaf ears. Cord may have felt the loss, but he hadn’t taken on the weight of carrying their family. That was all on Jonah.
Jonah lifted his hand as he turned to leave the kitchen. “Lock up. Night.”
