He nodded. “Oh, yeah.”
Zoey sat down in her chair and picked up her toast, seeming to suddenly wear the uniform with a little more pride. “Brodie loves Harry Potter, Mom. He’s a Gryffindor, like me.”
Maeve had taken a seat and was spreading jam on her second slice of toast. She looked up at Brodie and said disbelievingly, “You’re not a Gryffindor.”
Brodie’s mouth opened in shock. “I am!” he said, defensively, pulling out the chair closest to him. “What are you?”
“Mom’s a Ravenclaw,” Zoey said, as she was chewing. “She took it twice and still got Ravenclaw.”
Brodie sniggered. “Who wants to be Ravenclaw?” he said conspiratorially.
Zoey giggled back.
Maeve put her toast down. “For someone who’s only halfway through book five, I don’t think you’re in a position to mock me.”
Brodie frowned, feigning offense. “Are you making fun of me for being a slow reader?”
Zoey raised her brows. “Mom?”
Maeve sighed. “No. Yes. I suppose so.”
Brodie shook his head. “That’s harsh.”
“Yeah, Mom.” Zoey folded her arms over her chest.
Brodie leaned over to Zoey and, without taking his eyes off Maeve, whispered, “Typical Ravenclaw behavior.”
Zoey nodded, wide-eyed with knowing.
Maeve shook her head, refusing to succumb to the smile tugging at her lips or the feeling of how like a family this felt. “I apologize.”
“I should hope so,” Brodie said allowing his own smile to spread across his face. She remembered then how the full power of his attention blinded like the sun.
She had to look away, downing the rest of her coffee and standing up, she said, “Zoey, we need to go.”
Zoey nodded, holding her piece of toast between her teeth as she yanked on her school bag, then taking the toast out again, she asked, “Are you coming over tonight as well, Brodie?”
Maeve had told her they were old friends catching up, that he hadn’t been in town for years, which Zoey seemed to think meant he’d be there every second of the day.
Brodie pushed in his chair and went over to the dishwasher to put his cup in. “Not tonight, unfortunately,” he said, following them out into the hallway, “but maybe at the weekend.” He looked pointedly at Maeve over Zoey’s head as she put her school shoes on.
“Why, what’s happening at the weekend?” came Zoey’s muffled voice.
Maeve couldn’t believe he’d mentioned it in front of Zoey and, glaring at him dumbfounded, shrugged as if she had no choice now.
Brodie chose to completely ignore the undertone and grinned at her over Zoey’s head. “Excellent,” he said. “So, I’ll send you directions to the cabin.”
“Cabin!” Zoey gasped.
When Maeve’s mouth pursed, he winked, as if a flash of his boyish charm would make up for getting his own way.
She shook her head to let him know it hadn’t worked, while at the same time trying to ignore the little burst of stars exploding in her stomach.
ChapterTwelve
The cabin sat on the edge of the Redemption River, deep in the foothills of Starlight Mountain. A small wooden structure, it was built by Brodie’s Uncle Joel, his mom’s sister’s husband. It was his fishing retreat. When Brodie rang to ask if he could use it that weekend, Uncle Joel couldn’t have been happier for someone to go check on the place. Since his hip operation, he hadn’t made a trip there all year. “It’ll be you and a fair number of critters, I think.”
Brodie hated spiders. “No problem. Thanks, Uncle Joel.”
