Tamara suppressed an eye roll. “Not now, Mom.”
Adele threw up her hands. “Fine. He’s just about to leave anyway and your brother isn’t here yet. Come in and speak instead of standing in here.”
Tamara followed her mom into the kitchen. Her dad and Thomas sat at the table discussing something to do with alternators and car batteries. They both looked up and gave huge grins as she entered. Tamara went straight to her dad. She kissed his cheek, and he hugged her around the waist from his seated position.
Her dad was nothing but smiles and personality. Part of the job description for a former salesman, but that was also just who he was. Jacob Bradford never met a person he couldn’t talk to or take a few minutes to listen to what troubled them. He’d been a rarity. A salesman who cared more about helping his customers than meeting a sales quota. Something that many of his customers noticed, appreciated and was why they came back to buy from him again and again.
“Hey, Tamara, did your mom stop you from coming in here and shooting me the evil eye for having Thomas over here?” her dad asked with a grin.
Her dad’s direct words weren’t surprising. He never held back on what he thought, but her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She’d expected to continue to see Thomas after their breakup. He lived next door to her parents after all. But that didn’t mean she wanted him to know how much seeing him annoyed her.
“Not quite. Hey, Thomas.” She gave him a half-hearted smile and a limp wave.
Thomas stood and leaned in to kiss her cheek. She hesitated, but her dad gently nudged her toward him. Sighing internally, she leaned in so he could brush his lips across her cheek. Thomas was tall with a swimmer’s build from the laps he did in the YMCA pool every morning before work. He looked a lot like he did in high school, same open, friendly face, same smooth, gentle voice and nice-guy persona. He was a nice guy. He’d started talking about kids and marriage on their second date. He wanted everything she eventually wanted, but when he spoke about it, she’d felt more trapped than excited as she’d listened to him talk abouthisplans for their future together.
“You look nice today, Tamara. I hope you don’t mind running into me.”
“Not at all. You were my parents’ neighbor long before we started dating. Just because we broke up doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”
“Right.” Thomas tried to sound cheerful, but she saw the disappointment in his eyes. “Well, I’ll get out of here before you officially start your Sunday family dinner. Mr. Bradford, thanks again for letting me borrow your drill. Not sure what happened with mine.”
Her dad nodded and waved off the thanks. “Anytime, Thomas.”
“Oh, Tamara, your dad mentioned the siding coming off your house in the storm the other week. If you want, I can come by and fix that for you,” Thomas offered with a hopeful smile.
“No need. It’s taken care of.”
Her dad frowned. “Really? Kenny is out of town, and I know he was supposed to get out there the other week to do that for you.”
“Actually, Andre Kemp did it yesterday morning.”
Thomas’s shoulders tightened. “Andre Kemp?”
“Yeah, he’s back in town because his construction company received the contract for the mayor’s revitalization project. And to be closer to his mom. He bought the Kestner place and is my new neighbor.”
Her mom opened the stove. “That was nice of him. His mom has been alone in that house for too long.”
Her dad nodded. “That’s true. I heard he was back in town. Must be doing pretty good to get that job.”
Thomas snorted, garnering the attention of the other three occupants in the room. “Sorry, it’s just doing well doesn’t make you a good person.”
“Really, Thomas?” Tamara asked with disbelief. “He didn’t have to help me.”
“Don’t trust him. I don’t like to talk about people, but he’s not a nice guy. Never has been. And he may say he’s here to help his mom, but he put her in an old-folks’ home last week.”
Her mom placed the pot roast she’d pulled out of the oven onto the top of the stove. “I didn’t know that. I’m surprised he’d let his mom go into a home. Not after she struggled to help raise him after his dad walked out.”
“Are you sure?” Tamara asked.
Thomas nodded. “My cousin helped move her the other week. He said she looked sad. Like she didn’t want to leave her place.”
Her dad grunted. “If he’s in the Kestner place, he could have let his mom move in with him.”
“He doesn’t care about anyone but himself,” Thomas said, scowling. “Did you know he broke my nose in high school?”
Tamara gasped. “What? He’s the person who did that to you?” She remembered when Thomas had broken his nose in high school. Word never got out about how it happened, just that he’d shown up at school one day looking as if he’d tried to box with a T. rex. “Why?”
“He didn’t want me with his cousin. He’s got a temper. A violent temper. You remember all the fights he used to get in back in school. And you know I’m the engineer for the hospital expansion project. He turned down the contract when he found out he’d be working with me. He threatened to break my nose again if I crossed him. His temper hasn’t gone away.” Thomas stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know you like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but don’t trust him. He snaps quickly and doesn’t hesitate to hurt anyone who gets in his way. He’s not a good guy. I know we aren’t together anymore, and I have no right to ask, but please consider not letting him come back to your place unless someone else is there. I’d hate for you to get hurt.”
