“It's a very nice ass,” Chloe said, skipping out of the Grey Dove Bistro, the restaurant she owned. Chloe and Jack had met during last year's filming ofThe Great Christmas Bake-Off. I wondered if he had asked me to come over so he could rub the whole bake-off situation in my face.
Someone, save me from the bake-off. Not only did I have to eat sweets, but my Thanksgiving leftovers were still being held hostage in my occupied penthouse.
“Recovered from Thanksgiving?” Jack asked with a grin as we waited for the elevator.
“We should ask the Svenssons to make more food next year,” I said.
“Or you could get off your lazy butt and drive to Harrogate bright and early to help cook,” Jack said as the elevator dinged.
“There were like fifty turkeys. I'm amazed that they all disappeared!” Chloe said.
“Well, I can eat a deep-fried turkey all by myself.”
“Yeah, I saw,” Jack said with a smirk. He and Chloe looked at each other and laughed. It was nice to see him happy with Chloe. I definitely was not bugged at all that my younger brother had met the perfect woman and fallen in love before me. Nope.Not at all.
“So we have some news!” Jack said when we were in his penthouse.
“You and Chloe?”
Chloe nodded excitedly.
“Sit down. You might want a drink.”
Jack poured me two fingers of the whisky that I'd been craving all day to wash away the taste of the desserts. Chloe was bouncing up and down on the couch with excitement.
“You are going to be a great-uncle!” Jack exclaimed.
“Ta-da!” Chloe said.
“What, you guys are pregnant?” I said in shock. “Wait, that's not right. That would make me an uncle, not a great-uncle.”
“He's so confused!” Chloe laughed.
“I'm only a great-uncle if my nephew has a child,” I said, frowning. “Who has a secret child? Wait, it better not be Jonathan!”
“Actually, it's Milo,” Jack said.
He whistled, and his huge silver-and-grey husky padded into the room, tongue lolling. He came right to me, butting his shaggy head against my pants. I was immediately covered in fur.
“Milo had puppies?”
“Dude, no, that is not how that works. And you call yourself the smart one!”
I stood up and put Jack in a headlock. He shoved me off, laughing.
“Milo knocked up a dog at the groomer’s,” Chloe explained.
“I thought he was fixed?”
“So did I,” Jack said grimly.
“So how is this your problem?”
“He knocked up an award-winning Dalmatian,” Chloe explained. “Ginny, from the Scottie Dog Groomers and Pet Boutique, said the Dalmatian's owner sued.”
“Thankfully, only one of the puppies is Milo's,” Jack said. “We had a pupternity test done and everything. The rest of them are all Dalmatians.”
“Ginny's insurance settled with the Dalmatian's owner on the condition that Ginny keep the puppy.”
