Chapter 2
COOPER
“You’re still here, bruh?”
Dominic greeted the hostess at the door and made his way over to my booth, greeting every regular in the place before he slid in across from me.
“Took you long enough.” I sipped my hot coffee. “I ordered without you.”
My brother made no move to pick up the menu, because we’d eaten at The Little Rose for years. Mama Lil’s blueberry pancakes were a gift from heaven. And Mama Lil was, too. The older woman had saved my ass from myself and bad consequences more times than not over the years, back when my agenda was to piss my father off by any means necessary. Each time I found myself nursing a hangover or hiding from the world, she would open her door to me and give me sage advice.
Dominic scanned the restaurant. “Mama Lil here? I don’t trust that new cook she hired. He messed up my omelet last time.”
“I don’t know.” Without looking, I pointed toward the waitress taking an order from the couple at the table next to ours. “She took my order.”
“You mean the woman staring at yo’ ass?”
I didn’t bother to look, but I knew Dominic was right. The young waitress had definitely flirted her way through my order. I had to correct her three damn times and make her repeat it after me to be sure she got it right. “If you say so.”
The waitress made her way back over to us and poured Dom a cup of coffee. “What would you like to eat?” she asked my brother.
Dom placed his order. “Is Mama Lil in the building?”
“I don’t know,” she answered.
I glanced up at her and smiled. “Can you go check, sweetheart?”
The waitress grinned, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sure. I’ll check.”
Winking, I thanked her. When she walked away, I looked over at Dom, who was shaking his head. “What?” I asked with a shrug.
He poured cream into his mug. “You don’t even realize you’re doing that shit, do you?”
Feigning confusion, I repeated, “What?”
He waved a dismissive hand my way. “Nothing.”
Hey, I’m a flirt. I knew what the hell I was doing. And it worked. “It’s a gift, man. I can’t turn it off.” I laughed. “I bet you my food will be free.”
“If your food is free, you can pay my bill.”
“Done,” I agreed.
Dom leaned back in his seat and eyed me skeptically. “You never answered my question, though.”
I frowned. “What question?”
“You still here? I thought for sure you’d be back in Detroit right now, avoiding your family responsibilities.”
I mulled over my brother’s words, torn between a version of the truth or the whole truth. Dom was close to all of us, taking his oldest brother duties seriously. He never expected us to be anything other than ourselves. Even though he didn’t agree with my choice to leave Rosewood Heights and the family business behind, he’d never tried to change my mind. He’d only ever supported me. We had an understanding, and I knew that I could count on him to have my back at all times.
“Well?” Dom prodded. “Are you going to talk?”
“I missed my flight,” I lied. I’d actually willingly canceled my flight. But I wasn’t going to tell him that. “So I figured I should at least make some plans to do what Granddad asked.” That was the truth. Maybe not the whole truth, though.
“You know I don’t buy that shit. What’s up, bruh?”
“Granddad asked me to restore an old house in town,” I admitted.
