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We went out onto Mason’s porch. There was already a small cooler sitting on it, which told me Mason had been doing lawn work that day. This was his style. Anytime he needed to go out into the yard to mow the grass, work in the garden, or anything else, he brought along a cooler full of beer. He reached into the cooler now and handed one of the bottles to me.
A few seconds later, our brothers pulled up and joined us. We started talking about Danny and all the shady things he did. It was worse than I even thought. I wasn’t around as much, so I didn’t see as much as my brothers did. They told me about how he drank the inventory of his own bar with the town drunks, who had moved over to his bar from ours. He would then charge everybody else who came in extra to cover the cost of what he drank.
“So, he’s an alcoholic,” I said.
“Absolutely,” Jordan said. “I’m just getting a chance to see what this guy is all about since I’ve been home the last six months, but it’s ridiculous from what I’ve seen. His place is falling apart, and everybody around town except for his little band of loyal drunks talks about it.”
“He’s probably bitter and jealous,” Jesse said. “We’ve been doing so well, and we never asked him to participate in any of the events.”
“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Mason said. “I did approach him about the classic car night. I thought it was the neighborly and professional thing to do to ask if he wanted to be involved. He immediately turned me down and had a few choice words for me.”
“He threatened you?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say he threatened me,” Mason said. “But he was definitely not pleased about having us in the neighborhood, and he let me know that.”
That was all I needed to hear. I reached into my pocket.
“I really didn’t want to have to do this,” I said.
“What are you doing?” Jessie asked.
“Calling up a friend of mine. He’s a private investigator. He can look into Danny for us,” I said.8AmandaWhile the guys were outside, I hung out inside with Ava and Robert. He was absolutely adorable, and I couldn’t resist sitting down on the floor with him and playing with his toys. I had the urge to squeeze and tickle every little wrinkle and roll on his chubby body.
Ava smiled when she saw Robert reach over and grab my cheeks.
“You’re really good with him,” she said. “Do you have a lot of brothers and sisters?”
“Actually, no,” I said. “I’m an only child. I don’t really have a lot of experience with babies at all. But they are just so cute.”
“I’m an only child, too,” Ava said.
“Really?” I asked. “Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one in the world. It’s like everybody I meet has at least one brother or sister.”
“Or a whole hockey team like the Andersons,” Ava joked.
“That’s true,” I said. “I just can’t even imagine what it would be like to grow up with that many people around you all the time. I mean, my parents split up when I was pretty young. Not like a really little girl, or anything, but young enough that I got used to us not being together as a family. It just felt normal to have it be only my mother and me.”
“Your father didn’t stay around?” Ava asked. As soon as the question came out of her mouth, her face went red and her mouth fell open. “I’m sorry. That was really personal. I shouldn’t have asked that.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. That’s a perfectly normal question to ask. Especially considering I know your parents are still together.”
“Yeah, they are,” she said. “It’s pretty amazing. No matter what the two of them face, they are always right by each other’s sides. They inspire me.”
“I think it’s beautiful,” I said. “My father left when I was fifteen. After the divorce, he was just gone. It wasn’t like he divorced my mother but wanted to stay a father. He divorced both of us. He walked out, and I just never saw him again. I think that’s actually what made my mother move us to California.”
“You’re not originally from San Francisco?” Ava asked.
“No,” I said. “I’m actually from Virginia. That’s where I grew up. We moved here a little more than a year after the divorce.”
“I thought I heard something in your voice that wasn’t exactly West Coast,” Ava said.
I laughed. “Well, you should hear me when I’m drunk or super tired. The accent starts coming out big-time. How about you? You’re from here, aren’t you? I thought Tom said something about you and Mason being together since you were kids.”
