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“You still thinking about going to dinner?” he asked.
“I am. I’m cleaning myself up right now for it.”
“Do you think your mother or I should go with you? To make sure you’re all right?”
I grinned in the mirror as I smoothed my hands down my button-front shirt. My father always worried more than my mother. Always. He just covered it up better than she did. My mother was a gracious and wonderful woman. She could emotionally compartmentalize like a beast, so she was the best to have in emergency situations. She never freaked out until after the fact, and even then it was a freak out that occurred when she was alone. She didn’t enjoy showing strong emotions in front of people and she didn’t like inconveniencing people with them whenever they came to pass.
My father, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.
“I promise I’ll be fine, Dad. I’ll be with the brothers. They’ll all rag on me for what happened, but they’ll also keep an eye on me. Especially Junior. You know how he is. Stoic like Mom and never one to show his emotions until after the emergency has passed.”
“Well, you keep my phone number on speed dial. If anything happens—”
“I’ll call you. I promise.”
Sunday family dinner was a tradition my brothers and I started when we branched off and began doing our own thing with our business. Our parents were the real estate champions of the East Coast, but none of us wanted to follow in their footsteps. We wanted to make our own way and create our own ventures, but Dad was desperate to somehow rope us into the family business.
Long story short, my brothers and I now restored old homes, and my parents sometimes contracted out our work for the homes and properties they turned around and sold.
“Well, look at what the wind blew in,” Flynn said.
“Ya get stuck starin’ at them cow pastures like you always do?” Everett asked.
“Y’all, Luke’s always the late one. I don’t know why the hell y’all thought he’d be any different today,” Cayden said.
“Heard you got yourself into a mighty fine accident,” Drew added.
“Wait, you what?” Cash asked.
I looked over at Drew and shook my head before I walked toward the kitchen table. And the second I began limping, Cash rushed over and helped me sit down. The brothers promptly sat around me while Drew continued to pile food onto the table. As soon as I drew in a breath, the questions started flying.
“What the hell happened?”
“What’d you do now?”
“A girl finally beat you down for being a little shit?”
“I knew something was wrong. I felt it in my gut.”
“You didn’t feel it in your gut, Cash,” I said.
“I feel a great deal in my gut,” he said.
“Yeah, like hunger. Drew! Can we eat?” Flynn asked.
“Soon as Luke tells us why he’s limping like a little fairy,” he said as he sat down.
“You had another one of your sleepless nights, didn’t you?” Cash asked.
“You really are like Mom, you know that?” I asked.
“What did ya do this time, Luke?” Cayden asked.
“Nothing happened, guys. I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to get some work down on the house we’re restoring on the other side of town. Got up a ladder and made a bullshit move, and I fell,” I said.
“So, you’re limping because of broken ribs or something?” Drew asked.
“Not exactly,” I said.
