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His mom reached out to grip his dad’s hand. “He’s right. Let’s pray and then have a nice meal. Save it for later.”
The look the two of them exchanged gave him a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. But his mom folded her hands, and the rest of them bowed their heads. As the chorus of amens sounded after the prayer, Asher jabbed him with his elbow.
“Who’s the number?”
His brows dipped in confusion. ?
??What?”
Asher pointed to Merit’s coffee cup before taking the bowl of scrambled eggs and ham Honor passed him. “That this week’s flavor?”
He reached to rotate his cup and realized Lyssa had written a phone number on the side. He hadn’t even noticed it because he’d been too preoccupied with thoughts of Mae.
Honor leaned forward to shoot him a smile. “So that’s why you stop for coffee on your way here.”
Nope. Since moving out, he’d discovered he preferred the sweeter lattes to the robust Jamaican roast his mom served. He kept meaning to get himself one of those special espresso machines, just hadn’t gotten around to it. Maybe he’d stop on his way home. Or order one online.
On his left, Shelby snorted. “A coffee barista? Could you get any more cliché, Mer?”
He shrugged as he took the eggs from Asher, scooped some onto his plate, and passed them to his sister. Let them think what they wanted. He’d cultivated the playboy rep long enough, he wasn’t about to broadcast the fact he was hung up on a woman who didn’t want him. Especially now that each of his older brothers had the love of their life sitting beside them. It was yet another way he didn’t measure up.
Across the table next to Loyal, Roxanna Kent caught his eye. When his brother’s girlfriend arched one dark eyebrow, he quickly averted his gaze. Great. The psychic was eyeing him like she was trying to figure out his secret.
Or she already knew it.
His gut clenched at the thought.
As the dishes were passed, plates filled, and conversations started, he added pepper to his eggs while casting a quick survey around the table. Over the past year, the make-up of their brunches had definitely changed. Grandpa Ira and Grandma Irene were still a constant, but since Dad had been sworn in as Senator in January, he and Mom were gone half the time.
Celia, Loyal, and Asher all had significant others now, and the half-brother they’d found out about last May sometimes joined them, sometimes not. Grayson had come to the fireworks last night, only to skip this morning. Though he and Loyal were in the midst of starting up a veterans foundation together, the guy still hadn’t embraced being a Diamond.
Merit didn’t blame him. Some days, he wasn’t so thrilled about it himself.
“What’s the status on your clinic?” he asked Shelby near the end of the meal.
“Construction begins on Monday,” she said with a wide grin.
She’d hired Lockhart Construction for the renovation project of her rundown warehouse in a low-income part of town, and his pulse kicked up a notch at the thought of casually dropping in to visit his baby sis for lunch. It would be the perfect opportunity to see Mae again.
Yep. Perfect opportunity for her to confirm in person she wants nothing to do with you.
He gripped his napkin in his lap. Being insecure when it came to women was a new thing for him, and he had to say, it royally sucked. Specifically for this particular woman.
“Your suggestions worked perfectly into the plans, by the way,” his sister said in a low tone. “I’m really glad you took a look.”
“Happy to have helped.”
He did a quick check to see if anyone had overheard the exchange. Since he hadn’t pursued a career with his engineering degree, he didn’t want to make a big deal out of helping Bells. It would only start up the badgering again.
At the head of the table, he noticed his dad set his silverware to the side as his mom refilled his coffee cup. His dad gave her a smile of thanks, then sat back in his chair while taking a sip, his brown gaze shifting to catch Merit’s over the rim of his cup. “Any news on the job front?”
He clenched his jaw, taking a deep breath to prepare for the inevitable as he shifted his gaze to glare down at his plate. “Nope.”
“You bother looking?”
“Been busy.”
“Doing what?”
