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“Mom would want to eat her right up,” I told him as he laughed and nodded. “We should tell them about Christmas since Mom would love to fawn all over them.” We shared a long look.
“The first Christmas, though. Would that be too much? I know that we’ll have a ton of family over already, but would Mom be up for it?” Brent wondered aloud as we walked to the car. I knew that it was insane to consider this idea at all, but something about Jane touched both of us…well, besides her sweet drawl and hot body. She just seemed to need a family for the holidays and that was Mom’s specialty.
Brent walked into the house first and inhaled the scent of roast chicken. “That smells so good.” He said as we looked into the kitchen to see Mom helping with dinner.
“You’re home for dinner!” She came and hugged both of us before telling us to wash up for dinner.
We all sat down as Ashley tried to text before Mom told her to put her phone down. We talked about Christmas Eve dinner and the following day, during which family would be in and out. It was going to be busy and emotional for all of us and I looked at Mom for a long moment. “Mom, are you sure about all of this?”
“I know that I could spend it with just you three, but we never did that before. Dad always wanted the family here and I am not going to change that this year,” she looked at me with a soft smile. “I’ll feel better having people around. It doesn’t mean that I’ll miss him any less, you know.”
“We’re just making sure that you’re okay,” Brent told her as he reached out for her hand.
“I know,” she replied as Ashley looked on with wide eyes. She was having a hard time with Dad’s death and we were all worried about her. Mom told her that she could bring her boyfriend to ease her pain and made us promise to be nice to him. We both grumbled about it but knew that Ashley needed everything that she could have to get through this tough day.
After we finished dinner, Ashely disappeared upstairs and Mom brought us into the living room. “I am going to be in the area doing a little shopping for Friday tomorrow. Can I take you handsome boys to lunch?”
“That would be great, Mom. Come in any time since you’ll end up talking to the entire floor,” Brent teased her as I laughed. “Is Ash coming with you?”
“If she’s awake, I’ll try to drag her along,” she smiled as we looked at each other. We stayed up talking for a while, enjoying the quiet time with her and trying not to think about work. It would be here soon enough and it was nice to relax for a change and just stay up talking.
Looking back, we hadn’t done that enough with Mom before this. We were always busy. Now that Dad was gone, it made me appreciate these moments so much more. We finally went to bed, knowing that we’d be tired in the morning but happy to have time to talk to her.
CHAPTER 20
Brent
We dragged ourselves in the following morning and grabbed coffee at the small stand just outside the door. I had the idea to grab a cafe mocha for Jane, since girls seemed to like those kinds of drinks. I added it to the order, shrugging when Brent gave me a curious look. “It’s a nice thing to do,” I defended my action as he raised an eyebrow.
I told Brent not to entertain any ideas about Jane, but she was gorgeous in a much different way than Cecile and Veronica was. They were experienced and oozed sensuality, particularly Veronica. She was as free a woman as any that I’d ever met and that was saying a lot.
Jane was the sweet, country girl and I had half a mind to think she was still a virgin. I didn’t doubt that men hit on her all the time with those eyes and her curvy body, but Jane didn’t seem to be the one-night-stand kind of girl. That made her a great assistant for us but I didn’t like the fact that I was attracted to her, as well as my brother.
I carried the coffee into the elevator and smiled at her when she glanced up at me. “I brought you a coffee,” I offered as she smiled widely. “I hope you like mochas.”
“I do. They’re my favorite. Thank you.” A flush spread over her cheeks as I observed her and Brandon walked up behind me.
“You’re welcome to work in the office today if you’d like.” He offered with a grin as I glanced back at him.
“Sure. I can ask questions that way since I hit a few snags yesterday.” She grinned and we walked inside of the office as she gathered her stuff together. We took our seats and she came to sit at the smaller desk with her coffee in hand, filling the air with the scent of chocolate in addition to our strong brew.
“This was your father’s office?” Jane asked hesitantly as we worked and I glanced at Brandon.
“It was. Hence the family pictures that we left up. It makes me think about him.” I smiled as I glanced around.
“It’s a great space,” she offered as I nodded. “Did you come here as kids?”
“Here and there. Once we got older, other things distracted us,” Brandon told her with a smirk on his face. She looked at him and frowned for a moment as I watched the wheels turning in her head. It would be easy to google us and see our story, something I wouldn’t be surprised about at all. People did it all the time.
Jane returned to her work, entering order after order with a few pauses as she figured something out. She’d think deeply about what she needed to do and smile brightly when she figured it out. I sensed that she was an independent woman hidden in a sweet southern girl and it turned me on more. I was seeing a couple of girls when I could, but nobody special and I craved a girl with a heart and a mind.
Wait…what? Was the innocent assistant more appealing to me than the past two?
We worked through the morning, and she got us all some more coffee for the break before we got back into that. We asked her questions, and she spoke lovingly of her father and other family members that were gone now. She talked about Tennessee, admitti
ng that she lived in a smaller town than she first said.
Just after twelve, there was a tap at the door and our mother walked into the room. We looked at her as she looked around the space with emotional eyes for a moment before they took in the three of us. “Oh, hello there.” She walked right over to Jane and offered her hand, introducing herself.
