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Not sure what else to do, I humored him and started toward the entrance, where I paused and held the door open for him to step inside behind me. And as his presence filled my kitchen, I couldn’t help but think about the last visitors I’d had inside my home: one cop, two coroner’s workers, and my hospice agent.
Beau paused just inside the door and drew out a low whistle. “Wow. Lucy wasn’t lying. You really are a neat freak.”
I paused at the refrigerator with my hand on the handle and glanced back at him. “She told you that?”
He shrugged and meandered to the bar where he seated himself on a stool. “She mentioned that you’d cleaned her place for her a few times. Trying to get me to step up in the uncle department, I think, but it didn’t take.”
Sniffing, I made a face as I opened the door and peered inside. “I mean, I might’ve picked up a few times while I was waiting for Ava to finish feeding. It wasn’t anything, just trying to help out.”
“Well, you made me look like the bad uncle in the process,” Beau snarked back. “Thanks.”
Finding a can in the back, I grabbed it and straightened. “Sorry about that,” I murmured without meaning it as I turned to sit the can in front of him on the bar’s countertop.
Beau merely shrugged before reaching for the beer. “Meh, it’s fine. I wasn’t exactly angling for Uncle of the Year or anything, so more power to you.”
I silently watched him pop the tab and take a long, refreshing drink.
When he set it down again, sighing out his satisfaction, I finally asked, “What exactly did she say about me?”
His brow lifted at the question and he eyed me a moment before his lips broke into a mischievous grin. “Oh, you mean, did she tell me she kissed you? Yeah… But only because she was worried that was the reason you were staying away so long.”
“That is not why I’m—wait.” I broke off abruptly, finally processing what he’d just announced. “She said she kissed me?”
Pausing in the middle of picking up the beer can again, Beau lifted an interested brow and then grinned. “Aah, the plot thickens,” he murmured. “Are you saying that’s not how it went down?”
“Absolutely not,” I declared. “I kissed her.” And there could be no disputing that fact.
Beau screwed his mouth up thoughtfully and then shrugged. “Then, that must mean she participated at some point and, by the end of it, you were kissing each other, so…” He shook his head cluelessly, “I’m not seeing the issue here. Is that why you’re staying away or not?”
“No! That is not why I’m staying away.” But before I could continue to deny the claim, a smidgeon of guilt cloistered me and I had to wince, adding, “Not completely. The main reason I’ve been scarce around there is exactly what I told her; I need to work on myself, so I don’t use her daughter as a diversion that helps me ignore my own issues. I’m trying to get my life back into some semblance of order here.”
With a thoughtful nod, Beau appeared to understand. Until he cringed. “And how’s that working out for you? Or should I go ask what’s left of the grill?”
I exhaled a disgusted breath and momentarily bowed my head before facing him again. “That was just…” But I couldn’t come up with a suitable explanation, so Beau filled in for me.
“You, releasing pent-up shit inside you because you haven’t gotten anything in order yet?”
Sighing, I scrubbed my fingers over my forehead and murmured, “Fuck you.”
Beau chuckled. “Damn,” he answered as the laugh petered off into a long, exhausted sigh. Then he shook his head and slapped the countertop in front of him, announcing, “I hate it when my sister’s right.”
“I’m fine,” I started.
But Lucy’s brother shook his head and lifted a hand, preventing me from saying more. “And it’s okay if you’re not fine,” he added, his voice gentling.
I swallowed thickly and blinked a few times, resting my hands on the bar top across from him before I glanced around my kitchen. “Alright, then.” Lifting my palms, I stepped back and sent him a challenging look. “I’m not fine. So what?”
“So…” Beau drew out slowly, crinkling his eyebrows before he added, “Now you get help.”
There was a look in his eyes that kind of worried me. “What do you mean?” I wondered suspiciously.
This evil grin appeared. “Oh, buddy,” he murmured. “You’re about to get help coming out your pores. If you thought all the casseroles and stews were overkill, you just wait.”
I shook my head, admitting, “I’m confused.”
Beau lifted two fingers and made the sign of the cross in my direction. “I’m officially dubbing you a member of this family.”
“What?” I squinted because, one, Gray had technically already welcomed me into their clutches. And two, I honestly had no clue what he was talking about.
