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“I had to redo the whole schedule this morning, and now we’re half a day behind.Maybe you can come help us catch up, since it’s your fault.”
I was half a day behind myself since I’d spent the afternoon with Edie.So I went on the offensive.“Maybe someone else should manage the team, if you can’t even fill out an invoice properly.”
“Invoice?What goddamned invoice?”
“The one for Matchless Hardware?Where you just added a bunch of stuff on the back?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Exactly!”I threw up my hands, jostling Micah.
“It’s so nice to have the whole family together, don’t you think?”Micah said sarcastically.
“Boys,” Mom said, putting one hand to her temple.“Just for one night, can you two not snap at each other?”
“Headache?”Dominic said.My mother took a long time to sigh and nod.Dominic, who had just sat down, got up again to get her a painkiller.
Mom tossed back the pill with a swig of water.We all ate moodily for a moment.Flint, of course, was the one to break the silence.“I don’t consider it ‘snapping’ to express my legit frustration.Especially when this guy spent his afternoon gallivanting around with some woman that, apparently, we’re just letting into our lives.”
“Flint--”
“And that’s after you both lied to me about what happened when you went to see the Professor.Which, by the way, I thought was a bad idea all along.The guy was trying to expose our kind, and you think you’re gonna get away with ‘interviewing’ him about shifter diseases?Yeah, great plan.”
“Flint--”
“And now his daughter just shows up here like she’s so innocent, she’s just curious, she just wants to know about us because she needs closure or whatever.Right, uh-huh, okay, sure.”
“Flint--”
“She’s not stupid, you know.She knows way more than she’s telling us.But this guy’s so hot for her his brain has shut down.I mean, I get it, she’s very fuckable with that fat ass—“
“Jasper!”
I had dragged Flint to his feet and yanked him down by his collar so we were face-to-face.“You shut the fuck up right now.”
Both of our plates were spilled on the floor, and everyone else in the room was standing at attention.It was my mother who had shouted my name, and it was her who said, “Sit down, both of you.”
It wasn’t the plea of a frustrated mother.It was the command of an Alpha.
We sat.
“I’ve let this go on too long,” Mom said.“You two have always been competitive, but in the last few months it’s gotten worse.I expect that has something to do with my illness.We’re all stressed and worried and it’s stirred up some things for all of us.It disappoints me as a mother to see my sons sniping at each other like this.But it disappoints me as a boss more.This is still a business.I expect you to treat each other with respect.And I expect you to clean up after yourself when you’ve made a mess.”
I glanced at Flint.He had his arms crossed and his mouth screwed up in a furious expression.“Look, I’m sorry about the septic tanks.I shouldn’t have messed with your schedule.”
His shoulder jerked up.He stood up, grabbed the trash can from the kitchen, and started cleaning up.
Mom set her plate aside.She’d eaten less than half her food, I noticed.When she pushed herself up, Dominic said, “What do you need?I can get it for you.”
“I need to do something for myself,” she snapped.Dominic lowered his face to his plate, but I could see his jaw ticking.
Mom pressed a hand to her head again.She squeezed Dominic’s shoulder as she passed him.“Flint, I thought you wanted me to get a second opinion.”
“I wanted you to go to a hospital.Somewhere you could get checked out by a team of doctors and have 24-hour care.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Mom said as she filled her tea kettle.
“Youwon’tdo that,“ Flint said.“The same way you won’t take an actual break and get some rest.”
