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We grew up as four brothers. Myles and I, followed by our brothers Eli and Holden. Like me, Holden lives in New York, and Eli plays hockey for the Razors, so he’s currently in New England. Then when our dad married a third time he had two more sons – Lincoln and Brooks, who are a little younger than the rest of us.
Our final sibling is Francy. Francine if you want the full name. She’s my dad’s daughter with his current wife, Julia, and is not that much older than Charlie.
We have an eclectic family. Which brings me back to my older brother, Myles.
It galls him a little to be my employee, if only technically. But I kind of like it. It evens things up between us.
Not that he looks like my employee at the moment. His gaze has a touch of psychopath to it.
“What did I ask you?” he says, his teeth gritted.
I look at him carefully. “When?”
“Every time you and Sophie butt heads. What do I say to you?”
“Keep away from her?” I suggest helpfully. “Well I am. I’m just trying to find out what she’s buying Charlie.”
Myles rolls his eyes. “And what’s with talking about my kid’s gift in front of me? Isn’t it supposed to be a surprise?”
“Itwillbe a surprise,” I tell him. Not least to me because I have no idea what to buy. “What’s got you all grouchy, anyway?”
Fun fact, Myles is the grumpy one of the family. He can kill a human with a single stare. He has a bad case of resting asshole face which always makes people give him a wide berth.
Maybe that’s why I’ve always been the easy going one. Trying to make up for Myles. He barks orders and walks away and I say please on his behalf.
It’s how we’ve worked for the past forty years. It doesn’t look like anything’s changing, even though he’s now married to the love of his life. And they’ve had a baby together.
“I’m not getting much sleep,” Myles admits.
“That’s usually a good thing,” I tell him.
“So says the perpetual bachelor.” Myles shakes his head. “I’m not getting much sleep because Charlie has colic and I’m trying to give Ava a break.”
“That’s too bad.” I look at him carefully, wondering whether he’s actually asking for help. “Do you want me to—”
“No!” He shakes his head quickly.
“You don’t know what I was going to say,” I point out.
“You were going to offer to babysit. And no thank you, I’m quite fond of my son.”
“What do you think is going to happen if I’m in charge?” I smile. “I wasn’t planning on taking him out on the town.”
“I wouldn’t put it past you,” Myles mutters. I feel slightly offended, but I decide to not pursue it. He really does look tired.
“Shall we get back to business?” I suggest. That’s the reason we’re both here, after all. Myles has actually managed to find some promising companies. The opportunities here are potentially very profitable – more so than New York where everybody is fighting for the same businesses. So it looks like I’ll be spending a lot more time in Charleston, which means I’ll be spending more time with my nephew and Godson. Something that makes me happy.
“This one looks interesting,” I tell him, pulling the piece of paper up to look at the numbers he’s run, thankful to be able to talk business with my brother rather than about his wife’s best friend who for some reason hates my guts.
Okay, I know the reason. I just don’t want to think about it. Especially when I’m sitting in front of my brother.
“Yeah it does,” he says nodding. “Let me talk you through it.”
* * *
SOPHIE
I stop at my dad’s house on my way home from work, carrying a brown bag full of fruit and vegetables because he always forgets to add them to his weekly grocery order. When he opens the front door and sees me standing on the step, his face bursts into a wide grin. He has flour on his cheeks and is wearing an old pink frilly apron.
