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“Uh-huh,” he said, nodding. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“Oh, hi,” Mackenzie said when she walked into the kitchen and saw my brother. “It’s nice to see you again.” She had her laptop bag slung over her shoulder.
“Likewise,” Scott said. His eyes danced with laughter.
“Are you joining us?” Mackenzie asked.
Scott shook his head. “No, no, I wouldn’t dare impose.” He glanced at me. “I have work to do, anyway.”
“Doctor, right?” Mackenzie asked.
“Yeah, pediatrician,” Scott said, nodding.
“Right, I remember now.”
“Well, that’s my cue,” Scott said, still trying to hide his grin. “You kids have fun.”
He sauntered out of the kitchen, and I shook my head. “Ready to go?”
“Sure,” Mackenzie said.
“You don’t need that,” I said, nodding to her bag. “We’re not working today.”
“No?”
I shook my head. Johnson still hadn’t given us a date to work with, but I was pretty prepared at this point, and I knew Mackenzie was on top of it, too. Besides, I didn’t want to think about work. Whenever I did, I felt sick about the fact that I hadn’t told Mackenzie about the changes, but the longer I waited, the harder it became. At this point, she would be angry with me for keeping it from her since we’d put so much work into it.
“We’re going out,” I said. “Away from the office and away from work.”
“Oh,” she said and smiled. “Cool.”
I laughed and picked up the picnic basket I’d prepared. We left the house, and I led her to my garage. When she saw all my cars, her steps faltered.
“No wonder you weren’t stressed about insurance taking some time on your car,” she said. “You have… a ton.”
I laughed, glancing at the five other cars I had lined up in my garages.
“I like collecting them. It’s a nerd hobby.”
Mackenzie snorted. “Collectingstampsis a nerd hobby. Or action figures, or something that’s, you know,cheap.Collecting cars like this is…”
“What?” I asked.
“Rich,” Mackenzie said with a laugh.
I chuckled and led her to my Lamborghini Urus. It was an expensive SUV and had to be my favorite of all the cars I collected.
I opened the door for her and let her get in before I put the picnic basket in the back and slid in behind the wheel. When I turned the ignition, the car purred to life.
“Itfeelsexpensive,” Mackenzie said, running her hands over the leather seats and dashboard. “I’ve never been a Lamborghini fan—”
“No?” I asked.
“They’re very low to the ground and super impractical, but this… I can get behind this.”
I nodded. “Yeah, this is my favorite one, too.”
I pulled out of the garage and drove through the gate, heading toward the Old Zoo at Griffith Park. It was a beautiful picnic spot. I hadn’t been back there since Jake died, but when I’d thought about what I wanted to do with Mackenzie, that was it. I wanted to be with her in nature, doing something simple and down-to-earth.
