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“I need you to come home.”
“Aw hell, this is about that woman, isn’t it?” my sister huffed into the phone. I knew she was at her desk, her back to the Houston skyline as she ruled the energy world.
“I know you’re a big city, hot-shot executive, Mulaney, but I don’t ask you for much.”
“A fine thing coming from you, Hollywood.” She sighed, and I heard her chair make a loud creak as she leaned back in it.
“When?”
“Sunday.”
“As in two days from now?”
I grinned. Ruffling my big sister’s feathers never got old. “Yep.”
“Way to give me some notice, Stone. I’ve got people to answer to. Oil prices are in the shitter—likeIhad something to do with that. The fucking cost of sustainable, renewable energy is through the damn roof, making it all the more difficult to justify, so everyone wants oil again. I’m trying to hang on to my job and 36,452 others by keeping a company afloat.” I was tired just listening to her, but that was the way she liked things. After a beat, she said, “I’ll be there.”
“Thank you.” My sister had never missed a holiday, and even though she was busier than anyone ought to be, Mulaney was always there for me, a fact I never forgot.
“I’m warning you I already don’t like her. Anybody who can’t see what a good man my little brother is isn’t good enough for him.”
“Just give her a chance.”
“Fine, but I’m not playing nice to make you happy.”
This was going to be a disaster. She’d already made up her mind to dislike Muriella, and once my sister decided something, it was easier to tame a wild stallion than get her to change her mind. But it wouldn’t matter a damn unless I could get Muriella to Texas and show her we were meant to be.
“Well, by all means do what suits you. I’d never want you to make a sacrifice like that.”
She skated right over my sarcasm like an Olympic athlete. “It’ll be good to see you, Stone. I’ve missed you. That five seconds in New York doesn’t count, and that fucking FaceTime isn’t the same.”
“Has your mama heard you talk like that?”
“She knows my granddaddy taught me how to cuss,” Mulaney returned primly.
“He taught her too.”
We laughed, and there was a stretch of silence. “You okay?”
“I’ve got a lot riding on this weekend.”
“I swear to God, if she’s hurt my brother, I will—”
“Mulaney, stop. I need you to help me make her see her family can grow. Convince her nothing is her fault,” I said, knowing full well I wasn’t making much sense, which would only piss her off.
“Okay,” she agreed, softening.
“Thanks, sis.”
“I don’t know shit about relationships.” The tough edge that struck the fear of God in grown men returned to her voice. “And don’t expect me to go easy on her.”
“You’re the best. Want me to tell Mama you called me, said you wanted a weekend at home?” I offered.
“She’d see right through that, and you know it, but I appreciate you trying to make me look good. I used to be her favorite before you came along, you know,” Mulaney reminded me, as she often did.
“That was thirty-eight years ago. When are you going to get over it?”
Her long huff of air blown into the phone made me smile. “Whenever I damn well feel like it, which will probably be never. If you talk to that brother of yours, ask him if he knows how to return a phone call. He’s about to work his way back on my shit list.”
