AKA Lexi Frost (Lexi Frost Series) (14 page)

“
You got through your first cup quicker than usual.”

“
It’s an unusual morning.”

“
I gathered that. Tim’s on his third. I just switched him to decaf.”

Paul considered that for a moment.

“Same for you then?” Lia smiled knowingly.

“
One more regular first. Now my schedule today,” Paul walked around to the desk.

“
Has already been cleared. I’ll tell you more about that when I bring you your coffee. I suggest your personal office. Your corporate killer one is a bit cool this morning. I would have it checked, but Tim said to wait.”

“
I’ll go wait for my coffee then,” Paul agreed and returned to his office and sat on his sofa. He didn’t have to wait long. Lia walked in shortly with his coffee and the usual papers and memos she handed him every morning.

“
Your morning routine,” she handed him the stack. “Nothing unusual or pressing that I noticed. Also, I have numbers for florists in Seattle, although Tim told me officially I don’t. So officially I’ll ask ‘what’s the occasion?’ with the unofficial meaning of ‘what did you do and/or how bad is it?’ Talk to me.” She sat beside him on the sofa as comfortably as if he were a neighbor instead of her boss.

“
Oh, I didn’t give full disclosure as early as I should have and it came back to bite me on the ass. It’s my own fault. Now I need to humble myself and beg a woman to allow me to explain. In person.”

“
Ah.”

“
And I had a difficult time just convincing her to have lunch with me in the first place.”

“
If I can ask, how did you?”

“
I ambushed her. I waited until she went on a business trip to Miami and showed up there at an event to plead my case in person.”

“
Okay, worst case scenario you can arrange another business trip for her and do the same, although a heartfelt letter would be a better start. FedEx does same day, you know.”

“
That’s a good start.”

“
Handwritten is better,” Lia stood up. “Well, it is in your case. Your handwriting suits you. You’ll need to get it done soon or we’ll have to use a personal courier.” With that, she left Paul to consider the letter he needed to write.

Kenny hardly slept. He heard Teri and Nicholas moving around all night, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Nicholas still there the next morning.

Since Nicholas and Teri were preoccupied
, Kenny got up and made breakfast. He made a breakfast tray for Teri. Nicholas took it from him at the door, which was a relief. Kenny hated to see his own mom cry and knowing Teri was upset proved to be just as unnerving.

“
What’s with Mom?” Dev asked when Kenny came back downstairs.

He gave a noncommittal shrug in response. He was just a teenager
; he wasn’t expected to actually
know
anything. The guys didn’t expect it of him any more than he expected it of them. Adults didn’t expect much because of his age. Teenage girls were a problem. For some reason they felt he should be observant, but Cassie and Tiff weren’t here so it didn’t matter.

Kenny hoped he could disappear or Nicholas could get this cleared up before Cassie got home. She got bitchy and unreasonable when he was expected to know something and didn
’t, so he didn’t want to think about what she was going to be like when he knew something he shouldn’t.

He didn
’t have a cover story. Kenny did the dishes as he tried to process his thoughts. That he had an audience now made thinking a little harder. He tried to ignore Dev, and now Jess, staring at him made it worse. Kenny considered Jess for a moment; maybe he could be useful. Jess thought Kenny had a problem, which wasn’t entirely false. He wasn’t curious enough to rock the boat though, so Jess just stood there beside Dev.

“
Jess, take a walk. Why don’t you go see when Bryan’s coming over.” Dev’s comment wasn’t really a request or even a suggestion, it was an order. Jess didn’t pick up on that and wandered off to call Bryan. Kenny noticed the unusual undertone to Dev’s voice. He continued washing dishes and waited to see what the kid genius was going to do next. Something to make his life difficult no doubt.

“
Kenny, why are you acting guilty?”

“
What do you mean?”

“
You hardly ever cook, but you made breakfast. And you never do dishes. Okay, fine, you’re taking a load off Mom. But when I asked what’s up with Mom, you didn’t say she was tired or sick or anything, you shrugged. That’s a non-answer. So, I repeat, what’s up with Mom?”

Kenny looked at Dev for a moment. He looked like his sister
, and yet he didn’t. They were obviously siblings with the same dark hair and green eyes, but Dev had a little boy look to him that he didn’t seem to be able to shake. Even now when he was glaring, almost trying to will Kenny to tell him something that he knew Kenny didn’t want to.

“
I suggest you let her tell you in her own time and way,” Kenny said, returning his attention back to loading the dishwasher.

“
Because she’s upset?”

“
Because asking would upset her more.”

“
Answering my questions keeps me from asking her.”

“
So does waiting.”

“
What are the odds?”

Kenny closed the dishwasher. Drying his hands
, he leaned over the counter opposite the boy on the other side. Four years younger than Kenny and Jess, at barely fifteen Dev was already uncomfortably smart. Kenny kept hoping Dev would turn that brilliance toward his music, but without success so far.

“
Odds are Teri will tell you what’s up before your curiosity overcomes your good sense.”

“
Except she hasn’t come out of her room and when I went up there a minute ago, she was crying. I heard it through the door,” Dev countered. His face sobered. “She’s been crying and she hasn’t called Paul.”

“
How do you know?”

“
Because Nicholas has been up there all morning. Mom wouldn’t need Nicholas if she had Paul. So if she’s crying and not talking to Paul, she’s crying
because
of Paul. And you know why. Spill.”

“
Dev, I shouldn’t be involved in this. I don’t want to be involved in this.”

“
But you are, so spill it.”

“
No. Just wait.”

“
Did Paul break up with Mom?”

“
I’m not telling you anything. Quit trying to guess.” Kenny moved around the end of the bar and out of the kitchen. Dev followed him through the dining room.

“
Did Mom break up with Paul? Why?”

“
Nicholas!” Kenny yelled and started up the stairs with Dev on his heels. The door upstairs opened and Nicholas appeared at the top of the stairs before Kenny and Dev made it halfway up.

“
Make him stop guessing,” Kenny pleaded.

“
What’s wrong with Mom?” Dev demanded.

“
I make breakfast and he immediately starts jumping to conclusions,” Kenny said.

“
You were doing dishes. You
never
do dishes,” Dev glared at him.

Nicholas swore under his breath.
“Listen, Dev, leave Kenny alone. He doesn’t know as much as you seem to think he does. Go call the girls home. Now scoot.”

Dev reluctantly headed back down the stairs to call his sister.

“Kenny, I’m not sure how to ask this,” Nicholas said.

“
Whatever you come up with in the way of explanation I’ll go along with,” Kenny volunteered. “Dev doesn’t know anything.”

“
Teri’s still upset, obviously. I know she’d try to explain what really happened, but . . . I think that may be a bit too much information.”

“
You’re spinning it?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Okay, do it.”

Nicholas patted him on the shoulder.
“I’ll be down in a bit. I gave her something to help her sleep. I just want to make sure she’s comfortable.”

Kenny nodded and turned to go back downstairs.

An hour later, Bryan, Cassie, and Tiffany were back and they played cards in the dining room while they waited for Nicholas to come make a statement.

“
In the future, I think it’d be better to pair Dev with Jess when we’re playing teams,” Tiffany said.

“
Why?” Jess asked.

“
Well, when you’re paired with Bryan, you two always lose by almost as much as Kenny and Dev win by. I think putting Jess and Dev together would help even things out.”

“
What?” Jess asked.

“
She means I’ll make up for your mistakes,” Dev explained, playing a card with a pointed expression.

“
Whatever.”

“
Fine, next game we’ll switch. I’ll pair with Bryan and Jess and Dev will be together,” Kenny announced. Tiffany nodded in satisfaction.

“
Would you still say that if I told you it was my idea?” Cassie asked Kenny sweetly.

“
Wouldn’t have to. If you’d suggested it, Jess would have agreed immediately,” Kenny answered, almost wishing Cassie wasn’t such a pain in the ass. Having her on his side to control Jess and stop annoying Dev would be handy.

“
It’s nice to see you kids all playing nicely, I almost don’t want to disturb you.”

Kenny turned to see Nicholas standing in the doorway to the dining room smiling at them all.
“I take it Kenny and Dev are winning again?”

“
Yeah,” Kenny answered.

“
Of course you are. I’m not sure who to bet on if you switch around like I heard you discussing. Cassie and Tiffany I think. Anyway, the reason I wanted to talk to you together today, boys and girls, is that plans have changed. Paul will not be joining us this week as planned. Yes, I caught that frown, Tiffany, I’m sorry. Teri and Paul had a bit of a falling out and I’m afraid it looks like they won’t be making up.”

“
You can’t say that this soon! Lovers have fights all the time and make up again,” Cassie argued.

“
I can’t go into details, Cassie, it’s not my place. And it’s not your place to ask. Your mom’s having a rough time, so I’d appreciate it if you were all supportive. It was hard for her to get back into the dating game again. It’s really too bad that it didn’t work out. Maybe next time.”

“
So that’s it? No second chances?” Cassie pleaded.

“
No.”

“
But Nicholas -”

“
Drop it, Cassie.”

“
But -”

Kenny started flicking cards at Cassie.
“He said drop it. Leave Teri alone.”

Cassie held up her hands to try to protect her face while Tiffany and Jess batted cards out of the air.

“Gonna drop it? I want to hear you promise,” Kenny continued flicking cards.

Dev grabbed the deck from the middle of the table and joined Kenny.

“Are you offering support or just tormenting your sister?” Kenny asked.

“
The latter.” Dev flicked another card at Cassie with uncanny accuracy.

“
Whatever. Cassie? I’m waiting,” Kenny prompted.

“
Stop it!” Cassie snapped, but Kenny and Dev continued on mercilessly.

“
Kenny, you’re a jerk,” Tiffany defended her friend.

“
Well,” Nicholas said, “since it seems I’ve made my point and Kenny is punctuating the part about not bothering Teri, I think I’ll go back upstairs and let you kids continue your fun. Bryan, you’re the referee, let me know if bloodshed ensues.”

Bryan
gave a lazy salute and Nicholas left the war zone.

“I didn’t lie to them. I just told them you had a fight and wouldn’t be making up. What the disagreement was about is irrelevant,” Nicholas explained later as he laid another cold washcloth on Teri’s forehead. She had a monster of a headache from the crying and the tension over what to tell the kids.

“
Nicholas, I want them to be forgiving.”

“
So you’re going to set the example by forgiving Paul and welcoming him back into your life and bed with open arms? Way to stand by a childhood concept.”

“
Allen and I wanted to raise the kids with morals. Honesty, charity, forgiveness,” Teri paused briefly, “chastity. I don’t want them too be judgmental, but I don’t want them thinking what society thinks is acceptable is necessarily right.”