Causing Havoc (8 page)

SBC has created T-shirts with you on them."

She had him there. The SBC actual y had a whole line of apparel with his face or name on them.

"Okay, true enough."

Cam smiled at his reluctant agreement. "There, you see Aunt Lorna. We're probably safer with

Dean than without him. He's wel known
and
very capable." Good manners had her adding, "But, of course, we're thril ed that you're coming along. I'm sure you'l want to get to know Dean, too."

Rather than listen to Lorna choke over that, Dean turned his attention to his youngest sister. "So,

Jacki, you can make it after al ?"

Jacki gave a negligent shrug. "Cam twisted my arm."

"I did not!"

Seeing how easily Jacki riled Cam, and how much she enjoyed doing it, made Dean laugh.

"Relax, Cam." Jacki tossed back her hair, now styled bone straight with an occasional skinny braid here and there. "He's not taking me seriously."

With her coal-lined eyes and funky outfit, Jacki looked wickedly teasing. Dean wondered if she was

a handful when younger. He'd bet his next fight on it.

She wore a metal ic brown halter top that tied behind her neck and super low jeans with holes

manufactured into the knees, across one thigh, and over a hipbone. Her tattoo showed through, but

he couldn't quite make out the design.

"I'm relieved to see we're not dressing up." He'd worn his own holey jeans and an untucked Grateful Dead T-shirt. He'd half expected to catch a little grief for his super casual wear, but Cam, dressed in

white slacks and a turquoise shirt, was too pleased to be anything but bubbly.

Lorna, however, made her disgust apparent with a searing look.

"This is as dressed up as I get," Jacki told him. "But Aunt Lorna wouldn't be caught dead in jeans, especial y any as comfortable as ours."

From her styled light brown hair, fake fingernails, designer dress and heels to her aloof attitude,

Lorna Ross was everything Dean had expected. Uncle Grover hadn't exaggerated one bit.

"Some of us," Lorna said, in a frosty tone, "care about our image."

Their aunt was so cold that Dean almost felt pity for his sisters. Grover hadn't supplied a cushy life,

but at least he'd known how to laugh and occasional y cut loose with a beer and a few raunchy jokes.

Sticking his hands in his pockets. Dean tilted his head at Jacki. "I've never real y given a shit about image, but I'd say yours is young, fun, and casual."

"Right on, brother." Jacki high-fived him before turning to Cam with satisfaction. "Told ya he wouldn't care what I wore."

Dean stood stil . That simple touch, that brief moment of unity, left him flummoxed.

Until he saw Lorna scrutinizing him. Then he shrugged off the novelty of siding with a sibling and

gestured for the door. "Everybody ready?"

Cam hugged his arm. "I hope Italian is okay with you."

"Anything's fine." They left the house and strode down the walkway. The sun stil beat down, making the day hot and humid. "I'm not picky, as long as it doesn't require a suit. Like Jacki, it takes a lot of coercion for me to spiff up."

He opened the back door for Lorna and she slid in without a word. Jacki fol owed her, leaving Cam

to sit up front with him. After the ladies were al seated, he rounded the hood and got behind the

wheel.

"This place is total y casual," Cam assured him, "but they have the most incredible pasta and breadsticks and—•"

Lorna's icy voice cut through Cam's enthusiasm. "What about your sister's wedding? Wil you 'spiff

up' for that?"

Cam turned in her seat. "Aunt Lorna, for crying out loud. Nothing's been confirmed, yet. Roger and I

are stil discussing things."

"Meaning that you're dragging your feet when you should be pouncing on his proposal."

Jacki slouched in her seat. "I think she should keep dragging her feet for another decade."

"Nobody asked you, young lady."

Leaning forward again, Jacki said to Dean, "If I end up stuffed in some hideous bridesmaid dress,

then you're going to have to bite the bul et and wear a tux."

Dean felt that damn constriction around his windpipe again. They al spoke as if his attendance to a

family wedding was a given. Maybe he should discuss it with Cam.... No. Who she married was none

of his business, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, he saw Jacki watching him, waiting for his reaction. "Buckle up."

She hadn't expected that. "I never wear a seat belt."

Such a rebel. "My car, my rules."

"Is it your car?" Lorna asked, and he heard her skepticism.

Did she consider a nice sedan beyond his means? Dean wondered. Or did she assume he'd have

something rich and sporty, as most of the other fighters did? He'd already told her, image wasn't one

of his major considerations.

"It's a rental. Back home I have a truck that's probably as old as you." Lorna gasped at that dig, but he didn't give her a chance to voice her insult. "It's not much to look at on the outside, but it gets me where I'm going. I don't get to drive it that often since I'm so seldom home. I end up with a lot of rentals or sometimes leases. I looked at a few cars today and I think I've found one I want." He started the

engine, but didn't put the car in gear. "We're not going anywhere until
everyone
buckles up."

Ful of impatience, Cam looked at Lorna, and she gave up and latched the seat belt into place. "You

do realize that some people have died because they wore a seat belt."

"Far more lived because of them." Dean pul ed away from the curb. "So where to?"

Cam gave him quick directions. "It shouldn't take more than ten minutes or so to get there."

Silence reigned for about fifteen seconds, then Jacki asked, "So what type of car are you getting?"

"Nothing too fancy. Just a Sebring Convertible. Here, take a look at this." He lifted the trifold color brochure off his dash and handed it back to Jacki. "I like the red one."

"Wow." Jacki studied the photos. "Nice."

"There's a good short-term lease."

"Short term?" Cam asked.

Dean honestly didn't know how long he'd hang around. "It has the option to buy later."

"Must be nice." Jacki handed the brochure back to him. "I have to get rides from other people, and it sucks."

Cam rol ed her eyes. "Like you don't have a dozen guys just waiting for a reason to give you a lift."

"It's not the same as having my own car."

"So why don't you get one?" Dean asked.

"Some of us," Lorna informed him, "aren't made of money."

"Aunt Lorna," Cam warned. And then to Dean, "We can't afford it right now, not with col ege and everything else."

Given Jacki's appearance that afternoon, he thought she'd either skipped col ege or gotten a two-

year degree. "What's your major?"

"Elementary Education."

Dean almost choked, but he managed to hold it in. "You're going to be a teacher?"

"That's the plan. But the way things are going, I won't get my degree anytime soon."

Had he tripped into another touchy subject with her? "If you're having trouble with your classes . .."

"Trouble paying for them, not passing them." The sarcasm came through loud and clear. "Money that
should
have gone for col ege got diverted elsewhere."

Dean was thinking that he didn't want to know about their financial situation, so no way in hel would

he ask, when Lorna snapped, "You listen to me, young lady. Despite what your sister tel s you, the

world doesn't revolve around you."

Tension crackled in the air. Cam turned in her seat. "Wel . Now that we've aired our dirty laundry for Dean, do you think we can al concentrate on having a good time?"

Jacki snorted. "Oh, sure. Count on it."

Dean knew women wel enough to know that Cam was mortified, and Jacki was hurt, and that's what

decided him. Between loans and a job, Jacki should be able to handle her tuition. "Where do you

work?"

She leaned closer to the window, so close that her nose almost touched the glass. "I don't have

ajob."

"You don't..." The idea of a twenty-one-year old adult not working had never occurred to him.

"Seriously?"

Like a mother hen, Cam pounced on him. "I wanted her to concentrate on her grades. I know how

hard it was for me, working and studying."

"Hard work never kil ed anyone." Dean caught Jacki's gaze in the rearview mirror. "I worked my way through col ege. Sounds like your sister did, too."

"You're wrong." Cam laced her fingers tightly together. "I dropped out without finishing."

Dean grunted in disbelief. He wasn't wel acquainted with al of Cam's traits, but he'd have put money

on her being stubborn and proud. "I thought you said you attended a local col ege. How expensive

could it have been?"

"There were .. . other expenses, too."

Dean noticed that Lorna kept herself silent, and he wondered at it. She didn't strike him as the type

to hold back invective.

Don't ask, he told himself. Stay out of their finances. No good wil come of it. But despite the orders

he gave himself, he said, "I'm not fol owing you. What other expenses?"

No one answered him. And that nettled. Maybe they didn't want him involved any more than he

wanted to be.

"Forget I asked. It's none of my business."

"No," Lorna agreed. "It isn't."

Cam jerked around to glare at Lorna over the seat. Neither said a word, but Cam's expression

clearly told Lorna that she didn't like her behavior.

Dean marveled at his sister. One minute she seemed like the head of the household and the

peacemaker. But once or twice, she'd looked far too vulnerable and too alone.

Cam settled back in her seat, al business. "You're my brother, Dean. I don't want to keep anything

from you. It's just that some things are complicated, so it seems best to save them for later, after

we've talked more."

In other words, she wasn't going to explain. "Right. No problem." He sure as hel wouldn't coerce her into sharing secrets, especial y since they al three seemed to have a boatload.

They finished the ride to the restaurant in an uneasy silence. By the time they arrived, the sun had

retreated behind darkening clouds and a brisk wind stirred the humid air.

"Looks like rain," Cam noted in a pathetic attempt to lighten the mood.

Dean didn't reply. He got out and walked around to open the passenger side doors. Cam stepped

out first, and as Jacki left the car, a gust of damp wind blasted them. Dean's shirtsleeve blew up,

revealing the edge of a tattoo circling his biceps.

"Ah ha!" Jacki lifted the short sleeve further. "So you're into tattoos, too?"

"Tattoo. Singular." He held the door for Lorna, who took the time to tie a scarf around her hair. "You have more than one?"

"Not yet, but I'm considering another."

Dean eyed her. "They aren't cheap." And she'd just been involved in a discussion about tight

finances.

The moment he said it, he regretted the words. Jacki slicked on a smile. Touching her hipbone, she

said, "This was a birthday present from a friend."

"Some friend."

She propped her hands on her hips. "Oh, good Lord. Are you going to start playing concerned big

brother, now?"

"Hel no." He was
not
that kind of brother. "I was just making an observation."

"We're going to get drenched if you two don't stop standing here discussing idiotic things." Lorna hustled past them for the restaurant entrance, and Jacki fel into step behind her.

He looked at Cam, who scowled at him.

"She's not had an easy time of it, Dean."

"You don't say." Wearing his own insincere smile, Dean nodded. "But that's probably one of those complicated things better saved for later." He gestured for Cam to precede him to the entrance.

Instead she put her shoulders back. "Look, anything you want to know, I'l tel you. But not out of

order and not at inappropriate times."

"Meaning?"

She inhaled a deep breath. "Give me a little time, please."

Dean felt like an ass. "Take al the time you need." And. again, he gestured for her to get a move on.

She remained tight-lipped until they were seated, given menus, and had ordered drinks. Then, after

a fleeting look around the table, she visibly girded herself. "Okay, here's the thing."

Jacki groaned. "Don't tel me you're going to start spil ing your guts before dinner."

"She brought him here," Lorna said, with venom. "
Against
my wishes, al for the purpose of tel ing him things that are none of his business. What you or I think doesn't matter to her. Of course she's

not going to change her mind now."

"Hey." Jacki held up her hands in a show of denial. "Don't group me with you, Auntie. I don't give a damn what she tel s him; I just don't think he'l care. But if she wants to lay it al out, that's her

business."

Bristling with irritation, Cam shot out of her seat. "Both of you wil be quiet."

Other patrons glanced up. Lorna and Jacki stared at her. After a few seconds of silence, Dean

couldn't help but grin. He lifted his water glass in a toast and said with facetious good humor, "So nice to be welcomed into such a warm and loving family. Thank you."

Cam sank back into her seat, held her head in her hands, and let out a long wearisome sigh.

Looking from Dean to Cam and back again, Jacki tried to make amends. "Hey, sorry, Dean. I didn't

mean—"

Lorna snapped, "Don't you dare apologize to him, Jacqueline Conor. You owe him nothing. Nothing."

Dropping one hand while keeping her head propped on another, Cam addressed her aunt. "Now

that's where you're wrong, Aunt Lorna, and you damn wel know it."