Reservations

Luke crumpled, the sob drew every bit of attention his way as he shoved away from the table, pulling his hand free from theirs. Luke’s chair banged loudly against the kitchen floor as he darted from the room.

Levi sat there a minute and closed his eyes, absorbing this latest blow. Logan was next to go. His heart caved in his chest as Logan went after Luke. Yes, this was an impossible situation. He wasn’t making the best decisions, but it was just too much to bear. Levi pushed to his feet and reached for Linda, giving her a quick side hug. He couldn’t quite look her in the eyes when he added, “You might be right, but I won’t leave them.”

Levi left the kitchen in search of his brothers. It wouldn’t be easy, and they were in for a fight, but with his brothers by his side, he would make sure they got through this.

~~~

Thane stirred awake, listening to the sounds coming from above. He heard a clank then a series of cabinets slamming shut. His eyes popped fully open. He glanced out the window. He rarely closed the blinds—the sight from his bedroom was too amazing, and besides, no one could see in. It was early, at least it felt that way to him. The time difference between Maryland and California always took a little getting used to. He rolled to his side, determined to get another thirty minutes or so just as another noise came from above. What the hell? Daytime robbers made no sense.

Annoyed, Thane flipped the covers back and begrudgingly got out of bed. He grabbed his pants from yesterday and started for the stairs, working quickly to shove one foot then the other in each pant leg as he headed up the steps. The smell hit at the same time as an “oh, shit” was muttered from above.

Thane grinned, shoving his fingers through his bedhead hair as he trotted the rest of the way up. He came to a stop at the entrance of his kitchen and watched Erin flip a pancake in the air. She did a little cheer for herself, even throwing a fist in the air when the cake landed just right on the skillet.

“What are you doing?”

Erin jumped a foot, jerking around as the pancake dropped to the floor. “Shoot! Five second rule. This one goes to the hubby.” She scurried, picking the pancake up off the floor, then tossed it back in the pan. “We’ll let it cook a bit longer to burn off the germs.”

He must have slept through a lot. She had a pile of cakes waiting on him. Thane had no idea what he’d done to earn breakfast, but he’d take it. “What are you doing?” he asked again as he headed to the Keurig to start a cup of coffee. “I figured you’d be nursing a hangover this morning.”

“I am, but I wrote myself a note about the cologne, and it jarred my memory.” She flipped the pancake, and when it landed perfectly, Erin set the skillet down and threw both arms in the air. “Yes! She shoots, she scores.”

Thane chuckled at her antics before making his coffee and taking a seat at the small, two-seater table already set with all his mismatched plates and silverware. He smiled at the place settings. He hadn’t even realized he had these color plates. “I’m surprised you found all this in my cabinets.”

“Are you kidding? I brought these over,” she said, bringing the stack of hot pancakes to the table. “Honestly, from your choice of dishes, I’d never know you were in the food business.” Erin took her seat and placed several pancakes on his plate then grabbed for her open can of soda before settling back in her chair.

“You aren’t eating?” he asked as he reached for the syrup, surprised she hadn’t filled her plate. There had to be fifteen hot and ready to serve pancakes sitting there, waiting.

“I’ll pass. Hangover, remember?” She held her stomach and winced. “Not feeling all that hungry right now.”

“You cooked all this for me?” Thane asked and didn’t even try to school his enthusiasm. He hadn’t eaten at all yesterday. With Levi still on his lips, nothing would have tasted as satisfying. This morning seemed a different story altogether. A self-proclaimed foodie could only be deprived of food for so long, and his time was up. With renewed gusto, he dove in, cutting a big bite, not even trying for manners as he shoved the whole thing in his mouth.

“I’m a giver, what can I say,” she teased, drawing one of her long legs up against her chest, resting her heel on the edge of the chair. “Eat and spill. Tell me what happened that had you so messed up last night.”

Just the thought of the last week turned Thane’s mood darker. He lifted a finger, asking for a second as he shoveled another too large bite inside his mouth. “Mmmm…” He chewed and reached for his coffee. He loved pancakes in the morning. “You did really good. Thank you. First, tell me what you’ve heard about the house, then I’ll tell you what you wanna know.”