Calamity Jena (Invertary 4)

Claire shot her a sharp frown. “That’s what I said—we ran into each other. But we weren’t able to talk much that night.”

“Or at all,” Megan muttered before stuffing her mouth full of mashed potato.

Claire glanced at Matt to see if he caught Megan’s words, and breathed in relief when it seemed he hadn’t.

“So.” She took a deep breath. “The following night, we were at the pub when in walked Samuel. He made a beeline right for us.”

Megan nodded. “You could say he swept her off her feet.”

Claire’s toe shot out and kicked her sister hard. Megan yelped before glaring at her. Claire ignored her and carried on talking.

“We got to chatting and discovered we had quite a bit in common.” Like their desire for Matt to never, ever find out about the accident. “Samuel asked me out, and we had our first date yesterday.”

She looked around the table gauging reactions to her story. Samuel seemed highly amused. Her mother was smiling widely. Jena seemed more concerned with her dinner. And Matt, Matt looked suspicious. He stared between her and Megan for a minute. She could see his brain working. She swallowed hard, willing herself to appear innocent and hoping Megan was doing the same. She breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly relaxed and sat back in his chair. His smile was genuine. He suspected nothing. She almost high-fived her sister with the relief.

“So,” Matt said, “which one of you was driving when you accidentally ran over Grunt?”

“Megan,” Claire said without thinking. She yelped and slapped a hand over her mouth. She made wide eyes of apology at Megan as Matt’s jaw began to clench. He turned on Megan, who was frozen with a forkful of peas halfway to her open mouth.

“How did you know?” Megan looked horrified. “What gave it away? It was the ‘we ran into him’ comment, wasn’t it? Should have kept my big mouth shut.”

The muscle on the edge of Matt’s jaw began to throb. A clear sign he’d run out of patience. “You were in an accident and didn’t report it?” His words were carefully measured. A sure sign he was about to blow his top. He studied Grunt. “Were you injured?” He didn’t give Grunt time to answer before turning back to Megan. “Did you injure a man and neglect to call for help?”

“We took him to the doctor,” Claire said. By the look on Matt’s face, she wasn’t helping things. “He only had a little concussion. Didn’t you, Samuel?”

Samuel grunted. It may have been in agreement, but she wasn’t certain.

Matt let out a low growl in Megan’s direction. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in right now?”

Megan went white. Her arm snapped out. She pointed a finger about an inch from Claire’s nose. “She saw his penis, and it’s pierced.”

Claire gasped. “You saw it too.” She pointed back at her sister while she faced Matt. “She couldn’t stop staring at it, the pervert.”

Samuel groaned. Jena gasped. Matt turned slowly towards Claire’s date. “You flashed your penis at my sisters? You son of a…”

That was when he launched himself over Sunday lunch and straight at Samuel’s throat.

17

They were driving to Fort William. Matt’s mom was behind the wheel, fuming. Jena was riding shotgun and Matt was squeezed into the back seat of the tiny brown car. He held a bag of frozen peas to his swollen eye. His mom wouldn’t let him drive, or sit up front. “Get in the back,” were the only words Heather had spoken since she’d broken up the fight in her dining room, by tipping a bucket of water over Matt and Grunt.

Claire, Megan and an equally battered Grunt had decided to visit Matt’s father another day. Jena thought that was a wise decision.

“I really could have stayed in Invertary,” Jena said again. She still hoped they’d turn the car around and take her home. “I’m happy to stay with Lake and Kirsty while you visit with your dad.”

“For the last time,” Matt said. “Where I go, you go. I’m not convinced Grunt was there seeing Claire. I think he was trying to get to you. They’re up to something. I don’t like it, and until I figure it out, you get to stay by my side.”

“Yay me,” Jena said, and groaned.

“That boy was most certainly there for Claire,” Heather snapped. “You would have noticed that if you’d paid attention to the way he looked at her. He’s head over heels. You were just being an overbearing brother. I keep telling you, the girls have grown up—they need to be able to make their own choices. And you need to deal with them.”

Matt snorted. “There has to be at least ten years between Claire and Grunt. Plus he’s here with a mobster. You don’t need to be a cop to have alarm bells going off over this. What kind of big brother would I be if I didn’t look out for my little sisters?”

Heather let out a heavy sigh. “The point is, my darling, they aren’t little anymore. They have a right to make their own mistakes, the same as you have a right to make yours.”

“So we should sit back and do nothing while Claire makes the biggest mistake of her life?”

“I thought Samuel was a very nice boy,” Heather said. “Not much of a conversationalist, but he obviously adores Claire. Until I have proof to the contrary, I plan on giving him the benefit of the doubt.”