Tucker (The Family Simon 1)

The two men started toward Tucker but were waylaid by Aunt Virginia, and Tucker took another swig, not bothering to hide a grin as Aunt Virginia tucked her arm through Cooper’s.

Virginia had a soft spot for all the blond Simon boys—he would be there for a while.

Tucker glanced to his left as Beau sidled up to the bar.

“Shit, I was starting to think that you’d gone off with Betty too.”

Beau snorted. “Yeah, cuz a spa is exactly where I’d be right now.”

Tucker took another swig from his bottle. He didn’t want to ask the question even though he was dying—

“They’re on their way down. Betty just sent me a text.”

“Huh,” was Tucker’s reply.

“Apparently my lady love felt the need to squeeze in a little shopping.”

“Christ,” Tucker muttered. “I’m not convinced that retail therapy is cheaper than a shrink, no matter what she says.”

“No kidding,” Beau said in agreement, accepting a cold one from the bartender. “Who the hell decides to go shoe shopping an hour before dinner? Especially a woman who brings a suitcase just for her shoes. I swear to God she packed twenty pairs to come down here for the weekend, and she’ll wear maybe two of them.”

The two men sat in relative peace—at least for the moment—mostly because Aunt Virginia had Rick and Cooper cornered, and the rest of the cousins hadn’t spotted them yet. In a family as high profile as the Simons, Beau, with his Hollywood celebrity, stood out.

Beau took another pull from his longneck and then set it on the bar as he leaned back. “Mom and Dad aren’t here yet.”

“Nope,” Tucker replied, scanning the room although it wasn’t for his parents.

“I think their flight was delayed from Toronto.”

Tucker swiveled his head around. “Toronto? They were up at the cottage?”

The Simon family had a big piece of property on Lake Muskoka and spent a fair bit of time up there in the summer. It had been in the family since the early 50’s, and Tucker and his brothers had been going up there since he could remember.

“For at least a week. They always go up for the Canadian Thanksgiving to spend the weekend with their friends.” Beau frowned. “When’s the last time you talked to them?”

Tucker didn’t want to admit that he’d been avoiding his mother’s calls ever since she’d brought up the whole prostitute thing, so he just shrugged and shook his head. “It’s been a few weeks.”

“She’s going to lay into you when she does get here. You know that, right?”

Tucker didn’t answer because there was nothing to say. Beau was right. His mother would have more than a few choice words for him, and damned if he didn’t deserve them.

Beau nodded toward Aunt Virginia. “I guess you heard that Uncle Max broke his hip?”

“Nah, I didn’t hear that.” Good. It meant that Aunt Virginia would hopefully attach herself to Cooper for most of the night instead of bothering him because lord knows the woman liked to dance.

“Apparently he was trying to wave-board and didn’t quite make it.”

“Wave-board?” A grin tugged on Tucker’s mouth. “Are you shitting me? He’s got to be pushing eighty, isn’t he?”

“Mom says he’ll be ninety-two next year.”

“Wow,” was all Tucker had.

“Yeah.”

Tucker glanced at Beau, but his brother’s eyes slid away. Something was up.

“What’s on your mind?”