Descent (Steel Brothers Saga 15)

He’d rolled his eyes and said, “He’s kind of weird.”

The little boy wasn’t weird. He was shy and the victim of bullying. I’d thought my sons could bring him out of his shell, but he wasn’t responding.

“Do you think he’d like to ride one of our horses?” I asked Vicki.

“No. Horses scare him,” she said. “We have one on our small ranch outside town. Luke won’t go near him.”

“What about checking out the ranch?” Evie suggested. “He could see the cattle.”

“They’d probably scare him too,” Vicki said. “He’s been so frightened all the time since the bullies started bothering him.”

My heart ached for him. I was lucky that my boys were big and strong and made friends easily. Talon was a bit of a loner, but he got plenty of invitations to birthday parties and other events. Ryan had a joviality that Talon and Joe both lacked and had been Mr. Popular since he started school a few years ago.

Everyone loved Ryan.

I smiled. He had a charisma that drew people to him. Odd, really. Neither Brad nor I had that trait.

“We’ll find something,” I said, standing. “How about a game of Clue? The boys love that one.”

“Even Joe and Bryce still play that one sometimes,” Evie agreed.

“No,” Vicki said. “Just let them be. I don’t want to force him on your boys.”

“You’re not,” I said. “They love having friends over.”

He’s not really my friend, Mom.

What Vicki didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

Talon and Ryan finally traipsed up onto the deck, leaving Luke still sitting by himself on the lawn. Even the dogs didn’t go near him.

Strange.

“We’re hungry,” Talon said.

“Run on in and ask Belinda to make you some snacks. Enough for all three of you.”

“Okay.”

Talon walked inside, Ryan on his tail. I smiled. Ryan was Talon’s little shadow. He followed him everywhere and adored his big brother. Joe had always had Bryce and didn’t interact with his brothers that much. It was cute how Ryan followed Talon around, even slid his hand into his brother’s sometimes. The day was coming soon, I knew, when Talon would put a stop to it. When he’d be too grown up to be hanging around with his little brother.

Thank goodness that day wasn’t today.

I couldn’t bear the thought of Ryan’s heartbreak.

They returned with smiles on their faces.

“Belinda’s making biscuit pizzas for us,” Ryan said happily.

“Sounds delicious,” I said, rubbing my tummy. In reality, it sounded dreadful. “Run down and tell Luke, okay?”

“I’m sorry, Daphne,” Vicki said, “but Luke is allergic to wheat.”

“Oh, dear.” I stood. “I didn’t know that. I’ll see what else Belinda can scrounge up.”

I hastily walked through the French doors and into our large kitchen. Belinda was at the counter, rolling out the biscuit dough.

“Thanks for doing that for the boys.”

“My pleasure. They’re always so polite. I could never say no to them. It’s a tribute to you, Miss Daphne, what nice little gentlemen they are.”

I couldn’t hide a smile. I took pride in my boys. In being their mother. Praising my children was the best compliment anyone could give me.

“We have a problem, though. Luke is allergic to wheat. Is there something else we could offer him?”

“Some fresh fruit?”

“If I had it my way, my kids would eat nothing but nutritious food like that, but my guess is he’ll want something different.”

Belinda laughed. “Potato chips, then? I have a few chocolate chip cookies from the batch I made two days ago, but if he’s allergic to wheat…”

“I’m sure the chips will be fine. Thank you, Belinda.”

She grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry and handed them to me. “You’re welcome, Miss Daphne. I’m going to take the fruit punch out to them now.”

“I’ll take care of that.” I grabbed the pitcher of punch and the cups stacked on top of one another.

“Thank you. Tell the boys the pizzas will be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“I’m sure they’ll help Luke with these chips in the meantime.” I headed back out onto the deck.

“Can Luke eat potato chips?” I asked Vicki.

“Yes, he loves them.” She motioned to him to come join us on the deck. “Evie was just telling me about how you’re taking Bryce to Disneyland with you.”

“Yes, Jonah is certainly looking forward to the trip. More now, since he’ll have his best friend along and won’t have to be saddled with his little brothers.” I refilled Evie’s sparkling water and then topped off my own. Vicki’s was still full.

The boys grabbed the bag of chips and ripped it open.

“Hey, be careful,” I admonished.

“I’m always careful, Mom,” Talon said.

I rolled my eyes. Out of the mouths of babes. How many times had I seen him rip open a bag of snacks so that they went flying everywhere?

“You guys take your fruit punch and eat out on the lawn,” I said.

“Okay.” Ryan grabbed Talon’s hand, and the two of them ambled off the deck.