Chapter Twenty-Five
Zag
No answer.
Just like the past fifteen days.
I set my phone on the table next to my chair and sat back. I watched the traffic drive by and sighed.
I had never gone this long without talking to Zig. Even when he had gone to basketball camp, and I had stayed home, we still talked every other day.
There was a connection between the both of us that had never been broken before.
Sure, we had argued and had a few throwdowns of beating each other up, but in the end, we always understood where the other was coming from. Most of the time, it was over as fast as it had begun.
Not this time.
I didn’t understand at all why he was so upset with me.
Was he really that against Tess and me? He didn’t even know her.
I had talked to Hero about it, but he wasn’t much help to me figure things out either. He said he had spoken to Zig a couple of times, but there wasn’t much said. Zig was out looking for Malcom, and each time he came back from following a lead, the more reserved and withdrawn he seemed.
Something more had to be going on with him than his dislike of Tess and me.
I hoped once Malcom was dead and gone, that Zig would go back to being my laidback brother.
The sooner that happened, the better.
“Coming in for dinner?” Tess called through the screen door.
I grabbed my phone and shoved it in my pocket as I stood. “You mean, are you ready for me to come and taste test dinner?”
I walked into the house and wrapped my arms around Tess from behind.
“You can’t judge it t-t-too, harshly. All I did was follow the recipe and instructions Meg had t-t-texted me.” She turned in my arms and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“What was it you were making?”
She pressed a kiss to my lips. “Chicken in white sauce with rice.”
“Oh,” I gasped. “Meg used to make this every Thursday when I was a kid. It’s one of my favorites.” It was fucking delicious. She always said it was so simple to make, but fuck if it wasn’t one of the best things she made.
She faceplanted into my chest and groaned. “Why didn’t you t-t-tell me that before?”
“Why does that matter?” I chuckled.
She lifted her head and glared at me. “Because I didn’t want to make something you had ever had before. Now you’re going to compare it to hers.”
I brushed her behind her ear. “Meg has made everything you could ever think of, Tess. She would have had to dig deep to find something new.”
“We’re ordering pizza,” she declared. She planted her hands on my chest and pushed me backward. “You are not allowed to even look at what I made. There is no way it could compare to Meg’s.”
I shook my head and stepped to the side. “Nope. I’m eating what you made, and I know it’s going to taste amazing. I’m sure the recipe she gave you was foolproof.”
Tess sighed, and her shoulders sagged. “It was pretty easy to follow. I just hope I didn’t mess it up.” She turned back to the stove and took the lid off the pot. “I’ll make you a plate, and then you can tell me how bad it is. Go sit down.”
It wasn’t going to be bad. If it had been Aunt Marley who had made it, I would have run out of the kitchen.
I grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat at the table. “You don’t have to wait on me, Tess.”
She reached for a plate from the cabinet and put a scope of rice down. She spooned the white sauce over the top and then grabbed a bowl out of the microwave. “She didn’t mention anything about vegetables, but we had a bag of frozen broccoli.” She spooned some next to the rice and sighed. “Dear God, please don’t let me give him food poisoning.”
“Tess,” I laughed. “Just give me the damn plate.”