Until a throat clearing made me stiffen, and Ronan drew back. He lifted his eyebrows as if to say “Busted,” then kissed the end of my nose.
Van walked past us, chuckling. “As you were.”
Ronan grinned, reaching for me, but I pulled back, slapping at his hands. He only laughed.
“Paid,” was all he said.
I headed up the stairs, unsure how to respond. If he accepted kisses for doors, his bonus was going to be dinner. And I had a feeling he was going to love it.
* * *
Van and Ronan came upstairs, and I watched from the kitchen window as they loaded stuff into the truck and swept the driveway clean of sawdust. As they stood talking, Evan’s bus pulled up and he got off, making his way toward them. I expected him to say hello and come inside, given his shyness with new people. But I was shocked to see him greet Ronan enthusiastically and shake Van’s proffered hand. Van bent down on one knee, talking to Evan. Ronan copied him, and the three of them seemed deep in a serious discussion. Paige came up beside me.
“He’s talking to them. Both of them,” I breathed. “Like he knows them.” I met her gaze. “Like he is comfortable.”
She smiled. “Ronan has that way with him. I guess Van does too. He seemed really nice.”
“He’s an uncle.”
She elbowed me. “Were my instructions not a single brother? Not a married uncle. Jeesh.”
We laughed, and she grabbed some of the veggies I had washed and moved them to the cutting board for me to start chopping. She left to go and pick up Lucy at day care. Working from home, she liked having Lucy go to a place where she could play with kids her own age, and she found a great spot only a few blocks away. Lucy went three days a week. In the fall, she would start kindergarten and be gone every day. Paige often remarked she wasn’t ready for that to happen yet.
I kept watching as Evan spoke to Van. Their conversation seemed to focus on his leg, and Evan demonstrated how he used his crutches and patted his hip and thigh as if showing them where the lingering damage was. Van did a lot of talking and, I assumed, asked a lot of questions, although at times, Ronan would add something in. Evan was surprisingly relaxed and talkative. He normally refused to discuss his injuries, especially to a stranger.
Eventually, Van stood, placed his hand on Evan’s shoulder, and spoke directly to him. Evan nodded, then turned and headed to the front door. He came inside, waved in hello, then went to his room to get rid of his book bag.
Van spoke to Ronan, his gaze flickering to the window, catching me staring at them. He smiled, clapped Ronan’s shoulders, shaking them slightly, and spoke seriously. Ronan followed his gaze, then nodded. He waved as Van pulled out of the driveway then disappeared. A few moments later, Ronan came into the kitchen.
“What smells so good? Is that…homemade tacos?” he asked, looking at the piles of fixings and sniffing the aroma of the ground chicken I had cooking with the spices.
“Yes. I know you love them, and so do the kids. I thought you’d enjoy them.”
“I was going to order in for us,” he protested as he snagged a slice of red pepper off the pile. “I said I would.”
“Well, consider this payment for the door.”
He stepped behind me as I stirred the filling, switching off the heat. He wrapped his arms around me, burying his face into my neck and kissing the skin. “I prefer my form of payment,” he muttered.
I shivered at his words. “We can split the payments,” I joked.
“Maybe we can try out the effectiveness of the door later,” he whispered, his breath hot on my neck and his tongue tracing the shell of my ear.
I never got to answer since Evan came into the kitchen, a huge smile on his face.
“Ronan—is the box on my bed from you?”
“Yeah, bud. Those were my Lego sets when I was a kid. I thought you’d enjoying building with them. There are a few kits you can’t get anymore.”
I was touched by his gesture. His thoughtfulness knew no bounds, whether it was for me, my kid brother, or the small group of people in my life. Paige had told me when he arrived earlier, he had noticed her chair was wobbly, and in ten minutes, had tightened the bolts, oiled it so it no longer squeaked, and gotten rid of a virus her computer had picked up. He seemed too good to be true.
“I’ll take really good care of them, Ronan.”
Ronan laughed, his white teeth flashing. “Lego bricks are almost indestructible. I’m not in any hurry to have them back, so build to your heart’s content.”