“You know, Pepper, I don’t give a fuck what you’d advise. I was all right and then you phone and drag me into shit I don’t wanna know. I don’t wanna care. I don’t wanna give that first shit that Mom is dying of cancer.”
The door opened.
“Grandma’s dying?”
Hannigan’s eyes shot in that direction and both Aug and Pepper turned around to see Juno standing there, white as a ghost, staring at her mother.
“Juno, honey,” Pepper whispered.
“She’s dying?” Juno asked her mom.
Stiltedly, Auggie turned back to Hannigan.
He then felt Pepper’s hand land on his chest.
Oh yeah.
Good call.
Auggie took a deep breath and paid attention to the in and out of it while Pepper talked to her girl.
“Go inside, we’ll talk in a bit,” she said.
“Who’s that?” Juno asked.
“My question,” Hannigan said quietly, staring at Juno.
“Step to your car,” Auggie growled.
Hannigan’s face shot back to belligerent and he turned it to Aug.
“It’s okay,” Pepper said.
“It’s not,” he replied, not taking his attention from her brother.
“It is. Juno, honey, come out here.”
He felt her shoulder brush his chest as she stayed close in front of him and Juno joined their huddle.
“Birch, this is my daughter, Juno. Juno, this is your uncle Birch,” Pepper introduced.
“I’ve heard about you,” Juno said.
“You have?” Hannigan asked.
“Mom said you were the best big brother ever.”
Hannigan had no response to that, but his face got red again. This time, Auggie guessed, for far different reasons.
“You look like Granddad,” Juno continued.
“You got your mother’s eyes,” Hannigan replied.
Right.
Done.
“Okay, sweetheart, do me and your mom a favor and go back inside,” Auggie requested.
Hannigan narrowed his gaze on Aug.
“Okay,” Juno said. “Nice t’meet you, Uncle Birch.”
The man forced his attention to his niece. “You too, girl.”
Juno went inside.
The second the door closed, Hannigan asked Auggie heatedly, “What? Is she nine? Ten? You knock my sister up in high school or something? The fuck?”
“Birch—” Pepper started.
“It’s none of your business,” Auggie stated, and he did it precisely to keep this man thinking Juno was his.
Because there were things he couldn’t do for these two females in his life.
But protecting them from this asshole wasn’t one of them.
“You think my sister isn’t my business?” Hannigan demanded.
“Man, she hasn’t seen you in over a decade,” Auggie shot back. “Do not think you can show at her door and pretend you give a shit.” He shook his head. “Now, we…are…done.” He looked to Pepper. “Get inside, baby. You can call him to talk when you’re down to do that. Now, Juno’s in there, probably freaked.”
She stared at him.
She kept doing it.
Then she nodded and turned to her brother.
“I’ll call you, Birch. After I sit down with Mom. I’ll know more then. Okay?”
“Yeah,” Hannigan grunted.
“You…I…you look good,” she said and finished, “We’ll talk.”
Another grunt from Hannigan. “Yeah.”
“Come in soon, honey,” she said to Aug. “Dinner is getting cold.”
“Be right in,” he replied.
She touched his hand and walked into the house.
Aug remained stationed in front of the door.
Then Hannigan surprised him by saying, “I didn’t know she had a kid or that she was listening.”
“Well, because you handled this like you did, now we gotta deal with that,” Auggie returned.
“She looks…” He didn’t finish.
He glanced around, taking in the pumpkins, the sign by the door that said to be grateful, the warm light that filtered through the windows and pooled on the porch.
Hannigan cleared his throat.
“Pepper looks happy.”
“That’s the goal,” Auggie replied.
His faced hardened. “I know you think I got no right, but gonna say it anyway. Don’t fuck her over, you know? I think you get she’s had it bad enough.”
“You’re a little late to be sharing that intel, but I hear you. And don’t worry. No way I’d fuck her over. Or Juno. Now, I’ll ask the same.”
“I’d never fuck her over,” the man spat.
Auggie just lifted his brows.
And again was surprised when the hostility slid out of Hannigan and he looked contrite before he looked away.
“Juno’s a cool name,” he muttered to a pumpkin by the door.
“I got two girls in there I’d like to see to. You gonna take off, or we gonna chat for the next half an hour?” Auggie asked, and regained Hannigan’s attention.
At first, he looked combative.
That faded and he pushed out, “Let you see to them.”
“Obliged.”
Hannigan nodded.
Auggie didn’t nod back.
He watched the man turn and lope down the walk.
And he waited until Hannigan’s POS car chugged down the street before he went into the house.
He locked the door and headed into the living room.
Pepper was curled up into the corner of the sofa, Juno curled into the crook of her legs.
They both held their plates in front of them, but neither of them looked real interested in eating.
And both sets of eyes came to him when he appeared from the hallway.
“Is he gone?” Juno asked.
Aug retrieved his plate, hesitated, and when he saw Pepper indicate with her eyes that he was to share the couch with them at the other end, he settled in and answered, “Yeah, honey, he’s gone.”