On the other hand, they all do seem glad to have me back, and in truth, I’m thrilled to be back. My anger at Dale and Dad dissipates. Sure, I’m giving up a lot, but family first. Talon Steel drummed that lesson into our heads from day one, and he’s right.
Step by step, I make my way back to the deck, and I’m four feet from the door when—
“Donny.” Mom grabs me. “Can you help Marj and me with the cake?”
But Callie’s in the library…
I can hardly say that. I’m an adult, but still… I don’t particularly want to tell my mother that I left a half-naked woman hiding in a closet.
I can’t say no. The cake is for me, after all.
“Sure,” I sigh.
I follow Mom into the kitchen where the cake is set out and Aunt Marj is putting on the last touches.
“Wow,” I say. “It’s beautiful.”
“Nothing but the best for my favorite nephew.” Aunt Marj giggles.
It’s been a running joke since we were all kids. Aunt Marj refers to each and every one of us as her favorite niece or nephew.
“I thought I was your favorite,” Brock jokes.
I turn to face him. “Can you help Mom and Aunt Marj? I’ve got to—”
“Sorry,” he says. “I’ve got to piss like a racehorse. I’ll be back in five if you can wait.”
“Never mind,” I say.
“We’re done!” Aunt Marj wipes her hands on a dish towel.
I take a second to appreciate her handiwork. It’s a two-tier creation with golden frosting and the scales of justice sculpted out of white and black fondant.
“I don’t know how you do it, Marj,” Mom says. “Each cake you make is more beautiful than the last. Why you took so long to get into baking is beyond me.”
“I was too busy creating real food,” Marj replies. “I like dessert as much as the next person, but I’m much more into savory than sweet. I have to admit, though. Cakes do let me stretch my creativity. It’s fun!”
“You should sell these at Ava’s bakery,” I tell her.
She laughs off my comment. “That would take all the fun out of it.”
The three of us carefully set the cake onto a catering trolley and wheel it through the French doors and out onto the deck.
“Talon,” Mom says. “Tell everyone the cake is ready and, if they want to see it before we cut it, to get over here.”
I love my mom. I do. But my God, does everything have to be a major event? Though the cake is a work of art. No lie.
Dad makes a quick announcement, and sure enough, people gather to ooh and ahh over the dessert.
A good time for me to sneak away and get Callie.
Except—
“You do the honors, Donny.” Aunt Marj hands me a serving knife.
“I’ll screw it up.”
“Just the first slice, so your mom can get a photo. Then I’ll take over.”
Photo op. Of course. Can’t ever miss a good Steel photo op. I paste on a smile and try not to think about how angry Callie’s getting in the closet.
I slice into the cake as camera phones click.
I’ll be up on twenty Instagram accounts within seconds.
And all I want is for this party to be over so Callie and I can pick up where we left off.
Chapter Twenty
Callie
“Finally!” I say, as the closet door opens.
Then my jaw drops.
It’s not Donny but his cousin Brock who stands on the other side of the closet door.
Thank God I went ahead and got dressed after so much time passed. Boots without socks aren’t particularly comfortable.
Brock gives me a dazzling smile. “Well, well, well. What have we here?”
“I was just…” Just what? Oh, just fucking your cousin, and he left me here for… Damn. How long has it been?
“I thought it was your sister who came out of the closet,” he jokes.
“Yeah. Funny.”
“Seriously,” he says. “What are you doing in here? The party’s in full force.”
“There’s really no good answer to that question.”
He laughs. “Now come on. There’s got to be some reason why you’re hiding in a closet. Seriously.”
“That’s the second time you’ve used the word seriously.”
“Seriously?” He waggles his eyebrows.
I like Brock. He’s a few years younger than I am, and even though my family didn’t move here until I was in elementary school, Brock was one of the first Steels I got to know.
He was the boy who chased all the girls on the playground.
While all the other little boys were in their I hate girls phase, Brock Steel was a skirt chaser even then.
He’s still a skirt chaser now. He, Donny, and Dave Simpson, Marjorie and Bryce’s second son, are the Steels known as the womanizers. In town they’re called the Three Rake-a-teers. I remember when Rory coined the term after high school. Donny’s quite a bit older than his cousins, but once Brock and Dave were legal, the three of them could be found at Murphy’s whenever Donny was in town, picking up women and heading to the Snow Creek Inn.