Choose Us (The Archer Brothers)

The clerk returns with the ring in a box. He shows it to me before telling me how much it is. I don’t bat an eyelash at the cost and hand him my credit card. When I sign the slip, he tells me they’ll resize, polish, and repair the ring for the life of the ring. I don’t ask him what that means—the life of the—but assume it means as long as it’s still in my possession.

We grab an early lunch, and then on the drive back to his house, I tell him about Cara’s new job offer and how she’ll be staying in San Diego. Carter tells me that Lois will be happy to have another friend around and will want to convince Cara to join her book club.

“What happens in book club, stays in book club,” he mutters.

I laugh at him. “Sounds scandalous.”

“You have no idea. This one time, I picked up one of the books, and all eight women screeched at the same time. I’ve never dropped something so fast in my life. Apparently, I’m not allowed to know what they’re reading. I am, however, allowed to appreciate what they’re reading.”

“What?” I look at him quickly, trying to decipher what he’s talking about.

“Porn, Nate. They’re reading porn. It’s disguised in these books, and they’re reading about throbbing members and all that crap.”

“Oh.”

“So, when Cara comes home from book club, be ready.”

“Ready for what?” I ask as I turn onto his road.

“The sex,” he says as if the word disgusts him. “And don’t let the whole ‘spank me, daddy’ freak you out.” My tire hits the curb, and we jerk to a stop. Carter sits there shaking his head. “Don’t tell Cara I told you about this. I’ll feel bad if Lois doesn’t invite her, but I suspect she will. Just be prepared.”

“I . . . uh . . . thanks, I guess.”

He nods and gets out of the car. Before he closes the door, he leans back in and says, “Let me know when you’ve asked Cara, and we’ll do dinner or something. We’ll want to celebrate with you.” I let him know I’ll call and set something up after asking Cara to marry me. Assuming she says yes. I’m confident she will, but there’s always the voice in the back of my head. I have a word for that little fucker—doubt.

After leaving Carter’s, I head toward Evan’s, with thoughts of book club on my mind. I’m curious as to what the ladies are reading and remember my mom reading stories with some guy on the front, whose long hair always flowed like he was standing in front of a wind machine. Now that I think back, my mom never left the book on the counter or anything. It was always with her, and she never read it in front of us. I will have to ask Livvie if there are any in the house, because now I want to know if mom is part of this “book club.”

Evan’s in the small garage when I pull up. He waves but doesn’t come out to greet me. “What are you working on?” I ask him.

“I’m about to set the cameras up. Did Cara find anything?”

“The car was a rental, so she’s checking some things out. She got a promotion.”

Evan looks up. “She did? Is it a good one?”

I nod. “She’s going to stay in San Diego and work for the field office. She’ll have her own team and head up a task force on sex crimes.”

“Shitty job, but I’m happy for her.”

“Me too,” I pause and fiddle with some of the components on the table. “Say, what do you think about closing the DC office and making this our home base? There’s some rental space in a few of the strip malls. We could open an office there and hire some people. I know Carter will work part-time, maybe even McCoy.”

Evan thinks for a minute and then nods. “I’m good with it. How much equipment do we have in DC?”

“Enough that I’d need to go get it, but Cara has an apartment there that she’ll need to empty, so it looks like I’ll already have to drive a truck back here.”

“I thought she lived in Vegas?”

“She does, but I think the stuff she has there is mostly clothes.”

Evan laughs. “So, slacks and sport coats?”

I chuckle as well. “Pretty much.”

“I’m cool with it. Besides, it’ll give me something to do. When do you go back?” he walks over to the fridge, opens it and pulls out two beers, and hands me one.

“Next week,” I tell him.

“You ready?”

I shake my head and twist the cap off the bottle. “Nope, and for the first time since we enlisted, I don’t want to go to work. I don’t trust my employer. How shitty is that?”