Merry looked down at her belly and pointed at it firmly.
“Don’t you dare,” she said. “You still have some cooking to do.”
I laughed and she grinned at me. The entire family was excited about Quentin’s first child coming. He and Merry had had a tumultuous relationship in the beginning to say the least, but anybody who looked at them knew they were nothing short of perfect for each other. Now that they were married and preparing for the birth of their son, he was happier and more himself than he ever had been.
“Everything okay?” I asked. “Did you come by for some pictures?”
The social media manager for the company, Merry handled all the platforms along with marketing and planning publicity events. She’d done an incredible job building our fan base and increasing our popularity. It meant a lot of pictures, which wasn’t my favorite thing, but I’d do it for the company. But she shook her head.
“No,” she told me. “I came because you and your brother are driving me up a wall. Neither of you want to rock the boat with the other one, which I don’t get at all. So, I’m going to do it for you. They hired Kelly.” She threw up her hands like I’d just walked into a surprise party. “There we go. It’s over now. Figure out how you feel about it and then come out to the field. We’re having dinner.”
It seemed like she was planning on a dramatic exit, envisioning herself popping up out of the chair and whisking out of the room. But her belly got the best of her, and she struggled for a second to find her center of balance.
“You okay?” I asked.
She gestured for me to wait for a second and finally launched herself up.
“I’ve got it,” she said and let out a breath. “Your mother ordered sandwiches.”
With that, she whipped around and left. I chuckled, shaking my head as she walked away. This was good news. It was what I wanted—for Kelly to get the job. Since I finally got confirmation it hadn’t, I could free myself from my self-imposed exile.
Finishing up my work, I headed out of the office and went to find my family. Just as Merry said, they were gathered together in the green field that took up a large portion of the center of the complex. Several blankets were spread across the grass, and my brothers and parents lounged on them, talking and laughing. They looked up at me as I approached, but none of them said anything. I plopped myself down on the blanket next to my mother, and she smiled at me, running her hand over my hair.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
I nodded. “Starving.”
She reached into a white box on the edge of the blanket in front of her. It was from the little restaurant not far from the complex. Their box lunches were a favorite of everyone’s, and since their food was one of Merry’s strongest pregnancy cravings, these sandwiches and sides were a popular feature around the complex. I was fine with that. Mom handed me a sandwich and gestured to the cooler a few feet away. I crawled over to it and grabbed out a can of soda. I ate the sandwich in a few bites and guzzled down the soda. After a second sandwich, I went back to the cooler and got out a beer.
Mom waited until I opened the beer and rested back on my elbows before she spoke.
“So, son, there are rumors about you and a certain new mechanic,” she said.
I sighed, letting my head fall back for a second, then looked over at Mom, taking a swig of the beer.
“I’m assuming you’re talking about Kelly. We met three years ago, then she left the country,” I told her.
There wasn’t any need to go into further detail than that. It was enough for her to figure out what happened. Mom was a smart cookie. And she was also an adult who hadn’t lived a cloistered life before becoming a wife and mother of four sons. It was futile to pretend she was clueless.
“So, she was the girl you met at the bar that night,” Quentin said from the blanket where he was cuddled up with Merry. “I thought she looked familiar.”
“She seriously left the country?” Nick asked. “You’re sure that wasn’t just a line she used?”
“You know, you’re the second person who’s asked me that,” I said.
“Who was the other one?” Nick asked.
“Colby,” Quentin and I said at the same time.
I looked over at him, and he shrugged.
“Sounds like something he’d say,” he said.
“It is and, yes, I am sure she left the country. She’s from Canada. That was her last night in town, and she left for home the next morning,” I told them.
“Did she really not know you worked here?” Dad asked.