“You are totally wigged out by something.”
Yeah, I’m wigged out. I keep hearing little things your grandmother used to say all the time. “No. I’m not.”
“You’re uncomfortable. Why?”
After wiping his mouth with the napkin, he tossed it aside and pushed his chair back. He rose, took her hands in his, and heaved her to his chest. Her wide eyes made him smile “This is just the way I am.” But it wasn’t even close. He might have always been a tad on the quiet side, but he’d never been so completely out of his element he didn’t know which direction to turn. For now, this would have to do.
“Okay,” she said, then smacked her lips against his. “So, I’ll see you later?”
“I’m working till around midnight, but I can stop by while I’m on duty.”
“Mmm, love a man in uniform.” She patted his chest, then added, “I’ve got to get going. I’m bringing lots of goodies up to the school today.”
“You get paid for doing that?” He admired the view as she wiggled her way to the staircase.
She shook her head. “I’m just doing it for the kids. Then maybe their parents will ask me to do the next birthday cake or cater their next party. Shameless self-promo, you know.” Just then, the doorbell rang. “Who the hell could that be?” She glanced at the door, then down at herself. “Mind getting that, I’m kind of, well, not totally decent.”
“Sure,” he managed, staring at her.
“Um, they’re waiting,” she said.
“Yeah.” He peeled his gaze from her and ran a hand through his hair. Him answering her door at seven thirty in the morning wouldn’t look good either, but what could he do? He pulled back the door and blinked.
He blinked a few more times, making sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. “Pat? Jake?” he questioned, staring at his brother and nephew.
“Uncle Owen, what are you doing here?” Jake asked with wide, questioning eyes. His lower lip quivered.
That wasn’t a good sign.
“Just being neighborly.” He patted Jake on the shoulder, avoiding his brother’s glare, grateful Courtney had dashed up the stairs. “Courtney had some raccoons in her garage last night, and I was just checking on her.”
“Really,” Pat said. “That might have something to do with why we are here. Can we come in?”
“Um. Sure.” He glanced over his shoulder, not sure if he should leave or wait for Courtney.
“Dad?” Jake held his ground when his father tried to push him through the door. “I can’t do this with Uncle Owen here. Please, can’t we just come back later?”
“We will do this now.” Pat arched his brow.
“Fine,” Jake said under his breath as he stormed past Owen. He stopped just shy of the couch in the family room and just stood there, staring down at his feet.
“What’s going on?” Owen whispered.
Jake, now twelve, was a good kid. Owen couldn’t imagine him doing something that deserved the nasty look from his father. The same look their father had given them on numerous occasions.
Don’t be a big oaf.
Stop with the oaf crap.
“I’m going to let him explain it to Courtney.” Pat looked around. “Where is she?”
“I’m right here.” She appeared at the top of the stairs in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, her hair tied back in a low ponytail, looking like morning dew sparkling in the sun. “Hey, squirt.”
“Hi,” Jake managed, giving her a weak smile.
“Jake has something he’d like to say to you,” Pat said. “Jake, go ahead.”
“Umm, well, I kind of, well…” Jake shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I, umm, was in your garage last night, and well, I kind of got into some food in your freezer.”
“Did you leave a mess behind?” Owen questioned, taking a step closer to Jake. Kids played jokes all the time, and Jake had a fascination for animals.
“Um, well, I suppose.” Not once did Jake look Owen in the eye. Normally Jake, even if he’d been busted doing something he shouldn’t, always took his punishment like a man.
“Did you purposely leave a trail behind to attract the raccoons?” Owen didn’t like games, especially with family.
“Knock it off.” Courtney stepped between them. “Leave him alone, he’s just a kid.”
“A kid who was trespassing in your garage,” Pat added.
“He wasn’t trespassing. He had permission to be there,” she said.
“But he messed with that cake. And I’m not even going to get into the whole burglar on the loose thing.” Owen tried to sidestep her, but when he moved, so did she. Jake now actually hid behind her. “Jake, front and center.”
“I’m sorry about the cake, really, I am. I know I shouldn’t have opened the freezer. That was off limits.”
Courtney turned and placed her hands on Jake’s shoulders. “Go outside and let me deal with your father and uncle, okay?” Jake nodded, then bolted through the door.
“I understand you’re trying to be nice, but he needs to be appropriately punished,” Pat said, shaking his head. “This is the age it starts, and I need to keep my thumb on him so he continues to be the good boy that he is.”
Owen couldn’t agree more, but he knew his brother and knew that Pat probably thought the whole thing was funny as sin. Well, not so funny when a real live burglar loomed in the shadows. Jake’s prank might have been relatively harmless, but harmless sometimes turned dangerous. Something Owen knew all too well. “Protecting him or covering for him won’t help him in the long run.”
“He’s the one doing the protecting.”
“Huh?” Owen questioned.
“Jake is protecting me,” she said.
Don’t go getting all judgmental on her.
Butt out.
“What?” Owen couldn’t imagine what a kid would be protecting her from. It didn’t make sense.
“He was doing me a favor. I asked him to help attract the raccoons. I hate those little
