“Ridge, I assume,” Eric said.
Ridge shot him the same angelic smile Breck had. Quite a change from his normal scowl. “Hi!”
My mother smiled back. “Hello, boys.”
Great. Even she wasn’t immune to the double Pfeiffer smile. I had a brief moment of gratitude that they were on my side. I’m going to kill you both, I said under my breath.
“Mom?” a voice called from across the room. A voice so familiar, so dear to my heart. My brother, Sammy. Of all the regrets I had surrounding the life I’d left behind me, not being able to be there for Sammy in person was the greatest. I hadn’t expected my mother to bring Sammy.
My mom squeezed my hand hard, her hand over her mouth.
Sammy saw me and his eyes grew wide. “Jake!” he shrieked. He tore through the office, almost barreling over our mom. She was ready for him, though, and sidestepped neatly with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
I’d braced myself for impact, but I was rocked back on my heels anyway. Sammy had been a hard hugger as a kid, and now, goddammit, he was a grown man, fifty pounds heavier than I was. I’d been a fool to think that video calls could ever take the place of real-life time with him.
I’d missed so much for so many stupid, stupid reasons.
“Sammy,” I said, hugging him back as hard as I could. “Still shorter than me, man,” I said. Keeping my hands on his shoulders, I pushed him away from me as far as I could without letting go. “Let me look at you.”
Sammy gave me a full power smile. You couldn’t help but smile back at Sammy. It was like the sun beaming down on you.
“You know what I look like,” he said in his thick voice.
My mother had never let Sammy be defined by the composition of his chromosomes, something he’d had zero control over. She expected him to be a good person, to strive for more. She’d never let anyone expect less from Sammy than they had from me.
Personally, I’d always expected more. Sammy was special. He was the best person I knew. I didn’t mean he was perfect or some sort of innocent. He was a person, like the rest of us. He got frustrated and tired and cranky the same as everyone else. On a bad day, he could out-stubborn a mule, and sometimes he got trapped in his compulsions. But those behaviors were business as usual for people with Down syndrome, and we’d found ways to work with them. Sammy never stayed mad long and he forgave people instantly.
He was my best friend, and I loved him more than anyone on earth.
“The goatee is new,” I said, reaching out to stroke it. Sammy was two years younger than I was, but his hair and beard were almost full gray. He’d started going gray in his twenties. I hated any sign of him aging more quickly than most people. I didn’t like to think of him dying before I did. It wasn’t right. I needed to talk to my mother about his health. Just another reality I’d been avoiding thinking about. Avoiding harsh reality was my specialty. “It looks good, very distinguished. What does Grace think?”
“She thinks it’s sexy.” He stroked his beard with a smile. “She says I look like George Clooney.”
I squinted at him. “Are you sure she doesn’t need new glasses?” I asked.
“No!” He laughed and blushed, his eyes almost disappearing as he did. “Are you coming to Sunday dinner next week?”
I shot a look at my mother.
“Of course he is,” she answered for me.
“Sunday dinner?” Breck said, eyes wide and guileless.
“Yeah,” Sammy said. “My mom is a great cook and we’re have dinner next Sunday with the family. And Jake is going to come. He’s my brother. Do you work here? You can come, too.”
Danny was shaking his head before Sammy had finished making the offer. “Oh, no. I couldn’t intrude on your family,” he said.
Sammy’s face fell.
“Yes we can,” Breck said. He pulled Danny close, whispering just loud enough to be overheard. “I know you miss your family, babe. Wouldn’t it be nice to be with one even for a day?”
Danny looked at my mother, and I wasn’t sure the pain in his eyes was completely faked.
“Are you far from your family, dear?” my mother asked.
“I just, um, haven’t seen them for a while,” Danny said, still not making eye contact. “We kind of had a fight.”
Breck wrapped his arm around Danny’s shoulders. “It’s more than that, ma’am. my friend Danny here, his mom kicked him out of the house when he was seventeen because he’s gay and he and I met when we were both homeless in DC and we were both”—he glanced at Sammy and modified what he was going to say—“doing what we had to for money. We don’t do that anymore though. So he’s kind of like my little brother and I like to take care of him.”
“And where are your parents?” she asked Breck and Ridge.
“Our mom’s in rehab,” Breck said. “And she wrote us.”
“Are you going to see her soon?” she asked.
For some reason, the idiots looked at me. I kept my expression set to vaguely annoyed. It wasn’t difficult.
“As soon as we can,” Ridge answered.
“And your father?”
Okay, this was enough. “Mom,” I said. “Enough with the inquisition.”
Despite my complaint, Ridge answered again. Interesting that he was the one answering questions about the family dynamic. “He left when she was pregnant. We don’t know him.”
To my surprise, I scoffed. “Well, that’s one thing we have in common.”
Danny’s and the twins’ eyes widened. Damn it. I hated people knowing my private life. I hated everything about this.
Eric squeezed my shoulder in a silent show of support. Well, maybe I didn’t hate everything. Eric knew exactly how I felt about my deadbeat father. I would never forgive him for leaving Sammy. He’d left the day after Sammy turned one, saying he couldn’t handle it anymore. It’s one of my first memories. If anyone tells you that a three-year-old can’t hate someone, don’t believe them.
My mother turned her disappointed-mom face on me. It took everything I had not to cover my face with both hands and groan. She looked back at Eric. “Eric, did you know about this?”
Eric threw up his hands. “No, of course not, how could I! I only met Danny yesterday when he caddied for me. He told me he was here for college. And I don’t even know those two,” he said, pointing at the twins. “Maddie hired them.”
“I didn’t know either!” Maddie said quickly. Her hand was across her mouth, her eyes bright with unshed tears.
“I am going to college, really,” Danny said quickly, the stress of lying to my mother obvious in his expression.
“In their defense, ma’am,” Breck said, “it’s not like we put it on our resumes. And we appreciate the jobs.”
“Did you know about these boys, Jake?” she asked me.
“How would I know? I’ve known them as long as you have. That one, in particular, looks shifty to me,” I said, pointing to Breck. “I don’t think we should invite any of them.”
Mom pierced me with a look. “Jake Karlsson, that is not how I raised you.” She turned a much kinder look onto Danny and the twins. “Of course. You all come. You need to eat.” She fixed me with a glance. “And this conversation is far from over.”