by Lauren Dane
Miles, of course, was sixteen and totally not interested in anything but his band.
Erin came in with the hat and Raven plopped it on Alexander’s head, standing back. She’d spent months putting the costume together after Alexander had said he wanted to be the “scarf Doctor” for Halloween. Finding the right vest, hat and scarf for a nearly four-year-old took time. But she’d done it, though she had to cut the scarf and the blazer down some.
“He’s just like Tom Baker. I grew up watching him. To this day I consider him my Doctor, though truth be told, Eleven does do that nerdy bada . . . bad guy thing really well.” Gillian smiled.
Alexander examined himself in the mirror quite seriously and then smiled up at Raven, giving her a thumbs-up.
“I think that means you’re a success, Auntie.”
“All in an auntie’s day’s work.”
Elise patted Erin’s arm. “Let me go check on Rennie and the girls and then I’ll have Adrian start the music for the parade.”
It was pretty much impossible for Adrian to take his child trick-or-treating. A person who was as well known a celebrity as him couldn’t really go door to door in a regular neighborhood without causing a ruckus. Gillian didn’t want to ruin anyone else’s Halloween with surprise visits from the paparazzi either, so they’d decided a fun Halloween fest at their house would be just fine, especially as young as most of the kids were.
Raven bent to adjust Alexander’s neck scarf. “Excited?”
“Yes! I’m gonna march.” He marched in place and Martine, seeing him, began her own version of a march, which was actually more like the maniac dance from Flashdance. Maddie, a relatively new walker, just sort of bent her knees over and over.
“Jeez, I’m going to die of cute.” Erin put her head on Raven’s shoulder.
“You have a good life. All these kids are going to grow up so loved.”
“Yeah. I’m grateful for them. And that you’re part of it. I’m so glad you’re here more now. That they get to grow up with you as their auntie. His costume is awesome. I’m creative and all, but you two have that Doctor Who connection. He’s going to remember this.”
“Well, I know I will.”
She stepped back and started taking pictures again. The shutter speed was set for action shots and she knew there’d be plenty to give to Gillian, Ella, Elise and Erin.
Elise came back in. “They’re ready.”
The kids filed out and Raven kept taking pictures. The music came up as they went down the stairs, Elise holding Martine’s hand and Poppy riding on Gillian’s hip.
It was a really good night. The best Halloween Raven had had . . . well, ever.
16
“How are you recovering after the candy coma?” Raven teased Brody as they sat at their stations in the shop.
“Fortunately we left most of it at Adrian’s place. Now that Miles has his braces off I’m sure he’ll go to town on it. In any case, at least it’s not at my house hopping my kids up. Well, more than usual.”
“Rennie is a knockout. Just sayin’, Dad. She looks a hell of a lot like her mother, all blonde and big blue eyes. And she showed me some of her art on Sunday. Wow.”
Brody’s clear discomfort at the realization his daughter was growing up was alleviated a little by the mention of her talent.
“Elise and I have decided to send her to the same school Miles is at. Heavy arts concentration.”
“I think that’s a great idea. Miles seems to have thrived there.”
“It’s a great school. We took a tour a few months back. Elise may actually do some classes there. One of the dance teachers recognized her when we were there.”
Raven smiled. “That’s pretty awesome.”
“She had to give up a lot. Makes me happy to see her do well. She still loves to dance and her school is doing well, but this is a good opportunity and I can’t lie, a huge part of the appeal is that Rennie’s tuition would get a hefty discount.”
Raven imagined that kind of private arts school would cost a pretty penny. She had no doubt Adrian would have offered to pay, probably even Erin, but Brody wouldn’t have taken money from his siblings. And it wasn’t like they were paupers, just not gazillionaires like his rock-star siblings.
“Oh, that’s a big plus.”
“Rennie is sad to leave her school and her friends, of course. But once she took a look at the classes? She got really excited.”
“I think that’s really cool. I’m glad. She’s a great kid and has so much talent. I’m happy she’s got this opportunity. The stuff she showed me is like years beyond what anyone her age can do.”
Brody looked up from his client. “Yeah, and you’re part of that. Always encouraging her. Elise and I appreciate that. Rennie adores you.”
She looked down, fighting a blush. “Daisy has more connections of that type than I do.”
“Meh. Daisy’s a nice lady, but she’s not you. You’re family.”
She blinked back tears. Tears that seemed to come so freaking ably all a sudden. She cleared her throat and kept on working. Brody, who knew her so well, backed off and made small talk with his client while she got herself back together.
When she’d finished and was waiting for her next client, he approached again. “So Jonah Warner.”
“Yeah. Unexpected, huh?”
“I dunno. You tell me.”
She nodded. “He is. I have rules, Brody. Lots of them. He makes me break them. Left and right.”
“The dumb rules like no sleeping over? Or the good rules like you’d never stay with anyone who harmed you?”
She rolled her eyes. As close as she was with Brody, she’d never revealed why she never slept over to anyone but Jonah.
No one else was close enough to hear. “Well, he does like to use a paddle on me. He also ties me up. But that’s not really harm. At least not in a bad sense. And the only man who has slept over at my place is a nearly four-year-old who likes frozen pudding cups and pees all over the seat.”
Brody laughed. “Rough sex is one thing. Harming is another. He seems protective of you. I like that part. I like that you’re letting him in. You seem calmer lately. Must be all that spanking.”
She burst out laughing. “Could be. I certainly feel so very mellow when he’s done. Who knew? I used to think all that stuff was just role-play. But it’s more than that with us. He takes over and . . .”
“And you don’t have to be in charge. For once in your life, someone else makes the decisions and choices.”
She blew out a breath. “Yeah. I think that’s part of it. If you want to get all psychological about it and all. Anyway, he’s good. We’re good. His family? Well. We’ll see about that. But who am I to talk?”
“I heard part of what happened over the weekend with the mother and sister-in-law. Wasn’t really happy about it. Did like his reaction though.”
“If I mean to do this relationship thing, I’m going to have to find a way to deal with her. The mother anyway. The sister-in-law can eat a bag of dicks. She may never know how close she came to eating my fist.”
Brody laughed. “Maybe she needed that.”
“Not at a charity event, for fuck’s sake. The evening was about raising money for the arts, not for some stupid play for attention by a sister-in-law who wants to bang the brother she couldn’t marry, if you know what I mean.”
“Ah. You think that’s the issue?”
“I don’t know for sure. All I can say is she seems unnaturally interested in where Levi puts his dick.”
“Some people can’t be happy with anything.”
“Don’t I know it. But I’m good. Jonah is good. What it is more than that I don’t know. But for now, I’m happy.”
“How much have you shared with him?”
“More than I intended to. He’s got . . . I don’t know, this way about him. I find myself sharing stuff I haven’t talked about in a long time. If ever. But he never looks at me with disgust or pity.”
He pu
t a hand on her shoulder. “Sweetheart, there’s nothing to be disgusted over. Not with you. Everything you survived was about you overcoming other people’s shitty behavior. None of it was your fault.”
“I’m no angel, Brody. I was not very nice to Elise when she first came around. I tried to break you up. I broke your heart before that. And you’re still my friend. Thank you.”
He smiled. “You did break my heart. And that sucked. But if I’m being honest—and since I’m an old family man now and all I guess I have to—my heart got broken because I didn’t listen to what you told me. You never made me promises. I just wanted them to be there. And you made your peace with Elise. You went to her and apologized and whatever you said—she won’t tell me—was enough to make her not only forgive you, but be fond of you. You have flaws, no lie. But you own your shit and a hell of a lot of people don’t. Just let this guy love you. Understand you’re worth loving. Because you are. What I have with Elise makes everything different. Better. You deserve that too.”
It couldn’t be avoided any longer. Jonah had ducked his mother’s calls until Wednesday morning when she simply waltzed into his office, dragging his father and his brother Eli.
“As you have deigned to ignore the woman who gave you your very existence, I had to hunt you down. Your father and Eli as well.”
“If you want to count a coy call for lunch that she then sprung on us as ‘let’s all talk about Mal and Gwen,’ yes.”
“You stop that.” Their mother gave Eli a look and he sighed, dropping into a chair at the conference table in the room.
“I’ve been busy. I called you back.”
“You called me back at midnight when your call would go straight to voice mail. Honestly, I don’t know why you boys think I’m so stupid.”
Levi poked his head in and then froze when he saw what was going on.
“Don’t you try to scamper off, Levi. Come and sit.” Liesl pointed at a chair and he obeyed.
“You get conned with a lunch date too?”
Levi nodded. “It was a call from Jonah’s assistant.”
“Mother, leave my staff out of it. She’s already petrified every time you come into view.” Jonah put his phone on Do Not Disturb and headed to the table.
Their father would never say anything to disagree with their mother, especially not at a time like this.
Toby, another brother and Eli’s twin, popped in and then groaned.
“Now, we’re all here. Food will arrive shortly. I did not lie. We will be eating. I figured you were all busy enough that you’d need to eat while we discussed this mess.”
True to her word, Jonah’s assistant brought food in just two minutes later. She gave him a look full of apology and he waved it away. He knew how his mother was; he couldn’t blame his assistant for getting caught up in her whirlwind.
“It has come to my attention that some sort of kerfuffle occurred between Gwen, Daisy and Raven on Saturday evening at the benefit. It has also come to my attention that whatever this kerfuffle was, it spilled out to the hotel’s drive where Jonah and Levi got into a heated argument with Malachi. Do I have this correct?”
“Mother, I’m not sure this is any of your business.”
Oh, Eli; so naive about their mother.
“Elijah, if it is not a mother’s business when her children are in trouble, whose business would it be?” She turned a hard eye to Levi, knowing Jonah would hold out longer than anyone else. Levi knew he was the weaker link of the two and he sighed.
“It was resolved. If Mal wanted you to know what it was, he’d have told you. Leave it be. He’s got to deal with his wife on his own.”
“So it was Gwen, clearly. Stupid woman. What happened in that bathroom? Don’t lie to me. This is one of my boards, you know. People came to me who’d seen the aftermath. I need to understand whether or not I should be sure Gwen is never invited to such events in the future.”
“Yes, don’t invite her to anything in the future.” Jonah spoke quietly.
“Boys, your mother is rightfully concerned. We all know Mal has been having trouble. His work is suffering. You have to share with us. We want to help him. He shouldn’t have to deal with this on his own. That’s what family is for.”
Eli blew out a breath and looked to Jonah. “Tell them.”
“I think Mal should be here for this. I am not comfortable talking behind his back.” Jonah sat back, looking at their mother. “He’s an adult. He’s married. We can’t just talk about him like he’s a kid. Any of you would be angry if this was about you and no one bothered to include you.”
Liesl smiled like the cat who ate the canary and he knew he’d been outmaneuvered. “As a matter of fact, he’ll be here in a minute or two.”
“You’re good.” He nodded her way.
“Where do you think you come by it, boy?” his father asked.
They were eating when Mal came in. He paused in the doorway and then came into the room and sat down with a resigned sigh. Jonah pushed food his way.
“You will be pleased to know Levi and Jonah would not tell me the details of whatever transpired on Saturday evening. Jonah rightfully pointed out that you should be here when we discussed this issue. And of course I completely agree, which is why you’re here now. What is going on, Malachi?”
“This is really not your concern.”
Jonah kept eating. Mal was the youngest. He’d been spoiled more than any of them had been. But he was weaker against his mother than the rest as well. It was only a matter of time before he broke, and everyone in that room knew it.
“Now you know that’s a lie. Of course it’s my concern. It’s all our concern. Your wife is clearly unbalanced. She’s driving a wedge between you and your family and she has been for some time. We love you. We’ve let you go your own way. But this has to stop. At the very least give me your version of events.”
“She hates Daisy.” Mal put his fork down and ran a hand through his hair.
“Whatever for? She’s delightful.”
No one had ever told their parents about the strife that had been between the two women since Gwen had made a rather ugly and pretty blatantly racist scene. Since then Levi hadn’t spoken more than the words it took to warn her to keep her distance from his woman or there’d be hell to pay.
“What else have you all been keeping from me?”
Then Toby spilled. The entire story about the first time Gwen met Daisy when Gwen had accused Daisy of being a gold-digging whore, complete with racist overtones, to the situation on Saturday night.
The other brothers stared at him, mouths open.
“What? Fuck this noise. There is no way Gwen should have gotten away with it for so long. She’s an ugly bitch. I’m sorry, Mal, but she is.”
“Tobias, please limit your use of the word ‘fuck.’” Liesl sighed and looked around the table. “Why you didn’t tell me this, I do not know. There’s no way I would have had her in my home over the last few years if I had known.”
“Which is why they didn’t tell you.” Mal spoke and sounded so tired. “They’ve been protecting me.”
“What is your version of what happened Saturday night?”
“I can tell you Gwen’s version. But I believe Daisy and Raven’s version. Gwen says she wandered into the bathroom and was beset by both women. She was so upset I believed her. Even though in my heart I knew she was lying. I’ve moved out.”
“Jesus, Mal why didn’t you tell one of us? Where are you living? I have extra space. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.” Jonah felt sick for his brother.
“Or with me. Daisy would be happy to have you with us, too. She doesn’t blame you and neither do I.”
“I’m looking for a house. I’ve got an attorney. We’re filing tomorrow or the next day.”
Liesl leaned close to him. “Darling, we love you. I’m sorry you felt you had to do this alone. Please tell us what you need.”
“Well, that was pretty nice.” He smiled at their m
other and then around the table. “I needed to do it on my own. I was licking my wounds. I’ve known for a while that things weren’t going to get better.”
“How long?”
“About two years.”
Jonah snorted. They’d only been married two years as it was.
“I shouldn’t have married her. But I thought we could work it through. That once she got to know Daisy she’d lighten up. But it’s more than that.”
“She’s got a thing for Levi.”
“Subtle, Eli. Well done.” Levi sighed.
“Well, am I lying? I mean come on. The way she is about Daisy is ridiculous. It’s more than racism, though clearly that’s part of it. It’s that she would react that way to anyone with him. It’s Levi, not who he’s with. It’s that Mal isn’t Levi.”
“Sweet Christ.” Levi looked to Mal. “I hope you know I’d never do anything to facilitate this crush, if there is indeed one.”
“There is one. It’s more than that. She’s obsessed with you. She had an affair last year. The guy looked just like you.”
There was an uproar around the table and Jonah rapped several times on the tabletop to shut everyone up. “Okay, so we’re outraged. Let’s not make it worse on Mal. He’s doing what is right.”
“Indeed. Thank heavens for the prenup.”
“Cal Whaley did a great job on it.”
“Honestly I just want to be free of her. She can keep the house. I have no desire to turn her out into the street or anything. She’s got a good job. We have no kids. It could be worse. So much worse.”
“Yes, well.” Jonah agreed wholeheartedly.
“What does she say? Have you told her?”
“We had a very big fight on the way home from the benefit. I moved out that night. She thinks I’m working out my mad. My attorney advised me against telling her I was going to file. She’ll be served at work and I’ll have a moving crew go in and take my stuff at the same time. She can have the furnishings that aren’t Warner antiques. I just want what was mine when we got married. The rest is all hers anyway.”