by Jody Holford
“Hey, before you go, I met your nephew. What a sweetheart,” Shay said.
Wyatt frowned and looked at Brady. “Nephew?”
Overprotective and suspicious by nature, Wyatt didn’t want any newcomers to the building without them being screened. Brady understood, but didn’t the added security measures he’d just overseen give him license to breathe a little? Or maybe cops never let their guards down.
“He’s eighteen. Simmer down, detective. He needs a place to stay. When did you meet him?” His eyes went back to Shay.
“In Mia’s office. That’s so nice that she gave him a job. How long will he be staying?”
Brady blinked and repeated what she’d said in his own mind. Mia had given him a job? “I’m sorry, what?”
“Your nephew, Justin? Mia gave him sort of a handyman job… I…” she started. Looking up at Wyatt, her cheeks colored and then she turned back to Brady. “I’m sorry. Maybe I spoke out of turn.”
“Nothing to apologize for, baby. Brady’s nephew isn’t your concern.”
Now it was Brady’s turn to scowl. “According to you, we’re all one another’s concern. Justin’s a good kid. And apparently he’s not wasting any time. No worries, Shay. I’ve been gone all day so I’m out of the loop.”
She nodded, her eyes still uncertain. “Okay. He was in Mia’s office.”
“Shay, it’s fine,” Brady said, stepping back into the car. “I gotta go.” He waved as the doors closed.
Brady hadn’t even worked the full day and Justin had already found himself a job? What happened to his nap? Great initiative, but why did he have to work for Mia? Brady could have given him work around the shop. Did this mean the kid was staying indefinitely? What was Mia up to? She spent most of her time giving him the cold shoulder, but she handed his nephew a job? Doing what? Maybe she’d hit her head in the accident. Brady didn’t particularly want Justin working for Mia. How did this even happen? Heading to his apartment, he decided to go straight to the source.
Letting himself into his place, he called out, “Justin?”
Inside, he tossed his keys down and sniffed the air. Something sweet and homey scented his apartment. He removed his shoes and was walking toward the kitchen when Justin called out.
“Uncle Brady?”
“Yeah.” Who else?
In the kitchen, Justin was pulling a tray of cookies out of his oven. With a smile that reminded Brady of Jared, he gestured with a flourish. “I made cookies.”
Brady smiled back. The darkness he’d seen in his nephew’s eyes earlier had cleared. Did he have Mia and her job offer to thank for that? “I see that. I didn’t know you could bake. And I heard you got a job. Weren’t you just going to lie down when I left this afternoon?”
The pride on Justin’s face reached all the way inside Brady’s chest and brushed away everything else.
Closing the oven and turning it off, Justin nodded. “I did. Just with some painting and stuff as needed, but it’s cool, right? I promise I won’t be a burden, Uncle B.”
Brady took the first cookie Justin lifted off the plate. “You’re no burden, kid. Especially if these are any good.”
Brady took a bite and burned his tongue, but aside from that, they were really good cookies.
“It’s been a good day. I feel like maybe there’s a chance for things to turn around, you know? Like maybe everything won’t be as bad as I thought it would. Ms. Kendrick was so cool. And hot,” Justin said on a laugh.
Grabbing some milk, Brady could agree 100 percent on one of those things. But he only saw glimpses of the cool part. For him, Mia was a different kind of cool. Maybe if you put some effort into changing your attitude and not pissing her off, you’d get why everyone likes her so much.
“It’s okay, right?” Justin’s eyes darted to the floor.
“What?”
“That I’m working for Ms. Kendrick?”
Brady sighed. Owen and Gabby thought she was great. Shay liked her. Wyatt was suspicious of everyone, but even he didn’t put up much of an argument over including Mia. Now his nephew was relying on her for a fresh start. Was it time for him to figure out what it was about Mia—other than her type A, somewhat bossy personality and the way she reminded him of not being good enough for his ex—that chapped his skin?
“It’s good.” Pouring two glasses, he passed Justin his and then took a long gulp of his own. “You paint and you bake…I might be getting the better end of this deal.”
Justin laughed and the sound was carefree. It loosened the rest of the tension in Brady’s shoulders. He was worrying about “what-ifs” while his eighteen-year-old nephew had nowhere to call home. You’re supposed to be the mature one.
“Then you’re a lot easier to please than any of the other adults in my life,” Justin said. He was still smiling, but Brady knew there was more to the story.
“We going to talk about that?”
Justin froze. “Now?”
Leaning on the counter, Brady watched his nephew pick up the dishrag and fold it into a small square. He didn’t want to push. Not right away. The last thing he wanted was Justin taking off and having no one to turn to. He’d come to Brady and, as his uncle, he intended not to make the kid regret it.
“Is now a bad time?” Brady asked softly.
“I’m not ready.”
Brady sighed. “I need a shower. Put those cookies on a plate and choose something from Netflix. We can watch a movie or something, but I’m telling you, J, we need to talk about what brought you here. Sometimes, even if you’re not ready, you gotta take the next step.”
Smile completely gone, Justin shrugged. “It’s not always that easy.”
Brady gave a half laugh. “Welcome to life as a grown-up, kid.”
His nephew might as well learn the lesson now—sometimes being an adult sucked. Hard. As he walked toward the shower, he called for pizza delivery then tossed his phone on the bed. Yanking his shirt off, he threw it in the laundry hamper. His muscles ached in a good way. Brady enjoyed working with his hands. Staring at his phone with a frown, he picked it up again before he went for the shower.
Mia had called and texted him so many times during his “acting manager” days, he had her number memorized. He found it and dialed. She answered on the second ring.
“Hello, Brady.”
“Hey, princess.”
He heard her sigh. “Are you really going to call me that forever?”
Brady grinned around his irritation of her hiring his nephew without speaking to him first. “Maybe we can work out a deal.”
“Oh?”
“I’ll think about it. Not why I’m calling. You hired my nephew? Think maybe you’d want to run that by me first?”
“Hmm. Yes, that seems like the responsible thing to do,” she said.
Brady’s mouth dropped open and he sat on the bed. Had she just said he was right?
“Of course, it does say right in the lease agreement that other parties cannot move into rental units without written permission. So, one might say it would also have been responsible for you to let me know your nephew was going to be a tenant.”
He swore under his breath. He should have known better. “It wasn’t exactly planned.”
“And, yet, the timing works out well,” she said.
Brady flopped onto his back across his bed. “How’s that?”
“I need those units painted so I can get them rented out. Justin was looking around the building, we chatted and sometimes things just work out the way you need them to. I’ll wave the violation of your lease stipulations, and you can skip giving me a hard time over doing something nice for you and your nephew.”
God, she crisscrossed his wires so he felt like he was walking blindfolded through a minefield. “Uh, thank you?”
A deep breath sounded in his ear. Not an irritated sigh. Brady had received enough of those from her that he knew the difference. “He seems a bit troubled. He didn’t say much, but he also seems like a nice kid. I
t’s good he thought he could come here. He speaks very highly of you.”
Sitting up, Brady scrubbed one hand over his face. The slight rasp of stubble reminded him he needed to shave. “Some people actually like me.”
“Maybe you’re nicer to them,” she shot back.
Brady laughed. “Fair enough. Though I don’t actually try to be a dick to you.”
“You and your sweet talk,” she said.
Wow. Was this the same woman? “You seem like you’re in a good mood.”
“It happens on occasion. I’m on my way to have dinner with my grandmother. That makes me happy.”
Brady stood and unbuckled his jeans with one hand, trying not to drop the phone as he changed. “I like how you sound when you’re happy.”
“In that case, it would make me very happy to have you stop calling me princess.”
His grin widened. Definitely a different side of his uptight, hotter-than-hell landlord. Should he press the advantage? Why not? It wasn’t like either of them was going anywhere, so maybe there was some truth in the whole “keep enemies close” adage.
“That could be arranged.”
She didn’t hesitate even a second. “How?”
Why was he messing with her? They drove each other crazy. Yet, the words tumbled out of his mouth as if they’d been waiting to be said.
“Do something with me tomorrow.”
Silence made his throat tight.
“Like a date?” she whispered.
His heart hammered. Dating in his building would only cause close-to-home complications. Dating Mia could only cause a whirlwind of other difficulties. “No. Like a truce. You’ve hung out with my friends and they like you. My nephew is thrilled to work for you. Maybe it’s time we clear the air.”
“Okay,” she said, drawing the word out. “What do you want to do?”
Several images popped into Brady’s mind, making his fingers tighten on the phone. “I have an idea. It’ll be fun. Trust me?”
She laughed into the phone and the sound shocked Brady. The lady who barely smiled had one sexy laugh.
“The jury is out on that, but yes, I’ll go on a truce outing with you tomorrow. And you will stop calling me princess.”
“We’ll see. First you have to win,” he said.
An exasperated growl filled his ear. “Win what?”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mia.”
He hung up, tossed his phone on the bed, and tried not to dwell on the fact that he was actually excited to spend time with the woman who had been making his life a broken-down rollercoaster ride for the last few months. Maybe they could be friends. Maybe you should kiss her and see if that’s where all this pent-up irritation comes from. Getting into the shower, Brady put the thought aside. He’d take her out, they’d have fun, and they’d smooth things over. End of story. They didn’t have to be friends. But they didn’t have to be enemies either.
Chapter Nine
Mia clutched the white tulips—not easy to find—in her hand as she stood outside her grandmother’s brownstone apartment. She was surprised to see her grandmother, Tessa Kendrick, open the door.
“Oh. Where’s Edmond?” Mia asked.
She stepped in, adjusting the take-out bag of food, and kissed her grandmother’s cheek, inhaling the scent of lavender and vanilla. Tessa gave her a hug and closed the door.
“I made him take the day off. Damn man hovers like I’m ninety-five.”
Mia bit her lip and followed the family matriarch into her home. Though there were two floors, Tessa only used one. The square footage of that one floor was more than several of the apartments Mia rented out combined.
“You’re eighty-two. And told me you were ailing, Grams.”
Grams gave her a narrow-eyed glare and took the flowers when they reached the kitchen. High ceilings and walls of windows made every room feel bigger and airier. The kitchen skylight allowed the last streaks of daylight to peek in on them as Tessa grabbed a vase and Mia took a seat at the wide, marble-topped island.
“I just said that to guilt you into settling down and giving me great-grandbabies. I know my own age. He doesn’t have to treat me like an invalid.”
She poked the tulips into a Tiffany vase one by one. Mia had long suspected that Edmond and her grandmother were more than employer and employee. He’d worked for her gram for over ten years, but attended all family functions as her “companion.”
Tessa’s deep red hair was pulled into a loose bun at her neck. Monthly salon appointments guaranteed the luxurious color. Mia had inherited her gram’s brown eyes and it was strange to see the lines etched into her skin, around her eyes and her mouth, and to realize that one day, she’d look very similar.
“How’s the legacy party planning coming?” Finished with the flowers, Tessa added some water from a pull-down faucet over the sink.
Goodness. There was that, too. Another plate in the air. She’d text Shay in the morning and arrange another get-together. “Good. We’ve got some ideas that I think you’ll like. It’ll be a great testament to our family’s place in this city.”
Setting the tulips in the center of the island, Tessa smiled. “So, you keeping your guy a secret?”
Mia was grateful she stood too far away from her grandmother to be smacked for the exaggerated eye roll she gave. “For the last time, I don’t have a guy, Grams.”
“Silly. That’s what that is. You want some red wine? Dinner smells great.”
“Please. Sit down. I’ll get it.” Mia started to stand, more comfortable in this home than she’d been in the one she grew up in.
“I can do it. Why don’t you get out plates and serve up dinner? We’ll take them into the sitting room and you can tell me why you don’t have a special someone. I can’t exactly count on your brother to give me great-grandbabies, can I?”
Laughing, Mia went to the wall of cabinets and opened one of the doors. “No. But don’t put all that pressure on me. I’m figuring out how to take care of a building. I’m not quite ready for kids yet.”
“How is Kendrick Place? It feels right that you’re finally there. Took you long enough,” Tessa said.
“Right. Like I wanted to be held back that long.”
“You did the right thing, finishing your education first. Gives your father no wiggle room on keeping you out anymore.”
Yet he was still finding a way. Mia didn’t want to put Grams in the middle of a family squabble, especially since she’d already forced her son to allow Mia her rightful place. “He’s still wiggling. Not quite as much as Michael though.”
Mia figured that was as good an opening as any to find out if Grams knew about the side deal happening. She pulled two Royal Doulton place settings from the cupboard and set them on the island.
Her grandmother scoffed. “The only thing that ever interested that boy was money, women, and whining. Don’t know why he resents you being part of things. He doesn’t care for Kendrick Place the way you do. The way your grandfather did. Even though, without it, he wouldn’t have what he has.”
Once again, Mia bit her lip to keep from smiling. To her parents, Michael was the golden child. But her grandmother saw the truth. She loved Michael every bit as much as she loved Mia, but she didn’t buy into his attitude or his sense of entitlement. And that was a cooling balm on Mia’s feelings. She gave both herself and her grandmother a generous helping of seafood linguini.
“I know, Grams. But I’m grateful. I thought I wanted to be part of the business, but it doesn’t matter as much as just having Kendrick Place. If Dad doesn’t open up any other opportunity for me, I’ll still be happy. Once I get it back in shape, anyway.”
Her grandmother slid a glass of wine her way and then grabbed utensils for them.
“That’s because you’re a good girl who can make her own opportunities. What do you mean back in shape?”
She pushed down the nerves fluttering their way up her chest. “There have been some issues. With upkeep and finances. It’s why
I needed to see you, Grams.”
Her grandmother said nothing, likely realizing it was more of a sitting room conversation. They took the wine and pasta into the plush-carpeted living area and each took a seat in one of the high back Queen Anne chairs by the fireplace.
Looking at Mia over her wineglass as she took a sip, Grams arched her brows. You can do this. She’s on your side. Though her father had built his fortune off Kendrick Place, Grams owned it, and other than the brownstone she lived in, had never had any interest in building an empire. Mia wondered, as she sat there looking at the woman she’d tried to emulate her whole life, and became uncertain of what she was really fighting for. Did she actually want to be part of her father’s business? Or did she just want the home that reminded her of happy memories and made her feel connected to her grandparents and her family’s history?
“Michael hasn’t been keeping up with repairs on the building. He left a shoddy tenant in charge and things didn’t work out well. He wants to partner with the Conroy family and turn it into a hotel, Grams.”
Mia’s fingers flexed on her glass as her grandmother slowly lowered her drink.
“I beg your pardon?”
“They’re giving me a chance to see if I can turn things around, but they’ve already spoken to the Conroy board about partnering. I’m trying my best to get the finances back in order, do the repairs that are necessary, and keep the tenants happy, but with the weight of a possible deal hanging over my head, I’m feeling more than a little pressured. I don’t mind fighting, Grams. But I wanted—need—to know how you feel. Did you know about the conversion?”
Grams set her wineglass down on the table beside her. The thump it made was the only indication of temper. “Your father is on board? Never mind. Of course he is. And you think that I wouldn’t tell you this?”
Mia’s face warmed and though the pasta smelled delicious, she was no longer hungry. “I wasn’t sure. I feel like everyone is testing me. I don’t know if this is another test.”
Her grandmother stirred the pasta on her plate. So much for a nice meal. “Your great-grandfather renovated that place one room at a time. He wanted it to be a place for families to grow up, married couples to start their lives, or singles to make it on their own. Not a place for a night of debauchery in a king-size bed.”