by Marie Harte
“See what I mean? She’s cute but pathetic. Come on in,” Brian invited.
Freddy grinned. It was a sign Brian might actually like Harper—he’d let him inside.
While Harper bragged about the breakfast Freddy had promised him, Brian made subtle hints about her cooking for him too. Then somehow the two of them started talking about mutual acquaintances, and Freddy made a huge platter of pancakes, bacon and a pot of coffee.
Brian dug into his food with gusto. “The Warrens. Yeah, I know them. Derrick lives down the street. He’s a funny guy. Has a thing going on with the woman who sold me this house. I met Dylan once. Maybe. It’s hard to tell them apart, you know? The younger brother, Gage, is pretty decent too.”
As they made small talk, Freddy soaked up information about Dylan like a sponge, and she thought Harper was as well.
When the men had finished the last bite of pancakes, Brian leaned back and sighed. “That was amazing. Thanks, sis. So, Harper. Tell me, does Dylan know you two are planning to adopt him?”
Harper and Freddy froze.
“Brian, it’s not like that,” she tried, and her brother groaned.
“Oh man. You two have the dopiest expressions on your faces. All those questions about Dylan Warren. I’m not stupid. Now I have to deal with another weird ménage thing involving my little sister. Ew. Please. Shoot me now.”
Harper’s frown turned into a large grin. “You know, I like your brother.” He winked at her. “Too bad he’s not single. Or is he?” he put enough innuendo in is to have her brother reeling and sputtering.
Harper cracked up laughing.
“Oh, relax, Brian. Us pervs don’t have room for more than three people in bed. And you couldn’t pay me to even think about you naked. Ugh.”
“Please. I just ate,” Harper begged and wiped at his eyes. “Brother and sister love has its place, but never in the bedroom. Now, Brian, how about you run down everything you know about the Warrens again. Because your sister and I need to be well prepared to hunt our scared psychiatrist down. Consider it Freddy’s early Christmas present.”
Brian glanced from her to Harper. “So you’re really keeping this one, eh? Why haven’t I heard his name before?”
“Because I don’t tell you everything. I’ve known Harper for a year. Now be nice or I’ll sic him on you. And notice, Harper’s huge.”
“I’ve been told I’m a Neanderthal,” Harper added.
“So I see. Fine. I’ll share what little I know.” Brian paused. “But I could get you more info…for a small trade.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“A favor for a favor. Just remember, when I call you on it, you have to do it.”
Harper pursed his lips. “I don’t know. As I recall, Dylan got himself in trouble promising that very thing.”
But Freddy wanted Dylan, and she’d use any means necessary, fair or foul. Besides, just what could Brian ask that would be so hard to fulfill? “Done.”
Harper groaned. “Oh man. Somehow I just know you’re going to regret that.”
Chapter Seven
Dylan had showered and dressed in casual slacks and a sweater for this morning’s breakfast. He wondered if he still had that been-fucked-hard look he’d worn while shaving, but he didn’t think so. He’d practiced shaking it off.
Good Christ, he’d let Harper and Freddy tie him up and give him orgasms that had blown his mind. He knew better than to equate lust with love, but he couldn’t stop smiling whenever he pictured a mop of golden hair and blue eyes, or brown eyes and Harper’s firm, wide smile. Warmth filled him from head to toe.
He knocked on the back door of his mother’s house.
“Come in.” Gage’s voice.
He pushed through and saw Derrick and Gage glaring at each other, but no sign of anyone else.
“Where are all the sexy women? James? Mom?”
Derrick shrugged. “Hailey and Sydney had plans with Faith this morning. I don’t know where James is, but Mom just ran out to grab more coffee. I mean, the woman invited us here. Why wouldn’t she be prepared? I’m deeply, deeply hurt.”
“Dumb ass. She’s been busy with James. So she forgot.” Gage turned to Dylan. “I offered to get some, but she wanted to go.”
“Since when are you the good son?” Derrick sneered. “Suck-up.”
“Hey. I’ve been her favorite forever. I’m the youngest, and I didn’t give her nearly the same problems you idiots did growing up. The friggin’ Warren twins had a reputation all through school.” Gage included Dylan in his frown. “A bad one. You made my life hell. I had to be extra good just to get by.”
At that, Dylan joined Derrick at the kitchen island. Strength in numbers. “Gimme a break. Your grades sucked and you had more detentions than both of us combined. If it wasn’t for that golden quarterback’s arm, you might have become the degenerate Mom and Dad feared.”
They both blinked at him in surprise.
“What? You both know it’s true.”
Derrick frowned. “You mentioned Dad. You never talk about him.”
“Never.” Gage nodded. “And on that note, before Mom gets back, you want to tell us what the hell crawled up your ass and died?”
“Excuse me?”
“I hate that superior tone,” Derrick muttered. “Give it up. Gage and I have been talking. We want to know why you don’t like Mom and James together.”
“I do.”
“Liar.” Derrick didn’t bother hiding his disbelief.
Dylan thought, Why the hell not admit it? Derrick knew how he felt in any case. He never could keep the truth from his twin. “Fine. I don’t. I hate the thought of Mom together with James, and I hate myself for feeling that way.”
“But why?” Gage sounded confused. “James is family. He’s a great guy.”
“Except for his taste in football. Dickhead actually hates the Bears.” Derrick sighed. “But yeah, he’s good for Mom. They’re both shrinks—”
“Professionals,” Dylan corrected.
“They like the same things, have the same friends—hell, they deal with your attitude all the time and haven’t moved out of the state. What’s not to like? The guy has money and isn’t a loser. We know he’s not after Mom for any other reason than that he likes her. What gives, moron?”
Barbara waited outside the back door with her grocery bag in one hand, holding her breath. She’d made it a habit to eavesdrop on the boys because it was generally the only way she learned the truth about half the things she wished she’d never known about. Some things she acted on, and she got a kick out of surprising Dylan when he least expected it. Her oldest had a potty mouth on him, one he rarely shared with her.
Even though he’d said he was happy for her and James, neither she nor James had really believed it. But Dylan was stubborn. He wouldn’t talk to her and apparently hadn’t shared with his brothers.
She peered through a crack in the door and saw her handsome sons, so big and strong. So successful. Gage, owner of the construction firm Andrew had started. Derrick, his partner and an amazing architect. And Dylan, the apple of her eye, an amazing psychiatrist with an exceptional ability to help others.
Her son, always giving and rarely taking for himself.
“Fuck if I know, Derrick.” Dylan sighed. “I like James. I respect him. He’s a hell of a therapist, like Mom. He’s intelligent, nice, successful. But it’s like…”
“Like he’s taking Dad’s place?” Gage offered. “Even though Dad’s been gone for a long time, he’s always here, you know? And if James is suddenly in the picture, maybe you’re feeling like Mom’s forgetting him.”
Dylan and Derrick stared at Gage in astonishment. Barbara held a hand over her mouth to stifle her own gasp. Who would have thought the truth would spill from her youngest, normally the least perceptive of the group?
“That was actually insightful.” Dylan blinked. “Oh my God. Did you suddenly develop a brain under all that muscle?”
“I thin
k Hailey cut down on his steroids, so now he’s able to think. That or all the sex he’s been having has enabled him to focus on something other than tits and ass.” Derrick laughed at him.
Gage glared. “Funny, dickhead. You should talk. I swear, we’re lucky you didn’t bend Sydney over the table the last time we met Mom for breakfast. Jesus. Can’t you save it for when you’re home alone?”
“Me? What about—”
“Derrick, can it.” Dylan blew out a breath. “The fact is, Gage might be right. I’ve been trying to deal with my fucked-up emotions. I’m pretty good at this therapy gig, you know.”
“So you say,” Gage said.
“All the time,” Derrick added.
Dylan scowled at them both, and Barbara’s heart raced. He reminded her so much of Andrew right then. “You guys always used to hang with Dad, and I was with Mom. Then Dad died, and you two seemed to adjust easier than Mom and I did.”
Derrick considered him. “That’s true. I remember how quiet you were at the beginning. It took you a while to deal.” Derrick had played a huge part in bringing Dylan back to normalcy.
“Mom was worse,” Dylan admitted. “She used to cry every night. She had bad dreams and lost all that weight. And her hair turned white. She used dye to cover it, but I knew.”
Dylan had never told her that he’d known of her struggles, not in eleven years.
“No shit?” Gage looked stunned.
“The guys she dated were a cover, so she’d appear normal, as if she were getting over him. But none of them mattered, at least, not in those first few years. Mom gave up on a life outside of us,” Dylan said quietly. “And I guess I was a selfish bastard, because I let her. I knew what she was doing, and I never pushed her.”
Oh Dylan.
“Come on, bro. Mom’s Mom.” Derrick shook his head. “She does nothing she doesn’t want to do. Besides, James has been by her side all this time. She never dated him though, did she? Not until now.”
“The bastard waited, bided his time, then pounced.” Gage grinned. “Smart guy.”
“Yeah, well, maybe that’s what’s been so hard.” Dylan seemed to be talking to himself. Reasoning it out. “Mom healed herself. She found love, and she grabbed on to it. And now she doesn’t need me so much anymore.”
“That’s stupid.” Derrick poked Dylan in the chest.
“Ow.”
Gage frowned. “If that hurt, you really should start working out. I mean, that’s Derrick poking you.”
“Shut up, baby.” Derrick flipped him off.
“Asshole.”
“My point,” Derrick emphasized, “is that Mom wants you with her. She asked you to join her firm.”
“Practice,” Dylan corrected.
“Whatever. She trusts you enough to link your names together professionally. And you know how anal retentive she is about work.”
“Amen to that,” Gage said.
“Yes, but that’s a professional decision, not a personal one.”
“Bullshit.”
She wanted to go in there and hug Derrick for saying what she hadn’t—and that was her burden to bear. But, honestly, Dylan kept secrets so close to his chest. She’d never realized he might feel so responsible for her. But she should have known. Oh, and now I’m thinking like my idiot son, taking on guilt for things I couldn’t control.
Derrick continued riding Dylan. “Mom loves you. You’re her favorite.”
“I am not.”
“Yeah, you are,” Gage retorted. “Well, only in certain instances. Like the head-shrink crap.”
“Okay, maybe favorite is the wrong word.” Derrick shrugged. “But you guys have so much in common. You talk all the time on the phone. A grown man and his mother. And you’re not some stupid momma’s boy, I know. You guys actually like each other. I just don’t get why you can’t tell her this.”
“Because I feel stupid. I should have worked through this already.”
“Dude, just because you’re a therapist doesn’t mean you know everything.” Gage snorted. “You really do have a massive ego, don’t you?”
Dylan told Gage to do something anatomically impossible, to which Gage only laughed.
“Well, genius brother of mine, let me take it one step farther,” Derrick said.
“That’s further.” Dylan raised a brow, but a corner of his mouth had quirked up.
Derrick talked over him. “Gage is engaged to Hailey. I’m with Sydney—”
“You mean she’s stuck with you,” Dylan interrupted. “Poor woman.”
“Let him finish, Dr. Dork.” Gage slapped him in the back of the head and Dylan put him in a headlock.
Derrick continued as if the pair weren’t in danger of knocking Barbara’s favorite vase off the counter as they wrestled. But she stopped herself from going inside, needing her son to finish his point. She admitted she was impressed. Derrick had to have been listening to her all those years he pretended to disdain therapy. He was good. “—and now Mom has James. You’re all left out.”
Dylan stopped moving, and Gage twisted out of his hold and punched him in the gut.
“Damn it.” Dylan glared at Gage, but his features eased as he stared at his twin. “My God. You’re actually pretty good at this.”
“Well, thank Sydney. She’s fucked up about her mother, and it takes a lot of work to keep on top of that redhead, let me tell you.”
They all grinned. They loved Sydney, but her mother annoyed the piss out of them all. Barbara included.
“So you think that everyone finding love and moving on is making me confront my own past guilt and feelings of responsibility toward Mom?”
“Um, yeah. That’s what I just said.” Derrick scratched his head. “I think.”
Dylan sighed. “I have to agree. I keep telling myself to accept her moving on. And hell, next month it’ll have been eleven years. I don’t want her living like a nun. But none of the others measured up to Dad. And I think…” he scrubbed his face, “…I think James does.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was saying.” Derrick nodded. “So I’m right. You’re lonely, desperate and acting out like a friggin’ four-year-old. Grow the fuck up and deal. How’s that for advice?”
Expecting Dylan to go for Derrick’s jugular, Barbara put a hand on the door. But Dylan shocked her by laughing.
“Okay. I’ll take your advice.” He included Gage in his mirth. “Just promise me you won’t try your hand at psychiatry. I don’t think I could handle the competition.”
Derrick preened. “Why thank you, Dr. Dork. Now tell me. You need help getting laid? Because maybe that will get your ass out of Mom’s business.”
“Oh my Lord. Derrick Warren. Watch that mouth.”
Dylan and his brothers started as their mother pushed through the kitchen door wearing a huge frown.
“Ha! For once she didn’t catch me saying it.” Dylan high-fived Gage, and the pair of them gave Derrick wicked grins when he flushed bright red.
“Oh, ah, hey, Mom. You’re back early.” He took the bag from her and hurried to the counter with it.
She rubbed her hands together. “Well, I see you’ve done absolutely nothing while I was gone.” She sighed. “Guess I’ll get the eggs and bacon on.” She moved to Dylan and kissed him on the cheek as if they hadn’t been distant from one another at all. “Good to see you, Dylan.”
“You too, Mom,” he said softly, meaning it. “So where is James?” She remained quiet, and he groaned. “He’s not here because I’m an ass, is that it?”
“Truth hurts.” Gage shook his head.
“Well, he thought it might be nice if just the four of us spent some time together. We’re always being tugged this way and that with our new families, and I miss having my boys to myself.”
Derrick’s eyes narrowed. “Did you say something to Sydney and Hailey about this?”
She shrugged. “When Hailey suggested she might skip our breakfast today, I merely mentioned she might want to take Sydney as well, to g
ive me a chance to reconnect with my boys. I also might have used you as an excuse, Dylan. You have been difficult lately.”
“Great.” Now I’m the pathetic loser who can’t adjust to Mommy getting a boyfriend. And, oh man, I deserve it.
“I told her you were having a hard time with me and James. But that’s not the case anymore is it?” She beamed at him, and he had the uneasy feeling she’d overheard them. Then she added, “Because after our meeting in your office, you assured me that’s no longer an issue. Is it?”
The whole kitchen seemed to come to a standstill.
Dylan knew he had to let go—of the guilt, the selfish need, and, most importantly, the hurt that his mother might choose another over his father. The living needed to love, not wallow in memories of the dead. Sure she’d always care for his father. But Andrew couldn’t hold her or hug her or kiss her. Not here, not now.
“No, Mom. I’m glad you’re happy. James is a good man.” He didn’t like the glossy sheen in her eyes, or the sudden burning behind his own. So he coughed and slapped Derrick on the back of the head.
“What the hell, man?”
“I just wanted to show how I’d express my disdain for someone not worthy of Mom’s affection. I’d never do that to James, even if he does hate the Bears.”
Derrick started to go for his throat when their mother made a hum of disapproval. They separated as if scalded by hot water.
“Excellent. Everyone’s happy. My boys are in love…” She took the eggs and bacon from the refrigerator and tossed the bag of coffee beans to Dylan. “Let me rephrase that. Gage is engaged. Derrick is working on proposing to Sydney. And Dylan…where are you right now? In a relationship?”
“Boy, girl or other?” Gage taunted.
“Don’t tease our bisexually minded brother, Gage,” Derrick said with a huge amount of insincerity. “It’s not about gender, it’s all about the person inside,” he said, quoting one of the many instances Dylan had set him straight.
“Derrick, behave.” Their mother tried hard not to laugh.
“Et tu, Barbara?” Dylan tried to project pain into his voice. But thoughts of his partners had him smiling.