“It’s okay though. I always wanted to live somewhere bigger. I came for college and never moved back.”
Cal shuddered. “Ugh. Small towns. I don’t blame you.”
“Yeah, I bet, Mr. New York.”
Lights flashed across the front window as a car pulled into the driveway.
“That must be your brother,” Jo said.
Cal looked down at me. “I’m sorry you have to meet everyone at once. I told my mom to make it just the four of us, but she doesn’t listen.”
Jo waved Cal away. “Pishposh. Rip off the bandage, I say.”
“That’s just an excuse. My mom can’t invite just one child over.”
Nick started laughing, and Jo scowled at him.
“Cal is not wrong,” Nick stated.
Jo lifted her hands in surrender. “I love my family. Sue me.”
I had a huge smile on my face as we waited for Cal’s brother and family to come into the house. Cal had been right. I had nothing to worry about. They were down-to-earth, and if I had to take a guess, I would say they liked me.
“Why don’t you have a seat, Indy?” Jo said. “We don’t all have to stand here like we’re waiting for them to enter.”
“Good point,” Cal said and led me over to the couch. “My brother already thinks he’s better than me,” he told me.
“Oh, he does not,” Jo said and walked into the kitchen.
“Does he really?” I asked in a low voice.
Cal laughed. “Nah. My mom just hates any sibling rivalry, so I like to rile her up.”
“You must have been a joy to raise.”
Cal laughed as a mix of voices came from the kitchen. A woman and another little boy walked into the room.
“Indy, this is Dana, my daughter-in-law. And Oliver, my grandson.”
I stood and shook Dana’s hand and sat back down. “Hi, Oliver.”
Oliver smiled but hid behind his mom’s leg.
“How old?” I asked.
“Fourteen months.”
“That’s nice that Oliver and Bobby can play with each other.”
“Yeah, once Bobby starts walking, there will be no stopping the two of them,” Amy said.
I smiled, picturing Cal and me having a child to add to the mix, and I startled myself with the thought.
Cal put his hand on my knee. “You okay?” he asked me in a low voice.
I smiled at him. “Yes. Just thinking some good thoughts.”
“I hope it was about me.”
“Oh, it was.”
He squeezed my knee and grinned.
“Indy?”
I looked up to Jo.
“The last person I’m going to introduce you to tonight, I promise, is Cal’s brother, Joel.”
Alarm bells went off in my head, and my smile disappeared.
Joel? There was no way it could be the same Joel.
But then I looked at Cal, and my stomach dropped. That was how I’d gotten his number that night. Joel had given me his brother’s instead of his own.
I held my breath, hoping I was wrong until Cal’s brother walked into the living room. My oh shit moment was suddenly very real.
“Joel, this is Indy, Cal’s new friend.”
Joel halted for a second, but then he smiled and stepped forward. “Hi, Indy. Nice to meet you.”
I shook his hand and had to resist wiping my palm on my pants.
I looked at Dana and little Oliver and then at Cal. He looked so happy. I had no idea how I was going to tell Cal that his brother was a big, fat cheater.
Thirty-Three
Cal
“I think that went great,” I told Indy as we drove back to my house. “I knew you had nothing to worry about.”
She smiled at me, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. I hoped she didn’t think my family was insincere because I could tell they all liked her. My brother had been a little distant, but I’d noticed he’d been off lately.
It was something I should maybe ask him about, but he and I had never been close. I’d always been closer to Amy.
When we got home, I pulled Indy into the bedroom and started kissing her. She surprised me by putting her hand on my chest and gently pushing me away.
She took a deep breath. “We need to talk.”
Nothing ever good came after those words.
“Okay.”
“Can we sit?”
I grabbed her hand and led her over to the bed. “What’s wrong?”
She drew her hand from mine and looked away. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”
I was starting to get concerned now. We’d had a great afternoon. And tonight had been a success. “Did meeting my family happen too fast? I know we’d only started talking about not sleeping with other people.”
“No. It’s not that.”
“Then, what is it?” I put a finger under her chin and turned her face my way. “You can tell me.”
She pulled her head away. “You remember how we met, right?”
I grinned. “How could I forget?” I thought I realized what was bothering her. “Are you worried about what to tell people about how we met? We don’t have to tell them we had wild monkey sex together right away. We can always say we kept texting each other.”
That got a half-smile out of her. “No, it’s not that. But it is something to consider. Thankfully, your parents didn’t ask how we’d met.”
“Okay. If it’s not that, then what is it?”
“The guy that I was seeing from the dating app … the one who gave me your phone number …”
“What about him?”
“I don’t think it was a random number.” She huffed out a laugh. “No. I know it wasn’t a random number.”
“What are you getting at?” I was genuinely confused.
She looked at me and met my eyes. “The guy I was seeing … his name was Joel.”
I frowned and shook my head. “You think that someone used my brother’s name and gave you my phone number?”
She smiled at me, her eyes still a little sad. “Finally, some proof that you’re not always the smartest in the room.”
“Not by a long shot. Please explain.”
“No one was pretending to be your brother, Cal. Your brother is who I went on three dates with.”
I sat, stunned, for a minute. “But he’s married.”
“I know. I’m guessing that’s why he gave me your phone number.”
I looked at Indy and pictured my brother on a date with her. Kissing her. Making love to her.
I jumped up from the bed and began pacing the room. I didn’t like this feeling coursing through my body. I’d thought I was jealous of Indy’s date at the Halloween party, but it was nothing compared to how I felt about my brother.
I stopped and ran my hands down my face. “I know I have no right to ask this, but …” I took a deep breath. “How involved with my brother did you get?”
“Three dates. He only ever kissed me.” She held up her hands. “Pecks.”
I breathed the biggest sigh of relief.
Indy raised her eyebrows. “It’s still cheating, Cal.”
“Right. Yes, I know.”
“Are you mad at me? Because I suspected he had a girlfriend after he gave me the wrong number, but I’d had no idea up until then. I’d thought he just wanted to take things slow.”
I pulled her up toward me and enveloped her in my arms. “No, I’m not mad at you.”
“Good, because I don’t mess with other women’s men. I do feel stupid though. What kind of man wants to take things that slow?”
I lifted her chin. “Indy, this is not on you. This is on my brother.” I thought about his wife. “What a dick. Dana probably has no clue.”
“What do we do now?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.” I looked her in the eyes. “But I don’t want you to do anything. I will take care of this. He’s my brother.”
“I’m sorry I had to be the bearer of such bad news.” She put
her head on my chest. “What a way to ruin a good day.”
“Honey, it’s not your fault.”
“Do you want me to go home? I’ll understand if you do.”
I squeezed her to me. “Hell no.”
After I did a little more processing, I was going to make love to her all night. I was going to make sure she and I both knew who she belonged to because even though nothing had happened between her and Joel, I couldn’t stop thinking about them being together.
I pulled away. “Why don’t you get ready for bed?”
She nodded. “Okay,” she said and turned to walk away.
I yanked her back and gave her a deep kiss. “Just so you know I mean it.”
She smiled and headed to the bathroom.
While she was in there, I went out to the kitchen to grab my phone and brought it back to the bedroom. “What’s the name of the app?” I asked Indy through the open door.
The water in the sink shut off, and she gave me the name of the popular app. I downloaded it onto my phone and opened it. But I had no account, and going on as myself was not going to help me find my brother.
Indy walked out of the bathroom, and I forgot all about my phone, the app, and my brother.
“Come here,” I said and spread my legs.
She stepped between them and ran her fingers through my hair. “Are you going to be okay?”
I lifted her shirt and kissed her belly. “I will be once I’m inside you.” I picked her up and threw her on the bed. As I crawled up her body, I looked down at her. “I need you tonight, Indy.”
She nodded, opened her arms, and took all of me.
Thirty-Four
Cal
The next morning, Indy woke up to me staring at my phone.
She did a double take when she saw what app I was on. “What are you doing?”
“Making an account.”
She sat up. “Are you going to catfish your own brother?”
“Thinking about it. When I confront him, I want to have proof that I can literally shove in his face.” I looked at Indy. “Do you still have your conversations with him on your phone?”
She shook her head. “I deleted them all and blocked him. I could unblock him, but I’m sure he’d block me in return right away, if he hasn’t already.”
“Yeah, you’re right. For all we know, he deleted his whole account.”
“That would be the smart thing to do. Does that mean you’re not going to make an account?”
I shook my head. “I’m making an account. I have to see it for myself.”
“I understand.”
“Now, what should my name be?”
She smiled. “Callie.”
I laughed. “You’re funny. And I meant, my username.”
“Thanks. And pick anything. Whatever you use, you’ll have to add a bunch of numbers behind it because only a name will most likely already be taken. What you need are some good pictures to lure him in.”
“Crap. I didn’t even think about that.”
“I’ll send you some of Leslie.”
“You’re going to use your friend’s pics to help me catfish my brother?”
“You can’t use mine. And don’t worry; I’ll warn her.”
I looked over at her. “You’re the perfect partner in crime.”
She put a finger to her lips and smiled. “Shh … don’t tell anyone.”
Monday morning at work, I couldn’t stop thinking about my brother, to the point that I couldn’t focus on my current project.
I kept scrolling through the app on my phone, looking for him. Indy had helped me put in similar info that she had entered so that I’d get my brother as a match. So far, I hadn’t found him. I hoped that he had realized how much he’d screwed up and gone home and deleted the app on Saturday night, yet I couldn’t stop searching for him.
I had no idea what I would do when or if I did find him. Should I tell my sister-in-law? Should I talk to my brother first? Should I tell my brother he needed to come clean? Should I talk to my mother and father about it and let them decide? All I knew was I did not want this responsibility.
There was a knock at my office door.
I turned my screen off and set my phone down. “Come in.”
Keith opened it and stepped inside before shutting the door.
He looked serious, and I welcomed the distraction.
“What’s going on?”
Keith pointed his thumb behind him. “Aaron wants to talk to you. He looks worried.”
“Send him in.”
Aaron Fredricks was one of the supervisors who worked under me, and I liked the guy. I had gotten good vibes from him when I first met with him, and his team seemed to really like him.
Keith opened the door and let Aaron in.
“Thanks, Keith,” I told him.
Keith stepped out and closed the door behind him.
“Have a seat, Aaron. What can I do for you?”
Aaron sat down and immediately began pumping his leg up and down, looking nervous. “I want you to know that I’m not normally a tattletale or a snitch.”
“Aaron, there is a difference between tattling and telling. If someone is doing something that I need to know about, that is telling.”
Aaron smiled. “Good way to word that.”
“Thank you.” I’d heard Amy telling Chelsea that once. Who knew it would be relevant at work too?
Aaron rubbed his hands together, and I could tell he was still nervous.
“How about you give me the info in hypotheticals and not use any names? Then, if I feel like it isn’t important, we can pretend we never had this conversation.”
Aaron nodded. “Okay. That works.”
“So, what is your hypothetical situation?”
“I have this coworker who I mostly tolerate. We’re not friends, but we’re not enemies.”
I nodded. I’d been there a couple of times.
“Sometimes, this person says things that are inappropriate, but I ignore them and move on with my day.”
“Okay,” I said. “You’ll probably have to be more specific because, let’s face it, everyone says inappropriate things at work. If I fired everyone for saying things they shouldn’t have, I wouldn’t have any employees. Including myself.” I’d said some very inappropriate things to Indy at work.
“This person always makes statements that walk the line of what’s unsuitable in the workplace. However, in the last week, he’s said some things that have made me very uncomfortable.”
“Can you give me some examples?”
Aaron looked down at the floor. “He said that … a certain female was a … S-L-U-T for black … penises. After you confronted him about a few things, he also said that another female was sucking your … penis. But then he also said that you probably didn’t like it because you’d rather be the one to … suck penis.”
My jaw clenched, and I wanted to punch something. Or someone. But I didn’t want Aaron to think I was mad at him.
Aaron looked up at me. “I want you to know that I don’t approve of his behavior—at all. I have two sisters and … a boyfriend.”
“Does Patrick know you’re gay?”
Aaron shook his head. “I don’t think so. Maybe.” He shrugged. “I don’t advertise it, but I also don’t hide it.”
“Still doesn’t make it okay even if you were straight,” I added.
“How did you know it was Patrick?” Aaron asked.
“I had a hunch. I’m guessing the women you’re talking about are Leslie and Indy. He seems to be really bitter about losing the Halloween contest.” I shook my head. “I don’t get it. It’s just a stupid contest.”
“Patrick can’t stand when someone does better than him. At anything. Rumor has it that he got Colby sick—gave him food poisoning—after Polly announced that Colby was going to Arizona for a conference. So, Patrick got to go instead. No one could ever prove it though.”
“Have you brought your concerns to HR?”
“I guess that’s a lesson to us all that just because someone doesn’t say something about a certain group, it doesn’t mean they don’t think things or say things to other people. That’s why we all need to look out for each other. One day, it’s them; the next day, it’s you.”
Aaron nodded again, his eyes full of guilt. “You’re right.”
“The good thing is, you’re here now. You did the right thing by speaking up.”
“What do you want me to do from here? Do you want me to go to HR?”
“No. With Patrick’s father-in-law’s position, I’m going to take everything I have on the guy to HR myself. I need you to write a statement of what you heard. Only include things you heard directly. And please make sure you write down the actual words that were used. I’m guessing you made it more PG-13 for me. I want HR to get the R-rated version.”
“I can do that.”
“Last thing, if you know of anyone else who feels like you do, please have them come to me. The more statements I have, the stronger the case.”
Aaron stood. “Will do, boss.”
We said goodbye, and I got to work on plans for bringing my information on Patrick to HR. This was going to have to be handled with a lot of finesse.
Thirty-Five
Indy
Cal and I hadn’t talked much the last two days. He’d been staying late at work and then doing whatever life errands he needed to do before coming over to my house. By the time he got there, he usually took me to bed and made love to me before we both fell asleep.
I could tell he had a lot on his mind, so I didn’t bother him by asking a bunch of questions. Plus, having sex with me seemed to be his stress reliever. I wasn’t going to take that away from him. Especially when he took care of my needs too.
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