Red was in a foul mood and he knew why. Who knew that one petite beauty with big, beautiful, expressive brown eyes would be his downfall?
Cali had opted to stay the night with Syd after dinner—a dinner she’d slaved over for hours, one so delicious he wanted to throw her over the kitchen counter and thank her all night. She was an excellent cook, having learned everything from her uncle, who taught culinary arts at a university.
After dinner, she’d offered him a private treat in Morgan’s bathroom, sucking him off so long and so hard he’d thought he saw stars. Then, when he was standing with his pants pooled around his ankles, still hard for her, she’d turned around and left him standing there.
He’d tried to catch up to her, but by the time he’d gotten his pants up and fastened, she had locked herself in Morgan’s spare bedroom. To make matters worse, she told him from the other side of the door to “keep hope alive.” It took a few minutes, and a hint from Syd, to figure out why Cali had been irritated with him. Guess she hadn’t appreciated how interested he was in the beautiful doctor. Over the years they’d dated other people, but had agreed to never sleep with anyone else while they were sleeping with each other. He didn’t see what the big deal was, but apparently, Cali thought differently. That was fine with him.
After a restless night, he woke up, headed to the gym, and beat the shit out of a 100-pound punching bag. Even after his workout, he was still pissed. There was no way he would let that woman leave him panting after her like a lovesick fool anymore. He wanted to throttle her. But more than that, he wanted to…
He glanced at the almost empty bottle of beer on his coffee table and the empty one sitting next to it. The little minx had driven him to drink at ten o’clock in the morning. Pretty soon, he’d be a card carrying member of Alcoholics Anonymous. He wasn’t sure when it had happened or why, but he felt it bubbling up inside him: resentment. He’d really tried to understand where she was coming from, but how had she consistently misunderstood him and his intentions? Normally, he wouldn’t care what any woman thought. Then again, she wasn’t just any woman.
“Why are you drinking so early?” Syd asked from the doorway. “Planning a stint in rehab for the new year?”
“Should I take my key back?” he asked, unable to hide his irritation.
“Hey! Turnabout is fair play,” she said. “I seem to remember you constantly letting yourself into my place and eating all of my food.”
Syd wobbled over to his loveseat and slowly sat down. She immediately pulled the lever and propped her feet up. “What’s going on with you? I figured you could take me to breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry,” he grumbled.
“But I am. And that’s what’s important.”
He laughed at his twin. He’d missed her, but he had to admit, he was a little concerned about her health. He’d done a little research about pregnancy and swollen ankles and the results gave him pause. “You need to ease up on the food, Syd. Or at least eat some fruit and vegetables.”
“I eat plenty of fruit and veggies,” she insisted. “I want an omelet right now. Did Morgan call you?”
“No,” he replied. “Was he supposed to?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. He said something about thanking you and Cali for helping get the nursery together. I don’t know if I’ve thanked you enough for that. Thank you so much! You saved me a ton of time.”
Red smiled, remembering Syd’s scream of delight when she saw the newly decorated nursery for the first time. Morgan had turned into “Daddy Smith” overnight, it seemed. Instead of drinking cognac and shooting pool, now the highlight of his day was giving Syd foot massages and cuddling on the couch.
“You’re welcome, sis,” he said. “Besides, you know I’ll do anything for you.”
That was the understatement of the decade. Although they’d chosen to split up as children when their parents divorced, he was extremely overprotective of his sister. He’d move Heaven and Earth for her and he knew she felt the same. He glanced out the window and noticed that snow had started to fall.
“Cali went to work,” Syd announced. “In case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t,” he said, his voice flat.
“Okay.” She gave him a knowing smirk. “Are you all right? You seem preoccupied.”
“A lot on my mind,” he said. “Have you talked to Mom yet?” He knew changing the subject to their mother would keep Syd from focusing on him and Cali.
She turned her nose up. “Yeah. She called me this morning to cuss me out for not visiting first thing yesterday.” His sister sighed heavily. “I can’t understand, for the life of me, why she cares. She’s never seemed to care before.”
“Well, maybe she’s seen the error of her ways.” Yeah, right. His mother was nothing if not consistent. She’d consistently been a bitter woman who cared more about herself than her daughter. And Red resented her for it, even though he rarely talked about it with Syd. For the most part, he’d played peacemaker between the two, choosing not to take sides. Only he knew he was firmly on Team Syd, had always been. Sure, he’d figured out the “whys” a long time ago, but it still didn’t make it right.
Young Syd had inadvertently walked in on their mother with her lover, and told their father about it, effectively ending the marriage. His father had filed for divorce immediately, and because of his mother’s infidelity, she didn’t get a dime. For some inexplicable and irrational reason, she’d blamed Syd but fought for custody anyway. Red suspected she knew she’d get a hefty amount of child support if she had custody of both of them. The divorce proceedings had dragged out over months and Syd grew tired of being treated like she was the enemy. Eventually, the Court interviewed them, and Syd proclaimed that she’d be happier residing with their father, which infuriated their mother even more. She’d accused the tween of betrayal, but Syd didn’t care. She’d moved away, and he stayed.
“I don’t want to talk about her anymore, Red. I decided not to bring this into motherhood with me. If she can’t love me unconditionally, that’s her loss. What the hell was I supposed to do? I was a child.”
“I know, Syd.” Red didn’t want Syd to get worked up. It was still a sore subject, obviously. And stress wasn’t good for the baby. “Let’s drop it, okay? Where do you want to go eat?”
She smiled brightly. It seemed as though food was able to cheer her up quicker than anything. He chuckled when she named a slew of restaurants in the area. “Ooh, let’s eat at Cracker Barrel.”
He stood up. “Okay. Let me get dressed. Call Kent. He wanted to see you. Maybe he’ll meet us for breakfast.”
As he walked into his bedroom, he thought about Cali and how she’d described her childhood with her mother—and without her. But he could have sworn he’d seen her light up during Syd’s ultrasound. He remembered the gleam in her eyes as the doctor described the baby’s different little body parts.
He heard Sydney squeal when she reached Kent on the phone. He chuckled, amused at the way his sister gushed to their friend about pancakes and the different ways to eat them. Scowling, he shook his head to get the image of pancakes and peanut butter out of his head. She took weird cravings to another level.
Syd peeked into his room. “Kent wants to know if you canceled the staff meeting today.”
Red cursed under his breath. “No,” he grumbled. “I forgot. I’ll take care of that.”
“Why are you canceling it?” Syd asked with the phone still glued to her ear. Red heard Kent’s voice over the receiver explaining the reasons. “Well, I’m here,” she said. “I can do the meeting as planned if you have something else to do.”
“It’s better if we postpone,” Red groaned. “We have a party scheduled tonight and the planner wants to get in early to set up. We need all staff on deck for that. Moving the meeting to next Saturday won’t hurt.”
Over the last few months, they’d received countless requests to rent out space at The Ice Box for banquets. After a few meetings and conference calls, they’d decided to rent out one side of the bar for certain events.
“Fine,” she said, pouting. “We can move the meeting, but I want to get back in the swing of things.”
“You need to sit your ass down somewhere,” Red told her. “Right, Kent?” He shouted so that his friend was sure to hear him.
“Bye, Kent,” Syd said, more than likely preventing him from responding in a way she didn’t like. “I’ll see you in a bit.” She ended her call and tossed her phone in her purse. “Way to gang up on your sister.”
“Seriously, Syd?” He glanced at his sister. He loved her so much and he worried about her. “You have to take it easy. Dr. Love said you needed to be off your feet as much as possible.”
“Speaking of Love, you like her?” Syd asked, changing the subject.
Glaring at his grinning sister, he shook his head and walked past her out of the room.
“Wait; don’t walk out. I wanted to talk to you about this last night, but… I fell asleep.” She followed him into the living room. “You were flirting with her.”
“She’s nice,” he said simply. “And you know how complicated things are right now.”
“With you and Cali?” she pressed.
“I’m not talking about this with you, Syd. There is no me and Cali. As far as she’s concerned, I can see whoever I want. No strings, remember?” Normally, right around this time, he’d shove her away from him—playfully, of course—but he didn’t want to take a chance that she’d fall. “Let’s go. You’re hungry, right?”
Apparently, food was the only thing he could use to shut his sister up because she immediately started talking fruit toppings and pickles. Disgusted, he followed her out of his apartment.
At the restaurant, Red sat across from Syd, nursing a cup of coffee. She was focused on the menu, naming everything that looked good to her.
“I can’t wait to see the bar,” she said. “I’ve missed it. I never really had a chance to enjoy it like I always dreamed I would.” Grinning, she closed the menu and set it on the table. “But you and Kent have done a wonderful job with it.”
“Did you say my name?” Kent stepped into the dining room.
“Kent!” Syd stood up gingerly and hugged Kent.
“Look at you,” Kent said, smoothing a hand over her stomach. “You are big as hell.”
“Hey!” she said, smiling wide. “Men aren’t supposed to say that about pregnant women. What’s up with that?”
“I mean it in the best way possible,” Kent said. “You still look good. Besides, you have my niece or nephew in there. I missed you, baby. What’s up, Red?”
“Shit.” Red gave Kent some dap. Kent was Morgan’s brother, but he was also one of Red’s closest friends. They all grew up together, went to the same high school. “Took you long enough to get here. You only live right around the corner.”
Kent smirked. “Well, you know, I had company I had to get rid of.”
“Oh Lord,” Syd said, returning to her seat. “I don’t want to hear about your exploits, Kent.”
Kent sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her neck. “Morgan called me this morning and asked if I’d seen you yet. He’s pitiful.”
“I know,” Red agreed. His sister had successfully tamed his friend and it was funny as hell to him. “I don’t think I’ve ever talked to him so much on the phone.”
“Leave my man alone,” Syd said. “He misses us.”
“He misses you,” Red countered.
“I miss him, too.” The waitress came over and took their orders and refilled Red’s mug. “So, fellas, I’m ready to get back to work,” Syd said once the waitress walked away. “You know I’m not content to sit around.”
“We know,” Kent gulped down his water. “But I need you to relax. You flew in and went straight to the doctor. Can you chill out for a few days before you jump back into bar business?”
“That was your brother,” she told Kent. “He was concerned about the flight and everything. It was the only way I could get him to agree to let me fly by myself.”
“Still.” Kent waved the waitress over. “I changed my mind, I’ll have a cup of coffee,” he told the woman. Once the young lady filled his mug, he prepared it with two sugars and two creamers. “There is plenty of time for the bar, Syd. Take care of the house and stuff. We got this.”
“I know,” she conceded. “I will never regret asking you all to jump in with me. It has been such a great experience. Oh, Kent, what’s going on with Allina? I’ve asked Cali and Red, but they keep beating around the bush. I’ve been trying to call her. She hasn’t answered.”
Red sighed. Cali had convinced him that telling Syd that Allina had picked up and moved to Ohio should wait a couple of days. At the time, he felt her reasoning was valid, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. Of course, he’d failed to tell Kent to keep quiet.
“She left.” Kent said, tossing an empty creamer into a bowl. “She’s not coming back to Michigan.”
“What do you mean?” Syd asked, a frown on her face. “She was just supposed to be down there for a visit. What about her business?”
Kent hunched his shoulders and twisted a straw wrapper between his fingers. “What about it? She doesn’t have a business. She turned down the offer to take over and decided to stay in Ohio—with the preacher man. Or for the preacher man, since they don’t live together and all.”
“Are you sure?” Syd questioned. “I talked to her last month and she said she and Cali were finalizing the details for their business venture. She never mentioned moving to Ohio permanently.”
“Well, she did,” Kent snapped.
Red was tempted to interject, but decided to let Kent handle it. He knew that Kent was having a hard time with Allina’s decision, especially since they’d been circling each other for years. Unfortunately, Kent and Red had a lot in common—happily single, stubborn as the day is long, and extremely attracted to one of Syd’s friends. The only difference was that Kent had never been with Allina. She wasn’t as open-minded as Cali when it came to sex and relationships.
“I can’t believe she wouldn’t tell me.” Syd shook her head. “She’d move to another state without saying something to me? That’s not like her.”
“It’s that guy, Syd,” Red added. “He’s very controlling. When you left, Allina didn’t even come around. She stopped calling Kent all together. I don’t even think she told her boyfriend that Kent existed at all. I wanted to tell you but I didn’t want you to worry.”
It was no secret that Syd was a worrywart. She worried over everyone else and little about herself.
“I’m going to call her.” She picked up her phone and dialed. When her friend obviously didn’t answer, Syd tapped the screen of her phone furiously and Red assumed she was sending her friend a text message. “Of course she doesn’t answer,” she mumbled. “But I will get to the bottom of this. Next time, don’t hide shit from me. I’m not some fragile doll. I’m pregnant. Women get pregnant every day of the week, every hour of the day. It’s not new science. I have to pee.” With that she slid out of the chair and disappeared around the corner.
“She was pissed,” Kent mused.
“I guess we should’ve told her sooner.”
“It’s cool.” Kent leaned back when the waitress arrived with the food and set it in front of them. “Nothing she could do about it all the way in Baltimore.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Red didn’t like keeping things from his sister. Even if it hurt her, he always told her the truth. When she’d told him she wanted to marry Caden, he’d told her she would regret it. Although they didn’t end up getting married, he was sure she regretted even saying yes to the proposal. “I knew she’d want to know. And, once again, I listened to Cali’s ass and not my own gut.”
Just like that, his foul mood returned with a vengeance. And along with it, the realization that he couldn’t do this anymore.
Syd stalked back into the dining room, grabbed her bag. “I need this. When we’re done here, I think I do want to go home and lay down for a bit. I’m sleepy and irritated.” She headed toward the bathroom again.
Kent looked at Red again and shrugged.
“Just for that…” Red stabbed at his eggs with his fork. “You’re going to help her put that damn Christmas tree up. And I’ll be sure to explain to Morgan that you were the cause of her mood.”