“What?” Harlow gasped. “Oh! Reese cleans Nan’s, too?” Harlow swung her gaze up to Reese. “You’re cleaning after slicing your hand open yesterday? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have never expected you to come in today. You need to rest your hand. You could tear it back open,” Harlow scolded her.
I watched as Reese straightened her shoulders and stuck her bandaged hand behind her back, as if that would make it go away. “I’m fine. Really, I am. I woke up this morning, and it didn’t hurt at all. Well, maybe a little, but I took my medicine, and it was better. I’m almost done with the upstairs. I won’t be but another three hours.”
Harlow shook her head. “Absolutely not. You come eat brunch with us, and then Mase can drive you home. I don’t want you back here until next week at the earliest. You can’t work with your hand like that.”
I could see the frustration in Reese’s face, but she wasn’t going to argue with Harlow. “OK. Let me just put the folded towels in your bathroom, and then I’ll be down.”
Damn, woman. “The towels are fine wherever they are. Harlow can put her towels away. Come downstairs.” It sounded like an order. But she was pushing my patience.
She nodded stiffly and came down the stairs slowly. She wasn’t wearing shorts today. Instead, she had on leggings that ended just below her knee. They hugged her like a glove. I wished her damn shirt wasn’t so big so I could see her ass in those things.
“I’m sorry he sounds so bossy. He’s always been bossy. It’s this alpha-male thing he has going on,” Harlow said, as Reese stopped in front of us. “Come on, let’s go eat. I’m serving some things I just tried for the first time. I can’t wait to hear what y’all think about them.”
I watched as Harlow walked to the kitchen and waited until she was far enough ahead before looking at Reese. “Let me see your hand,” I said softly, trying to ease her tension. It was clear I made her nervous when I was frustrated.
She started to argue. I could see it in her eyes, but she relented and held out her hand to me. I unwrapped it gently and took in the pink, puckered skin. It wasn’t infected, but it was abused from cleaning. She needed to put some ice and salve on it.
“I’m getting you some ice. Come on,” I told her, holding her wrist and pulling her to walk in front of me.
“I really wish you wouldn’t. Harlow will feel bad that I cleaned her house today.”
She was worried about Harlow. Why did this not surprise me? “It’s fine. Harlow will want you to take care of yourself.”
She walked into the kitchen and over to the table, where Harlow was motioning for her to sit.
My relaxing visit with Harlow had just become something different altogether. I walked to the freezer and fixed a bag of ice. Harlow had sat down at the table across from Reese, but I could feel her eyes on me. My sister was reading more into this than there was.
Reese
This was so awkward.
Harlow was the “sweetheart” he had talked to yesterday. That much I had figured out. She’d mentioned him not being able to make it to see her last night. Which I felt terrible about. And now, here I was again, interrupting their visit. Mase obviously adored his sister, and she felt the same way about him. I had no siblings and no clue what that must feel like.
“Kiro called you?” Mase asked, looking at his sister before taking a bite of the sandwich on his plate.
She smiled tightly and nodded. “Yeah. He’s having a hard time being away.”
“I’m surprised he made it this long. You going to visit your mom?”
Harlow frowned and stared down at her plate. Something was definitely wrong. Did she have mom issues like I did? And he had said “your mom.” Did they have different mothers? “He’s worried that I could upset her without him there. He thinks it’s best for me to wait until he’s back.”
Mase let out an aggravated grunt. He didn’t seem pleased with her answer. He swung his gaze over to me. “You good? The ice helping?”
I nodded.
“Let’s not talk about Dad right now. It’s rude to talk about family stuff when we have a guest with us,” Harlow said, with a smile that didn’t meet her eyes. Something Mase had said had bothered her.
“Your dad has a cool name,” I said, hoping to ease some of the tension that had suddenly entered the room. “The only Kiro I’ve heard of is Kiro Manning. I’ve never heard of anyone else with that name.”
Harlow and Mase looked at each other, and then a real smile broke out across Harlow’s face, and her eyes danced with laughter. “I’ve never heard of anyone else with the name Kiro, either. Except, of course, Kiro Manning.”
I had started to agree politely when her words slowly sank in. No . . . wait. No . . .
“I guess I didn’t tell you my whole name when I introduced myself,” Mase said with a smile.
OK, wait. I wracked my brain. There had been some news or something around the time I left home about Kiro Manning’s wife and daughter. I didn’t always have access to TV back then.
“You don’t watch much TV, do you?” Mase said with a teasing grin, as he took a drink of his soda.