Kick Back - Susi Hawke Page 0,23

visit Maria Alvarez. You know, that lady you avoid because you're afraid to look at her? She's got that beauty salon in her garage and knows how to keep a secret so she was perfect for this job. By the time they get back, Sonia and Andy should have completely different looks and hair colors."

I held up a hand, as if asking permission to speak. I lowered it awkwardly when the brothers all grinned. "Sorry, I have a question. How will they have pictures on these new IDs? And as a follow-up, dare I ask why you can't look at this Maria person, Dear?"

Dear blushed so hard his face was bright red, contrasting adorably against his ginger hair. "Maria has a huge mole on the side of her nose. It's super dark and there's hair growing out of it. Bristly, long black hairs that poke out like needles in a pincushion. The first time I saw her I thought there was a spider on her nose. Thank goodness I was too scared to say something, can you imagine how embarrassing that would have been? For both her and me. Gawd." He paused to shudder. "I only feel awkward around her because I always want to stare at it and I'm afraid she'll catch me. I can't help it, though, the hairs are waving at me and I can't see anything else when she's around. But I don’t want her to feel bad so I avoid her."

It was hard to keep a straight face, but I did my best. My sweet Dear was obviously mortified. His brothers didn't have the same problem. They all started cracking jokes and it was several moments before Dan answered my original question.

"Nate, we snapped digital photos and sent them to our guy yesterday. All he needed was a text from Clay with the new hair colors and he'll fix the photos to match. A little Photoshop magic, you know? That's the only reason we don't have them yet—Shadowfox needed a hair color."

Dear reached for my hand to pull me up. "Now that we've settled all that, let's go pack. If I know my brother, Nash has our cruise scheduled for tonight."

Nash did a slow clap. "You know me so well."

Three hours later, I was loading our suitcase into the car while Dear said goodbye to his brothers. Sonia and Andy hadn’t come out yet or we’d already be on the road. We'd be driving into Lisbon where our ship was docked.

We didn't board for a few hours yet, but I was excited and ready to be on our way. Dear was humoring me by letting us leave early. I knew that and appreciated it. I figured we could wander around by the docks and have an early dinner while we waited. I'd been on edge and raring to go for the past hour. I knew my nerves would settle once I was closer to the ship. Until then, I would worry about possible delays like flat tires, car accidents, and… beeping horns?

I looked up at the sound of honking and stared as an old Volkswagen van came into view. It was a true hippie vehicle, painted a bright, cheerful yellow with rainbows, happy faces, and flowers hand-drawn all over it.

The brothers walked forward, their jaws hanging open as their hands slowly came up to wave. A redheaded woman poked her head out the passenger window with a joyful scream. "My babies! Look at my boys!"

I closed the trunk and stepped up beside Dear, slipping an arm around his shoulders. "Relatives of yours, I assume?" I hadn't heard any of them mention their parents or any other extended family yet, but the woman's hair was an exact match to Dear's. Except for a few touches of gray that his lacked at this point, I noted as the van came to a stop in front of us.

Dear groaned softly and tilted his head up to softly whisper while his brothers went over to greet their visitors. "Crap, so much for our early start. Too bad nobody in the house was paying attention to the cameras and yelled mayday. Mayday might sound a little much, but just wait. My mother is a force of nature. So yeah, it’s time to meet the parents, Nathaniel. Don't worry, they don't bite. Much."

The flurry of greetings reminded me of the mob after Sunday services back in my parish. Dear, despite his quick warning, seemed overjoyed to see his folks again. I