Brody - Ellie Masters Page 0,42

remembering her late husband. She dabs at her eyes, glances up toward the sky, and continues. “The thing is, I haven’t told the boys about him, not that they don’t know. My boys are nosey and more than a little overprotective of their mom. I don’t need that whole meet and greet Mom’s new boyfriend thing to complicate things. They think to devise a way to work around me, but I’m going to remind them who’s boss.”

“I love that so much.” I grin, thinking how Abbie might deal with her meddling triplets. “Sign me up. I’m more than willing to be your co-conspirator.”

“I love that about you.” She taps Mom’s arm. “I’m so happy you brought Grace home.” She points at me. “As for my troublesome boys, you keep your ear to the ground. If you hear Brody mention anything, you let me know.”

“I can definitely do that.” I turn my attention to my mother. “Brody’s having Asher stop by on Friday. He’s bringing Asher in as a corporate expert.” My gaze shifts back to Abbie. “If you want, we can have a bit of fun…”

Abbie leans back. “It’s a shame Cage is out on assignment. It’s been a hot minute since they’ve all been home. Although the three of them together can be challenging.”

My mom laughs. She follows every word of our conversation, but it’s hard for her to jump in. It’s taking all her strength to sit with us as it is.

I glance at my watch, noticing it’s nearly dinnertime, and turn to Abbie.

“If you don’t have dinner plans with your beau, I’m making spaghetti with meatballs. Mark’s probably stuck in the cellar trying to figure out which wine to pair it with, but I know he’d love to have you stay.” I take my mom’s hand in mine and weave our fingers together. “He’s actually more excited than I thought he’d be. I’m so worried I’m pushing him—taking over too much too soon.”

“Cupcake…” She pauses to cough and then retches from trying to cough. I wait for her to collect herself. “He loves this place more than he’ll ever admit. He’s got an eye for making wine, but not for numbers. I’m glad the two of you are working together.” It’s only a few sentences, but it’s enough to steal her breath. Mom leans back with a sigh and closes her eyes.

Abbie watches everything. She reaches over to grasp my mom’s other hand. “Feeling tired, Lucy? Have I overstayed my welcome yet?”

“I’d love for you to stay.” My mom’s words come out slow, tremulous, but stronger than I expect. It’s incredible the way she feeds off Abbie’s energy. I wish I could bottle some of that up to dispense throughout the day. Not one time during our conversation does she wince or grimace in pain.

If I had three wishes, I’d spend them all on my mom.

“It’s settled then.” I point to the book Abbie’s been hiding. “I’ll leave the two of you out here to finish that chapter you’re reading.”

“You saw that?” Abbie’s face reddens.

“Thankfully, poor Mark did not. It’s one of my favorite books, by the way. The spicy scenes are the ones with the double dog-eared pages.”

“What did any of us do before this book?” Abbie shakes her head and reaches for the novel. “And we already figured out who dog-eared the pages, luv.”

Before my face turns scarlet, I make my excuses. I’ve got dinner to cook and other things to consider.

It feels good having company—normal. It’s been far too long since we’ve had a normal day.

But it comes at a cost, wearing Mom out. I miss normal. After dinner, Abbie helps me put Mom to bed, then she starts washing dishes.

“How was it seeing Brody today?”

I tense, not sure how to respond. In high school, I never hung out at the La Rouge’s. As far as I know, she knows nothing about the history I share with her middle son.

“He was very nice. Seemed genuinely interested in helping us out. I certainly didn’t expect something like that from someone in his position. To be honest, it was a little intimidating.”

“That’s nice to hear, but not really what I was asking about.”

“I’m confused.”

“Luv, my boys are no angels. The honest truth is they’re hellions. I’d like to think I brought them up right, but there’s only so much a mom can do. My boys made a lot of mistakes growing up, but they’re turning into better men. When I found out Brody was taking on