house, the table is set and Sam is balancing his chair on the back two legs telling some dirty joke that has everyone laughing, Kira included. She lifts her head when I enter, and Izzy is pulling the meatballs from the oven. A bottle of beer dangles from Cody’s fingers as he stirs the sauce, and Jason is cutting the baguette. It’s so odd how this group has come together to form a functioning family-like unit, so different from the one I was brought up in.
“Hey, Izzy,” I say. “I guess you heard about the eggs.” She scowls as she drops the meatballs into the sauce, and the fact that she’s home and not at the bar having drinks with the locals doesn’t go unnoticed. I wash up in the sink and grab a beer from the fridge. “Who wants a drink?” I get a few mumbled responses and pull out a few more beers to hand them out. “Kira?” I ask.
“Sure,” she says, and I uncap one and hand it to her. When I do, our fingers connect, and a hot bolt of lust grips my dick. I swear to fuck, the electricity arcing between us is enough to light up the house in a blackout, which is a good thing, considering the way the wind is messing with the power poles and the lights keep dimming.
The pipes creak, and it reminds me of the mice. “I’ll foam the foundation after dinner, and fix your trap,” I say to her.
“Thanks,” she says, and I step to the stove to help Izzy dish out the pasta.
“You’re home early,” I say to her quietly.
“I could smell this sauce from my barstool at the Anchor.”
“Where’s Heather, tonight?” I ask, and she frowns. Heather is the owner and head bartender at the Anchor, and she and Izzy have been on and off for a while now.
“Working,” she says gruffly, and I guess this is their “off” week. “She told me people are pissed that Gram’s place is being sold. Folks aren’t too happy with Kira.”
“Yeah, I got that impression from our neighbors.”
Izzy and I have a thing for the underdog. I don’t know her history but get the sense that she was bullied as a kid, the way I was by my brothers. Sometimes I can’t even understand why I try so hard with my family. It’s not like any of them think I know what I’m doing. But I’m not going to let that stop me. Fuck, with my background and education, I could get any CEO position with a snap of my fingers. But my great grandfather built this business—a strong, proud man who worked every day of his ninety-two years. I always admired his tenaciousness, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep this conglomerate thriving and profitable for the next generation of Lancasters, and for the people we employ.
“Don’t worry, though,” Izzy says. “I set her straight, and soon enough it will be all over town that Kira doesn’t want to sell but has to.”
I smile at her. “We can always count on Heather to get the word out.”
“Don’t think the folks around here aren’t going to do something about this.”
The lights dim again, and we all go still, but they flick back on. More pipes creak, and Kira hugs herself as she glances around like a mouse could jump on her any second.
Izzy sets the plates on the table, and we all eat. Conversation turns to work, as it usually does, but when I catch the way Kira is trying to follow along, but not able to, I change the subject.
“Do you guys know Kira has never played in the snow?”
“No fucking way?” Sam says. “When I was at the pumps getting fucked earlier, Frank told me a storm was coming soon.”
“His knees bothering him again?” Jason asks and we all chuckle.
“Seriously, you’ve never been tobogganing?” Cody asks, his brow furrowed like he can’t wrap his mind around that.
Kira finishes chewing, takes a sip of her beer, and says, “Never. I mean I’ve seen lots of snow in other places, but I grew up in Victoria, and we