I shuffled my butt deeper into my parent’s cushioned dining chair, creating a comfortable groove for myself as the smell of roast beef laced the air of my family home. This evening could take a long-ass time. And I never appreciated the unrivaled luxury of a padded ass as much as I did on Mom’s family dinner night. I’d say they were drawn out, but that would undersell the weekly occasion.
They were relaxed, extended, protracted… To be fair, they were pretty much epic, and somehow Mom seemed to always have enough food for leftovers, a smile wider than the Grand Canyon, and unending patience for the uninterrupted stream of voices, raucous comments, and a family that seemed to grow bigger each year.
I glanced at everyone around the table—the familiar faces I’d grown up with, the bodies they’d grown into. Although, possibly Grady never would grow up. If I waited for him to start acting like an adult, I could be waiting a long time. Maybe the children in his class were lucky he’d forgotten that essential part of life, though. I rolled my eyes a little before dismissing my flash of irritation. Being happy all the time wasn’t obnoxious, and we’d all benefited from a Grady mood-lightening comment or pick-me-up. Still, the fact he had next to no parental pressure on any given day grated just a little. He almost skated through life, hassle-free.
Man, my brothers were loud. I should have been used to it, but it just felt like, every time we met, the volume increased, and the competition to be heard grew a little.
I could do without that competition today.
Pursing my lips, I waited for the right time to tell everyone—although if I waited for the right time, I could theoretically wait forever. I poured some more ice water into the heavy bottomed tumblers Mom always set out on the perfectly laid table, and swirled it around, watching the ice clink together.
“You okay over there, Jamie?”
I glanced up, startled to hear my name over all the hubbub and Grady’s latest joke.
Mom had one eyebrow raised—the usual quizzical look she wore when she believed there was information she didn’t know. She lifted it a notch higher, and I sighed.
Sweet Jesus, somewhere along the line the woman had missed her calling as a CIA operative or a human lie detector. No one would ever need to doubt my sincerity in life, that was for sure. All they’d ever need to do was have me look into Vanessa Caldwell’s eyes as she interrogated me. The sharp surgeon’s gaze she hadn’t lost when she retired bored into me.
“Yeah, sure. No problem, Mom.” I grinned and raised my shoulders in a nonchalant shrug, trying to bluff it out despite her unnerving talent for truth finding. Fuckwit. I knew better than that because my carefree denial I had anything to discuss had sealed the deal and my fate—I saw it the moment her eyes narrowed.
She nudged Dad. “I think Jamie has something he wants to tell us.”
As if she’d sounded a klaxon, the room fell silent, and my skin blistered under the heat of every gaze on me.
“Oh?” Dad leaned back in his seat and lifted his wine glass to his lips as he watched me.
Saint glanced between Mom and Dad then his gaze settled on me.
“Yeah.” I glanced down, suddenly nervous, but before I could tell anyone anything, the chatter of my other siblings rose around us once more as if sealing Mom, Dad, Saint, and me in a bubble.
All my life, I’d been desperate to impress them all. Mon, Dad, Saint… maybe especially Saint. It’d been a risky move to follow my second oldest brother into law—especially when Saint and his business partner owned a such a successful law practice at a relatively young age. He’d made Mom and Dad so proud, despite their own achievements. Maybe in spite of them. They certainly seemed to expect to have created more than their fair share of genius babies with high aspirations and achievement potential.
Saint continued to watch me, his gaze growing thoughtful, and I stiffened with sudden realization. He was about to spoil my surprise. That shitbag.
“You know…” He straightened a cuff, the gesture of a confident man. “We’re sitting right at the time of year when they give out the intern group results.”
And there it was. I couldn’t even break my own news these days. Damn brothers. I could almost guarantee someone had always done everything else first. Nothing had ever been just