“That’s my girl,” Quinn said with a smile as they entered the bright kitchen.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee teased him into thinking maybe this was going to be a normal morning, but he knew normal was about to take on a drastically different meaning from now on.
“Me color,” Ella said, pointing to the child’s play table and chairs. He helped her settle into a chair.
“Uncle Zake color?” He would have loved to join her. He glanced over at Holly, who was standing at the large island in the middle of the kitchen, watching him.
“Sorry, sweetie. I have to speak to your mom and dad. Why don’t you draw me a picture?”
Ella stared at him for a moment. “Uncle Zake in trouble?”
“Huge trouble,” Quinn called out.
Jake turned to glare at him, then gave a smile to Ella. “No, I’m fine. Don’t worry. You draw and then show me your picture when you’re done, okay?”
Ella nodded, picking up her pack of crayons.
He settled himself down at the large island and Holly shoved a coffee in his direction.
He opened his mouth, about to start talking, when he heard the front door open. Evan shouted out a hello. Jake cursed under his breath. This was beginning to turn into a circus, and he was starting to feel like the stupid elephant wearing the pink tutu.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the runaway Manning father,” Evan said, sauntering into the kitchen with a too-wide grin on his face. Jake glared at him while he kissed Holly and Ella on the cheek.
“Uncle Zake, big trouble,” Ella said with a worried frown.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Uncle Jake is always in big trouble.”
Ella’s brow furrowed and then she went back to coloring. Even his niece was beginning to think he was a screwup. Holly poured Evan a coffee and despite Jake’s frosty greeting, he plunked down at the bar stool beside him.
“Thanks,” Jake said. He loved his brothers, he really did. He couldn’t have asked for better brothers. Even when he’d let them down, they’d welcomed him back into their lives without question. That was part of the reason he was here now, willing to participate in his own beheading, because he respected them, and despite everything, he knew they would have his back.
“Okay, boys,” Holly said sternly, pointing her index finger at Quinn and Evan. “No teasing.” Evan was already on his BlackBerry and Quinn held his hands up in surrender.
“Give me the full story, Jake,” she said, leaning forward opposite him on the island. He looked into her reassuring green eyes and suddenly felt compelled to spill everything. Is this what women did?
“The night of your wedding we, uh—” He coughed and then took a sip of his coffee. “Sort of got a room together.”
“So you used Holly and Quinn’s wedding as an opportunity to fornicate,” Evan said while thumb-typing.
Jake glared at Evan. “Fornicate?”
Evan looked up from his BlackBerry, shaking his head condescendingly. “Fornication. There is a child in the room, Casanova. I’m trying to use words she won’t be able to repeat.”
“Pornication!” Ella yelled out. Holly’s mouth dropped open, and Quinn choked on his coffee. They all slowly turned to look at Ella, who was grinning at them.
“That’s not a word, sweetie. Uncle Evan likes to make things up,” Quinn said.
Ella nodded and then held her index finger to her lips. “Shhhh.”
If he hadn’t been the subject of the conversation he might have laughed.
“Can we try and keep our voices down and keep this PG, please?” Holly whispered. They all nodded. Jake muttered a curse at Evan. Evan gave him a smile that told him exactly how much he was enjoying this.
“Okay, back it up. You and Claire slept together the night of our wedding?” Quinn asked in a hushed voice.
Jake nodded.
“Why didn’t she tell me?” Holly whispered. Jake could tell she was hurt. He knew those two probably told each other everything.
Jake shrugged. “It wasn’t really planned and—”
“Wait a second, Jake,” Holly said, giving him a look that sent all the small hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention. Who knew how scary his five-foot-five sister-in-law could be? “Didn’t you leave for that project on the West Coast the next morning?”
He swallowed. Hard. Then nodded. Holly had joined the Manning business as a senior designer, and since she was married to Quinn, she knew everything that went on. She also knew he didn’t have to leave at the crack of dawn that morning.
“But you called her, right?”
He watched as Quinn backed away from the island, out of Holly’s line of vision, and was nodding his head in an exaggerated motion. Jake frowned at him—he couldn’t lie. Quinn was sliding his finger across his throat like a knife. Evan looked up, snorted a laugh, and then went back to his BlackBerry. Holly turned to glare at Quinn, who quickly dropped his arm and took a sip of coffee.