Liv grabbed his dirty clothes off the floor and threw them into a hamper inside his closet. When she turned, her gaze landed on the four-by-six picture frame lying facedown on his bedside table. The sight no longer sent an ache deep in her chest or made her eyes blur with tears.
Now she looked at it with a numb sort of sadness and the hope that tomorrow would be the day the frame would be upright once again, and she would see her smiling son standing in between his father and Charlotte Knights’s first baseman Jimar Baker.
Drawing in a breath, she left her son’s room and rushed into the kitchen to make their lunches. Eight minutes later, Callie strode in as if she had all the time in the world. She plucked an apple out of a bowl sitting on the island and bit into it.
“Sandwich or salad?” Liv asked.
“Neither. Jessica wants to try the new sushi place that opened up close to the bookstore.”
Having finished her last day of college a week ago, Callie had three months before her architect position with Boone and Kaye Architecture and Design begins. She could have easily spent those ninety days lolling around Liv’s house.
Not her sister. When Callie wasn’t shelving books at the bookstore, she was volunteering her time at the women’s center, where Liv also volunteered. Her little sis might be a pain in Liv’s ass sometimes, but Callie had the work ethic of a Baby Boomer and a heart bigger than the sun.
“Need any money?”
“I’m good.” Callie took another bite. “Want me to cull through the candidates for you?”
Right before she left for the conference in Charlotte, she had allowed her sister to talk her into creating an account on one of the dating apps. It was time, she reasoned. Time to find love again. Find someone to share her and Brodie’s lives.
After Charlotte, she still wanted those things—more than ever—but now she couldn’t bring herself to view any of the matches piling up. Nor could she stop thinking about Zeke Blackwell. Unfortunately, if he agreed to work with the FBI, he would become taboo, romantically.
“I don’t have time to deal with men right now.”
“Two hours. Three hours tops. That’s all you need to meet and greet and do the vertical nasty. That should be enough to take the crank out of your style.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Drinks, wall sex, smile.”
“I’m not cranky because I need sex. I’m cranky because I live with two people whose sole purpose is to make me late for—” She glanced at the clock on the stove “—shit. Brodie!”
“Ow!” Callie reeled back. “Watch the ears.”
Liv shoved Brodie’s lunch into her sister’s arms. “Get into the vehicle, please.” She ran toward the bathroom, knowing even before she opened the door that there was no way he was still brushing his teeth. “Brodie, it’s go time.” Empty.
Inhaling a long, calming breath, she prayed for extreme patience. Somehow, some way, she would figure out how to get her boy back outside if it was the last thing she did.
She smacked her hand against his open bedroom door. “Brodie, if you’re not buckled up in one minute, I’m taking away your game for an entire month.”
Standing and playing, he dropped the controller and snatched his backpack off his bed. “Sorry, Mom!” He tore out of the house.
Liv fast-walked to a computer nook off the family room, where her suit jacket, handbag, and keys were waiting. She knifed her arms through her jacket, one at a time, covering her service weapon. Most of her neighbors had no idea what she did for a living, and she was happy to keep them in the dark.
She checked the front and back door locks again before exiting the house through the mudroom, hitting the garage door button on her way out. She climbed into the driver’s seat.
Halfway down the driveway, Brodie yelled, “Wait! I forgot my calculator.”
“You’re going to have to borrow someone’s.”
“But I have a test. The teacher won’t let us share during tests.”
Liv slammed on the brake and hit a button to stop the garage door’s descent. “Same warning. You have one minute.”
Brodie took off, and Liv’s head fell against the headrest. “I’m so going to get fired.”
“Sex is a great stress reliever.”
Damned if Callie’s words didn’t conjure the feeling of Zeke’s phantom lips working their way down her thigh. Filling her lungs with air, she gave her sister a sidelong look. She had no doubt Callie was sexually active, but she didn’t need the reminder.
“So I’ve heard.” Callie flung her apple core out the window. “Don’t worry, I’ll pick it up later.”
A heavy sigh escaped Liv’s lips as she raised her head and watched Brodie scrambling back to their vehicle. Maybe her little sister was right. Maybe she should set up another one-nighter. Be with someone who could excise the tension from her body and Zeke Blackwell from her mind.
Sensing victory, Callie smiled and tapped several buttons on her phone. “I’ll find someone who’ll take good care of you, Sis.”