I keep my eyes on Michael, waiting for him to meet mine. I know he’s running circles in his mind about how to diffuse this. After a few seconds, he looks up at me, and I just smile at him, telling him I got this.
“We can talk about it at Monday’s marketing meeting, but Michael had my approval. It’s on me that I didn’t bring it up yet. I’ve been...distracted trying to get the spring loungewear back from the new manufacturer, and I forgot to clear it with you. I told Michael just to move forward.”
I don’t meet Michael’s attention, even though I can feel him staring at me, wondering why I’m going to bat for him.
“Ev, ya know…” In true Law fashion, he huffs and pauses for added drama. “Fine. It’s not like I don’t like the direction, I just don’t like being the last person to know about a change that, technically, I need to approve before it happens.”
Law drops into the chair next to mine, giving me a look as he scans my outfit. “Why do you look dressed up?”
“I’m not! I already told Dad it’s just a new sweater, and I’m wearing jeans!”
I hear shuffling and clanking in the kitchen, and I know Henry is finally moving dinner along. I’d rather go see if he needs help and avoid any more discussion about work or the motivation behind my clothing choices today. Law is easy to talk into things, but he’s not a dummy. He knows full well why I’m not wearing my typical Sunday dinner uniform of black yoga pants and a sweatshirt.
“If you’re not in here to help, then get out,” Henry grunts from behind the stove.
“I’ll put the salad together. Pass me the cutting board from the wall over there.” I pull out the lettuce, cucumbers, and celery from the refrigerator and rinse them.
“You still entertaining those Olympic guys tonight, or do we have your charming attention all to ourselves?” I look up at Henry while peeling the cucumber. He pokes the popovers from the oven and starts cutting pads of honey butter to place over the top of each one. It smells so good here, like bread, cinnamon, and bacon had a salty and sweet carby baby.
Henry is complicated. A grumpy asshole most of the time, but he looks out for me. He’s my protector, and truly the most selfless out of all of us. It takes a while to get to that part of him, but once you’re there, it’s like you’ve reached the inner circle. His short answers and grunts keep a lot of people at work in line. He can be scary if he needs to be, and it’s nice to not be the only one that can be intimidating when needed.
I’m drooling over the little muffin-like bread he just pulled out of the oven, as the smell mixes deliciously with the smoked meat that’s resting on the counter. Cooking is Henry’s love language. I look forward to the Sunday dinners when he’s the one in the kitchen, which tends to be a lot of them since the rest of us are a bit more basic with our meal planning.
“Those Olympic guys are the ones who are going to triple our Q4 profits, so yeah, if they call me and want me to go out with them, then I’m gonna do it, Ev.”
“I know, I know.”
Henry oversees all aspects of our Winter Sports business. Everything from the gear we sell, the brands we carry, to the excursions we cater to, like snowboarding, heli-skiing, powder cats, and fat biking. You name it, Henry does it. He’s brought out some of the world’s best in competitive sports to promote our adventures and to show him a thing or two. He says it’s the best way to stay on top of everyone else. He and Michael work together a lot on building excursions or adventures since they’re the ones planning the core sport, and they’ve done some crossover things too, like ice climbing, that have gotten a ton of attention.
I look up at him, gauging his mood tonight. He looks like he’s in a decent mood compared to others. “Did you get Milo back from the wildebeest yet?”
He glances over at me, and I can see the sadness splash over his face. It quickly disappears, and he bites back at me, “Ev, I’m not in the mood to talk about her.”
“I’ll take that as a no. If you want, I can hire someone to just break into her house while she’s working, and they could just take my furry nephew back. I bet she wouldn’t even notice.”
“He’s being taken care of. She may be the worst person on the planet, but she treats that dog better than she ever treated me, so I’m not too worried.”
Before I can say anything else, he grabs the cutting board that holds the slab of meat and heads toward the dining table. “Food’s ready!”
I carry the basket of heavenly-smelling popovers and see that G has finally arrived. She’s talking with her hands at my dad as he pours her a drink. Michael sits down across from where I usually sit and waits as everyone else makes their way over. “You good?”
Without looking up from pouring water into his cup, he smiles. “Yes, Everly.”
“Everly!” Giselle sing-songs over to me with a big glass of red wine in one hand and the other stretched out for a hug. “Why are you dressed up? Got a hot date after this?”
Before I can say anything, Law chimes in, trying to mimic how I speak. “She said she just wanted to wear anew sweater.”
We both look up at the sounds of a motorcycle coming up the driveway. Law smiles at me and says, “But I think she’s full of it, and she’dhopedthat Jack was going to come tonight.”
“What are you talking about? Seriously, Law, you’re going to start a thing when there isn’t a thing. I can look nice for dinner. Henry isn’t wearing sweats. Wait, Henry, why aren’t you wearing sweats?” I change the subject brilliantly and crane my neck back to my burly brother. Now everyone is focused on Henry and his worn jeans and charcoal gray dress shirt.
Before anyone can press Henry further, Law yells toward the front door, “Come on in!”
Jack waltzes into my father's house with a bottle in a velvet bag in one hand and some kind of boxed dessert in the other. I’m instantly heated. My cheeks are flushed.Helooks like dessert, in all honesty. His black leather moto jacket over a white Henley shirt and jeans. I’m practically biting my fist as I take him in.
“Jack, I know you know most of this crew by now, but you haven’t been introduced to my father, Asher Riggs.”
My dad stands from his seat as Jack makes his way across the room to the head of the table. “Pleasure is all mine, sir.”