“Me? No.”
“You’re like your father was,” she said. “Oh, he would fall in love so easily.”
“I think we all fall in love easily,” Levi said as he walked from the table to the kitchen.
“Yeah, with the stuff between your legs,” Aunt Athena said.
“That’s the best way to do it,” Zac said. “You fall in love and then fall right out.”
“Unless you fall in love for a second or third time,” Brett said with a laugh.
Aunt Athena reached for a powder blue dish towel swung it at Brett a few times.
Levi chuckled. “She hates hearing that. She wants us all to settle and have a big family.”
“Is that wrong?” Aunt Athena asked. “A little baby to hold and take care of?”
Reese’s mind went right back to the pregnancy test he found in Josie’s bag. She was pregnant, and it certainly wasn’t his. They hadn’t been together in years.
“Hey, you okay?” Levi asked Reese.
Reese cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’m… yeah.”
“Let’s go have a smoke,” Levi said.
“Those will kill you,” Aunt Athena said.
“So will greasy bacon,” Levi said.
“Don’t you say anything bad about my cooking.”
“Never would, Auntie,” Levi said. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.
Reese touched her arm and smiled. “Thank you for the food.”
“You should get some rest. And clear your mind.”
“You got it,” Reese said.
“The rest of you,” Aunt Athena said, “Clean up or I’ll shoot you in the ass.”
They all laughed, but Reese was pretty sure she wasn’t joking.
Now that breakfast was over, it was time to talk about what was really going on.
* * *
“You knowthey were just fucking with us, right?” Levi asked.
“Of course,” Reese said. “But as I was leaving, Josie gave me her bag.”
“Josie, huh?” Levi asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Don’t give me shit for that right now, Levi.”
“I’m not saying a word.”
“Listen to me. She gave me her bag because one of the girls had some shit. And Josie took it. She freaked out and thought she was going to get busted.”