Taming Fire (Braving the Heat #2) Page 4

  You have more flexibility with your job, Lou.

  You live alone and have a guest room. That’s better than Junior sleepi ng on my couch.

  You don’t have to worry about school. It would be easier for yo u to watch him.

  I don’t think having him around the dogs is a good idea. They are so big they could acciden tally hurt him.

  Even her parents, Junior’s grandparents, hadn’t offered to watch him while their son was getting treatment. The excuse her mom had used was that Poppy Ralph wasn’t used to kids being in the house anymore, and poor Junior would be in trouble more often than not.

  What really burned her biscuits was that Louise agreed. Her job as a yoga instructor was flexible. Her house had two guest rooms and a nice yard with plenty of space for Junior to play. She wasn’t in school like some of her siblings, so she didn’t need to juggle classes with daycare. Her dad was getting to be that grumpy old man who yelled at the neighborhood kids, and Junior would not be immune to his crotchety old ass. Everything they said made sense. The only problem was that it was getting old.

  Louise had always been there to bail out her family. She’d acted more as a second mom than an older sister. School functions, class projects, rides to games, and band practice, all of it had fallen on Louise. It was one of the reasons why she avoided serious relationships like the plague. Her last boyfriend had essentially been a man-child that just wanted someone to do his laundry and clean his house. It had ended almost as quickly as it had begun, leaving Louise alone but content in the knowledge that she wasn’t taking care of anyone but herself.

  A therapist would probably have a field day if she let one take a peek at the baggage that was weighing her down.

  Louise carried the plate of uneaten donuts and the cup of coffee into the house and sat at the table. Taking a bite of the large fluffy frosted deliciousness, she couldn’t help but moan in delight.

  Fuck men. Who needed them anyway when there were baked goods that could make her feel better with a simple bite?

  Picking up her phone to scan her social media for notifications, Louise jumped when it rang.

  Incoming ca ll: Momma Hazel

  Great, it was her mom. Her mom was the last person she wanted to talk to after telling sex on a stick to take a hike while she stuffed her face with carbs.

  “Hey, Mom,” she chirped.

  “Louise, I just got off the phone with your sister,” her mom said.

  Louise rolled her eyes. Oh great, here we go.

  “I know she planned to take Junior to the zoo tomorrow, but she really needs to catch up on laundry and some errands, so she needs to cancel.”

  Louise rubbed her forehead, already feeling the stress of the situation about to unfold. “Mom, I have stuff I need to get done too. Maggie can do her laundry another time. She promised Junior she was going to take him to the zoo. If she bails out on this, he will be crushed, and that’s not fair to him or to me.”

  “Now, Louise—”

  “I’m serious, Mom. I told her not to mention the zoo to him unless she was absolutely sure she could take him, and she made a promise to him and me that she would follow through on it. I have shit I need to get done as well and actually made plans for tomorrow since she promised that I would get a break. He’s been here for two entire weeks, and I haven’t had any help from the family. None at all.”

  “Maggie can’t help it that she’s had a rough week,” her mom argued but Louise wasn’t having any of it.

  “Maggie’s had a rough week? Mom, Junior has been here two weeks. I haven’t had a moment to myself to think much less get all the things I need done. The last thing I care about is letting Maggie have a break when she works part time and goes out drinking every weekend.”

  “Oh, she does not,” her mom sputtered.

  “I’ve seen the pictures myself on Facebook as recent as last night,” Louise pointed out, letting her voice get louder as she went on. “She was out with a group of friends at the Tinderbox. Look at her page if you don’t believe me, but don’t call me telling me what she needs when it means it’s going to screw me over.”

  “Oh please, Junior not going to the zoo isn’t the end of the world.”

  “Dear Lord, Mom, how long has it been since you’ve hung out with Junior? Every single thing is a big deal. He’s four years old! He’s been talking about the zoo since Maggie first mentioned it. And you know what, I just knew that she was going to pull shit like this, and I was going to have to clean up the mess.”

  Louise took a deep breath trying to calm down. When that didn’t work, she picked up the donut in front of her and took the biggest bite she could fit into her mouth. Focusing on chewing instead of the shit that her mom was spewing on the other end of the call, Louise realized something.

  Her family was a bunch of assholes.

  And part of the problem was that she had let them be assholes for too long without calling them on it.

  That was going to stop here and now.

  “Mom, first off…next time Maggie needs to tell me something then she needs to call me. Not you. She’s not a child anymore. She has the ability to dial my number just as much as you do.”

  “I don’t see—”

  “Second, we are going to need to have a family meeting. I know that everyone is busy, but I can’t do all of this by myself all of the time. I need a break just like everyone else, and that means y’all are going to need to step up and help out.”

  “Louise, you know that you’re the only one with a bedroom for Junior to stay in,” Hazel argued.

  “That’s bullshit,” Louise interrupted. “I know you don’t like me cussing, but I’m fed up with this entire thing. Maggie has an extra room, but it’s filled with crap, and she’s too lazy to clean it out. Josh also has a guest room, but for some reason nobody even thought about asking if Junior could stay with him. The point is…I’m not the only one that can help, and honestly, I shouldn’t be the only one exp ected to help.”

  “You’re not the only one who helps out—”

  Louise pulled the phone away from her ear, unable to listen to her mom any longer without screaming.

  “Mom, please tell Maggie that she either needs to show up tomorrow ready for the zoo or she needs to explain to Junior why she can’t take him. I’m not doing the dirty work for her,” Louise argued quickly, knowing she needed to get off the phone before she said something that she would regret.

  “Fine,” her mother bit out.

  “Good, I’ll talk to you later. Oh, and try to see if everyone can get together at the house next Saturday. You won’t need to cook or anything, I’ll just order pizza for everyone.”

  “What for?” Hazel asked, her voice sounding suspicious.

  “We need to have a come to Jesus meeting. I can’t be the one that always picks up the slack anymore. We need to figure out a schedule where I get help with Junior on the weekends or even some nights during the week. He can still stay here, but I need a break every now and then myself, and y’all are going to figure out a way to make it happen.”

  “Fine, I will see who can make it next Saturday.”

  “No, don’t ask. Tell them they need to be there. No excuses. You’ve done it before when we needed to go over family stuff, do it for me…please.” Louise tacked on the please hoping her mom would do as she asked.

  “Okay,” her mom agreed, sounding like she would rather chew glass than actually follow through. “By the way, I talked to your brother this morning.”

  “Really? How did that go? Does he think he will need to stay in for the entire recommended time, or does he think he might be out early? Why didn’t he call me?” Louise shot out the questions as quickly as she thought of them.

  “I don’t know any of that, Lou. He said he was doing fine and the food was crap and that’s about it.”

  “That’s it?” Louise pinched the bridge of her nose between her eyes, feeling a steady pressure building there the longer she spoke to her mom.

/>   “Oh, and he said to tell Junior that he loved him, and he was thinking about him every day,” her mom added as an afterthought. “Anyway, I’ll tell everyone you want to get together soon for some type of meeting. Although I don’t see what good it will do.”

  Ignoring the muttered ending to her mom’s phone call, Louise decided it was a good idea to wrap it up before she developed even more of a headache.

  “Thanks, I’ll talk to you later. Remind Maggie she needs to call and talk to Junior.” Without waiting for her mom to reply or argue, Louise hung up the phone.

  Folding her arms in front of her on the table, she buried her face in the space created.

  “Fuckballz,” she muttered into the fabric of her hoodie.

  Her family was crazy. They had to be. Her mom had never been one to be overly involved in her children’s lives, and Louise had always been there ready to dole out excuses for her lack of caring.

  Well, not anymore.

  She was done being the one they leaned on simply because she was the oldest. That excuse had worked when ten-year-old Louise had been put in charge of watching her siblings, regardless of how ill prepared she was. She couldn’t help but think that her mom kept having kids simply because Louise was there to take care of them.

  It’s not like her siblings were any different from her parents either. Louise couldn’t remember the last time one of them had called her just to say hi or see how she was doing. Phone calls only happened when they needed something…a ride, money to cover their bills, a favor. Her parents had ended up with, with the exception of herself, children that were exactly like them. Scary mirror images that were just as selfish and uncaring as they were. She knew that she was the oddball among them and had never been happier about it. In fact, it made her even more determined to show Junior how family was supposed to be.

  “Aunt LouLou, I’m hungry.” Junior’s voice came from the doorway to the hallway.

  “Hey buddy, c’mere.” Louise held out her arms to pull her nephew into her lap. “Which one do you want?”

  Junior studied the box of donuts in front of him, obviously unsure which one he should pick.

  “How about this…I’ll let you pick two for breakfast, but you have to eat all your veggies tonight at dinner. Deal?”

  “Deal.” Without any further negotiation, Junior grabbed the two biggest donuts out of the box and started eating.

  “Grandma Hazel just called and said she talked to your dad.” When Junior simply looked at her, she continued, “He said to tell you that he loves you so much, and he misses you every single day.”

  When Junior’s eyes filled with tears, Louise immediately went to his side and pulled him into a hug.

  “I’m getting frosting on your shirt.”

  “It’s okay, buddy. You just hug me until you’re ready to stop. Okay?”

  “Thanks, Aunt LouLou,” he said while rubbing his eyes with his tiny fists. Junior then gave her a smile…or at least tried to.

  After filling a glass with milk, Louise slid it in front of Junior while he continued to eat. “How would you feel about going with me to a barbecue tomorrow?”

  “Aunt Magpie is supposed to take me to the zoo,” Junior answered immediately before reaching for his drink.

  “Yeah, but it’s supposed to be a little colder tomorrow, and I know for a fact that the animals don’t like being out too much when it’s cold. Plus, my friends like to bake so there will be pies and cookies, and I’m sure there will even be cake,” Louise added, hoping that the promise of sweets might be enough to sway him over to her side. If she could get Junior to think that going with her to the barbecue was his choice, and not that he was being ditched, then it would be better for everyone in the long run.

  “I don’t want to make Aunt Magpie sad,” Junior mentioned, clearly torn.

  “How about we call her now and see if it’s okay?” Louise offered, already holding her phone with her finger over her sister’s icon.

  “That sounds okay,” Junior agreed.

  Louise gave him a thumbs-up as she mentally counted the amount of favors her sister Maggie now owed her. Maggie was the youngest girl in the family, not the baby but still close enough to it that her actions mainly annoyed the hell out of Louise. They had always been at odds while growing up. Maggie tended to overreact, thriving on whatever drama she could cause within the siblings.

  Where Louise thought of herself as a hard worker, paying her dues to get what she wanted and needed…Maggie was the opposite. In high school, when her sister wanted something, she took it. It didn’t matter that Louise had worked hard to be able to buy makeup and fun things that teenage girls liked. Maggie was the type to sneak into her room and take things without asking. She wasn’t just being a bratty little sister either. There had been a meanness to it, with Maggie even ruining certain items instead of giving them back when Louise had caught her red handed.

  But, she was her sister, and deep down she knew that no matter what, she loved that brat. She loved her, but that didn’t mean she had to like her.

  “Hey Mags…yeah, Mom called me. Did she call you back? No?” Louise gritted her teeth. Of course, her mom hadn’t called Maggie back to tell her she needed to clean up her own mess. Why had Louise thought that their discussion had changed anything? “Anyway, Junior has a question for you. No, just listen.”

  Handing the phone to her nephew, she smiled encouragingly when he held it to his little ear to speak.

  “Aunt Magpie? Is it okay if I go with LouLou tomorrow to a barbecue, and we can go to the zoo a different day?” Junior fiddled with the sugar from his donut on the plate, creating a mess out of a few misbegotten sprinkles. “Sure! Thanks, I love you too!”

  Louise took the phone back from him, wiping off the stickiness that he had managed to get all over the case before lifting it to her own ear. “Maggie?” When no response came, she realized her sister had already hung up.

  That figured.

  In her head, Louise thought, you’re welcome, you u ngrateful brat .

  “C’mon buddy. If we are going to be going to a party tomorrow, then we need to get all of our stuff done today.”

  “What do we need to do?”

  Louise took the empty plate off the table and rinsed it in the sink. “Well, first, we have laundry, which means that you need to collect all your dirty clothes and towels from the bathroom. Then, we need to run to the store for groceries for the next week or we won’t have anything for lunch.”

  “Can I still wear my pajamas?” Junior asked sweetly.

  “How about we wash those, so you can wear them tonight for bed?” Louise offered hoping to avoid a meltdown.

  “Okay!” Hopping up off his chair, Junior took off down the hall to his room.

  “Well, that was easier than I expected,” Louise tossed the washcloth that she was using to wipe down the counter.

  Today, she was going to get shit taken care of, just with a buddy to help her out. It couldn’t be that hard, right?

  Chapter 6

  Nix laughed deep and loud at his group of friends as they argued over the dartboard hanging in the bar. This had become their normal scene on a Saturday night when they were off shift. The guys and their women would grab a couple high-tops around the dartboard and spend a majority of the night playing and drinking.

  Everything was awesome except on this night. Nix felt like the third wheel…or technically the fifth wheel since there were two other couples in the group. It wasn’t like this was out of the ordinary by any means, but instead of joking and laughing, he was spending a majority of the night watching the other couples in the group.

  Will and Winter. Jasmine and Leo. Both couples were too sweet for words, and it was making him sick. That actually wasn’t true. It was making him jealous. Jealous as fuck. He was so tired of his normal game that he had gone through his phone earlier and started deleting contacts from his little black book aka his cell phone.

  What was his fucking problem?

>   “What’s your problem, boss?” Leo asked as he took the stool next to Nix at the table.

  Nix sipped his beer to cover up the fact that Leo had managed to catch him off guard. “Just tired. That’s all.”

  “I call bullshit.” Leo tipped his beer at the couple still playing darts. “Normally, you don’t pay much attention to them, but tonight I’ve caught you staring more than ever. You got a thing for Winter now?”

  Nix was offended at even the suggestion that Leo thought he would have his eye on one of his friends’ women. “Fuck no, man.”

  “Well then what is it?” Leo asked point blank.

  Nix rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, letting out a tired sigh. “I’m jealous.”

  “What did you say?” Leo leaned forward to hear better, glaring at the old school jukebox next to their area.

  “I’m jealous, alright?” The words came out louder than expected, causing a couple of people to look at the men with eyebrows raised.

  “Why?” Leo looked curious with no judgment showing on his face.

  “Because y’all are lucky sonofabitches.” Leo simply nodded at Nix’s words without argument. “I want what you guys have.”

  “So find it.” Leo shrugged.

  “It’s not that easy. The only women I’ve been around lately have been the women at the station. You know as well as I do that they aren’t settling down any time soon. I thought there was something maybe with the woman from the call the other day—”

  “The one with the broken gate?”

  “Yeah, but she shot me down.” Nix took a big gulp of his beer at the memory of Louise saying no.

  “Ouch, so move on. You always have a woman ready and willing to step in,” Leo pointed out.

  “I don’t want an easy lay.”

  “What about that one chick that came by the station with her friend the other day. She watched you for a while and didn’t seem like the type to make the rounds like Libby.”

  “The brunette? She was cute but seemed a little young.” Nix shook his head.

  “She was at least twenty-five. You’re only talking six years difference.” Leo tipped his bottle toward the door. “And look who just showed up with Libby. Go talk to her.”