Room at the Top (18 page)

“Hello.” Jay sounded cautious. “Liam? Is everything okay?”

“Hello, Jay. Actually, that’s why I was calling you. I wanted to see how Austin was. Is he there?”

Better to find out right away if the subject of their discussion was in the room.

“Um, no. He went over to his mom’s house to talk to her. You know, about April. He’s okay. Nervous about how she’s going to take it.”

“If Austin didn’t tell her, she wouldn’t find out?” Liam asked.

He could practically hear Jay nodding. “Yeah. Unless she got some kind of receipt in the mail, I guess, but April’s probably been getting rid of stuff like that for months.”

“And how was… Wait. Is it all right with you if we discuss him like this? I don’t want to put you in an uncomfortable position.”

Jay snorted. “You love putting me in uncomfortable positions. But yeah, it’s okay. As long as you’re not asking me to keep it a secret or anything.”

“No, I wouldn’t do that.” Liam definitely didn’t want to do anything that might risk damaging Austin and Jay’s relationship. “I was just hoping to get a feel for how you thought he was, both in general and in regard to last night’s session.”

“April stresses him out,” Jay said slowly. “She always does that, the whole time I’ve known him. I don’t think that’s going to change unless she does, and I’m kind of thinking that’s not going to happen.”

“She’s still young.” Liam felt he was being charitable.

“I don’t care. I don’t even know if I like her because I’m so sick of seeing how she knots Austin into a pretzel.” Jay sighed. “Anyway, I guess I’m trying to say that he isn’t any more freaked out about her than he ever is.”

“Which isn’t saying much.”

“Nope.” Jay brightened. “But hey, on the plus side, he was way more relaxed last night. Maybe not perfect, but he really needed it. Thanks for being flexible on the time issue. I know it wasn’t the night you were expecting.”

“I don’t think it was the night any of us was expecting,” Liam said ruefully. “I’m just glad we were able to salvage something from it.”

There was a pause, then Jay asked, “Um, what about you? Were you okay with it?”

Damn
. Liam had hoped Jay would be so focused on Austin that this issue wouldn’t come up. “Fine. Unless you’re talking about the fact that you both came without my permission, in which case I can’t say I was pleased. I expect more control from you than that.”

“Yes, Sir. It won’t happen again.” As Liam had hoped, the accusation snapped Jay back into sub mode.

“Good. Then I’ll see you both on Friday. Have a good week, Jay. Behave yourself.”

Chapter Eleven

Austin waited to show up at his mom’s house until after six on Saturday night. She worked on Saturdays in addition to all week, so Sunday was her only day off. He felt guilty as hell giving her the bad news about April right before the one day she could really relax, but at least he was doing it in person and not on the phone. His mom had a phone thing. She really, really didn’t like talking on it unless it was totally necessary.

Her car was in the driveway when he pulled up in front of the house, looking none the worse for wear after its evening in impound.

He still hadn’t settled on how to enter the house. After living in it most of his life, it felt natural to just walk in without knocking or anything, plus he still had a key. But he didn’t live there anymore. He lived with Jay now.

Deciding on knocking and then opening the door without waiting for an answer, Austin stuck his head inside. “Mom?”

“Austin? Is that you, honey? I’m in the kitchen.” She was almost always in the kitchen when she was home, unless she was sleeping. She had a tiny television set up in one corner and would watch the news while she cooked, sometimes reading a magazine at the same time. His mom was a mistress of multitasking.

“Hi. Sorry I didn’t call or anything.” Austin went over to kiss his mother’s cheek, and she hugged him tightly before turning back to the stove where she was tending a pot of some kind of thick stew.

“You don’t have to call! I’m just glad to see you.”

“You aren’t going to be once I tell you why I’m here.”

His mom frowned and put a hand on her hip. “What did she do this time?”

Austin gave her a rueful glance. “Why do you assume it’s her, not me?”

“Because you’ve never given me a moment’s worry and she’s never given me anything else.” Sarah sighed. “Listen to me. I love her; you know I do. She’s my baby girl. Always will be. But she’s not easy to get close to. Goodness knows I’ve tried.”

“Growing up with no dad and all of us boys teasing her—”

“You and your brothers grew up with no dad too,” she said sharply. “Sean and Tim were only babies themselves. They don’t remember him. You do, and Chad, but not them. And if making sure she always had the biggest slice of cake, the first pick of any treat is teasing, well, things have changed since I was growing up with your uncles.”

Austin walked over to the coffeepot and poured himself a mug, adding milk and sugar, moving around the kitchen without thinking about it because everything was where it’d always been. “April’s going through a difficult age.”

“She’s been going through that since she was a baby. Go on, tell me what she’s done now.” Sarah’s hand tightened on the spoon, her back stiffening as if she was preparing herself for a blow.

Austin put his coffee down untouched and went to her, hugging her again. “I took care of it,” he said, stepping back after dropping a kiss on her cheek. “It was just some parking tickets.”

She smiled at him doubtfully. “Oh. Oh well, if that’s all… They don’t make it easy for you, those people. I was over the line by no more than six inches once and came back to find a ticket on the windshield. She should be more careful, of course, but that’s not so bad. I’ll make sure she goes out with plenty of change for the meter.”

If only it was that simple, but either way Austin was doing what he always did: protecting his mother from the realities of life. She’d had enough, raising five kids on her own, always working at least two jobs. She deserved a little cushioning now and then. “How are you? How’s work?”

He always asked those questions because answering them guaranteed her focus for at least a few minutes.

“Oh, you know. Jennifer, at work, she’s fighting with her husband again. Every time I think maybe she won’t go back to him this time, but every time she turns around and disappoints me. I don’t know why his family lets him get away with it. She’s such a sweet girl, you’d think one of his brothers would say something to him about it.”

“Maybe they have,” Austin said.

“Maybe,” she agreed. “The doctor thinks my new cholesterol medication is helping this time.”

“That’s great, Mom. What’s in the pot, anyway?”

“Oh, something new. Caribbean something or other, with pineapple. I get so bored of the same things all the time, and you know your brothers will eat anything. April, I think she lives on air.”

“Smells good. Hey, why don’t you sit down and let me take care of that?” Austin took the spoon from her hand.

Sarah sat at the table, brushing crumbs from it as if staying still was impossible. “You’re a good boy,” she said fondly.

Austin blushed, his fair skin betraying him. He turned back to the pot of stew so he could blame his flushed skin on the heat rising from it. How many times had Liam used those words to him? It felt wrong to be standing here with his mother, his body tingling at the thought of Liam, but he couldn’t help it. The man was difficult to forget, and Austin found himself thinking about Liam at the oddest moments. Fucking Jay and seeing the marks on his ass that Liam had put there—that was a reasonable moment to recall Liam’s blue eyes and lean, strong body. Booking an appointment for Mr. Shelby to get eight stitches removed from a cut hand, less so, even if Mr. Shelby’s first name was William and he’d never lost his English accent after forty years in the US.

A comfortable silence fell, broken by a burst of loud music from outside.

Sarah frowned. “That’ll be your sister now. She’s been out with that Kyle again. I don’t like him.”

Austin grinned. Kyle, despite his habit of driving around with his car windows down and hip-hop music playing loud enough to be heard a mile away, was okay. In fact, compared to some of April’s former boyfriends, he was a keeper. At least his car belonged to him, not someone else who wasn’t aware it was missing. “You mean you don’t like his mother.”

“Who would?” Sarah asked. “Vacationing in Hawaii! And we all know how she pays for them.”

“Mom…” Before he could point out that Kyle’s mom had come into a nice chunk of money after an insurance payout following an industrial injury that had left her in the hospital for a week, the door swung open.

April’s face tightened immediately, her gaze darting from Austin to her mother, panic and anger clear on her face.

“There you are, sweetie,” Sarah said, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Just in time to set the table. The place mats are in the dining room.”

The phone rang in the hallway, and Sarah hurried to get it, calling back over her shoulder, “This had better be Alice telling me she’s changed her mind about joining the book club. I’m not going on my own, and she owes me.”

Alone with his sister, Austin gave the stew a quick stir, then turned the heat down. “Hey.”

April glared at him, her hostility mixed with suspicion. “You didn’t tell her what her darling daughter did now to shame the family name? Or are you saving that for the dinner table and a bigger audience?”

“Don’t blame me if you feel guilty,” Austin told her. He’d decided earlier that afternoon, bouncing ideas off Jay, to do his best to be nice to her because being mean sure didn’t seem to change anything. “I downplayed it, okay? I told her you had some parking tickets and I helped you get it straightened out, that’s all.”

She didn’t look convinced. “Why would you do that?”

“What, help you out? I don’t know, maybe because you’re my sister?” He knew he was being obtuse, but something about it amused him.

“No, I mean why wouldn’t you tell her the truth?”

Austin sighed. “Because it’d just make her feel bad, and I hate doing that. Why don’t you?”

For once April looked genuinely hurt at the thought of having caused someone else pain. “I do. It’s just…I have to live my life. I can’t do whatever she wants me to forever. I’m not a little kid anymore. She has to let me grow up.”

“Yeah, but growing up means being responsible for your mistakes,” Austin pointed out, “not expecting your family to bail you out.”

“It was just some
parking tickets
.” April was dismissive, irritated. “You make it sound like I murdered someone or…or got caught selling heroin or something. Besides which you weren’t even the one to pay the stupid fine. Who was that guy, anyway? Jay’s dad?”

Austin shook his head. “Jay’s dad lives like a thousand miles away and doesn’t give a shit about him, let alone me. We’ve had this conversation before. Maybe you’d remember it if you weren’t so self-absorbed.”

“Give me a break, would you? You can’t seriously expect me to memorize every detail of your boyfriend’s life. I’ll bet you don’t even know who I’m dating.”

“Kyle, right?” Austin tried not to gloat and failed.

Their mother came back into the kitchen and frowned. “I thought you were going to set the table.”

“That would involve going into the other room,” April said sweetly. “I was busy talking to my big brother about a friend of his I met the other night.” She gave Austin a triumphant look behind Sarah’s back.

“Oh, that’s nice, dear.” Sarah wasn’t really listening, Austin didn’t think. “You two can talk more over dinner.”

“Sure can,” April said. She smiled brightly at Austin. “Has Mr. Suit got a name? Or do his friends call him Sugar Daddy?”

Austin eyed April sourly. So much for being nice.

He managed to change the subject by asking his mother about her latest gardening project. She was sort of adorable about it. She had the blackest of black thumbs, killing almost every plant she focused her attention on, but remained cheerful that she’d figure it out sooner or later. Currently she was trying to coax a wilted blueberry bush back from the dead. “It was in the clearance section, and it didn’t have very many leaves left, but it was only three dollars so I figured it was worth a try.” Sarah put her hands on her hips and surveyed the countertop. “Okay, dinner’s ready to go through.”

“Want me to make the call?” Austin asked.

“That would be nice.”

He went around through the dining room to the foot of the stairs and shouted, “Dinner!” Years of training warned him to get out of the way, and it was a good thing because less than a minute later, his two youngest brothers came thundering down the stairs. He could remember a time when it had been all of them, with April sliding behind one step at a time, skirt hiked up almost to her waist with the friction from the thin carpet on the steps.

“Thought that was you,” Sean said, entering the dining room. “What are you doing here?”

Austin began to set the table. “Just came to check in, make sure you aren’t getting into any trouble.”

“Just wanted a free meal, more like,” Tim said and brushed past him on his way to the kitchen, where the food was still waiting to be carried through.

“Actually I’m not staying for dinner,” Austin said, though the smell was tempting as the dishes were placed on the dining table.

“What? You have to stay. Look how much I made!” Sarah sounded aggrieved.

Austin grinned as everyone settled into their seats. “You always make too much. You think you’re still feeding a crowd of starving teenagers.”

“Speak for yourself,” Tim said, piling his plate high with rice and stew. “I’m always starving.”

“Wait till your metabolism slows down,” Austin told him, taking his seat. “Then you’re screwed.”

“Right, the voice of experience.” Sean rolled his eyes and patted Austin’s flat stomach. “Size of a house. Hey, where’s Jay?”

“Working. He’s got a competition coming up, and he’s, like, 90 percent finished with the diorama. Which means the last 10 percent will take twice as many hours as he’s already put into it because he likes to get everything perfect.”