Now, with Tesha in tow, Reese was heading back to Brantley’s house … er … their house. He figured it would take some time to think of it that way. When he was there, it felt like home. Or it would once Brantley actually let him furnish it like he’d promised.
The thought of furniture reminded him they were set to have dinner with Brantley’s parents on Saturday night. No sooner had he agreed when Brantley was on the phone with his mother, nailing down a time. Just the thought of meeting Iris and Frank Walker, Jr. for the first time was daunting. Of course, he was fairly certain he’d met them at some point, but it would’ve been in passing at one function or another that Curtis and Lorrie had held.
“We’re gonna meet some folks this weekend,” he told Tesha, who was curled up in the passenger seat. “Important folks.”
The dog paid him no mind.
“Question is, what’ll I cook?” He stared out the window, eyebrows furrowing. “What do they even like? Are they allergic to anything? Do they eat meat? Dairy?” His fingers tightened on the wheel. “Shit.”
Reese could feel the panic coming on, but he choked it down. It was going to be fine. Brantley had assured him. He could figure it out tomorrow, get a menu in place. Plenty of time to get his head on straight, too.
By the time he was pulling into the driveway, Reese had settled himself by reciting algebra tables. It always worked.
“All right, you ready to get the full tour of your new house?”
He climbed out, waited for Tesha to follow only to learn the dog had no intention of getting out. At least not without being coaxed.
“You’re gonna be fine,” he assured the dog. “Why don’t we go in, grab some dinner, then I’ll give you a tour of HQ. Maybe I can convince Brantley to put in a dog door out there, give you free rein to come and go as you please.”
Reese doubted it had anything to do with what he said, rather how he said it, but it finally worked. Tesha hopped down from the truck, then waited patiently for Reese to show her what to do next.
He gave the dog a moment to do her business, then led the way into the house, where the scent of food wafted his direction, reminding him it had been a long day and it’d been quite some time since they’d had lunch.
Brantley stepped out of the kitchen, smiled. “I hope you’re hungry”—his head tilted down—“Tesha.”
“So, what? You’ll cook dinner for her but leave me to cook for the two of us?” Reese teased, relaxing as he’d come to do around Brantley.
“You’re a better cook than I am,” Brantley stated. “Can you really blame me?”
“True.”
“Not even gonna argue,” Brantley grumbled, leaning down to pat Tesha’s boney head. “What’s the news on our girl?”
Reese went on to relay what Kennedy had told him.
“What you’re tellin’ me is she’s gonna be fine. Eventually.”
“Let’s hope.”
“Well, for now, we’ll get you some dinner. Maybe a bath.”
Reese laughed. “You’re gonna bathe the dog?”
“I didn’t say that. But I’m not above ordering you to do so.”
“Right.” Reese headed for the refrigerator, grabbed a beer. “I saw Baz’s truck outside. He still here?”
Brantley nodded, stirred what looked like pasta and vegetables on the stove. “I made him the lead on this online group case.”
“That was smart.”
Brantley cut his gaze over. “You sure?”
Reese tipped his beer bottle to his lips. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“No reason. I just didn’t mention it to you before I did it, that’s all.”
“And you don’t have to.” Reese moved around the island, took a seat on a stool. Tesha came to sit at his feet. “You’re the boss.”
“I like to think of us as a team.”
“Well, someone’s gotta make the decisions. God knows you can’t leave it to the rest of us. Nothin’ll ever get done.”
“Speakin’ of decisions.” Brantley opened the cabinet, pulled out two plates. “JJ’s eager for us to hire more people.”
“And?”
Those stormy blue eyes cut over to him again. “And I’d like your input.”
“I haven’t given it much thought. It just got approved. Did you have someone in mind?”
Brantley slid one of the plates over to him, then leaned back against the counter, holding the other as he began to eat.
“JJ mentioned Trey.”
“Your brother?”
“You know another one?”
Reese grinned, holding his fork midway to his mouth. “Maybe I do, smart-ass.”
That got a chuckle from Brantley. “Yes, my brother.”
Was Trey qualified? Now that Reese thought about it, he had no idea what any of Brantley’s siblings did. He’d never bothered to ask, so he did so now.
Brantley grinned. “You wanna know what they all do?”
“You act like I haven’t picked up a few details about them,” Reese told him.
“What have you learned?”
“Their names, for one,” he answered before taking a pull on his beer. “Bryn, Sadie, Tori, Griffin, Cal, and Trey. And yes, I know I bungled the order. So yeah, I think I can handle their occupations.”
