Page 71 of Jesse

But it’s interrupted by Emma’s mom. “Now you don’t have to come every Saturday night like my boys, Mr. Boston,” Emma’s mom says. “But I would appreciate it if you could have a regular schedule so I know how much food to make. So would you prefer the first and third Saturdays? Or the second and fourth? Sometimes there’s a fifth, but not often. So I’ll let those slide.”

“Mom,” Emma says. “This is Jesse Boston, for fuck’s sake.”

“Mouth, Emma,” her mother snaps.

“He’s not gonna fly down here twice a month to have dinner with a strange family.”

“Uh,” I say, holding up a hand. “I’d actually love to come. Thank you, Mrs. Dumas. I’ll take second and third, if that’s OK.”

She walks towards me, pats my cheek as she beams me a smile, and says, “That’s perfect. And you’re very welcome. You should bring your brother Johnny too. I bet he’d like a nice home-cooked meal.”

I take a moment to picture Johnny down here having dinner with me and then unexpectedly laugh. “Sure,” I say. “I’ll bring Johnny.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - EMMA

After that awkward moment, I usher Jesse outside the dive shop and say, “This way.”

“What are we doing?” he asks. “We didn’t even grab equipment.”

“Would you just let me handle things?” I say.

“Would I just let you? You’ve been handling them all freaking day.”

“I am the boss,” I say, then glance at him to see if he finds that funny or annoying.

He catches my look, so I quickly shift my eyes, and grin. Funny, I think.

“I’m gonna call you Little Miss Sassy from now on. You sassy little—”

“Oh, my God. Shut up already.”

“—bossy girl,” he finishes. “Which, by the way, I can’t find it in me to hold that against you.”

“No?” I ask, looking both ways so we can cross the street to the marina. “Why’s that?”

“Because holy fucking shit. Your whole family is nothing but a bunch of bossy bossers.”

I can’t help myself. I chuckle at that. “You only got a spoonful, buddy. I hope you don’t really plan on showing up for dinner because you’re gonna get a heaping helping if you do.”

“I kinda liked it.”

“Which part?”

I glance over at him just in time to see him shrug. “All of it, I think. You forget, I didn’t have a family like that growing up. Hell, I don’t have a family like that now. Joey is always off doing—whatever the fuck it is he does. Parties, I guess. Fucks girls. But he’s always doing it somewhere else. Ya know? Trying to avoid the tabloids, maybe. Not that he has to worry about that. They only care about me for some reason.”

“And Johnny? You told my mother you were gonna bring him with you. She takes everything literally so in two weeks when you show up for Saturday dinner, he better be with you or you’ll get an earful, mister.”

“I honestly don’t even know if he’s alive.”

I scoff.

“I’m fucking serious. I haven’t seen him in forever. Years, actually.”

“Jesus Christ, Jesse. You need to go check on him.”

“I think he’s OK. I was up on Joey’s floor yesterday morning looking for a tux for the auction and I heard noises up there.”

“What kind of noises?”