Page 15 of A Constant Surprise

“Damnit, Jacinda!” I spat.

“Do you want to tell me when you got a new girlfriend?”

I choked on my sip of hot coffee. “Not my girlfriend.”

“So, you just let random women live with you now?”

I tried to choose my words carefully.

“Tess, she’s a friend. Her roommate kicked her out, and she had nowhere else to go. I’m just being a nice guy.”

She rolled her eyes. “Nice guy? Please. Are you sleeping with her?”

“No.” I didn’t feel like it was a lie since technically we weren’t sleeping together at the moment.

Her face said she didn’t believe me, but she didn’t press any further. Thank goodness.

“How did you get Jacinda to tell you?”

She winked at me. “She likes me more than you, baby brother. When I lived in the house, there were no wild parties to clean up after.”

I couldn’t argue with her there. Tess wasn’t the ‘throw a party’ type. She was more of the girl to jump on the back of the motorcycle of the guy she just met and ride off to Vegas.

Without any more talk of me, she jumped right in to talking about herself and how busy her life is now that she is halfway through medical school. She rattled on for the next hour while I tuned in and out. It wasn’t that I found my sister boring, but I couldn’t hep wondering what Sam was doing. It was a Saturday, so I was hoping we would have a little extra time together. She was gone when I had left the house though…for a tutoring job I suspected.

Soon, Tess was winding down saying she had to get back to New York to get some studying done. We said our goodbyes, and I was sitting in the coffee shop alone.

I sat for a little while longer while I finished off my coffee. Glancing at my watch, I figured maybe I’d drive around for a bit before going home to see what Sam was up to.

Chapter 9 -Sam

“Hi, Jacinda.” I said cheerfully as I strolled into the kitchen with a handful of grocery bags.

“Ah hello, Miss Sam!” Jacinda turned towards me with a warm smile. I grinned back as her smile was contagious.

Jacinda was a middle-aged Hispanic woman who had a thick accent but still spoke impeccable English. She was short and stocky and had dark, curly hair that fell down to her shoulders.

She had this aura about her that just made you feel taken care of. And I could see the love she had for Tyler. She treated him like he was her own son, and he was always so sweet to her.

“What are you up to today? Do you have more tutoring appointments?” She asked as she kept wiping off a countertop.

“No, I’m done for the day. Thought I’d give you the night off. I want to make Tyler dinner.”

She smiled a big grin. “Dinner, huh?”

“Yes, dinner. Just dinner.” I said while rolling my eyes.

“I can stay and help, Miss Sam. Or I can stay to clean up afterwards.”

I held up my hand. “Won’t be necessary. You can take the night off. Go spend it with your husband and kids.”

She gave me the warmest of hugs and big thank you. I knew Tyler didn’t expect her to stay and work twenty-four hours a day, but I also knew she treated him like her own child and would have done anything for him.

“Okay, I’ll go after I finish up straightening up in here. But promise me you will leave the dishes for me to get tomorrow?”

I agreed to appease, but I knew I’d wash them anyway.

A few minutes later, she was finished with her work and gave me a final hug before hustling out the door. I never thought I would be okay having a housekeeper, but she was really wonderful.

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