Page 5 of Luke

"That's not true, Luke," James said. "Dad would appreciate us getting together. He wanted to protect us from the sadness of his death and the burden of a funeral, but I think he'd like us talking about him. That's why I got on a plane and flew across country to join you."

"So New York is really your home now?" he asked. "I guess you and your expensive suits fit right in there."

"They do, yes," James said. "Speaking of expensive suits and expensive toys…" He turned his attention to Gabe. "Tell me that is not your Aston Martin in the parking lot."

Gabe grinned. "It's all mine."

"I can't believe you spent so much cash on a car," James said.

"It was a gift from a client."

"What exactly do you do for your clients?" Knox joked.

"I make them happy and sometimes they pay me back."

"So you drove down from Silicon Valley?" Luke asked, remembering an email he'd gotten a while back about Gabe moving his operations from LA to Northern California.

"I did. It was a good drive. Gave me a chance to clear my head."

Luke was happy for Gabe, but his head felt anything but clear. "Getting back to Dad. It doesn't bother any of you that he didn't tell us he was sick? Or maybe he told you, James? You were the closest to him."

"He didn't tell me anything," James replied. "I spoke to him several times in the past month. Only once did he sound tense. When I asked him about it, he said he’d spent the day on his boat, and he was just tired. If he had told me, I would have been with him."

"Well, I'm not surprised that Dad kept his silence," Gabe put in. "Our father always did exactly what he wanted to do. He died the same way. Is it really that shocking?"

Luke glanced at Knox, who hadn't had much to say on the subject. "What do you think?"

Knox shrugged. "The old man has been a mystery to me for most of my life. But it doesn't matter. We can't change anything. It is what it is."

"That’s true. Who else is coming tonight? Where's Max?" he asked.

"Who knows?" Knox replied. "He claims he's working in something called protective services, but I'm sure it's black ops, and he's probably in the Middle East."

He nodded. Max had been a Navy SEAL, and what he'd been doing since getting out of the service seemed open for interpretation. With Finn on a carrier, that left Hunter.

"What about Hunter?" He directed his question to Gabe. Hunter and Gabe were twins and had always been their own close unit in a sea of Brannigan brothers.

"I texted him last night," Gabe replied. "He's also out of the country; he doesn't know when he'll be back."

"We need to find a time when we can all get together," James said. "No official memorial service, but all seven of us in one room would be good."

"Good luck with that," Luke said. "I can't remember the last time that happened." As he finished speaking, his aunt came over to the table.

Claire was his mother's younger sister. She'd always been a bohemian and a free spirit. She'd been married twice, with a daughter from each marriage. She was now single and spent most of her days painting and managing a small art gallery in Venice Beach.

Today she was dressed in a flowing, gauzy dress, with an abundance of silver bangles, a couple of rings and big hoop earrings. She had dark-brown hair and brown eyes that almost always held a sparkle, but today that sparkle had dimmed.

"Well, well, if this isn't a handsome group," she said.

James got up and offered her his chair, then pulled over one from a nearby table. "Have a seat, Aunt Claire."

"Thanks, honey," she said. "It's so nice to see all of you. Laurel and Hannah wanted to come, but I thought you might need this night to be by yourselves."

"How are Laurel and Hannah doing?" Luke asked. He was interested in his cousins, but he was even more interested in postponing whatever Claire had come to the bar to tell them.

"They're well. Laurel is playing her violin with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Hannah is waiting tables at the Beachside Bistro while going to culinary school at night." She paused. "Are we waiting for anyone else?"

"It's just us," Knox said.

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