Page 18 of Taking Root

“I’m going to check those spots regardless, okay, Mom?” he asked as he settled onto the ground. His mother stretched out her legs, pulling up her flowing salmon skirt to reveal thick calves. Familiar spider veins traveled up them, something he always associated with her hard work. Black and blue marks traveled up her legs, but one on her right thigh spread bigger than a fist. He reached out to place his fingers overtop it, tuning out the continued fight in the other room.

Behind him, Lex murmured something to Danny, who joined her in discussion. Mom watched him with a fondness that warmed his chest, those dark eyes of hers crinkled with a thousand lines around them, and a soft smile on her lips, painted the same color red she wore on an almost daily basis.

“Are you feeling dizzy? Where did you fall?” he asked. The skin on her thigh felt hot to the touch, but apart from inflammation, he didn’t see anything drastic.

“I was cooking in the kitchen and got a case of the spins,” Mom started.

“Because you have vertigo,” Lex shot back. Mom gave her a dirty look.

“Let’s hold off on the diagnoses, Doctor Web MD,” Adrian said, stepping up from his crouch. “If the spins continue, you should go to the doctor about them. You know that. As for your legs, you have a couple of bruises and a hematoma. Are you getting any sharp, shooting pains?”

Mom shook her head. “Like I said, Alexis is fretting over nothing. I’m not feeling more than a little shaky, and my head’s right as rain. You didn’t need to come over, sweetheart. You take care of us enough, and now we interrupted your date.”

Adrian shrugged, relief coursing through him at knowing his mother was fine even as the exasperation followed in close second. He glanced to Danny, who offered an amused grin. She tilted her head in the direction of the shouts coming from the other room. Adrian heaved a sigh as he stepped beside Danny and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Do you mind if I go step in?” he asked, weariness settling like a mantle.

“I’d be happy to get to know this young lady,” Mom said, mischief sparkling in her dark eyes. She waved her over with a gesture. “Look at that beautiful copper hair. Adrian kept you quiet from us, probably for good reason.”

Danny let out a surprised laugh as she slipped out of his grasp and strode over to the couch. She plopped down on the cushions beside Mom. “It’s the other way around, Mrs. Dukas,” she said, a grin spreading on her face. “I’m the one he’s keeping quiet, because I cause trouble everywhere I go.”

Adrian blinked, shock settling in at seeing Danny chat with Mom as if they were fast friends. Lex started taking the first steps toward the dining room to split up the fight, which snapped Adrian out of the moment. The last thing their argument needed was Lex adding more gasoline to the blaze.

“Why don’t you get Mom an ice pack for her hematoma?” Adrian said, jerking a thumb toward the kitchen. Lex shot him a sour look like she knew what move he pulled, but she detoured toward the kitchen where the savory scents of dinner wafted in. The spices of moussaka wafted his way, making his stomach rumble, even after he’d set into some of the best steak he’d ever tasted.

“Not my fault your husband is a piece of shit,” Matty shot back, a corrosive edge to his voice that had become the norm over the years. Even though he lashed out at a lot of the family, he and Nellie rarely fought, so Adrian didn’t have to guess the fight was over her husband, not anything she did.

“He didn’t mean anything by the statement.” Nellie slammed her hands on the table so hard the smack reverberated around the room. “That’s the last time I invite you over, if you’re gonna act like an ass.” Her pin-perfect strands had come out of her bun, blonde hair that contrasted the rest of the family’s dark, and her ocean eyes glittered with tears. She hated arguments, and any pent-up emotions tended to surface in a heartbeat.

If Matty was involved, chances were he’d started the fight by slinging his scorpion’s barbs, and it took this long to get to the heart of why he’d jabbed at her in the first place. Dad passed Adrian a weary look, leaning forward on the table as he slumped into a seat.

He stepped in beside his father. “You want to go comfort Nellie? I’ll talk to Matty.”

Dad nodded, and Adrian clapped him on the back. He and his father had always been so similar that Mom joked Dad cloned himself when they had Adrian. Their temperaments were the same, as were their values, and he couldn’t have had a better, more patient teacher growing up.

Adrian slipped into the seat beside Matty, his younger brother by five years. Mateo was all cheekbones and attitude, piercings on each eyebrow and plugs in his ears. He kept his thick hair slicked back on the top, shaved on the sides, and his younger brother did everything to shove people away with his sarcasm. Too bad for Matty, Adrian knew which button caused him to flip the handle every time.

“What sort of homophobic shit did Greg spout this time?” Adrian asked, keeping his voice low so Nellie couldn’t hear. None of them approved of her husband, but his little sister was an impulsive sunbeam who got whisked away by the first asshole to propose.

“I’m not going to sit there and let some dickweed call me a fag,” Matty muttered, staring at the table something fierce. “I mean, we’ve got to support Lex, right? That sort of talk is messed up.”

“Yeah, that shit’s not okay,” Adrian responded, knowing full well Matty would keep clinging to Lex as the excuse. Everyone in the family knew and accepted Matty was gay—except him. The group of assholes he rode with were the sort of testosterone-fueled guys who mouthed off to the hospital staff after they banged themselves up good and caused more problems than they fixed. So Matty stayed in the closet, and the rest of the family bore the brunt of his bitterness.

“Still,” he continued, knowing he snared Matty’s attention. “What’s tormenting Nellie about it going to help? She’s the one who has to deal with ‘the dickweed’ on a daily basis. I know a little bit about bad calls, and I have to say, this family is what pulled me through the Betty break-up, you know? If we push her away, she’ll be isolated, and if Greg pulls anything heinous, she won’t feel like she can come to us for help.”

Matty let out a huff of a breath, his arms crossed in front of his chest, but he listened. His serious, dark gaze meant he wasn’t going to continue spitting poison.

“I love Nellie. You know I do,” Matty muttered, continuing to drill holes into the table with his stare. “But I can’t deal with guys like her husband.”

“Then don’t,” Adrian responded. “She rarely brings him around, and he’s out on business enough for you to have one on one time with her. If she invites you to something he’ll be at, skip it. You’re allowed to hate Greg and still be there for Nellie.”

“Fuck, look at you spouting wisdom like Yoda or some shit.” Matty shook his head, pushing up from the table. “Bro, you’re too selfless, getting involved in all our messes like this. Go save your girl, I think Mom’s got the ‘I want grandkids’ gleam in her eye.”

Dad had Nellie calmed down to sniffles—the girl moved through emotional stages like a hurricane, and her storm already petered out. Matty plunked his hands into his pockets and walked over, his lips pressed tight and his shoulders hunched forward. Adrian didn’t need to watch to know they would make up, because as much of an ass as Matty could be, if he did you wrong, he’d make penance.

Adrian crossed over to the living room, surprised by the laughter trickling his way. Danny leaned forward, her palms braced on her knees as she told some story that had both his Mom and Lex riveted. His mother’s shoulders shook from laughter, and Danny’s eyes sparkled in response, like a flower begging to bloom. Lex crouched beside Mom, trying to apply ice while getting swatted away in the process.

Danny glanced up as he entered, her green eyes vibrant with light and life. Adrian stopped still for a moment as their gazes met. The sight of her there laughing alongside the most important people in his life socked him in the gut. Even though he promised he was fine with seeing this through for as long as she remained in town, he’d lied. Danny Reynolds coursed new hope through his veins, whisky warmth and honeyed surrender all at once.

One thing hadn’t changed since they were kids in high school. Out of all the women he’d met and pretty faces that flashed before him, he’d choose her every time.

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