Page 59 of Housebroke

Lisa laughed and reached out to grab her hand. “Honey, you’re doing great. I’m just amazed at how fast you work.”

“Oh. I’m kind of an automaton in the kitchen. I get ideas and I start working and don’t even think about it.”

“That’s a great skill to have. And everything looks amazing.”

“It’s a simple meal, but these are big guys so I figure they’ll want a lot of food. I don’t know how you did it when they were growing up.”

Lisa’s lips lifted. “Quantity.”

Hazel laughed. “Understood.”

“How about a refill on your wine?” Lisa asked.

“I’d love that.”

“Great. Next I want you to tell me all about your dogs.”

She liked Lisa—a lot. She was easy to talk to and made Hazel feel as if she was right at home, something she rarely felt with her own family. She saw a lot of Lisa in Linc. His warmth, his sense of humor, and his acceptance of her.

She was very interested in getting to know his brothers.

Tonight was going to be so fun.

•••

Warren had grabbed his mom’s keys and backed the car out to the driveway. Linc and the others followed. They turned the engine over and all of them listened for a while, even taking it out for a drive, but didn’t hear anything. Not that any of them expected to.

“You know she just wanted us out of there so she could grill Hazel,” Eugene said after Warren parked the car back in the garage.

Linc knew his mother, and she was a kind woman. There’d be no inquisition.

“Nah,” Joe said. “Your mom isn’t the grilling kind. She just wants some one-on-one time with Hazel without all of us knuckleheads arguing. She did the same thing to me when I first started dating Warren.”

“No doubt to make sure you weren’t an asshole,” Linc said.

“Which everyone knows I’m not. Which is why she always makes my favorite vegetarian food.”

“Butt kisser,” Eugene mumbled, but he smiled.

“Hey, I can’t help it if she likes me best. I’m her fourth son—sort of.”

They hung around the car a little longer, even though there wasn’t anything wrong with it. But, still, since Mom lived alone, it wouldn’t hurt to check it over to make sure everything was in working order. And they could always refill the washer fluid, if nothing else.

“I wonder what she’s making for dinner,” Eugene said.

“You’re always hungry,” Linc said. “Though I don’t know why since you don’t do anything.”

Eugene wiped his hand with a shop rag, then leaned against the side of the car. “Oh, I do a lot more than you think, bro. It’s just all here in my mind.” He pointed to his temple.

“Uh-huh. I think you live in your head. I’m frankly surprised you aren’t still living in the basement.”

“Old joke, asshole. And still not funny.”

“Sorry,” Linc said. “How’s work going?”

“Writing code like I invented it. Oh, wait, I actually did invent it. Two new games coming out in the next six months.”

“He’s killing it,” Joe said. “Which is what he tells me anyway and I assume is a good thing.”

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