Page 11 of My Darling Mayhem

Her tongue clicked. “No, he stopped cooking in the restaurant so he’s become bored and lazy. He has a panza now.”

I could hear him yelling at her in the background, and the two started to argue. I sat there, listening and missing them, just like I always did…until I heard a distinct voice cut into their argument, which stiffened my spine.

“Is that Juan?”

She must have covered her phone or something because suddenly, the room went quiet, and when she spoke again, no one else was with her.

“He stopped by to check the oven. It keeps making a clicking sound.”

My heart raced as I processed that I’d heard his voice through her phone. It was muffled, and I couldn’t make out what he’d said, but I knew it was him.

“You called to ask me something?”

“Right…” I didn’t need to know why he was there or ask how he was. She gave me updates every time we talked, whether I wanted them or not.

“Cruz is in a bilingual program in school, and his teacher suggested we read more books written in Spanish. I was going to see if you had any suggestions.”

She was a grandmother, but I had no idea if my brother had more kids than the one he’d adopted. That little girl had to be in her twenties now and probably didn’t have her abuela reading story books to her.

“I will send you some, mi amor.”

My head shook as I considered refusing because I didn’t need her spending money, but I knew it was futile. She loved spoiling Cruz when she could.

“Okay, thank you, that would be great.”

“Everything else okay?” she asked gently and protectively.

I wanted to bring up the tattoo and ask if she knew why a man from a motorcycle club in New York City would recognize it. I wanted to know what that meant for me and if I should be worried about it.

Instead, I asked what new TV shows she was binging, and she spent the next hour talking trash about TV couples.

The following day was Sunday, which was supposed to be my day off, but Denise had called and asked if I would come in. Packing Cruz a bag of activities for the day, I loaded him up, and we headed to my job.

The town of Atlas flew by in three blinks. There were two traffic lights, the gas station, the library, and an oil shop. Then, there was a vast park, which led into a newer development area where Encore Homes had started building. The model home was set on a block with a few houses already built and the cutest cherry blossoms. I parked along the curb, seeing the big, blue banner waving, encouraging weekend buyers to stop in to talk to us.

“Okay, Cruz, get your bag.”

We walked inside, and my spine immediately stiffened.

“Hello, Wren.” Brian sat in my desk chair, reclining like he’d been waiting for me. His gaze flicked down to Cruz like I’d tracked in leaves or mud with me.

“You brought your kid to work?”

Cruz frowned, glaring at Brian while hugging his bag to his chest. He always knew when he wasn’t wanted somewhere, and while I tried like hell to make sure he never went anywhere that made him feel that way, occasionally, it happened.

“Yes, as it’s supposed to be my day off.”

I placed my hand on Cruz’s shoulder and encouraged him to walk toward my desk.

“Can you please move out of my desk space?”

Brian sighed as if this was highly frustrating, then moved around so he was sitting in the client chairs we had arranged in front of my desk.

Cruz found his way to the same spot he always tucked into when he came in with me. I made a small fort between two filing cabinets with pillows and a blanket. All I had to do was pull it out and set it up for him.

“Does Denise know you bring him in?” Brian asked snidely.

Cruz’s little mouth turned down again as if he hated the idea that I might get in trouble. I never wanted my son to feel like an inconvenience or a burden. I was two seconds from throat-punching Brian.

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