Page 52 of Mac
She smiled to herself and refilled her mug once more, it would last her until she got to work, where she'd start another pot.Today was going to be one of those days where only enough coffee would see her through.
Elyse slid into the car and started it, leaving the door open while the air conditioning kicked on and took a moment before it started blowing cool air.She was no longer in danger of falling asleep every time she sat still for five minutes but her body ached.Some aches were good, they made her smile at the memory of what had caused them.Others were just shear exhaustion.Those she could have lived without.They made her think about picking something up on the way home so she could put her feet up and not have to do anything extra allevening.
After closing the car door, she pulled out her phone to check for messages, and found one from Mac telling her no problem.She'd sent him a thanks for taking care of the mess this morning but hadn't expected a message back.His wasn't the only message, there were also a couple from Mom, which she didn't even bother to read.Elyse didn't want to think about Mom after her calling Dave to Tucson to check on her.Though, why her brother hadn't called or texted, Elyse didn't know.There was a text from him she found after skipping the ones from Mom.She opened that to see what he wanted now.
Don't worry about dinner.I'm cooking.sorry again about waking you.Will Rambo be joining us?
Elyse rolled her eyes at her brother calling Mac Rambo but couldn't remember if she'd introduced them.She dialed Mac to see if he was busy and wanted to come to dinner.
"Hey, you made it through the day.How you feeling?"Just hearing his voice made her feel better, even if Elyse couldn't explain it.
"Tired, but I survived.Dave says he's cooking dinner and wants to know if you're coming."
"I hadn't thought about it.I figured you'd spend the evening with him."
"Think about it."She turned his words on him on purpose."He called you Rambo and I don't think I even thought to introduce you last night."
"This morning."
"Yeah, it was this morning."She sighed and wished she didn't have to deal with rush hour traffic to get home.
"You want me to come or you want to spend time with your brother?"He paused."I can skip dinner and come over later if you like, or I can just leave the evening to the two of you."
She wondered for a moment if Mac was jealous of her brother, but it didn't seem like he resented him, well, other than his waking them up at three a.m.
"I'd like to see you tonight, but if you're busy I understand."
"You want me there for dinner?"
"Not necessary.I'm always happy for a chance to see you, but I can handle it if you've got other things to do."
"Let me see what's going on this evening and I'll let you know.I'll try to make dinner or maybe a little later but one of my brothers just reminded me about a meeting tonight, so if I come, I'll have to come back to the meeting and I'm not sure when I'll be able to get away after that."
"I understand.Let me know what's going on or if you can't make it."
"I'll message if nothing else.It may be late before I can break away, if I can at all, so don't wait up for me."
"I'm too tired to even try tonight."
It was a moment before he answered, "I know I'm not entirely responsible for that, but I am for some, and I don't regret that part."
"Me either."
"I'll let you know what's up as I know."
"All right, I'll catch you later then.Bye."
She hung up, sent Dave a message letting him know Mac might be coming for dinner before setting her phone aside and put the car in gear.Might as well get this drive started or she'd never get home.
"How long have you been dating Thor?"
Elyse blinked at her brother, first Rambo, now Thor?Did she confront him or ignore it?She'd already told Dave that his name was Mac, so he was doing it to get at her now.The best bet was probably to ignore it.He would stop if it didn't get a rise out of her.
"A while."She wasn't going to tell him it hadn't been more than a week, two max since she started talking to her neighbor, especially not after last night.The last thing she wanted was a lecture from her brother, not when he deserved to be getting one from her.
Dave cocked one brow in her direction but didn't push the issue.She watched him move around the kitchen with ease, reminding her of when Mac had cooked for her a couple nights before.They were both comfortable in the space, but Dave had spent far more time there, and cooking than Mac had, except for recently.
"What's the bug up Mom's ass?"Dave turned back to the counter where he was chopping vegetables.
