Page 10 of Bake You Mine
Mondays tended to be slower at Elevation, so Liam didn’t feel guilty dropping in for an early evening dinner at his mother’s house before his shift.
He was glad for a night when work didn’t feel like running a marathon with one leg in a cast. He had little time for anything else between the restaurant, his family, and his rec rugby league.
He was single as fuck, despite the crazy, stupid attention #hotchef brought him. It was usually the wrong kind of attention.
He scrolled through his texts until he found one from his ex, Dani. She’d last messaged him the day before, interested in hooking up. He fired off a reply and hoped for the best.
His mother’s house came into view, sitting on top of Hollow Hill, overlooking Port Fortune’s downtown. As usual, he had to park on the street. When Ma hosted dinner, there was usually a crowd.
After he trudged up the steep driveway, his gaze dropped to the small statue of a policeman nestled in the front garden. No matter how often he saw that dopey little guy, his heart fell. His dad had been gone nearly five years now. He gave the statue’s head a little pat before hopping onto the porch.
Hopefully, his mother wouldn’t have a perfectly lovely girl sitting at the dinner table tonight. His mother had met the last one at some church function. Once the woman had her eyes locked on Liam, she’d become a barnacle. It’d taken weeks to shake her.
He’d told his mother he wouldn’t come to dinner anymore if she didn’t stop trying to play matchmaker. So far, it’d worked, but she had a short memory.
The heavy aroma of lasagna and the usual chaos greetedhim inside. His favorite niece, Kiara, rounded the corner like a car leaning into a Tokyo drift.
“Uncle Liam!” The little girl leaped into his arms, unintentionally slapping him with her long cornrow braids. Not that he minded. He hugged her tight.
His sister Joanie and her wife Carolyn worked in family law, and four of their six kids were adopted.
“Hey, baby Kiki. How was school?”
“We’re reading a book about cats.” She started to meow. His heart melted. The kid was too damned cute. Kind of almost made him want to have a rugrat or two of his own one day.
Joanie rolled her eyes. “Shoulda known she’d be with you. She loves her Uncle Liam.”
Liam’s mother came around through the other side of the open kitchen and pinched his cheeks. “You’re working too hard. You’ll be skin and bones before you know it.”
He stepped out of his mother’s reach.
“Ma, he’s six-two, one ninety. I think he’ll be okay.” Liam’s older brother, Brandon, came out with his wife, Becky, chasing after their youngest son, Brody.
“I still worry. Especially as you haven’t found a nice woman to settle down with.”
“Ma, don’t start, seriously.” Liam hefted Kiki onto his left hip as he greeted the rest of the brood. He crept into the kitchen, set Kiki on the counter, and bent over to peer into the oven. His mother swatted him on the arm. She never appreciated his culinary advice.
“Leave Kiki with me. Can you get your sister? Dinner’s almost ready.”
He took the stairs to the basement and found Sasha hunched in front of her makeup mirror, dressed for her evening hostess shift at Elevation. “Ma’s almost got dinner ready.”
She didn’t look up from applying her makeup. “Don’t interrupt me while I’m doing my cat eye.”
He brought his hand underneath her elbow to mess up her eyeliner application.
“I will cut that pretty face of yours if you try, big brother.”
He tousled her hair, earning another growl. Two years apart, he and Sasha were the closest in age among his siblings. She picked up the odd shift at Elevation while attending nursing school outside of DC. It was one hell of a commute, but she couldn’t exactly afford to live there working part-time. She suffered no fools and usually ran interference if anyone, too enamored with his online persona, couldn’t take a hint.
“Come on, I want to have time to eat more than garlic bread before we have to leave for the restaurant.”
Sasha finished off her eyeliner and turned her attention to Liam. “I heard from a little bird that you and Aubrey met with Gary today.”
“Is that little bird named Ashley?”
Sasha’s best friend was one of Gary’s three assistants.
“Maybe. So, what happened?” she asked.
