Page 237 of The Maxwell Brothers
Luke winked at her. "Hey, cousin, long time no see. Why didn’t you come see me?"
"I wanted to, but you were on the phone. Declan, you got so spooked by my news that you brought Luke?”
"I'm not spooked," I said confidently as we all sat down around the desk. "But Luke has some strengths I don't." I knew how to put out fires, solve crises, and find solutions, but I wasn't good with advice in these types of situations.
"To catch you up, Kimberly and I found out that Dad recently remarried and we're going to have a sister."
Luke’s jaw dropped. “Holy fuck. Wait a second, why did you tell him first and not me?"
"As I said, you were on the phone. Iwasgoing to tell you."
"Right." I chuckled. “Orshe came to me because I’m the voice of reason.” Growing up, Luke had been the biggest troublemaker in the family. Whenever he had an idea, the rest followed along. Even though now I was thirty-eight and he was thirty-five, the dynamic hasn’t changed one bit.
“Course you are. That’s why you brought me in five minutes later.” He winked at me.
“Ah, if anyone looked up yin and yang in the dictionary, they’d find a picture of you two,” Reese said. “Anyway, I want to tell Gran.”
Luke grimaced. "We need a plan for that."
"Yeah. I mean, I think she's going to be happy. After she gets over the shock. But we definitely need a strategy." Reese ran a hand through her hair, turning to me. “You have any ideas?”
“Nope, that’s why he got me,” Luke said helpfully. “I’m the one with ideas. But honestly, Uncle Harvey should be the one to tell her.”
Reese shrugged. “He asked me to do it. Though his reasons sound a bit bogus. I think he’s ashamed that he’s waited so long. He said it’s best if Kimberly and I tell the whole family. But his reasoning doesn’t matter. I want to do this in a way that doesn’t upset Gran.”
“I honestly don’t think I can come up with anything on the spot. This is major,” Luke said.
I scoffed. “Well, well.Youare out of ideas? Who would have thought?”
My brother laughed. “It’s the first time we’ve had a situation like this in the family. Always thought there were no secrets among the Maxwells.”
“Weeeell, that’s debatable,” Reese said.
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” she answered too quickly.
I cocked a brow. So did Luke.
“Cousin, you’re not very convincing,” he remarked.
Reese pressed her lips together. “I can’t spill secrets that aren’t mine.”
“You just told us about your dad,” I pointed out.
She held up a finger. “That’s different. Dad asked me to tell everyone.”
“But—” I began, but she interrupted me with a headshake.
“Drop it, pretty please. And let’s get back to the issue. Dad’s secret.”
Luke and I exchanged a glance. Reese rarely spoke about my uncle, mostly because he’d been absent our cousins’ whole lives. I couldn’t imagine growing up like that. Mom and Dad had always been a stable presence in our lives. They were role models, and we all looked up to them. They’d instilled important values in us, like work ethic and family loyalty. They shaped us into the adults we’d become.
Granted, Tate and Tyler were the only ones who’d followed in their footsteps regarding marriage. They were both engaged. Reese tried, and it ended in disaster. And as for me, I was seeing far too many divorces to take “until death do us part” seriously. I dated, but that was it.
"Know what? Why don't I take you out to lunch, and we can figure something out?” Luke offered.
“That’s a great idea. I’m warning you though, I’m too jet-lagged to come up with good ideas. But I feel better just because I shared this with you guys,” Reese replied.
