Page 49 of At Your Service
Major straightened and stared at his mother.
“Your father and I’ve known for some time that you were itching to move beyond RGF,” she replied in answer to his unspoken question. “You and Maurice always thought you were keeping your little twin secrets, but you forget Ruben’s mother and office manager is a longtime friend of mine.”
He sighed again because he hadn’t forgotten that, but hehadinstead relied on confidentiality from his attorney’s office. While that professional courtesy should’ve stretched to Ruben’s staff, Marva didn’t play when it came to her children and if Ruben’s mother had let anything slip about Brand Integrated, Marva would’ve pried the full story out of her.
“Look, I’m not here to talk about your business. You know I love and believe in you, whatever you do and wherever you do it,” Riley said. “But Nina’s a good woman and I’m really pissed off that you pushed her out of your life. Out of our lives.”
It was hard for any of them to have real friends, unless they’d been there since childhood like Ruben had been for Major. But for Riley, with all that she’d been through with her past scandals involving idiotic men, it was doubly hard for her to form bonds with people other than family. She’d obviously bonded with Nina.
“I didn’t want her to go, Riley. I tried to get her to stay.”
“Well, now it’s time to try to get her back,” Marva said as if that were as simple as making a phone call.
“I don’t know how,” he said, dragging his hands down his face. “She’s got so much on her plate right now. I don’t want to be another issue in her life. If this isn’t what she wants, I have no right trying to force it on her.”
“Did she say it wasn’t what she wanted?” Riley asked. “I don’t think having you in her life is adding a responsibility. To the contrary, I think the time she was here may have been the most relaxed she’s been in years.”
Just last night she’d been in her element at the trade show. The moment she’d found those African pieces, she’d lit up like a Christmas tree, all bright and giddy with her idea. And it was a brilliant idea, one that had sparked the plan he’d eventually come up with.
Major stood and walked over to the window. He folded his arms across his chest and stared into the night, wishing it were as simple as reaching out into the big city and touching her.
“There are probably trains leaving for York as early as seven tomorrow morning,” he said more to himself than to his mom and sister. “Or I could just drive. Be there first thing in the morning, ready to grovel if need be. Anything, just so long as I get the chance to apologize to her and to tell her how much I love her.”
He didn’t wait for a response from anyone, just went into his bedroom and started to pack.
Jacoby yelled out in agony as he sat up in his bed.
“I told you to wait and let me help you,” Nina said, coming around to the side of the bed and slipping her arm under his to help bear his weight so he could stand. “And you need to use the crutches, like the doctor told you.”
“Well, I want to go sit out on the back porch. That pain pill had me sleeping so long this morning, I missed my normal coffee time.”
That was true, but Nina had appreciated those three hours of solitude. It had been the first time she’d been able to sit with her thoughts since she’d raced home yesterday morning.
“I got some iced tea in the refrigerator. I want a glass and some cookies while I sit outside,” Jacoby said.
“Okay, I’ll get you settled outside and then I’ll get your tea and cookies,” she told him.
“Where’re your sisters? Did they run out the moment you got here? Those two stay busy.”
Nina sighed and concentrated on easing her father to the crutches so that she could get his weight properly distributed and keep them both upright. His fall down the last four stairs in the basement had left him with a broken left ankle and a gash on his head that had to be sutured. He was now sporting a white patch of gauze over his right eye to match the white cast on his ankle.
She settled him on her right side and worked her way around him with the other crutch, tucking it under his left arm.
“There, now take it slow. I’ll get your snack and sit on the porch with you and go through my emails.”
Since she was certain her deal with RGF was over.
Jacoby huffed and mumbled some more as she stayed a few steps behind him to offer support should he need it. Her father was a proud man; a stubborn and opinionated man who loved his girls more than he loved life at this moment.
“I want the Oreo cookies, not those dry butter ones Daisy keeps buying,” he said when they finally made it into the kitchen.
The master bedroom of the ranch-style house was closer to the kitchen than the other two rooms, so their trek had been short. Nina immediately went to the cabinet to grab a glass and filled it with the crushed ice her father preferred from the ice machine on the refrigerator.
“The butter cookies have less sugar,” she told him even though she knew he couldn’t care less.
“Yeah, well all the baked goods and snacks could cause elevated cholesterol or diabetes. Everything does something bad and something good. So with the time I have left, I’m doing whatever makes me feel good. I want eight cookies. Count ’em and put them in a napkin for me.”
He was already heading for the back door, which Nina had left open when she’d gone out onto the porch to sit while he slept. After this morning, she now knew why her father liked to sit on that porch so much. It was quiet, peaceful, revealing. She’d come to terms with a few things about herself and her life while sitting in one of the twin rocking chairs just staring out toward the sky.
