Page 84 of A Real Good Bad Thing

“Must be. I give her a hard time about her tabby cat, which she named Inspector Cat because he has to paw everything—mugs, flowers, pens, papers, earrings—until he knocks it to the floor.”

“My mom has a cat like that. A tuxedo. Gets into everything. Rips the toilet paper to shreds and eats the plants.”

“Kind of an asshole?” I asked dryly.

“Well, she is a cat, so…”

I chuckled at that fundamental truth. “My nephew, though, loves that cat. Mason is pretty much the only person the cat is actually sweet to.”

“What’s Mason like?”

“He’s a pistol, just like my brother, Brandt, the athlete of the bunch. Wild and playful. We used to say when Mason woke up, it was like a bomb going off. Brandt was like that too when he was younger, so it’s kind of funny to see that in Mason now.”

She took a pull of her beer, then set it down on the red-checked tablecloth. “And what about Kylie? Why is she a handful, as you say?”

I scratched my jaw. “She’s sweet but super scattered. She’s the youngest, so the parents’ passing affected her differently. Her anxiety issues make school a bit of a struggle for her. She pulls through but needs extra help, like on this science test she has on Monday.”

Ruby frowned. “That’s too bad.”

I nodded. “I wish I could make it easier for her. It’s hard to watch her struggle and get frustrated with herself. My goal is just to get her through it and be as supportive as I can.”

“And it sounds like you’re doing that,” she said, reaching across the table to put her hand over mine. I smiled my appreciation, and the moment lingered. “What about Brandt? Is he still the wild child?”

I shook my head, thinking of my kid brother and how much Brandt had changed over the years. “Nope. School settled him. He’s intense and focused. He spent a year as a paralegal to make absolutely certain he wanted to be a lawyer. And he does, so he’s applying to law school now.” I winced briefly as I pictured more tuition bills piling up.

“Law school isn’t cheap.”

“Don’t I know it,” I muttered. “That’ll be a big chunk of change.”

She spread her fingers into a frame shape. “The Jake picture is becoming clearer.”

I cocked my head, curious. “How so?”

“That’s the other reason why you’re so driven, isn’t it? Paying for their schools?”

Family was private to me, and I didn’t delve into the details with many people. Same with my job—I preferred to keep it on the down-low. But I didn’t mind sharing this with Ruby. Maybe it was that she was so different from Rosalinda. Ruby seemed to quiz me out of genuine interest, not a hidden agenda to learn my weak spots. Rosalinda had peppered me with questions to unearth my vulnerabilities, find a way to steal from me. Ruby wasn’t working for the enemy. Her motives centered on the case and with me.

“Yep. My family is one hundred percent my reason. They are all my reasons.” I rubbed my hand across my tattoo, tropical leaves, trees, and flowers. It was time to share this with her. “My parents loved the Caribbean. Went there all the time. Took us on vacations there, when it was just Kate and me, before Kylie and Brandt were born. They said it was their happy place,” I said, with both fondness and sadness all at once.

“You got that for them,” she said, understanding immediately.

“I did. Reminds me of them. Of us. As a family.”

She reached for my arm, ran her soft fingers across my ink. “It’s beautiful,” she said, reverently.

“Thank you. I love it too.”

A boisterous family entered the restaurant, pulling my attention away from Ruby for a moment. As I turned my head, I caught a glimpse of someone hanging by the edge of the crowd. The sharp nose, the cut of the jawline—the profile snagged a memory and I studied him, trying to place him in my mental contact list.

Then Ruby spoke, softly, and with a smile in her voice. “Thanks for sharing.”

“You’re a good listener,” I said.

And like smoke in a breeze, everything vanished but her, and I returned my attention to the woman across from me.

She rested her chin in her hand, her soft blue gaze intent on me. “You really are like their father.”

When she said that, my heart pounded against my chest like it was connected to her. Because she not onlygotme, but we were on the same wavelength.

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