Sea Breeze 04 - Just for Now

else, when Marcus and Mom walked back into the room carrying the trays of food that had been catered. Mom hadn’t had time to cook this week. She’d been too busy worrying over things like what ribbon to tie on what chair.
    “This smells amazing,” Marcus said as he set the pan full of fried crab claws and hush puppies down on the table.
    “I thought we’d do seafood tonight. Since it’s a beach-themed wedding.”
    That made no sense, but my mother was obsessive, so I ignored it.
    Marcus reached for some food and started putting it on Willow’s plate. He always did things like that for her. He made her breakfast in the morning and brought her coffee. My brother had been raised to be a southern gentleman. My mom had accomplished that and then some.
    “Guess what I found out today,” Marcus said as he started to fix his own plate.
    “What?” Mom asked.
    Marcus looked over at me. “Looks like Trisha and Rock are gonna adopt Preston’s brothers and sister.”
    “What?” I couldn’t act like I didn’t care. Because I did.
    Marcus raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Yep. Trisha found out awhile back she can’t get pregnant. They wanted to adopt. Then she met the kids, and she and Rock want them. Preston’s already got the ball rolling. The kids’ social worker doesn’t see that this is going to be a problem. The court will find it a perfect solution. Preston wouldn’t have got to keep those kids. He has his job as a bouncer four nights a week, and then he has school and baseball. He has no time to raise kids.”
    Trisha and Rock would be amazing parents. And the kids would still be in town close to Preston. He could get them whenever he wanted. Trisha would love Daisy. She’d be the momma that Daisy deserved.
    Wait . . . Preston’s job as a bouncer at a club? Was this something he’d made up to cover the truth, or had he really found himself a new job?
    “They’ll make wonderful parents. I’m so happy for them and those kids,” I replied, trying to keep the emotion off my face. My mother was watching me. I could feel her eyes studying my every move. I could not let her see any weakness.
    “Yeah. Preston is pretty pumped about it. He has been worried about losing the kids because he’s so young. He didn’t want them split up and put in the foster care system. This removes that possibility.”
    I nodded and picked up a crab claw. “When did Preston start working as a bouncer?” I asked, trying to sound casual about it. I put the crab claw in my mouth and pulled the meat off with my teeth while I waited on Preston to answer. I would not look over at my mother.
    “A couple of weeks ago. Rock hooked him up with a great gig. He works four nights a week and gets paid some serious jack. He sleeps most of the daylight hours during the weekend, though. It was why no one could get him on his phone the day his mom died.”
    Marcus was being careful too. He could sense the tension coming from Mom. I hadn’t told him that she knew about Preston, but I was pretty sure he was able to figure it out by the major vibes she was putting off.
    “Makes sense. Well, I’m glad things are working out for him,” I replied.
    Marcus shifted in his seat, and the questions in his eyes as he looked at me were clear. He wanted to know if Mom knew. He also was questioning her involvement in our sudden breakup. I couldn’t have him asking her anything. She’d tell him about Preston. I didn’t want Marcus to know. I needed him to think this was my choice and I’d moved on.
    “So, change of subject, but Jason is flying in tomorrow. He wanted to come early so we could spend some time together. If you need me for anything, give me advance notice, because I have plans with him too,” I told my mother.
    Mom’s tension eased and she smiled. “Oh, that’s good to hear. I’m sure I’ll need you some, but you can always bring Jason with you. We can find some use for his muscles.”
    “He doesn’t have muscles, Mom. He has people lift everything, from his luggage to his damn fork. The kid hasn’t ever done any type of manual labor.” Marcus sounded annoyed.
    “He has a gym in his home, where he works out daily. I can assure you he has very nice muscles,” I said sweetly, meeting my brother’s gaze across the table.
    “If that’s what you want, Manda. Then be my guest.”
    It wasn’t what I wanted. But nothing was about what I wanted. It rarely was.

Chapter Twenty-Five
Preston
    I hadn’t had a drink in