Page 12 of Love in Overdrive

“How long will you be working at the salon before the baby’s born?” Kari asked.

“As long as I can stand. My feet are already swelling, and I have four months left.”

Cade didn’t know how his sister managed the house, her job as a massage tech, and his four-year-old nephew, the terror. Really, Jimmy was a great kid, but a little hyper. Cade could relate. He was always climbing a tree or racing his bike down the biggest hill in the neighborhood.

Not that he couldn’t get away with anything. His old neighbor was in his business so much, she could have worked for the CIA. Whatever happened to Mrs. Searle? Thanks to her, he and Nash spent a weekend scrubbing the garage siding after a strongest stream contest.

He smirked. The old neighborhood was tight.

Jimmy bolted by Cade, heading for the bathroom. Two young women casually strolled into the dining room, earbuds in their ears, phones in their hands.

Kimmi and Kelli? He wouldn’t have recognized them if they weren’t Kari’s mini-me's.

When did they start wearing makeup? Wow, he really was out of touch.

As the family took their seats, Jimmy slogged into the room, his head hanging. A fat tear rolled down his cheek.

“What’s wrong?” His dad kneeled down in front of him.

A sob slipped from Jimmy’s little body. He pulled his hand from behind his back, as if surrendering something. In it, he held Cade’s cellphone… Water dripped from the case.

No! Cade’s gut clenched. It’s just a phone. It’s just a phone.

“I-I’m sorry. I was washing my hands, and it fell in the toilet. I didn’t drop it. I swear, I was careful.” He hiccupped.

Cade exhaled. A mixture of emotions whorled in his chest. He squatted down, eye to eye with Jimmy. With two fingers, Cade extricated his phone from the tiny hand. “Toilet, huh?”

Head down, Jimmy nodded. “But I washed it with soap.”

Well, fuck. Cade couldn’t stay mad at him. He wrapped an arm around his nephew’s thin shoulders. “It’s alright, buddy. Accidents happen.”

Jimmy sniffled.

“You weren’t supposed to be playing the game in the first place.” Hailey gave her son a stern look. “We’ll discuss your punishment at home. Now, go sit down.”

“Mom, do you have any rice?” Cade removed his phone from the case and shook it out over the sink before wiping it off with the dishtowel.

“In the pantry.” His mom jumped up and retrieved a plastic bag from the drawer as he grabbed the rice.

He plopped his phone in the bag, filled it with the rice, and zipped it closed. With a glance to the ceiling, he sent up a silent prayer. Please let this work.

Back at the table, he settled in. Heaping food on his plate, he listened to the different conversations being carried on simultaneously around the table.

“You think two thousand square feet will be enough?” His father’s deep tone murmured to Bryan.

It sounds like Dad was getting serious about the addition to Busted Knuckle.

“Can we go to the Mall of America? Pleeease,” one of the girls begged when she heard her mom and aunt talking about the awesome sales going on.

Cade wasn’t sure if it was Kimmi or Kelli, but the other sister was in a deep conversation with his mother about some new boy-band drummer. “He’s so cute. I can’t wait to see them in concert this summer.”

Cade’s attention turned to his nephew, who sat as quiet as a mouse next to his mother. His little eyes darted side to side before slipping a carrot under the table to Roscoe, his parent’s thirteen-year-old beagle.

Cade smiled to himself before he forked up more pasta. God, how he missed the big family dinners.

As if his thought sparked a cosmic shift in the room, Cade’s peaceful dinner, being entertained by his family’s voices whirling around, slammed to a halt. All the focus pinpointed on him.

“Cade, honey, now that you’re home, there is someone I’d like you to meet.” His mom smiled sweetly.