Real Men Knit(24)

“No, it won’t be,” Lucas said. “Though she won’t be here, we still will. Waiting for you.”

“Yeah, we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure our home and our business are still secure,” Jesse added.

“So in the meantime you gotta go out and dance your pop locking ass off and show the world what you’ve got. You’ve worked hard for this moment, bro,” Lucas said, giving his younger brother a look that said there was no other option but to go out and do his thing.

“Don’t worry, you’ve got this, and we’ve got you,” Jesse said.

Noah nodded and blinked away unshed tears while Kerry tried hard to hold on to her composure. She couldn’t take it when they were like this. She didn’t know if she liked it better when they were at each other’s throats. Sometimes that side of them just felt easier than this loving, bonding side. This side was enough to make a woman melt into a puddle of goo on the shop floor just to have them trample right on through.

Kerry cleared her throat. “Seriously, why are we acting like this is goodbye right now? You’ll be back later to help us get ready for the opening,” she said. “Go rehearse, then get back here to work some more when you can. We’ll cry over you leaving when the time comes. For now, there is work to do.”

Noah’s smile this time was much closer to his real one. “Yes, ma’am, Kerry Girl.”

“Good. That’s all I want to hear.”

The coffee done, Kerry was surprised when she came out of the kitchen to find Jesse alone with no Lucas or Noah in sight.

“Where did Lucas go?” she asked. “I thought he was staying for a while.”

Jesse turned from where he was standing by the door and looked at her. His smile was soft and endearing, and for a moment she was taken back to early days and soft squishy dreams of him and hopes of some sort of butterfly future. But then he looked away. He shuffled his feet, and as he started to speak, he couldn’t quite meet her gaze, and all Kerry felt was ominous despair. “He went upstairs to grab something. Listen, Kerry, about Erika earlier, it wasn’t like you might’ve thought.”

Kerry frowned. Why did he have to go and bring up Ms. Sparkle Toes again? “Um, excuse me, Mr. Out of the Blue, it’s not like I was asking. The question on the table was where is Lucas?” She gave him a headshake and turned to go back the way she came, mumbling to herself, “It’s not like you owe me any sort of explanation.”

“But I kind of do.”

Kerry stopped short and turned back his way, crossing her arms. “Why?”

He looked at her, confusion clouding his face.

“Why what?”

“Why would you think you owe me an explanation and why would you think I thought anything at all?” she asked. “It’s not like I spend all my time, or any time for that matter, thinking about you and your nighttime activities, Jesse Strong.”

She didn’t know if her words came out a little more clipped than she had intended them to, but it seemed her sharpness hit a mark. “But still—” he started, and Kerry held up a hand.

“No buts. You don’t owe me any sort of excuse or explanation. We’re friends and coworkers. No more than that. What you do during the nighttime hours is your business.” Kerry paused, thinking of her next words. “Though I would suggest possibly showing any of your other sympathy givers the way in and out of the residence entrance so that they don’t have to come through the shop. I’d also like to make it clear that this is the last morning that I’ll be cleaning up after your nighttime carousing. It’s not part of my job description.”

She glared at Jesse and he stared at her, then finally burst out laughing.

“Did you just say ‘carousing’?”

Kerry let out a groan. “So what? It’s a word.”

He pulled a face. “That it is, Kerry Girl.”

“Oh, screw you with the Kerry Girl. Commenting over my saying ‘carousing’ while you were busy last night with old claw-foot.”

Jesse stilled. Then burst out laughing again. “Good one. The toes were a bit much.”

Kerry shrugged, trying to stay serious, but a snort escaped anyway. “I’m not saying, but I’m saying. They were heavy. Just layered to all hell. Your poor sheets are probably shredded.” She frowned then. Dammit, she didn’t need the image of Jesse shredding sheets with claw-toed Erika or anyone else running through her mind. She could take a lot, but that was maybe too much. “Seriously, could you be a little more circumspect? We are trying to focus on the shop and building on the legacy Mama Joy started. I don’t recall while she was alive there ever being any sort of tradition of young females coming in and out at all hours of the morning and night.”

Jesse stared at her a long time before he nodded and then turned away, mumbling under his breath, “Don’t worry. I know all about her legacy, and I’m glad to know I’ve got you keeping track now too.”

Kerry bit her tongue. Literally. It was better than making an ass of herself by saying the wrong thing. Again. Why did she have to go in and add that last part about the women traipsing in morning and night? What did it matter to her if they traipsed or not-traipsed? “That’s not what I meant, Jesse. All I meant was that I was just thinking of the good of the shop.”