As Hot as It Gets
Page 55“Wow,” Mia remarked when her brother finally stopped babbling. “You’re ridiculously happy about this win.”
He blinked. “Yeah. Right. The win. I’m psyched about it.”
“Do you think the team will make the playoffs?”
“If we keep playing this way, then for sure we will.” He beamed. “You know the Warriors haven’t made the playoffs in four years? And now not only will we get there, but everyone’s saying we can actually win state.”
“That’s because your quarterback rocks.” This time her smile wasn’t forced, but bright and genuine. “So what’s your plan for today? You’re not working, right?”
“Leon gave me the weekend off.”
The shit-eating grin never left Danny’s face, making Mia wonder if he might be on drugs. But no, his pupils looked fine, and he was speaking in coherent sentences. Must be the leftover high from his win, then.
“Ang and I wanted to do something outdoors today,” Danny added. “’Cause it’s such a nice day.”
“Do you need me to drop you guys off somewhere?”
“Naah, Angie’s sister is giving us a ride.” He paused. “We might walk around the harbor, or maybe go to the beach.”
“Sounds like fun.” Mia glanced at the clock on the DVD player. “Jackson’s coming over later, around six. We were going to grab dinner at Tonio’s. Do you and Angie want to come with us?”
“Probably, but I’ll check with her. Her parents might want her to have dinner at home tonight since she was away all weekend.”
“Cool beans.” Danny bounded toward the hallway. “Gonna shower and get ready. Ang will be here soon.”
Mia watched him hurry off. She’d never seen him so jubilant about a game before, which made her wonder if there was more to his happiness than met the eye.
A rush of suspicion suddenly coursed through her veins.
Had their mom somehow made contact with Danny?
Was that why he was in such a euphoric mood?
She prayed that wasn’t the case, but she wouldn’t put anything past her mother. For some reason Brenda was determined to reunite with her children, particularly her son, and she was manipulative enough to use Danny’s teenage naiveté to wrangle her way back into their lives.
The notion was maddening, and it stayed with Mia all afternoon, bothering her so much that it was the first thing she brought up when Jackson arrived at the apartment later that evening.
“Do you think Danny has seen our mother?”
Shrugging out of his black Windbreaker, Jackson wrinkled his forehead, his whiskey eyes reflecting bewilderment. “I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”
Mia chewed on the inside of her cheek, barely returning the soft kiss he gave her as he joined her on the sofa. Not even his handsome face or the ripped arms poking out of his wifebeater could distract her from her troubling thoughts.
“She was here this morning,” Mia confessed.
“Yep,” she said flatly. “She just showed up on my door and demanded to be let in. Apparently she went to LA to visit a friend, and, I guess as an afterthought, decided to come see her kids. Oh, and she’s divorced again.”
“From the man she ran off with two years ago?”
“Nope, a different guy. Marriage and divorce number ten.”
“Whoa.” Jackson dragged his hand over his jaw, which boasted a five-o’clock shadow that normally would’ve made Mia’s heart pound. “So what does she want from y’all? Just to catch up?”
“I have no f**king idea what she wants. She claims she misses us, but that’s total bull. She’s been AWOL for two years, not a goddamn word from her. So why now? What could she possibly want?”
He reached out and took her hand. “Maybe she wants to reconnect with her children.”
Mia snorted.
“Maybe she woke up one morning and realized how badly she screwed up, and now she wants to make amends.”
“Well, if that’s what it is, then she’s a little too late.” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. “I’m scared she might have made contact with Danny. He was super happy when he got home today—I half expected him to burst into song or something. I’ve never seen him grin so hard.”
Jackson’s hand stilled for a second before resuming its stroking of her knuckles.
“He’s always made excuses for her,” Mia went on. “Even after she deserted him, he refused to admit what a horrible person she is. What if he met up with her behind my back, Jackson? What if—”
She glanced at him in surprise. “How can you be certain of that?”
“Because I’m pretty sure I know why your brother is smiling like a fool and walkin’ around like the big man on campus.”
Wariness circled her spine, especially when she noticed the sheepish look on Jackson’s face.
“What’s going on?”
He hesitated.
“Tell me.”
His broad chest rose as he inhaled deeply. “Okay, promise not to freak out—”
Mia’s lips puckered in a frown. Any conversation that started with ‘promise not to freak out’ was bound to end poorly.