Page 66 of The Hardest Hit

“Maybe you should go do that then.”

“Yeah,” agreed Jackson. “Maybe I should.”

He left the room and also didn’t slam the door. Slamming doors showed too much emotion. Dominique and Aiden were loitering in the hall and Jackson made an angry face and a Homer Simpson choking motion. Both smothered laughs in response.

He got his coat from Theo and the siblings followed him outside and toward the garage.

“Nika,” said Aiden when they were out of earshot. “I am blaming this on you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Evan going away for Christmas. Christmas is the best time for Evan. How could you let him go?”

“He had to go for work,” said Dominique serenely. “I have nothing to do with it.”

“And if you’d told him not to go he would have weaseled out of it,” said Jackson. “What gives? You also didn’t look surprised when he said it.”

“Yes, he told me before you all arrived. Why do you think I was pummeling him?”

“You can’t pummel Evan,” said Aiden, looking concerned. “He was just pummeled on the train.”

“I wasn’t hurting him,” protested Dominique. “Just general pillow-i-cide. Which was hilarious until Grandma came in and made everything horrible.”

Aiden growled in anger. “She is being a total bitch. I’m going to say something. Seriously, next time she starts in on him I’m not going to be able to hold it in.”

“She’s got some issues at work,” said Jackson.

“Taggert,” said Dominique sourly.

“And others,” said Jackson. “She’s stressed and this Granger situation is not helping.”

“Do you think that he’ll take another shot at Evan?” asked Aiden, looking worried.

“I don’t know,” said Jackson.

“From that perspective,” said Aiden, “I’m glad he’s going to Tokyo. The odds of Granger being able to get to him there seem slim. It might be good to tuck him away in Japan for a bit until you deal with Granger.”

“Agreed,” said Dominique.

“I am working on it!” Jackson could feel the pressure of their expectations like a physical weight.

“Hey,” said Dominique, “we know that. We know you wouldn’t let anything happen to us.”

“And Devonte Miller won’t be letting anything happen to Evan,” said Aiden smirking.

“You cannot tell Evan about that,” said Jackson, firmly. He’d been hoping that Aiden hadn’t recognized Devonte. A hope that was misplaced, apparently.

“Cross my heart,” said Aiden, making the appropriate hand gesture but still grinning. Jackson shook his head.

24

Olivia – Stress Baking

“Olivia Rose,” said the voice on the other end of the phone, and Olivia found herself hitching up the neckline of her shirt with one nervous hand.

“Hey, Pops,” said Olivia.

“I’ve been talking with your sister,” he said, his voice deep and resonant, reminding her of church mornings and pot luck afternoons. “You’ve made her very unhappy. And it makes me unhappy that there’s so much strife between you two.”