Page 56 of After 5
“Jake works for the CIA.” I placed my hands on my hips and frowned at the half-eaten rose bush.
“CIA? I thought you smart fellas did the spy decoding; I didn’t know you carried guns.” Darryl eyed Jake’s weapon.
“Special ops division,” Jake said.
“Seen any combat?”
“I was part of the Abu Anas al-Libi Capture.”
“Whoa, speak American dude.” Darryl help up his hands.
“Darryl, we need to talk about your animals,” I said. “They need to stay in your house and your backyard. You can’t allow Lucy to run all over the neighborhood. We have an HOA and they have rules.”
“She won’t be no problem. She never strays too far from home. Now, Chuck, he’s the troublemaker. Hard to keep him penned up, but I can’t bear to part with him.”
“Who’s Chuck?” I asked.
“My tarantula.”
Jake and I stood, mouths open. “You have a deadly spider that escapes from his cage?” Jake asked.
“He’s sneaky, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
When I didn’t respond, Darryl headed toward the gate, trailing Lucy behind him. “I’m singing at the club tonight. Why don’t y’all come down and I’ll buy the first round of drinks for all the troubles Lucy caused.”
“Maybe,” I said as he slammed the gate shut behind him.
Jake and I returned inside.
“My parents bought the townhouse next door and thought Darryl should live there.”
He grinned down at me. “I thought I’d met all of your crazy family.”
“Darryl’s a distant cousin. He didn’t come around much.”
I hadn’t spent any down time with Jake in a while. “Are you interested in going to the club tonight to see Darryl sing?” I asked.
“Can’t, I’ve got a date.”
“With the mystery girl?”
“You’ll meet her when I’m sure it’s going to be a thing.”
“You’ve never been so secretive before about the women you date.”
“There’s a few details I need to work out.” He walked to the refrigerator and opened the door.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m looking for— Ahh…here it is.” He pulled out a container of leftover chicken piccata. My mom had dropped the chicken dish by on her way to my dad’s store yesterday. He lifted the lid and inhaled deeply. “Guilt, conveniently packaged in Tupperware. I love your mom.”
“How’d you know she’d bring food?”
“You’re two peas—butyourguilt comes in a Fendi bag.”
Jeez.
“I need to head out.” Jake placed his empty mug in the sink and tucked the container of leftovers under his arm. “I’ll arrange for the sword to be picked up tomorrow.”
