Ian opened his mouth but was cut off by the shrill ringing of the bell. He ran a hand over his face and made a beeline for the door. Kelli and Dana were already arguing when they came in, dressed in matching jeans and heavy sweaters. Dana had her beanie pulled low over her dark hair, and Kelli had wisps of blond hair poking out from underneath her cap.
Dean trailed behind them, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans and a pair of earmuffs hanging on his ears. The three of them gave Ian a quick hug before heading for their mom. Lucy’s entire face lit up as she pulled them all into a group hug, and some of the tension melted from her face.
Ian couldn’t help but wonder if they were headed down the same path as Sophia and Darren. Without the children keeping them together, his sister and her ex had floundered before drifting apart. Granted, they were back together now, but Ian didn’t want them to have the same fate.
Not if he could help it.
“Dad, did you hear Dean wants to move back in?”
Dean shot Kelli a dirty look and unwound the scarf from around his neck. “I said I was thinking about it because I want to save on dorm money, and I’m looking to get a summer job.”
“Or you could get an actual career like the rest of us,” Dana told him with a pointed look. “What are you going to do with an art history degree? It’s not like you’re going to write a novel like…what’s his face…the guy who wroteTheDa Vinci Code?”
“Dan Brown,” Ian replied a little too quickly. “Stop picking on your brother, D. Dean has to figure out his own path. We can’t all have everything figured out by the time we’re eighteen.”
“Show off,” Dean grumbled in Dana’s direction.
“Has-been,” Dana retorted, sticking her tongue out in his direction. “Baby Deanie should’ve stuck to college football.”
During breakfast, the three of them continued to bicker over the food. Lucy silenced them all with one look, and they spent the rest of the meal swapping stories and passing food. Two hours later, Ian’s eyes were burning, and he was falling asleep at the counter when Dean draped an arm over his shoulders and hoisted him up.
“You can stay in the basement,” Ian told him in a thick voice. “Your mom and I don’t mind.”
Dean let his dad fall onto the bed and exhaled. “Thanks, Pop. We’ll talk some more later. Get some sleep, okay?”
Ian was asleep before Dean made it out of the room.
Chapter Two
“So, what’s happening with your detective exam?”
Ian didn’t look up from the side mirror and the group of people reflected there, laughing and shoving each other around. “Nothing is happening with my detective exam.”
“What do you mean? It’s in a few weeks, isn’t it?”
“After Christmas,” Ian replied, pausing to adjust his rearview mirror. “But it doesn’t matter because I’m not going to take the exam.”
“What did you just say?”
Ian twisted to face Marissa, who had a furrow between her brows, her mouth hanging open. “I’m not taking the exam. I’ve thought about it, and now just isn’t the right time.”
Marissa snapped her mouth shut and gave him an incredulous look. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
Ian lowered the rearview mirror and frowned at the group of men, who were growing increasingly loud and boisterous. “Why would I be joking about something like this?”
Marissa slapped his arm. “What’s the matter with you? You’ve been a patrol officer for…what is it, going on fifteen years now?”
Ian rubbed his arm. “Yeah, so?”
“So, you’ve been talking about the detective exam for the past five years. That’s almost as long as I’ve known you. What made you change your mind?”
Ian blew out a breath. “I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”
Marissa’s expression softened. “Ian, you can’t let your mom’s case take over your life. I know it’s important to have answers, but this isn’t the way to handle things.”
Without giving her a response, Ian pushed his door open and stepped outside. He paused to adjust his belt and checked both sides of the empty street. Once he reached the other side, the group of men who had spilled outside of O’Malley’s Pub went silent. They all avoided his gaze and shifted from one foot to the other.
“Sorry to bother you, fellas, but it’s six in the evening, and there’s been a noise complaint.”
