Chapter Seven
Daniel
“So…,”Marshallsaidreluctantlyas he crouched down to love on Bucky. “That was my mother.”
Glaring at Rose’s locked bedroom door, I snorted before I turned away and headed back down the corridor. “I kind of got that, yeah.”
“I’m sorry about her questions.”
I raised an eyebrow at him as I walked past. “I’m sorry about Rose stealing your phone. I think it’s fair to say that we’re even.”
“If it’s any consolation,” he said, getting up to follow me, Bucky happily on his heels, “I think they’ll get along. Mom has always had the same sense of humor as a teenager, and Rose seems older….”
“So it’ll be a meeting of like minds?” I asked, swallowing a chuckle.
“Could be, yeah.”
I headed for the sofa that I’d been sitting in before Rose had taken off and collapsed onto it. “She’ll come out when she’s good and ready.” With my head resting comfortably on the backcushion, I watched Marshall sink into the couch opposite me, appearing a little dazed. “Is your whole family like that? Or just your mom?”
He chuckled. “Just her. Dad is the more serious of the pair.”
“Opposites attract, huh?”
He nodded absently before glancing down the hallway toward Rose’s closed door.
“Any siblings?”
He wiped his hands down his cheeks. “An older brother. Anderson.”
“Are you two close?” I found myself wanting to hear everything about Marshall’s family. The very short conversation with his mom had piqued my curiosity, and now I needed more.
He hummed as he tilted his head from side to side. “Kind of? Less now than we were when we were growing up. He’s two years older than me, and the older he gets, the more like Dad he’s getting.”
That sounded familiar. “I’ve got three brothers. The middle one, James? I could say the same thing about him and my dad.”
Marshall’s eyebrows rose in challenge. “Is he following in your father’s footsteps to take over the family business and expects you to drop everything to do the same just so you can wither away in an office cubicle and report to him for the rest of your working life even though you hate what your family does?”
My jaw snapped shut, surprised at the sudden shift in tone. “Um… no?”
He sighed bitterly and wiped his hands down his cheeks again before tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling. “Sorry. I do love my brother, but he’s what you’d call the golden child of the family, and ever since he graduated college a couple of years ago, he’s been insufferable.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing. “Mom is the only one who really understands how much I don’t want to work for Anderson. Itfeels like Dad’s got his head stuck in the sand because he keeps saying everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.”
Hmm. That was a loaded statement. I mean, technically, his dad wasn’t wrong, because that was how life rolled, but if he wasn’t supporting Marshall the way he should’ve been because all his focus was on the eldest son, no wonder Marshall felt unheard. “What does your family do?”
“Finance.”
“Is that why you studied…?”
“Yup.”
“And you hate…?”
“Yup.”
I grimaced. “That feels… somewhat counterintuitive.”
“Dad wanted me to get a degree.” He shrugged. “As soon as I finished my first semester, I split my major to focus on finance and management. I couldn’t swap my major out entirely because of my scholarships, but there was enough wiggle room in the fine print that I could bring in management.” He raised his head enough to grin cheekily at me. “Anderson wasn’t happy, but Dad didn’t mind as long as I didn’t flunk or drop out.”
“Your own personal act of rebellion.”
