In an effort to deflect any further questioning, he answered Jack’s earlier question. “Amy has been working on a project for one of her clients. Something changed in his time frame, and the guy needs it done a lot sooner than originally expected, so she had to work today.”
Tino finished the last of his beer. “I’m sure Mom wouldn’t mind if you packed up some of everything to take to Amy when you go home.”
“Not a bad idea.”
Ricky came barreling out of the back door at his usual breakneck speed. “Uncle Mikhail, Grandma wants to know how long until the burgers are ready.”
The interruption banished the last bit of tension between the three brothers. “I just checked them. They’re almost done.”
“Great. I’m starving here.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “You ate two pieces of cold pizza ten minutes before we left the house. You can’t be that hungry.”
“Sure I am. Didn’t you hear Mom say I’ve hit another growth spurt?” He held up a foot and wiggled it. “Which is why she’s taking me shopping tomorrow for new shoes.”
It was fun to watch Jack sputter as he stared down at his son’s shoes, which looked like they didn’t have many miles on them. “We just bought those a month ago. You can’t have grown that much already.”
Ricky looked at Tino and Mikhail for support. “Does he not understand what a growth spurt is?”
Marlene joined them. “He should. There was about a three-year period where Joe used to complain we spent more time at the shoe store than we did at home.”
Mikhail finished stacking the burgers on the platter his mom had brought out with her. As he handed it back, he glanced down at his nephew’s feet. “If we go by the puppy theory of big feet, Ricky, you could end up closer to my height than Jack’s or Tino’s, otherwise known as the family runt.”
The teenager’s face lit up. “Do you really think so?”
“Yeah, but I’m only guessing. Do you remember how tall your birth father was?”
His nephew’s smile faded. “No, and I don’t have any pictures of him.”
Well, crap, now he regretted that he’d brought the subject up. On the other hand, maybe there was something they could do about that. “Jack, that friend of yours, the one who does security work. Any chance he could access the state’s files in California? If Ricky’s dad had a driver’s license, it would have his picture, not to mention his height and weight.”
Ricky’s hopeful gaze turned from Mikhail back toward Jack. “Can we at least try?”
Jack leaned in to shoulder bump his son. “Sure. Gabe owes me a favor or two. I’ll shoot him an email tonight or tomorrow at the latest. After we get home, you should write down any information you can think of that would help him with the search. We’ll also look through all the legal papers we have from the adoption proceedings to see if there’s anything helpful there.”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
Jack bumped his son’s shoulder a second time. “Of course not, kid.”
Mikhail was proud of the boy for asking and of his brother’s response. Jack and his wife had adopted Ricky after his birth mother had to surrender all parental rights. The stupid woman had abandoned the kid and left him living on the streets when he and her second husband didn’t hit it off. While the kid had every reason to hate her for the choices she’d made, his memories of his father were happy ones. Even a crappy driver’s license photo would be better than having no photo at all. Mikhail knew that for a fact.
Marlene started shooing them all toward the back door. “Well, why don’t we go eat before the burgers get cold?”
“Good idea, Mom.”
He slung his arm around her shoulders as they headed into the house. As always, he took comfort from the contact with the woman who had saved three teenagers who’d all been on the fast track to trouble back in the day. There was no way to know where he would’ve ended up if she and Joe hadn’t opened their home and their hearts to three lost boys, but it wouldn’t have been a good place.
As the family gathered around the table, it hit him that he had a lot to be grateful for. It was something he should remember far more often than he did, especially when it came to the people in his life: Marlene, his brothers and their wives, Ricky, and now Amy.
Her most of all.
When he got home, he’d check in with her to make sure she was doing all right. Neither of them had gotten much sleep last night, and she’d been facing long hours in front of the computer after he left. At the very least, he could take Panda on a walk with him and Sarge. After that, he’d see if there was anything else he could do for her.
Or with her.
He had some great suggestions along that line if she didn’t, and he couldn’t wait to share them with her.
Tino elbowed him and whispered, “I’ve got a good idea what—and who—you’re thinking about right now, but you need to get your head back in the game. Mom keeps giving you some curious looks. You don’t want her asking questions you don’t want to answer.”
