Butterfly Dreams by Lacee Hightower

Author:Lacee Hightower
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lacee Hightower
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

15

Damian

* * *

“Hey, you two. Come on in. A certain little girl has been beside herself waiting on Grampa and Uncy Damian. You okay, Dad?”

Kinley reaches over and hugs Dad’s neck, and Dad being himself, acts like it’s no big thing, even though I damn well know better. After Dalton’s and then Mom’s death, Dad went from being tough as nails to vulnerable, almost fragile at times.

“Fit as a fiddle. Now, where’s my granddaughter?”

I reach over and kiss my sister-in-law’s cheek, then hand her the box of gourmet cupcakes. “I have a hell of a time picking out toys for little girls, so I thought these might do. Seemed better than another stuffed animal.” She lifts the corner of the floral box and peeks inside.

“Oh, yum. She may have a tough time fighting off her mom for these jewels.”

Kinley takes the box of assorted desserts, then leads us into the kitchen. “Lily hasn’t missed a single night sleeping with that pig. I think she’d love anything you bought her, Damian.” She reaches into the refrigerator for a bottle of water and hands it to me, then flips on the Keurig to make Dad’s coffee. “She’s been so excited about Grampa coming to stay for a few days that I got her into the pool so she’d stop insisting we call every thirty minutes to see why he wasn’t here yet. She finally passed out.” She hands Dad his cup of strong French roast, then places her hand on his shoulder. “Be right back. Let me go wake her and tell Derek the two of you are here. He’s been on the phone with one of the general managers, I think. Don’t know what he did, but the poor guy’s been getting handed his ass for the last fifteen minutes.”

“Stay with Dad, Kin. I’ll go get Derek. And let Lily finish her nap.” Eyes stern on Kinley’s, she gives me a quick nod of understanding that I want to speak with my brother privately.

Derek’s words sound calm as I pad down the hallway to his office. “I hated firing a man who’s got a kid and another one on the way.” Derek motions me to come in as I stick my neck through the door and listen to him conclude his conversation with Sean Hernandez, his best friend and parts manager for Kinnard Autos. “He’s been warned more than once, and not only are we losing salesmen working for him, but the overall numbers aren’t worth a shit. Anyway, it’s done.”

“Kinley warned me that you were ripping a new asshole,” I say when Derek ends the call. “This over at Lexus?” Spencer Matthews is a name I’ve heard on more than one occasion, never in a positive way. Derek can be a hard ass and come across as a dictator at times, but one thing I’ve learned over the years about my brother’s way of running the business is that he’s fair. He gives Kinnard employees the benefit of the doubt until he’s certain there’s more harm being done than good.

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