CHAPTER NINETEEN
Cherry
Caleb ordered Old Spaghetti Factory and had his driver deliver it. We crowded around the table, the place that had once been Dad’s filled with a male form it was all I could do to take my eyes from. Mama had seated him there, noting his “long legs,” then took over serving as she always did.
“I couldn’t help but notice that you all have names that are something edible,” Caleb said, looking around at my siblings.
When his eyes landed on me, my mind flashed back to that gym mat in the ring, his tongue on my clit. My face heated, and I dropped my gaze and concentrated on winding spaghetti around my fork.
Caleb shifted slightly, and from my vantage point, I couldn’t tell if he was amused or embarrassed. The guy certainly did have a great poker face.
While I could never associate Caleb with anything finned or scaly, the term “fish out of water” was fitting as silence descended over the table.
“Dad named us all,” Clementine piped up, then focused on her plate of spaghetti when everyone’s eyes turned to her.
“Yes,” I said. “Dad named each of us after the crop, or in Colby’s case, the product that was newest on the farm.”
Before Caleb could comment, Honey laughed. “I was lucky I wasn’t named Ham.”
Sage rolled his eyes. “You are a ham.”
“Hams come from piggies. We had piggies,” Honey told Caleb. “Piggies stink. Phew.” She pinched her nose, making a face that had Clementine dissolving into giggles. “But pork is delectable meat.”
Colby leaned over and told Honey to “shut up,” which sent Mama into a tizzy.
After the buzz at the table subsided, I chanced a glance at Caleb, tall and impassive in his seat, and completely out of his depth. But he was hanging in there and seemed to be enjoying himself.
Mama was eying Colby with a stern look that told me their earlier discussion hadn’t completely covered the events of the day. “Soon, you’ll be duking it out for pay like your sister, my baby.” She sighed and pressed her hand to her heart.
“I’m not a baby, Mama. I’m twenty-one years old.” I sighed, knowing I wasn’t going to get anywhere playing the adult card, but she was embarrassing me in front of Caleb. I wanted him to see how close we were, not the fact that my mom and her emotions that were always on display would fit right into any daytime soap opera.
“You came into this world my first baby, therefore you will always be my baby.” She tsked. “So, what now? More fighting? Do you heal to only get hurt even more?”
I didn’t like being admonished in front of Caleb, but before I could defend myself, he launched into the safety elements and rules set up in MMA and boxing that protected the fighters. He was so convincing that she was eventually nodding in agreement.
When dinner was finished, Sage and Colby were instructed to do the cleanup, but Caleb insisted on helping, so I stayed to lob any conversation that might be too much for him. When Colby tried to pitch a string of spaghetti into Sage’s hair, I glanced to Caleb and saw that he was wearing a smirk.
I sighed. “So this is my family.”
“They’re great,” he said, his voice quiet. But in my house, secrets were hard to keep secret.
“Yeah, we are,” Sage answered for me. “And you’re the guy with the money, aren’t you?”
I shushed my closest sibling and addressed Caleb. “Ignore him. He’s smart, but unfortunately his brains don’t have a clear path to his mouth half the time.”
Sage just winked at me, ever his snarky self. “And yet you know you love me.”
I ignored him, carrying plates to the sink and nudged Clementine, who was still sitting at the table, staring at Caleb with big eyes. “If you’re not helping, you know you have after dinner chores.”
That ran her off, and Honey followed.
“I knew you had a big family but didn’t imagine they’d be so great.”
“Yeah, we’re a bunch of characters, that’s for sure.” I smiled weakly at him. “I hope it’s not too intimidating.”
He shrugged, his face impassive as he looked over the now empty table covered in dirty dishes. “It’s something to grow accustomed to.”
I imagined it was. I knew next to nothing about Caleb’s life, but he’d never mentioned any other sibling besides the sister he hadn’t seen in years. In fact, I didn’t even know his father’s name. Although I liked to think that I could read him just fine, it wasn’t like he was an open book.
“So, what do you do to earn all that money?” Sage asked, diving right into the awkward conversation like we weren’t uncertain enough already.
Caleb’s face colored a little, and he gave the slightest of smiles. “I run a research and development company.”
“So, you’re like a CEO or something?”
“Yes. I own it along with my longtime buddy.”
“Is there a board?”
“What’s a board?” Colby asked as he piled dishes from the table way too high.
“It’s the people who run the company, basically,” Sage answered. “Which you would know if you didn’t spend all of your time watching sports and actually studied a little.”
“What? I study!” my youngest brother objected, almost knocking over the pile.
“Uh-huh, and that’s why you’re rocking that C minus average, isn’t it?”
Colby’s cheeks puffed out like they did when he got pouty. “Not all of us can be smartasses like you.”
I gasped. “Colby!”
But Sage just grinned. “I’m sure if you applied yourself, you could be just as much of a smartass as I am.”
“But are we really sure that’s a goal I should be reaching for?” Colby looked serious when he said it.
I was startled when Caleb laughed. “Oh, he called you out!” I had expected him to be uncomfortable, not join in the banter.
In the same tone, Colby squawked, “What’s Sage going to do?”
My eldest brother just raised his eyebrows and straightened his spine. “I’m going to be a gracious host and not correct my obviously ridiculous brother.”
“Money can’t buy good manners,” Caleb said, which was met with Colby practically howling with laughter until I shushed him.
Caleb took the outburst well, which had me thinking maybe I needed to stop setting the bar so low for him. Since he’d come in the door, Caleb had been nothing but incredibly kind and respectful. Sure, his countenance was cold, maybe even harsh to some people. But I knew better than most that his outward appearance was probably just the defense he’d had to curate over the years to survive in his world. I was sure that many people had tried to take advantage of him because of his station.
Honey came barreling back into the kitchen holding up a drawing she’d done. “I did art today!”
“In kindergarten. Careful with that one,” I said, reaching forward to ruffle the light hair of my youngest sister’s head. “Once you get her going about a subject, she never stops.”
“Until I make her!” Clementine said, smiling brightly and showing her uneven adult teeth as she shuffled back into the kitchen.
“Oh, you made something?” Caleb asked as he took the drawing and held it up in front of him. “Hmm. Is this your house? With everyone… lying on the front lawn?”
“Getting tickles!” Honey answered in her usual overly loud tone. “We’re using tickles!” She proceeded to lunge at Clementine, and soon they were rolling across the floor in a mass of flailing limbs and giggles.
I half expected Caleb to get irritated, but he just watched with what appeared to be genuine amusement until the girls calmed down and Honey started to explain to him the characters in her artwork.
I let her banter on, certain I was throwing Caleb into the deep end. I just hoped that he’d survive.