Page 6 of The Ghost of You

I nod my head. “I’ll tell Carson. Not that he will say anything to begin with.”

Mason opens the door to my SUV and throws the flask on the seat. He slams the door then brushes his hand threw his shaggy brown hair. “Thanks, bro.”

We head inside and I sigh. I hate that my dad doesn’t believe in my brother. It sucks. My brother is a businessman with a business mind. He got it from my dad. But my dad just doesn’t see it that way. He wanted Mason to take over the family business, the grocery store chain that runs throughout the Carolinas, but Mason was never a nine-to-five man. He has always been more free-spirited, creative, talented. He is in the process of buying a recording studio. Carson is helping with the legal side of things, even though Carson is a criminal defense attorney. I know that if Mason can secure the studio, he will flourish. He has an ear for music that most musicians don’t have. He wants to produce, write, record, if it has to do with music, he wants to be a part of it.

I walk into the kitchen where I can hear the din of my family. I nod at Hunter who drove up from Charleston this morning. My dad smiles as I walk in, grabbing me in a one-armed hug.

“There is the man of the family,” he says. My dad was always proud of me for some unknown reason. I didn’t go to college right out of high school, didn’t follow in the family business, maybe it’s because I am the oldest or the fact I am always looking out for my brothers.

I smile back at my dad and take the beer he hands me. My mom walks over and gives me a kiss on the cheek before getting back to work on dinner.

We make small talk before we all sit down in the formal dining room.

My mom is a master chef, at least for us. She was a housewife as we were growing up and she made the best meals in the world. We always told her to go to culinary school but she pushed it off saying if she worked who would take care of the kids. It wasn’t until Asher went to college that she finally took it seriously. She’s been going to a culinary school in Asheville part-time for the last two years and I have never seen her happier. I doubt she will ever try to get a job at a fine dining restaurant but she is happy just fulfilling a dream.

“Any news on that detective exam?” he asks.

Well, that didn’t take long. But I am glad he is going to hound me and not Mason as we eat dinner. “It’s not until March, but I’m studying every day.”

“There is no reason you won’t pass. You are a great cop.”

“Thanks.” I nod, wishing I had another beer but I already finished the one I allowed myself so I was able to drive home. No one knows I’ve taken it twice already and failed. Not my family and not my police squad. It should be easy. I shouldn’t have a problem passing, but every time I take it, I freeze.

“So Asher, how was your birthday last week? Your brothers didn’t do anything too crazy, did they?”

Carson snorts and Hunter laughs obnoxiously.

My mom looks confused before her face turns to anger. “What did you boys do to my baby boy?”

I can’t help but smile too. We did nothing she wouldn’t expect. Dinner, strip club, lots of drinks, but Asher and his idiot friends are an entirely different story.

Mom stares us all down, Asher looks like he is about to slink beneath the table but Carson speaks up before he can cower. “Ash, why don’t you tell Mom about how good you were at that dare your friends made you do?”

Mom’s gaze cuts to Asher who is redder than a tomato. “What dare?”

Dad is keeping his cool. I’m sure he will find the whole thing funny. He did raise six boys and knows we are trouble.

“Asher, if you do not tell me in the next thirty seconds I am going to make your brother throw you in jail for a night!”

“Geez, Mom, don’t bring me into this.” I laugh.

Asher sits with his mouth gaping open, looking for words, but Mason cuts in. “Asher’s friends thought it would be funny to see how many girls were willing to kiss him. Twenty bucks for each girl who did.”

Mom’s mouth falls open and I can’t hold back my laughter. Dad is sitting next to me and is having trouble keeping it together. He is a smart man and knows his wife will not be happy if he condones this behavior.

“Well…” Mom says, waiting on an answer.

Hunter answers for Asher. “This fucker made two hundred and sixty dollars that night. Dick should have been buying us drinks, not the other way around!”

My mom gasps at Hunter, stands abruptly, walks over to Asher and smacks him upside the head. No one can keep their laughter in at that point, even Dad is dying next to me.

“That is not how you treat women, Asher Jackson Taylor!”

Asher shrinks into his seat even more.

“And the rest of you better stop laughing. God, it’s no wonder all of you are single, you have no idea how to respect a woman!” She looks at Dad and shoves a finger at him. “And you are about to lose the woman you have been married to for thirty-seven years if you don’t stop your laughing!”

My dad quickly stops laughing and grabs his whiskey and sips it. I can see him struggling to keep a straight face.

---