Page 64 of The Geography of Happiness

That done, I left them to it and headed for the kitchen.

I was proud of my small home. I’d employed a decorator with a much better eye than me to make sure it looked good, and a cleaner to keep it immaculate even though I rarely entertained or had overnight guests. Matt had been surprised when he’d firstseen the finished look, saying he’d expected something more masculine. But I hadn’t wanted big-screen televisions, dark wood, and oversized leather couches.

Instead, the décor was a simple colour block of warm cream and dark grey, the stark contrast softened by caramel-coloured oak furniture, a champagne carpet that your toes could get lost in, and cream gauzy curtains along with mountains of cushions. It was my haven, and I loved it. And I especially loved the fact that the house sat on a large section with plenty of room for me to garden when I got the time. Along with the rose garden out front, I’d planted an orchard of fruit trees out the back, not all of which had survived the extreme local weather.

When I reached the kitchen, the first thing I did was head for the pantry. I doubted Terry had eaten anything at the medical centre, so that meant he’d had nothing since the sandwich at Lane Station. He had to be starving.

Zach might’ve thought my cooking was pretty basic, but that was because he’d never eaten my food. No one had. He had no idea that I’d raised my three brothers and had a pretty decent set of skills to draw on, but the late hour called for an easy comfort belly filler, not a gourmet meal, and in fifteen minutes I had a plate of decadent cheese toasted sandwiches ready to go.

Terry wandered into the kitchen a few minutes later while I was still cleaning up, his bright blue eyes suspiciously shiny against all that delicious pale skin.

I turned and put my back to the sink. “How is she?”

His weighty sigh could’ve sunk a ship, and he looked like the slightest breath of wind would knock him to the ground. “Well, she aced all the concussion questions and now she’s out like a light.”

“That’s good,” I answered, grabbing a couple of glasses from the cupboard next to the cooktop and putting them on the island. “She needs to sleep. How areyou?”

He shrugged. “Okay. Tired. She knows not to get up on her own,” he said, sliding his phone onto the countertop. “She’ll call if she needs me.”

I took him by the shoulders and steered him to a barstool at the island. “Right, then no more talking until you’ve eaten something.”

He took one look at the plate piled high with toasted sandwich halves and gave another monumental sigh. “Spencer, it’s good of you, but I don’t know that I can?—”

“Shut up and eat.” I pointed the chef’s knife I was scrubbing toward the plate. “I want at least two halves gone before another word comes out of your mouth.”

He answered with a crooked grin. “Or else?”

I joined him at the breakfast bar and grabbed one of the sandwiches for myself. “You don’t want to know. Now eat.” I put my hand over my heart and batted my lashes. “I made them especially.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fuck me. All right. Fine. And your pout sucks, by the way.” He took a sandwich and waved it in front of me. “Happy now?”

“Ecstatic. And I’ll have you know my pout is celebrated throughout the Mackenzie.”

“Yeah, right.” He shot me a cheeky look. “I bet you were a bossy pain-in-the-neck older brother just like mine.”

My heart missed a beat.I was.

The second he realised what he’d said, Terry’s smile dissolved and he reached for my hand. “That was a stupid fucking thing to say and I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“It’s fine.” I grabbed a handful of serviettes from the dispenser on the island and shoved a few his way. “Besides, it’s the truth.”

“It’snotthe truth at all,” he said flatly. “The truth is that you loved your brothers, and you did the best you could in difficult circumstances to be the parent they needed. You should never have been put in that position, but you were, and parentsarebossy. It’s part of the deal. It’s written into the contract.”

I couldn’t fight the smile that spread over my face. “Oh, is that right?”

“Hell yeah, it is.” Terry flashed those blue eyes at me. “Right there under the clause that says no daughter can have a boyfriend until she’s over twenty-two.”

That made me laugh. “I’d pay good money to see you try and enforce that one with Hannah.” I nodded to the toasted sandwich still in his hand. “Now eat before it gets cold.” I pushed off my stool and wandered over to the fridge. “You wanna beer?”

He shook his head. “I need to stay sober to watch her and in case we have to take her back to the clinic.”

“I was planning on a zero-alcohol hazy IPA, if that suits?”

His expression brightened. “Then yes, thanks.”

I popped the cap on one and placed it in front of him. “Pace yourself.”

He snorted, then squinted at the label just to be sure of the percentage before taking a long swallow and releasing a satisfied burp when he was done. “Damn, that tastes good.”

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