Page 14 of Takeover

“Ouch! Dad, your wife is beating me again.”

“Hit him in the head, Cherry!” he jokes. John takes the spoon from his wife and tries to whack Alan, who runs around the kitchen. Vince laughs at their antics. Alan runs behind me and picks up Vince, shielding his body with my son.

“Vince, let’s go downstairs so I can teach you how to make mac and cheese.” He holds Vince like a football and runs out of the room, my son’s laughter ringing all through the house.

Once they’re gone, I turn my attention back to Tara. Even though her back is turned, I can tell she’s stiffer than she was before the phone call. Vickie must sense it too because she moves closer to her sister.

“What do you mean you’re in Barbados, Mother? I thought you’d be on your way here.” Vickie immediately puts a hand on Tara’s shoulder as she listens to the one-sided conversation. “Well, you were supposed to bring the death by chocolate and the Thai food.”

Vickie lays her chin on Tara’s shoulder, and I watch entranced as John and Cheryl also move closer to Tara.

“Yeah,” she says. Her shoulders sag and I can feel the disappointment rolling off her body. “Sure. We can do it another time.”

“Are you shitting me?” Vickie says as she snatches the phone from Tara. “This isn’t okay, Mother. You knew before today that you wouldn’t be able to come, and you wait until now to call?” I don’t get to hear any more of the conversation because Vickie leaves the kitchen and walks down the hall, slamming a door behind her.

“We can order the Thai food, darling,” Cheryl says as she hugs Tara from behind. “There’s plenty of time to make a chocolate cake.”

“It’s okay, evil one. We have plenty of food already.” John starts to talk to Tara, and when her shoulders start to shake, he takes her into a hug. Cheryl joins them, and the three of them hold onto each other in the kitchen.

When I hear a door open, I step into the hall to find a visibly angry Vickie walking out. She walks to the living room and slams the cordless phone on its base.

“Vickie, what happened?” I ask.

She runs a hand through her curly hair before looking at me. Her eyes are red, and there’s black film underneath her eyes, most likely from her mascara.

“Our dear mother bailed out on today, which wouldn’t be the first time, but today is also Tara’s birthday. The tradition is we eat our favorite food on our birthday, and Thai food is Tara’s favorite, and chocolate cake is her favorite dessert. Mother promised she’d bring both, but she decided to go to Barbados with friends instead. She’s flakey. It’s hit or miss when it comes to our mother, but Tara always takes it the hardest. She loves for all of us to be together on holidays and birthdays.”

I think back to her file. I must have looked at it over a dozen times in the last two weeks, but I never paid attention to her date of birth.

“You said it’s not the first time your mother’s bailed?” Eager to learn as much as I can about Tara, I press her sister, who is eager to talk.

“No. She left our father when me and Alan were nine and Tara was eleven. We left for school that morning, and when we came home, she had moved all her stuff out. She knew she was going to leave but didn’t have the guts to tell us. Just like she did today with her trip to Barbados. I’ll bet you five bucks she told Cheryl to break the news, but knowing Cheryl, she probably ripped her a new asshole.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, remembering my own similar issues with my ex-wife.

“Don’t be,” she says, waving me off. “We’ve been dealing with this since we were kids. Excuse me.” She walks past me and heads back towards the kitchen. I grab my phone and send a text to my personal assistant with instructions.

When I get back to the kitchen, Vickie is hugging her sister as their parents look on.

“I love you, sis,” Vickie says. “Now, I’m going to bake you the best damn chocolate cake you ever had. It might come from a mix, but I’m going to make it with love.”

“Okay, Taylors! Let’s get to work. Bernice and Trudy will be here soon, and we need to at least put out some appetizers for Ethan and Vince,” Cheryl says. “And I need to go check on Alan before he burns down this house.”

Cheryl walks out of the kitchen as John walks over to me and says, “I’m going to set the table, then I’ll join you for some football. Have Tara fix you a drink.” He does his signature move and taps me on the shoulder before he walks out, leaving me alone with his daughter for the first time today.

Her eyes go wide when she notices me standing at the kitchen’s entrance. As soon as her eyes lock with mine, she turns, giving me her back, and starts to load the dishwasher. I didn’t miss the tears pooling in those sad eyes though. Anger, I can handle. I’d rather she shoot daggers at me with her eyes than to look this defeated.

“Feel free to get yourself whatever you want to drink.” She sniffs and rubs her nose on her sleeve. “The rum punch is pretty strong, so be careful.” Another sniff follows.

I push myself off the wall and step inside the kitchen. On my way to her, I grab a paper towel. She stiffens when I lean against the counter with my body facing forward. She does her best to ignore me, but when tears fall down her cheeks, I turn towards her and grab her chin.

She surprises me when she doesn’t jerk out of my hands. She takes a deep breath, and I watch as her body trembles. Even underneath her baggy sweatshirt, my body reacts to her soft curves.

I wipe the tears with the paper, holding her gaze the entire time. She looks at me, her eyes questioning. I can feel the acceleration of her breath and can feel the movement of her breasts just a few inches away. More tears fall, and I wipe her face clean.

“I’m sorry your mom can’t be here, Tara.”

She doesn’t respond, but the tears continue to flow, and she tries to pull away. I hold firm and dab the corners of her eyes.

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