Page 63 of Takeover

“Mother,” Alan says, hugging Alicia. “Good to see you.” He kisses her on the cheek and pulls her to his side. “Have you meant my buddy Vincent?” That’s all Vincent needs to hear to jump from my arms to Alan’s. As soon as he gets situated, he whispers something in Alan’s ear.

“Don’t tell my dad,” he whispers.

“Nope. Come on. Let’s see what I can find.” Vincent looks at me guiltily before looking away.

“Only give him a little bit.” They are already talking to a server before the words leave my mouth. A few seconds later, Vincent is holding a child’s cup filled with soda.

“Alan will pump him full of sugar. Keep your eyes on him,” Alicia warns us. “But I am so glad to meet you, Ethan. Tara never tells me anything.” She pushes between us, shoving Tara out of the way. Like an anaconda, she wraps one of her arms around mine. “So, how did you two meet?”

“I never tell you anything because you’re never around,” Tara says. Her voice is curt, and I can see the flare of her nostrils. I feel her body tighten next to me.

“The phone works both ways, Tater Tot. You haven’t returned any of my calls,” Alicia says.

“I wonder why that is?” Tara says under her breath. Alicia must hear because her smile slips until she catches herself and smiles again.

Tara walks around and takes my free hand in hers. We find seats across from John, Cheryl, and Bernie, and I’m sandwiched between Tara and her mother. I intertwine our fingers and kiss Tara’s hand. Bernie cackles at the table.

“I knew it,” Bernie says smugly.

“Bernie thinks she knows everything,” John says. “And you’ve already told us you knew it. Are you getting senile in your old age?”

“Don’t make me beat you up like I did when we were kids, John,” Bernie says. “Listen, you didn’t see the steam coming off those two like I did. They only talked for a few minutes, but the building almost caught fire. Plus, he checked out her ass while she was walking away.”

“That’s enough of that,” John says. He gives me the side eye before he looks at his daughter. “Although, Bradford, I invited you to the office to talk business, not so you could ogle my daughter.”

I clear my throat, and say, “I promise I didn’t ogle. I just snuck a peek.” Tara elbows me in the ribs, but she starts to laugh.

“Pervert,” she says.

I wiggle my eyebrows at her and kiss her loudly on the cheek. She pushes me away and makes a show of wiping her cheek.

“I guess this is how young folks are doing it these days. These two were so hostile to each other, and yet, here you are.” He throws his hands up and shrugs. “Just don’t kill each other while I’m around. I don’t want to be a witness.”

“It’s called passion, Brad. Remember what that is?” Alicia smiles at me, rolls her eyes, and points her head at her ex-husband.

“I remind him every night,” Cheryl says.

“Gauntlet dropped,” Alan says. “And I think I threw up a little in my mouth.”

Cheryl starts a conversation with Bernie, whose eyes shoot daggers at Alicia, but Alicia is oblivious as she looks at the menu and tries to talk to Vickie.

“I’m surprised to see your dad and Cheryl here. I thought it would just be us and your mom,” I whisper in Tara’s ear. And because no one is looking, I kiss her ear.

“Well,” she whispers back to me, “if my dad and the evil one aren’t here, who else is going to pick up the check?” She runs a hand across my thigh before she continues. “It’s a weird dynamic. They get along for the most part. We just have to go through this awkward part first.”

“It’s all good, Tater Tot.”

“Ugh! I hate that name.”

Alicia must have heard because she bursts into laughter and turns to me. “She was obsessed with tater tots. She went through a phase where that was all she’d eat. Look at this? My little chubster.” Alicia pulls out her phone and shows me a picture of all three Taylor kids. Tara was about Vincent’s age and had chubby cheeks and thick legs. The twins were each holding one of her hands. “I could barely lift her.”

“Enough, Mother,” Tara hisses.

“You were beautiful,” I tell her. I kiss the top of her head, and Bernie loudly swoons at the table.

“I knew it,” she repeats.

The next hour is a lot less awkward, and Vincent runs around the room either sitting on me, Tara, or Alan. He runs away from Alicia each time she tries to hug him.

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