Page 23 of Everything's Better With You
“Stop it,” Leslie whispered and Joe laughed softly.
“Go to sleep. I want to see for myself that you’re okay in the morning.”
“Yeah. Nite, Joe.”
“Good night, Leslie.”
Joe’s voice echoed in his thoughts until the darkness took over and he fell dead asleep.
He nearly missed his alarm the next morning. Sandy’s shower sing-along got him moving.
Sandy's room was at the other end of the upstairs and his voice carried that far.
The new medicine Leslie’s doctor prescribed for the migraines definitely helped and he didn’t feel as hung over that morning as he usually did. He even found himself humming along to the song Sandy was belting out: “Tube Snake Boogie” by ZZ Top.
Wow. Yeah, the Payton brothers were all stuck in the past when it came to music and they had their father to blame. Rick Payton had beena football legend and his legacy was a mixed bag. Yes, he’d blessed his four sons with athletic prowess and skill. He’d also left them a slate of painful memories featuring addiction, violence, and loss. Research on concussions in football came too little too late for the Paytons. Too late for their father to get the help he needed before he passed at a young age of fifty-two, too late for their mother who had to watch her broken beloved turn into a monster, and too late to avoid a lot of the physical damage done to Leslie. Thankfully, Sandy and Randy benefited from the findings and then made the decision to finish playing after college. They had their sights set on making money and making a difference all while having a blast along the way.
Leslie made it downstairs by seven and found his mother cooking up a massive breakfast spread that had his mouth watering.
“Mom, how many times do I have to tell you that you don’t have to do all this? We can hire a chef.”
Agnes Payton stuck her cheek up as Leslie leaned down to kiss her.
“The same amount of times I have to tell you that I love cooking and I particularly love seeing people enjoy my food. As long as that’s happening, I will keep doing what I love.” She patted his cheek and got back to stirring the pancake batter. “I baked cinnamon rolls for you to take with you to the meeting. They’re already packed up in those tins,” she said, pointing with her chin.
Leslie chuckled as he wiped flour off of her forehead.
“I’m sure everyone will appreciate it.”
“Yes, and more importantly, did Joe make it in alright and when are you bringing him home for dinner?”
Randy sauntered in right then, plopped down at the counter and rested his chin on his fists.
“Yeah, Leslieeee. When are you bringing yourboy-friendhome?”
Les picked up an egg and went to throw it at his brother but Agnes reached over and covered his hand with hers, not even skipping a swirl in her pancake batter.
“Enough, Randy. Leslie will bring hisfriendandcolleagueover when he is ready, isn’t that right, son?”
Leslie palmed the egg and knew the satisfaction he’d have at hearing the crack against his brother’s fat head and watching the yolk ooze downhis forehead would be short-lived when Agnes took that wooden spoon out of the batter and smacked him with it. He might have been forty-five years old, but he wasn’t too old to get smacked. And most of the time he deserved it.
“How did Mr. Dancing Machine take it, moving into Higdon?” Randy’s snark had disappeared a bit. They’d all been worried Joe would walk away from the whole thing, and while the college would have survived, none of them were sureLesliewould, considering the amount of pining he’d done over the guy.
“Really good, actually. He got to cleaning immediately and kicked me out.”
Agnes smiled. “Good for him. Maybe you don’t have anything to worry about.”
Leslie’s phone rang and he groaned when he realized that Sandy had messed with his ring tone again. The dulcet tones of “All The Single Ladies” piped out of his phone and he dropped it twice as he tried to answer it and hush the song.
“Les Payton.”
And a familiar face popped up on the screen.
“Good morning, Mr. Payton, it’s Malcolm Darling fromTimemagazine. We had a video interview scheduled for this morning?”
Leslie pressed a fist to his forehead. “Right. Sure. Sorry, I’m a little distracted this morning.”
“That’s right, I saw that Greenvale had some damage from that big storm on Saturday. Do you need to reschedule?”
