ice cream. As much as showing up each week was pretty much a pain in the ass, I really did enjoy watching my family grow around me. Mason and Julian had both found wives—hopefully giving Mom her girl fix. She sure deserved it after all these years of wrangling boys.
And as I observed everyone, it was hard not to acknowledge how privileged we were—Mom’s recent retirement as a surgeon at the top of her game and Dad’s skill with programming and apps meant we enjoyed a pretty exclusive lifestyle in the hills surrounding Lakeshore. And we enjoyed a spectacular view over the lake itself.
I made sure to make time for Mom’s family dinner because it was more important to her than any of our individual achievements, which put it a long way up a very tall totem pole. I held a sigh in as I chewed, letting the rich, chocolate flavor flood my taste buds as I considered how to announce my good news to the rest of my family. They’d all been too busy listening to Grady laugh it up at Kairo’s expense when Saint told Mom and Dad. I grinned. Kairo needed whatever loosening up Grady could dish out. He had one default—serious and responsible.
“What were you whispering about with Mom, Dad, and Saint, Jamie?”
I jumped as Leo bellowed at me from the other end of the table. If he’d spoken any quieter, I probably wouldn’t have heard him, but his words silenced everyone, and for the second time, they all focused on me. I glanced at Saint, unwilling to let him tell any more of my family my good news.
“No whispering.” I grinned in Leo’s direction. “You just couldn’t hear me over Grady’s loud mouth.”
“Well?” Kairo looked at me, his gaze unwavering.
I held my sigh in again. There was such a thing as too many brothers. “I passed some tests, that’s all.” Excellent, and now my reluctance to speak on command had me downplaying my own achievement.
“Not quite all,” Saint supplied, and I darted a quick glare in his direction. “Tell them what these tests mean.” He ran his index finger lazily around the rim of his glass as he spoke.
Ugh. I rolled my eyes upward, taking in Mom and Dad’s huge crystal shard chandelier as it bounced and refracted glints of light around the room. The whole house essentially seemed to be a system of glass boxes, with huge windows maximizing the views, and Mom had installed modern light fittings alongside minimalist decor to take advantage of the massive spaces. Clever use of interior walls, pillars, and glass in the bedrooms that frosted at the flick of a switch provided enough privacy for our huge family as we all grew up.
“Not a lot.” I shrugged, minimizing again.
I hated being a middle child—well, somewhere in the middle, anyway. My entire life consisted of answering to the others, never being quite good enough, and performing on command. And no achievement was ever entirely my own. Someone had always walked a path ahead of me, and in this case, Saint had pretty much laid the path—perfectly.
I lifted my eyebrows, almost challenging him, and a small smirk appeared on his lips, as if he’d known I had some defiance in me all along. “I passed some tests and they bring me another step closer to taking the bar and graduating.” I finished strong, and nodded, pleased with myself for finally delivering my own news.
Kairo nodded, but said nothing, and Grady whooped his enthusiasm, leaning across the table to high-five me as the noise level in the room rose again.
Saint raised his hand, the gesture commanding almost instant reaction as conversations cut off mid-word. “And Jamie will be coming to intern for me.”
“Hell, yeah!” Grady leaned in again for another high-five, but I batted him away.
“Hey, not so fast, Saint. I think there will be other firms interested in this fine package.” I gestured at myself. “I have a lot to offer.”
“Oh, yeah.” Grady grabbed hold of my mood. “Offers will pour in. The mailman will roll his truck right up to the door tomorrow because the mailbox won’t hold all the letters from interested parties.”
“I see.” Mom spoke. “Are we going to need to hire someone to handle your correspondence, Jamie?”
“Maybe.” I smiled. “And I’ve seen enough of this goof to last a lifetime, never mind working with the guy.” I threw a light punch at Saint’s shoulder, but he just shook his head.