Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“What a nice thing to say, Younger,” Cassandra reached over to pat his hand. “Especially coming from the former police chief. I can’t even remember how many commendations you got over the years.”
Her praise was sincere but it made Solomon uncomfortable. He’d never been good at accepting compliments. “I don’t know, Mama,” Hugo deflected, sounding thoughtful. “His cousin Stephen is a senator and he’s pushed through some groundbreaking legislation recently, so if we’re comparing accomplishments, I’ll go out on a limb and say he wins.”
Solomon thanked him silently.
“I’ll add my vote.” Emerson rubbed his hands together. “His wife is…” He made certain gestures around his chest that had his sons giggling before he realized what he was doing. “What I mean to say is, she’s a fine, upstanding pillar of the community.”
Solomon smothered his laugh with a napkin. “I’ll make sure to tell Tasha you said that.”
“She is definitely fine and upstanding,” Thoreau agreed, waggling his eyebrows at his brother. “Even Fiona thinks so.”
“Fiona too? Interesting.” Robert sounded intrigued.
“Oh you’re that Finn.” Their laughter faded at Boone’s challenging tone.
“The son that got the nepotism pass. I heard you were fired.”
Hugo’s father set down his water glass, making a sound like a judge’s gavel. “I think you heard wrong. When Younger resigned, the mayor went on record to say he prayed he’d reconsider. And with all the upheaval the new chief is creating, my students tell me an online petition was started to get him reinstated.”
“I signed it,” Shelly announced without looking up from her phone.
“Petition? There’s a petition?” Solomon turned to Foster in surprise.
No one had told him? Had he been living under a rock since he quit?
“People make petitions about everything these days. What do you care, anyway?” Boone leaned back in his chair, his belligerence showing from lack of attention. “You’ve never had to worry about the justice system. Your family’s been running that table for years.”
“Boone,” Robert warned, shaking his head subtly.
“What? Everyone knows the Finns have the system rigged. And they keep marrying into money to keep it that way. It makes sense when you know his grandfather ran a crime—”
“Party foul,” Bronte interrupted, placing her hand on Robert’s arm to get his attention. “I call a party foul.”
She beat Hugo to it by seconds.
Robert nodded grimly, pushing back from the table to get to his feet. “Come on, Boone. I’ll walk you to your car.”
“What do you mean? Dinner just started.” Hugo didn’t think Boone was used to getting kicked out of places for being an asshole.
Too bad.
“It is for us,” Robert assured him. “I’ll explain outside.”
Hugo didn’t wait to hear another argument. “Goodbye, Boone. Thanks for coming.”
Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.
Boone still wanted to argue, but after a few seconds of studying Hugo’s unwavering expression, he got up to follow Robert to the door.
After it closed behind them, Shelley set her phone down and leaned forward, glancing around the table. “I say Robert gets the Nora treatment for a month, since it bugs him so much. Any takers?”
The entire family erupted with a chorus of, “Aye.”
“And,” Thoreau added, sounding as irritated as Hugo felt. “He’s banned from talking about his trip to Greece while under this roof. Indefinitely.”
Another round of “Ayes” echoed through the dining room as Robert walked back in.
“Damn, I missed the vote. I’m sorry, okay? He’s been nagging me to meet Hugo since he saw the family snapshot in my office, and when he found out it was your birthday he wouldn’t drop it until I caved. What do I have to do?”
“First order of business, son, is apologizing to our guest. He came to honor your brother and got insulted instead.”
Robert winced at their father’s words and looked over at Solomon. “I’m sorry, Younger. Seriously, man. That was out of line.”
Solomon nodded graciously, his lips curving in amusement. “I don’t hold you responsible, but I think your family may have voted you off the island.”
Robert’s jaw dropped. “Again? For a single party foul?”
Hugo couldn’t contain his laughter. “He thinks he just made that up. Don’t worry you still have house privileges for now. But no more parasailing stories, Nora.”
Emerson lifted his glass in agreement. “And no more ouzo is no joke stories, Nora.”
Hugo watched his mother lift her glass and clink it with her son’s. “And I could do without the topless beaches on every corner stories, because the walls have young ears and I’m not deaf either. Um… Nora.”
She was never up for the Nora treatment, which told Hugo she’d been upset by Boone’s attack on Solomon too.
I’ll be damned. They liked him. Solomon had won his entire family over in less than one evening.
He had no reason to care about that anymore. No right to feel proud that they approved of the man he’d been crazy about for years, but he did. The fact that they could see what he always had meant more than he wanted to admit.