Even though he didn’t like his brother all up in his business, Jake’s anger dissipated behind Johnny’s words. He sat back and let what his brother said sink in. It was true. From the time Dominique first stepped foot in his mother’s house, she seemed part of the family. Everyone had told him how much they enjoyed her and shortly after returning from this vacation, his sisters-in-law had called him to say they’d received the latest issue of Capricious along with a complimentary, one-year subscription. As if to underscore her presence in their lives, he glanced down and saw Capricious magazines on the coffee table’s bottom ledge, wedged between Essence and Time.

“How was she?” Jake finally asked.

“Beside herself,” was Johnny’s quick reply. “Confused, angry, trying to understand why you’re shutting her out when all she wants to do is support you in your hour of need.”

The anger came back. Yes, this feels good. This helps me feel better about the shitty way I’ve been treating the love of my life. “It wasn’t your place, dude.”

Johnny shrugged. “I made it my place.”

“What goes on between me and Nick is none of your business!” Jake bellowed, before standing up and dramatically walking out of the room.

Mike and Johnny watched dispassionately as he left.

Mike took a long, satisfying swig of beer. The quietest of the brothers, he’d been fine with letting Johnny handle the conversation while it was his comment to Cynthia that had gotten the whole complicated ball rolling all along. “Do you think we pissed him off enough so he’ll call her?”

“Hard to tell,” Johnny answered, drinking the last of his brew. “Jake can be stubborn when he wants to. But I have a feeling that Dominique is the kind of woman who won’t let go of something she wants without a fight.”

Later that evening, Jake sent a message to the principal at Middleton Prep, saying that he’d be back the following week. He’d initially said his leave would be indefinite. But Harold’s health was improving and more than that, it had become obvious in the past few hours that his brothers had made it their mission to be a royal pain in his backside. Jake had decided that getting back to work was probably the best thing that he could do. He refused to contact Dominique to help himself, but he could drown himself in the lives of his students. That way, at least, he could help somebody.