"I think I can handle a seven-year-old."
She smiled. "We'll see."
* * *
While Reid had assured both Nicole and Shayla he could handle whatever reaction Brandon had to him, he was relieved when Brandon barely glanced in his direction and instead focused on building a castle in the middle of the living room. He wasn't sure how he would have handled a screaming, agitated child.
Kyle, on the other hand, gave him a cheerful, friendly smile and immediately looked up from the plane he was playing with to ask him if he was Shayla's boyfriend.
Shayla quickly said, "No, he's not my boyfriend, Kyle. He's just a friend."
"Do you really think he knows the difference?" Reid murmured.
"Maybe not, but he asked, and I answered."
"We're going to a wedding later," Kyle said, as he got up from the floor. He walked over to the couch as Shayla and Reid sat down. "We're going to carry the rings like we were supposed to do for Aunt Emma, but we couldn't, because someone bad hurt Uncle Max. Do you think something bad is going to happen to Uncle Drew?"
"Not a chance," Shayla replied. "Everything is going to be great, and you and Brandon will do a wonderful job."
"Do you want to see my book on snakes?" Kyle asked Reid, quickly moving on to the next subject. "It's really cool."
"Uh, sure."
"I'll get it," Kyle said with a sparkle in his blue eyes. "I'll be right back."
"Cute kid," Reid said. Kyle and Brandon both had blond hair, blue eyes and a smattering of freckles across their faces. "But what was Kyle talking about? What happened to Uncle Max at Aunt Emma's wedding? Is Max one of your brothers?"
"No, Max is my brother-in-law. He's the cop I was telling you about. He's married to my sister, Emma. She's the fire investigator. The day of their wedding, Max went into a bank with his brother to get some foreign currency, and they ended up in the middle of a bank robbery."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. I guess it wouldn't have been a Callaway wedding without a little drama. It's easy to talk about it now, but it was terrifying when it was happening. The second time around, they opted for the courthouse and that's why Kyle and Brandon didn't carry the rings. It was a small, simple ceremony." She paused, her gaze reflective. "I feel bad that Emma didn’t have her perfect day, but she always said it wasn't about the wedding; it was about the marriage."
"Sounds like your sister is smart, too."
"Well, she doesn't have my IQ, but she's okay."
"You sound like Robert. He loved to tell everyone how many IQ points he had on me. Maybe with twins, only one gets the brain power."
Shayla frowned. "You're oversimplifying and generalizing."
"Two big words," he murmured. "Showing off again?"
"Those are not big words."
"They have a lot of letters in them."
She rolled her eyes. "And you like to pretend to be dumb—how's that for a short word—when we both know you're a very bright individual. So give it up, Becker."
He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, you win."
"I'm glad you see it that way."
He glanced over at Brandon, still thinking about the twin connection. "Is it weird though that only one twin is autistic?"
Shayla sighed. "Yes. We've all wondered about that. Nicole and Ryan have tried to blame themselves for it, thinking they did something wrong, or that there was something in the environment that hurt Brandon. They want there to be a reason, and so do I. I prefer it when things add up, when science makes sense, but there are still things that go on in the body that we don't understand."
She stopped talking as Kyle returned to the room with a skip and a smile, bringing his book over to Reid.
"Did you know that snakes smell with their tongue?" he asked with a giggle.
Reid couldn't help but grin back at such delightful innocence. "I did not know that."
"Did you know that snakes have ears on the inside of their body?" Kyle asked, doing a little spin at the end of his question.
He smiled at the kid's energy. "I don't know if I believe that."
"It's true," Kyle said with earnest blue eyes. He opened the book and handed it to Reid. "Look it says so."
"You're right, it does say that." He stopped abruptly, a little taken aback to find Kyle climbing on to his lap.
"You can read it to me," Kyle instructed, as if there was no possibility he'd say no.
"Uh, I guess I can."
"While you read to Kyle, I'm going to make a call," Shayla said.
"To who?" he asked quickly.
"To Kari. I need to tell her what happened at the apartment."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"I have to let her know, Reid. She's my roommate."
"You said she wasn't coming back until next week."
"She's not, but—"
"So, wait. Let me find Robert tomorrow, figure out what's going on, then you can talk to her. The fewer people who know about any of this the better."
She sat back down. "All right. I'll wait."
"Read the book," Kyle ordered. He put his hand on Reid's face and literally pulled it toward him.
Reid smiled at the impatient gesture and couldn't help thinking that his life had really changed since Shayla had gotten him out of that bar. "Okay," he said, flipping back to the first page. "Fun facts about snakes. Snakes don't have eyelids." He looked at Shayla. "I did not know that."
"You're learning a lot today," she teased.
"More than I ever thought I would."
As he read, Kyle would occasionally interrupt to point something out on the page. It was quite obvious he'd read the book dozens of times. When Reid finished the last page, he looked up, surprised to see that Brandon had left his blocks and was now standing a few feet away, his gaze on his brother.
Kyle got off of Reid's lap and grabbed Brandon's hand and together they sat down on the floor in front of them.
"Brandon wants to hear the story, too," Kyle said. "Can you read it again to both of us?"
Reid looked over at Shayla as she wiped her eye. Apparently, whatever was happening was unusual enough to make her cry.
"Go on," she urged. "If you don't mind."
"I don't mind." He read the book again, this time adding more embellishments, wanting to make the story come alive for the silent little boy who seemed to be listening, although his gaze never quite connected with anyone but his brother.
When he was done, Kyle announced that he and Brandon needed some juice.
"I'll get it for you," Shayla said.
"We can do it ourselves," Kyle said. Together, the boys took off for the kitchen.
"That was really nice of you," Shayla said, giving him a thankful smile as he closed the book.
"Why did you look like you were going to cry?"
"When Brandon sat down in front of you on the floor, it reminded me of when he wasn't autistic. He was totally normal until he was two. I used to read to him when I babysat. He was such a happy, loving boy. And then the lights went out in his head, but now they seem to be coming back on. Even though I know he'll probably never be that little boy I remember, I hope someday he'll be able to connect with us. Anyway, you were a good sport. I particularly liked the voice you gave the python. Very impressive."
"I wanted to keep my audience entertained."
"You're good with kids."
"I don't know that I am. I can read a book, and I can probably keep them alive, but beyond that, I have no idea how to take care of children."
She smiled back at him. "Well, keeping them alive is the first priority. Do you want to have children?"
"I've never thought about it."
"Never?" she challenged. "What about when you were engaged to Lisa?"
"We didn't talk about it, or if we did it was some distant day in the future. She wasn't interested in having kids right away, and I was caught up in my career."
"What about now?"
"Now?" he echoed, running a hand through his hair. "I have to admit it hasn't crossed my mind."
"It could be part of your next chapter."
"Yeah, whatever that's going to be."
She smiled. "It's going to be amazing."
"There's that optimism again."
"Hey, you just told me I should never lose it. Maybe you should think about getting it back."
"I'm too far gone for that."
"No, you're not." Her expression turned serious. "You couldn't have done what you did for the last sixteen years without believing you could make a difference."
"But I can't make that difference anymore."
"Maybe not in the same way. But there's always another way." She got to her feet. "I'm going to check on the boys. Whenever it's too quiet, I get worried."
Shayla had barely left the room when the front door opened. A man walked into the entry, setting a small black roller suitcase by the staircase. He had dark brown hair and wore a pilot's uniform. He had to be Brandon's father, the pilot.
Reid got to his feet as Ryan entered into the living room.
"Hello," the man said, surprise in his eyes. "You are…"
"Reid Becker. I'm a friend of Shayla's. She was called in for an emergency babysitting gig. You must be Ryan."
"Right, yes. I'm late. My flight got delayed in Dallas by some massive thunderstorms." He walked around the couch to shake Reid's hand. "Nice to meet you. Where is Shayla?"
"Getting the kids something to drink."
"Okay, good." Ryan let out a breath. "I'm glad you guys could help us out. I know Nicole had a lot to do today with the wedding."
"Not a big deal. We haven't been here that long, and we spent most of the time reading about snakes."
Ryan nodded, understanding in his gaze. "Kyle's latest fascination. A few months ago it was sharks. The kid gets on a topic and he doesn't let go."
"Well, it was very educational."
"So, are you and Shayla…" Ryan began with a speculative look.
"Just friends."
"Interesting. Are you going to the wedding?"
"I'll be there," he said, beginning to see what Shayla had meant when she'd told him he'd be the subject of a lot of attention.
"Brave man," Ryan said lightly.
"Why do you say that?"
"The Callaways can be very protective, especially where the women are concerned, and Shayla is the youngest, so she has always had a lot of siblings looking out for her."
"Shayla and I aren't together."
"Her family won't believe that any more than I do. No man willingly babysits someone else's kids unless there's an end game."
Reid met Ryan's gaze and had to admit the man had a point. "Ordinarily I'd agree with you, but this is different."
"What's different?" Shayla asked as she came back into the room. "Hi, Ryan."
"Hey Shayla. Thanks for helping out." Ryan gave her a quick hug. "You're a lifesaver."
"No problem. What were you two talking about?"
"Just getting acquainted. You can go now. I'm sure you have better things to do. I'll see you both at the wedding."
As Ryan left the room, Shayla gave Reid a speculative look. "You two got friendly really fast."
"Your brother-in-law is a friendly guy."
"What did he say to you?"
"He thinks we should come up with a better cover story before we hit the wedding."
Her brows knit together in a frown. "What did you tell him?"
"What you told Nicole, that we were just friends. He didn't believe me."
"Why not?"
"Maybe because you're gorgeous and I have eyes," he drawled.
His words seem to leave her speechless.
"You really need to learn how to take a compliment," he added, realizing that she wasn't faking her surprise. She really had no idea how pretty she was. She saw herself as a nerdy brain, but that's not what the outside package said.
"I—I can take a compliment," she said slowly. "Maybe I should talk to Ryan before we leave, set him straight."
"You'll be wasting your breath. And does it really matter what anyone thinks about us?" he challenged.
"No, you're right. It's no one's business what our relationship is or isn't." A sparkle entered her eyes. "If they want a story, maybe we should give them a good one."
"Oh, yeah? Like what?"
"We'll tell them we're incredibly hot for each other, that all we can think about day and night is getting naked together. That should give them something to talk about."
His throat went dry and his body tensed. Shayla was joking, but she had no idea how close she was to the truth—at least on his side.
Chapter Fifteen
Shayla regretted her teasing words as soon as they came out of her mouth. She had never been good at sexual repartee and apparently that hadn't changed. Since getting back into the truck, Reid had changed from the warm and generous man who had been reading stories to Kyle and Brandon to a stone cold statue. Obviously, she'd crossed some line.
The silence continued on their drive back to the boat, and with every passing mile, Shayla's tension increased. Part of her wanted to know what he was thinking, and the other part of her told her to leave bad enough alone and not say anything else. But it was going to be a long night if Reid wasn't talking to her anymore.
As Reid pulled into the lot by the harbor, she couldn't take it anymore. "Should I apologize?" she asked as he stopped the car.
"For what?"
"You know what. You haven't talked to me since we left Nicole's house. I was just joking. Apparently not very well, but—"
"I know what you were doing. I'm thinking, that's all. Unlike you, I don't have to talk every second."
"What are you thinking about?"
"I don't know—stuff," he said with annoyance. "Look I've agreed to take you to your sister's wedding and watch out for you. Let's leave it at that. I'm going to drop you off at the boat so you can get dressed. I need to run to the store."
She didn't dare ask what he needed at the store. "All right."
He pulled a key off the ring and handed it to her. "I'll be back in twenty minutes. Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone."
She had a feeling she was more likely to get into trouble when he was there. But all she said was, "Fine."