Chapter 94

“The usual crowd. The kids—”

“Their friends?”

“No, they’re all at home. Miz Babe and Denny are with the kids, and Mopp and Cooper are scouring the Internet. We also have a lost sheep who needed rescuing…”

“What’s Josh doing here?”

“There’s a possibility his place by the river might get flooded out, so I told him to come stay with us.”

“Ah, Jack…”

“Yeah, well, don’t think we’re—”

The lights went out.

“We’ll get the generator, Daddy,” Tad sang out from the other end of the house.

Jack took that opportunity to pull Tom into his arms and kiss him. “I’m glad you’re home safe, babe. I was worried,” he whispered.

Tom nuzzled into him. “I really am sorry about that, but I didn’t want you to get your hopes up if Andy turned out to be just like your father,” he said softly, so only Jack could hear him.

“Thank you, buddy.”

It didn’t take long before they had power back, and once the lights were on, Jack said, “Come on. I’ll take you to meet the rest of the family.” He led the way to the family room.

The young widower and his children were huddled together in Jack’s big recliner, the little ones wide-eyed and shivering.

“It’ll be okay.” Jack went to them and ruffled the kids’ hair.

Tad, Rush, and Mopp were just coming from the other direction. “All taken care of, Daddy.”

“Good boys.” Jack was proud of how skilled they were. “Where’s Cooper?”

“He thought he heard a branch crack, so he’s checking it out.”

“I’ll go make sure he’s okay. That wind was blowing something fierce earlier.” Tom headed in the direction the boys had come from, and Jack scowled after him.

Cooper was a grown man, dammit. Tom didn’t need to be looking after him.

Before Jack could open his mouth and make a fool of himself in front of everyone, Cooper came to stand in the doorway, his clothes plastered to his body, which Jack had to reluctantly admit was fine.

“Sorry, I’m soaked. I’m just going to get changed.” His eyes narrowed as he studied Andy, and he glanced at Tom, who nodded. “Good work.” He turned and went to the room he’d stayed in when he’d first come to Savannah, squishing all the way.

Well, shoot. Was he the last one to find out about his brother? Granted he’d been reluctant to instigate a search, but only because he’d been afraid Andy would blame him for not doing something to stop their father from throwing him out.

Although realistically he knew a twelve-year-old boy couldn’t do much of anything.

“Mopp, would you mind telling Becca and January I’d like them to come here? There’s someone I want them to meet.”

Mopp looked at Andy and Eve curiously, but just said, “Sure thing, Mr. Jack.”

In a matter of minutes, Becca came in. Alone. “You wanted to see me, Daddy?” She frowned. “Jan will be along in a bit. She and Mopp are talking. She was on her cell phone before we lost power. If Mopp wasn’t here, I’d have said she was breaking up with a boyfriend again. Hello. Are you a friend of Daddy’s or JT’s?”

Andy looked confused. “Who’s—”

Tad’s gaze had been going from the big man next to his father to his father. “Daddy?”

“This is your uncle, my brother Andy.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Uncle Andy.” Tad cleared his throat. “Or should we call you Old Hickory?”

Andy groaned. “I could shoot Daddy for giving me Andrew as my middle name.”

“It could be worse,” Jack said.

Andy scowled at him. “How?”

“Well, if your middle name was Samuel, my kids would call you Uncle Sam.”

“You’re not helping matters, Thaddeus.”

Jack had never hated his name, which was why he hadn’t put up much of a fight when Reba insisted they name their firstborn after his daddy. But thank God he’d been the second born son, because otherwise he’dhave been stuck with Eleazar. Jack had always been sorry for his older brother. Andy had been saddled with their daddy’s name, although for as long as Jack could remember, his brother had insisted everyone call him by his middle name, Andrew.

Eve poked her husband’s shoulder, then smiled at Tad. “I’m Andy’s wife, Eve.”

“These are all yours, Jack?” Andy grinned. “I’ve got to say, you’ve been busy.”

He cuffed his brother’s other shoulder. “Yes, they are, although not all by blood. Tad and Becca are Jacksons—”

“And so is Rush.” His son slung his arm around his fiancé’s shoulder. “By injection,” he concluded innocently. “We’re getting married. Oh, cool! You can come to the wedding!”

Rush blushed bright red and ducked his head, but he was smiling. “Hello, Uncle Andy.”

“That’ll be okay, won’t it, JT?”

“You bet it will be. What’s a few more? My mom will be in all her glory.” He lowered his voice, directing his words to Andy. “Your kids will come, won’t they? It’ll be nice for the boys to have some cousins coming who are close to their own age.”

“But—” Andy stared at Tad and Rush. “You’re boys.”

Jack felt his gut clench. Was he going to lose his brother as soon as he’d regained him? “You have a problem with that, Eleazar?”

“Smile when you call me that. And no, of course not. It’s just that I didn’t know we had any gay members in our family.”

“What do you think I am?”

“Huh?” Andy looked even more confused than before.