Free Summer Kisses by Theresa Ragan, Laurie Kellogg, Katie Graykowski, Bev Pettersen, Lindsey Brookes, Diana Layne, Autumn Jordon, Jacie Floyd, Elizabeth Bemis, Lizzie Shane Page B

you can say ‘preseason.’” Derrick didn’t bother explaining that he’d had the same bottle of pills for so long they were nearly expired. He knew his brother had a tendency to think anyone taking anything stronger than an aspirin had a drug problem. Two years ago, Connor had lost his wife to drugs, and he hadn’t been the same since. Derrick didn’t see any purpose in trying to set him straight. What good would it do? Instead, he ushered his brother out of his bedroom and down the short hallway leading to the main room.
    “So, now that you’ve moved into an apartment the size of your master bedroom in Malibu,” Connor said, “what’s next?”
    “Now I take one day at a time and hope for the best.”
    “Wook, Mommy! It’s Howiewood.”
    Nobody had bothered shutting the front door. Derrick laughed at the little curly-haired head sticking inside his new apartment. “Hey, Lexi, what’s up?”
    “Who’s that?” Connor asked.
    “That’s Satan’s child,” Derrick said under his breath.
    Connor angled his head for a better look at the little girl. “She looks sweet enough.”
    Derrick chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong. The kid is great, it’s the mother—”
    Sandy caught up to her daughter and peered inside the apartment before he could finish his sentence.
    “She doesn’t look like Satan,” Connor said under his breath.
    “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” Derrick said. “Never forget that.”
    “Sorry,” Sandy said as she struggled with bags and packages and at the same time tried to get a hold of Lexi’s arm before her daughter could get inside Derrick’s apartment.
    Too late.
    Cliff was in the kitchen putting away plates and utensils while Brad fiddled with hooking up the television. Jake sat on the couch with his iced tea which left Connor to go to the door and free Sandy of her burden.
    “I’m fine,” she said.
    “Not a problem,” Connor said, taking her bags anyhow.
    Lexi pulled on Derrick’s pant leg. “Want to draw? I have new crayons.”
    Derrick bent down on his good knee so the top of Lexi’s head came to his chest instead of his knees. “You’re in luck. My brother, Jake, loves to color.” Derrick pointed to the couch where Jake sat.
    Lexi didn’t waste any time taking the crayons and coloring book to him.
    Jake paled as the kid crawled onto his lap and got comfortable. Lexi opened her animal coloring book and stabbed a finger at the first picture she came to. “Wets do the wyon first. He says ‘roar.’” Lexi roared a couple of times and then smiled, proud of herself.
    Sandy stood just inside the doorway and shook her head. “I’m sorry, she’s too fast for me these days.”
    “Jake doesn’t mind,” Derrick said. “He was the coloring champion in his kindergarten days.”
    The look Jake gave him told Derrick that his brother would find a way to get him back later.
    “Ooooh,” Lexi said to Jake. “I wike you.”
    Jake forced a smile as he took the crayon Lexi stabbed into his hand and started coloring.
    Sandy looked around the apartment. “So which one of you lives here?” she asked Derrick.
    “Derrick’s renting the place for a few months,” Brad told her.
    “ Really ? Does Jill know?”
    “Not yet.” Derrick gestured toward Jake, hoping to change the subject. “Sandy, I’d like you to meet a few of my brothers. Jake is the one coloring. Cliff is in the kitchen unloading and Brad is the guy fiddling with the television.” All three brothers greeted her with either a wave or a hello. “The well-dressed one with your bags is Connor.”
    She smiled and made eye contact with everyone but Connor. Derrick couldn’t help but wonder if Sandy was being shy. He wouldn’t have guessed she had a timid bone in her body.
    “Did you say ‘a few of your brothers’?” she asked. “Are there more?”
    “Three more,” Connor said. “Garrett, Lucas, and Aaron—and two sisters: Rachel and Zoey.”
    “Your mother must be some woman. I have my