Free The Detective by Elicia Hyder Page B

hallway.
    He was still flailing over my shoulder. “No, I not!”
    Shannon practically had cartoon hearts bulging from her eyeballs. I put Carter down and he took off running again. She slipped her fingers between mine.
    “Go on into the living room,” Mom said behind us. “Your brother’s here.”
    I pushed the swinging door to the family room open and let Shannon go in first. My brother, Chuck, stood when we entered. Lara was beside him. Chuck looked like a lumberjack compared to the rest of us. He had a thick brown beard and was, like usual, wearing camo. By comparison, I was short, scrawny, and blonde but so was everyone else in the McNamara clan. So if anyone was adopted, we all knew who it was.
    “Hey, little brother,” Chuck said, closing his arms around me. “How the hell are ya?” He thumped me so hard on the back, it triggered a cough.
    “I’m good, old man. What are you doing here?” I stepped back and looked up at him.
    He nodded toward Dad. “We’re going to the game this weekend.”
    Tossing my hands up, I looked at our father. “Seriously, I’m never invited!”
    Dad shrugged. “You’re always working. I asked you to go weeks ago.”
    He probably did and I didn’t remember. Nevertheless, I shook my head. “Whatever.”
    Chuck squeezed my shoulder. “I got you a present.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small fabric rectangle. “It’s for your hat.” He flicked the brim of my ball cap.  
    I looked down at the velcro patch. It had a picture of an assault rifle on it and it said, ‘I Plead the Second’. I laughed. “That’s pretty funny.” I showed it to Dad.
    Lara cleared her throat. “Nathan, aren’t you going to introduce your friend?”
    “Oh, sorry!” I turned toward Shannon. “Shannon, this is my sister, Lara, and my brother, Chuck. You met Carter when we came in and”—I looked around the room—“where’s Rachel?”
    “Rachel has dance tonight.” Lara offered Shannon her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” Lara’s tone was warm and kind, but she was taking a close inventory of Shannon who was wearing a casual gray dress and heels opposed to my sister’s yoga pants and Wolfpack sweatshirt.  
    “Thanks! You too!” Shannon chirped a little too eagerly.
    Chuck caught my eye and mouthed the word ‘wow’ as he gave a discreet thumbs-up.  
    Mom held up her hands to get our attention. “Shall we eat before dinner gets cold?”
    Chuck rubbed his hands together. “I’m starving!”
    Mom looked at Lara. “Or should we wait on Joe?”
    Lara checked her watch. “No, let’s go ahead and eat. I’ll save him a plate.”
    Gently, I touched the small of Shannon’s back and nudged her toward the dining room door. I looked back at my mother. “Dining room, Mom?”
    She nodded. “Of course.”
    “Oh, the grown-ups’ table.” Chuck laughed. “This must be a very special occasion.”
    Shannon looked over her shoulder at me. “The grown-ups table?”
    We all filed into the formal dining room. The table was set with the good china. I stopped at the chair next to mine and pulled it out for Shannon. “When we were kids and Mom threw dinner parties, this was always the grown-ups table and all us kids had to eat in the kitchen.”
    Chuck pulled out his chair. “Even as adults, we never eat in here except on Thanksgiving or Christmas.” He winked at her. “You must be a very big deal.”
    Dad sat down at the head of the table. “It’s not every day that Nathan brings a lady home.”
    “Or any day,” Lara said, helping Carter into his booster seat.
    I threw a cloth napkin across the table at her.
    Mom clapped her hands together angrily. “Stop it, you two! This is exactly why you still have to eat in the kitchen!”
    Everyone laughed.
    The meal was fit for a holiday: honey glazed ham, scalloped potatoes, broccoli casserole, homemade rolls, fruit salad, and even though Shannon was supposed to bring dessert, Mom baked a cream cheese pound