“I’m observant! I bought her a birthday gift last year!”
“A week early, and she was allergic to those flowers.”
“I—”
Cait smiled, running a hand down Reno’s head. “The fact that you tried to remember and remembered that those flowers were important to me was more important than the timing, or that they were the flowers my mother had at her funeral.”
“I…didn’t know that part,” Reno said, and I felt bad for him as he winced.
“I meant it, kiddo, it really is the thought that counts,” Cait said with a sweetness that felt at odds with the woman I’d met yesterday, and yet seemed right at home here. “Don’t let perfect get in the way of good.”
“When is your birthday?” I wondered.
“August sixteenth,” Reno said, and then grimaced. “No, wait, the twenty-second. I always get it mixed up with…someone else’s.”
“His first girlfriend,” Mika offered in amusement. “The one that got away.”
“From the guy who can’t even keep a man!” Reno said, turning on his brother with a growl. “What was your longest relationship? Six months?”
“Unlike you and your tissue box girlfriend syndrome, I have standards, so I can figure out if a relationship will work early on without needing to pop onto the next one immediately,” Mika told him, setting his coffee aside.
I stepped back to Cait’s side as Reno stepped forward, slamming his insulated mug next to his brother’s with a growl. “I know you’re not judging me. Not the guy who got catfished not once, not twice, but three times and still has the audacity to act smug about knowing things about other people when the only way you know how to deal with people is through purememorization, don’t think I don’t know about the notes you keep in your phone!”
“Rich coming from the unobservant ass who can’t even be bothered to try that hard,” Mika shot back.
“Because I like to live in the moment, unlikesomeonewho wouldn’t know real whimsy unless it bit them on the ass!”
“If I need someone whimsical to do anything with my ass, I’ll have no problem, whereas you can barely speak to a woman and get her attention unless she feels bad for the weirdo who can’t hold a conversation without wandering off!”
“You motherfucker!” Reno snarled and launched himself at his brother.
“I’m more likely to fuck a father! Unlike you who can’t fuck anyone,” Mika snarled back, catching his brother; both tumbled out of sight with a crash and more insults.
“You’re either used to this sort of thing or you are the most supremely unaffected individual before your first cup,” Cait noted as we listened to the fighting coming from the kitchen and dining area.
“I’m an only child, but I’ve dealt with and witnessed enough family and sibling dynamics to know this is just a Tuesday.”
“It’s Thursday, sweetheart.”
“It’s a day that ends in ‘y’, then.”
“Precisely,” she said in amusement as we heard a heavy thump; one of them being thrown into the wall, from the sounds of it. “They’re idiots.”
“Idiots at one of the most effective locations for search and rescue in the country that rarely gets support from the National Guard or Coast Guard,” I pointed out.
She eyed me. “Really?”
“She says as if she didn’t already know and probably has stuck on her fridge,” I said and then frowned. “Do you have a fridge?”
“Let’s get you that full tour,” she said with a snort, turning back into her office, and I followed. It was really cramped with the filing cabinets, large, clunky desk, and boxes strewn among the electronics. She sat down and pressed a button on an intercom, shooting me a look and putting her finger to her lips.
There was a faint buzzing before a familiar, irritated voice piped up. “What?”
“Remember your meds?” she asked Xander.
He growled. “That is not what you called about.”
“No, but make sure you do anyway because our new doc needs a tour.”