Colby ran back into the kitchen, smiling. “I got it.”
“Got what?” she asked, her back turned away from her son as she opened the can of beans, pouring them into a small pot before she lit the fire on her gas stove under the pan.
“Keylan’s number.”
Mia turned around so fast she nearly gave them both whiplash. “What?”
“Keylan’s number,” he said, waving a business card in the air.
Mia took the card and read the handwritten message on the back. Call me anytime, little man. “Great,” she snapped.
Colby ran out of the kitchen again, only to return seconds later holding his mother’s cell phone. “Call Keylan.”
Mia exhaled noisily and turned on the fire under the pan of hot dogs. She accepted the phone, looked at the number and started dialing.
Please don’t answer...please don’t answer.
* * *
Keylan had just pulled his black Sienna Porsche into the large circular driveway of his aunt’s mini mansion when his phone rang. He looked at the number but didn’t recognize it. Since only a handful of people had his private number, he answered it.
“Keylan Kingsley.”
“Hello, Mr. Kingsley.” Keylan knew instantly who it was. The edge to her voice was very familiar.
“It’s Keylan or KJ, Mia,” he reminded her.
“You gave my son your business card.”
Keylan didn’t know if that was a statement or a question. He decided on the former. “I know. And I told him to call me whenever he wanted.”
“I really hope you’re not using my son to get to me because that would not only be despicable, but a waste of time.”
“My, my, aren’t we full of ourselves. Is it so hard to believe I could actually like your son, see something pretty special about him?”
“Well—”
“And, for the record, when I want a woman, I go to her. I don’t need to use anyone,” he said, trying to control his annoyance.
“I wanna talk to Keylan!” he heard the boy say in the background.
“May I speak with Colby, please?”
“Yes, of course. One moment please.” Her tone turned pleasant.
“Hi, Keylan!”
“Hello, buddy. How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“What are you doing?” Keylan was excited to hear Colby’s voice and curious about his answer.
“I’m talking to you.”
Keylan laughed. “Yes, you are. Did you want to tell or ask me something?”
“Come play with me tomorrow. I’ll be good. I promise!”
Keylan’s heart flipped. “Yes, buddy, I’ll come play with you tomorrow. I promise.”
“Okay...”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Keylan listened for a response but the phone fell silent. “I guess that’s that.”
Keylan put his phone in his pocket and exited the car. He made his way to his aunt Elizabeth’s front door. It always made him laugh, entering her mustard-color house through a bright white door. Keylan had raised his hand to knock when the door opened. Elizabeth Kingsley, his mother’s sister and only sibling, had raised her children alongside his mother’s after both their husbands had been killed in a plane crash.
“There’s my tall, handsome nephew,” Elizabeth said, pulling him into her outstretched arms.
“You say that about all of your nephews.” He stepped out of her arms and kissed her on the cheek. “Now, don’t you look sunny?” Keylan smiled, admiring the bright green, short-sleeved dress she wore with no shoes. Her wrinkle-free, fair skin, makeup-free, only accentuated her youthful image. Her shoulder-length, dark brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She looked nowhere near her fifty-two years.
“I know. Now, get in here. Everyone’s dining already. Your mother is losing her mind.”
They walked halfway down her white-marble hall and turned right into a large, bright, circular dining room with walls of gold leaf. His mother and cousin were seated at the large, sixteen-seat table that dominated the room.
“This is everyone?” With six kids in the family, Keylan wasn’t used to such a small gathering whenever his mother and aunt required their presences for dinner. “Where is everyone else?”
“This business dinner isn’t for everyone, just you and Travis.”
“Look who finally showed up.” Victoria Kingsley stood and crossed her arms. “Did all your time-keeping mechanisms fail you, son?” she asked, sarcastically glancing at his watch.
“Good to see you, too, Mother.” Keylan kissed her on both cheeks.
Victoria Kingsley, a tall, more slender version of her sister, the powerful matriarch of her family, looked more like someone’s thirty-year-old sister than a fifty-four-year-old mother of four adult men. The no-nonsense businesswoman could even be ruthless at times.
“Enough of the pleasantries, let’s get down to business.” Victoria sat at the table where several documents and a laptop were placed. Elizabeth sat next to her. Keylan sat across from his cousin.
“Victoria, can you at least wait until the dinner is on the table?” Elizabeth pleaded.
Victoria heaved a sigh, reached for the glass of wine in front of her and sat back in her chair. “Thank you. It’ll only take a few more minutes. You flew in here so fast, barking orders, I didn’t get to ask about the highlight of your day.” Elizabeth smiled like an excited child.
“This should be good,” Keylan interjected.
“Man, don’t start,” Travis said, shaking his head.
“Of course, just as long as you stick to the rules.” Elizabeth smiled. “Positives only, please.”
When Victoria and Elizabeth had been forced to raise their children alone and run their growing businesses together, they’d had to make several adjustments to their daily routine and find creative ways to make sure the relatives all remained close as possible. One way they’d done that was by sharing their daily highs and lows over nightly dinner.
Victoria returned her sister’s smile and placed her wineglass on the table. “This is my highlight. Seeing the son and nephew I don’t see nearly enough because they chose not to come work for our family business.” Victoria picked up her glass and raised it in the air as if she had just made a toast.
Elizabeth threw her head back and laughed. “You really can’t help yourself, can you? Well, it seems we share the same highlight, only for different reasons.”
“Surprise...surprise.” Victoria took a drink.
Travis raised his right hand. “I’ll go next. My highlight was seeing Romeo over there—” he pointed to Keylan “—tripping all over himself behind Mia.”
“Mia?” his mother and aunt echoed.
Keylan narrowed his eyes at his cousin before turning his attention back to the choir of two. “I was not tripping over Mia. I’ve never met her before and I think she has a really cool kid, is all.” Keylan picked up a glass of water and drank it down like he was a man just escaping the desert.