Jeb seemed too nice to do something like that, but what did she really know about him?
And would Red really listen if Jeb tried to undermine their relationship in someway? Nicole honestly didn’t believe he would, but you could never be totally certain. The pull of one’s family was incredibly strong. She knew that as much as anybody.
Nicole decided not to allow herself to dwell on whatever Jeb was here to discuss—that was between him and his brother. She needed to trust Red, and she did trust him.
She focused back on making her dinner, basting the meatloaf in her special glaze and putting it back in the oven for the final stretch of cooking.
A few minutes later, Red and Jeb came inside, still laughing and talking excitedly like a couple of teenagers, as she was putting the finishing touches on the meal.
“Holy cow, that smells amazing,” Red said. His forehead was slick with sweat and he looked invigorated. “I need some fuel after kicking this guy’s butt one-on-one.”
Jeb was slightly disheveled, but laughing too. “Remind me again that I’m too damn old to be playing basketball with my hypercompetitive brother with no witnesses around to see the blatant fouls and constant cheating.”
“Just because I go strong to the basket,” Red said. “Don’t be a hater.”
“Oh, you’re right. Forgive my hating ways.”
“Dinner’s ready,” she said. “Why don’t you two go sit outside on the veranda and I’ll bring the food to the table.”
A few minutes later, everyone was eating and it turned out that Nicole’s meatloaf was a hit after all. Red had three servings, Jeb had two, and Nicole even had a couple of servings herself.
During the meal they talked mostly about Jeb’s practice. It was obvious that he enjoyed being a doctor and caring for his patients. At the same time, he wasn’t averse to joking about them, telling a few stories out of school. He told one story about an older man who would come to see him frequently complaining of heartburn, and after a million and one tests, finally remembered to mention that he had a habit of eating paper.
Yes, this man actually ate reams and reams of paper, day in and day out.
“It was giving him serious indigestion,” Jeb said, snorting. “And when I told him that he needed to quit cold turkey, he looked at me and said he’d just as soon live with the heartburn then stop eating paper.”
“That’s insane,” Nicole said.
“So is smoking,” Jeb replied, “but that never stopped anybody.”
“True.”
Eventually, they were all finished with the meal, patting their stomachs and remarking on how good everything tasted.
“So what’s the plan now?” Red asked his brother. “How long are you staying for?”
“I have a flight back tomorrow,” Jeb told him.
“So soon? I would have loved to get another chance to whip your ass in basketball. We could do tennis, too. I know you think you have a shot there, but believe me you don’t.”
Jeb couldn’t seem to force a smile anymore. “I’d love to, but I can’t take anymore time off work. I came to make sure you were okay.”
“Couldn’t be better,” Red said, smiling happily, patting Nicole’s hand.
“I can see that,” Jeb said. Then, gathering himself, he went on. “You know, that’s not the only reason I came to see you.”
“Oh?” Red asked, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
“Mom spoke to me about what happened during her visit.”
“Of course she did,” Red said, with no emotion in his voice.
Jeb sighed. “I hate being in the middle like this.”
“Then don’t put yourself there.” Red wiped his mouth with a napkin, crumpled it and threw it on the table.
Nicole put a hand on his leg and squeezed reassuringly. In her mind, she was urging him to calm down.
“I have no choice,” Jeb said. “I can’t let you and mom fight this way.”
“Can’t let us? Who made you the arbiter of peace around here?” Red asked him. “I resent you coming to my house with a hidden agenda.”
“Come on,” Jeb said, laughing.
“It’s not funny.”
“I didn’t hide my agenda. I wanted to make sure you were okay. That was my first priority.”
“Well you did that. You found out I’m okay—actually better than okay.”
“Are you sure about that?” Jeb asked.
“Yeah, I am.”
Jeb shrugged. “And I also wanted to make sure you weren’t going too hard on Mom.”
Red folded his arms. “She’s obviously roped you in with her distortions about what happened. I’ve seen and heard this all before. Now she’s sent you here as her surrogate to try and guilt trip me—”
“She didn’t ask me to come. I wanted to come.”
“Bullshit,” Red snarled. “You’re being her errand boy, doing her bidding—like you always have.”
Now it was Jeb’s turn to take offense. “Errand boy? I’m a doctor with my own practice, my own life, and my own opinions.”
“That’s why you let her dictate your romantic interests,” Red told him.