Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series)

by Tori Brooks

  “No, I used my fingers like normal people. I also didn’t abuse drum sets. We’re breaking new ground here. Roll with it.”

  “I usually do, I’m just usually the only one,” Teri answered.

  “You should inflict that attitude on more people. It causes less stress.”

  “Duly noted.” Teri nodded and turned to Nicholas. “You’re on notice.”

  “For what?”

  “Roll with it.”

  “Duly noted.”

  Flynn laughed and Teri joined him. Kenny smiled as he watched. It was good to see her laugh again. Dev stopped eating to watch, so did Bryan. Even Jess noticed the change in Teri’s mood.

  Jess turned to look at Kenny, tilting his head slightly toward Flynn as an indicator as to what was on his mind.

  Kenny nodded and then tilted his head sharply toward Dev in warning. Jess took the hint and returned his attention to eating. He’d have to give Flynn the head’s up that Jess was onto him. Dev wasn’t from the look of things. He even missed the exchange between Kenny and Jess, for which Kenny was grateful.

  “Ow!” Dev turned in surprise to Bryan and frowned.

  “Sorry, kick Kenny for me. I missed.” Dev nodded and kicked Kenny’s shin.

  “Ow! Dev, he didn’t mean it literally,” Kenny complained.

  Dev shrugged. “Take it up with Bryan.”

  “Yeah, later,” Kenny frowned at Bryan. Dev returned to his chicken cacciatore and Bryan stared at Kenny over Dev’s head. Kenny shook his head slightly and furrowed his brow in question. Bryan kept his head still in his normal, subtle style, but his eyes darted to Flynn and back. Bryan was onto Flynn too. Kenny wasn’t worried, Bryan was reasonable.

  “Later.”

  Bryan returned to his meal and Kenny glanced up to see if Flynn caught that. He did, so did Nicholas. Both chose to ignore it, but Kenny was sure he’d hear about it later.

  Overall dinner went well. Flynn went his own way after, leaving Nicholas and Kenny his number, and everyone else headed home. It was a school night, but Bryan came over anyway and Kenny waited for Dev to be preoccupied with his computer before pulling Bryan and Jess aside for a chat.

  • • •

  Kenny waited for Flynn to come by the next afternoon. He heard the crunch of tires in the snowy driveway and opened the door before Flynn finished climbing the steps.

  “I wanted to talk to you about yesterday.”

  Flynn shrugged off his coat as he entered. “Okay, talk.”

  Kenny led Flynn to the dining room where he had sheet music spread out. He paced for a moment, running his fingers through his hair. Flynn sat and watched him pace. Misjudging the men in Teri’s life was becoming a pattern of behavior for Kenny and it wasn’t his place.

  “I wanted to apologize. I thought Paul was out of his mind sending you here instead of someone else. I was wrong,” he admitted.

  “Thank you. Keep in mind, it’s going to be a bumpy road.”

  “I was talking about Teri.”

  “So was I. I didn’t expect to be able to get her out of the house that easily, but it’s not going to stay that simple. Painful memories have a way of ambushing you. She’ll have her ups and downs. We had an upswing last night, but don’t fool yourself into thinking it’ll last. She’ll crash again, maybe harder if she feels guilty about enjoying herself. If you see it starting, I’d appreciate a heads up. It’ll get a little easier each time.”

  Kenny nodded. “I’ll warn Dev. Seeing Teri like she has been upsets him. He didn’t get along with Paul so that makes it worse. Then Paul treated Dev and Cassie like they were his own kids in the will and it made him feel guilty.”

  “It’s a lot to deal with. Paul was genuinely concerned about Dev. He didn’t hold his teenage hostility against him. If you get a chance, you might want to let him know.”

  “Yeah.”

  Kenny struggled with how to bring up Paul to Dev. He decided to forge ahead before he got too distracted. He looked at Flynn, forgetting what else he needed to talk to him about.

  “Bryan seems unhappy,” Flynn prompted.

  “Yeah, talked with him last night. Oh, heads up, Jess is onto you.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me. I don’t imagine he’s bothered by it.”

  “No, he’s not. You really get him don’t you?”

  “Jess? He’s not that hard. So what about Bryan?”

  “I told him a bit of what you told me yesterday. You and Teri knew each other already, you’d pursued her before but it didn’t work out. Paul knew it before he hired you. I couldn’t really say Paul thought you’d be supportive, Bryan can read between the lines. I left it with Nicholas and Tim decided you’d be helpful to have around as extra support and that you volunteered to help start getting Teri back on her feet.”

  “Good cover,” Flynn agreed with a nod. “He’s okay now?”

  “Seems to be. It might come up again if you start dating her. He’s got a girlfriend. They’ve been together for years and I think Bren affects the way he sees things.”

  Flynn sighed. “If I can ask, what was his original concern?”

  “That you’re too much like Jess and it’s too soon. We’re all protective of Teri. Bryan is just observant enough to see what Dev doesn’t and Jess ignores. He doesn’t have my habit of being in the middle of things and having additional information to make the pieces fall into place.” Kenny fidgeted. “Did Paul tell you about . . . well, I almost messed things up for him.”

  Flynn nodded.

  “I don’t want to make that mistake again.”

  “It wasn’t your fault and Paul didn’t blame you. Paul told me a lot of things that I really don’t need to know. I knew already that he didn’t tell Teri about his estranged wife and she was hurt and furious when she found out. Paul filled me in that you were the one to reveal his secret to point out that you’re resourceful. He told me something of Dev’s resourcefulness also.”

  “Did he tell you about Dev tracking Teri’s cell phone? I caught him before too long so all he found out is that they didn’t stay at the restaurant long enough to actually eat.”

  Flynn rested his head in his hand, leaning on his elbow. “No, Paul forgot to mention that. Shouldn’t surprise me considering what he did tell me.”

  “He’s kind of a kid genius.”

  “I got that. So, I’m warned on Jess and Bryan and re-warned on Dev. Check that off your list of things to give me a headache over. On Jess, I had another idea.”

  “Besides the ‘don’t follow in my footsteps’ talk?”

  “Yes. I heard a theory that he has a good mind, he just never had to use it.”

  “That’s one theory. You’re going to try to prove that? No offense, but if being continually outwitted by Dev isn’t enough to make Jess want to start thinking, what makes you think you’re going to?” Kenny felt like he was about to lose another bet at the smile that spread across Flynn’s face.

  “Kenny, I want you to tell me more about Jess’s crush on Cassie.”

  Chapter Five

  The house fell into a predictable pattern over the next few weeks. Teri sat one morning and reflected on how frequently Flynn was at the house, and how easily Nicholas accepted him there.

  Flynn was just sitting down at the dining room table with Kenny when she went to refill her cup of coffee. She poured one for Flynn while she was at it. He and Nicholas had some sort of agreement, one or the other was always here so she was never without adult supervision. She wasn’t a child and it should annoy her, but at the moment she wasn’t sure what to think.

  “Cassie’s a distraction,” Kenny complained to Flynn as Teri handed him his mug. He even had a preferred mug, she realized. Almost like part of the household.

  “Thanks,” Flynn acknowledged before turning back to Kenny. “Jess can handle it and Dev needs to learn to cope anyway. Don’t worry about the girls.”

  “It’s cruel. Make them cook dinner or something while we practice.”

  “You can’t m
ake women do anything, you can only encourage.”

  Teri tuned them out again and returned to the kitchen to start on the dishes. Despite his comment, Flynn made an impression on the girls. Because he enjoyed cooking, the girls suddenly took an interest too. Teri was worried they’d never learn beyond the basics, but now they were eager to experiment and show off for him.

  Of course that made her worry for a new set of reasons. Flynn was known for being a ladies’ man. Although Teri didn’t see any sign of interest from him. For that matter, she half expected him to be trying to pick up on her and he wasn’t. It wasn’t that long ago that he expressed interest. Since then he’d given his marriage another go, and threw in the towel. That bothered her a little. But he wasn’t chasing skirt in her house, so she decided not to worry about it. For now, he was working wonders with the kids. The boys were certainly fighting a lot less than before, he made sure they did their homework, and even Jess seemed to be settling down a bit in his dating routing.

  The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Teri waved them back down to their seats and wiped her hands on a towel as she walked to the door.

  “Hi, Mrs. Giles. Is Kenny around?”

  “Sure, Alicia. Come on in.” Teri motioned her toward the dining room and returned to the dishes.

  Kenny greeted Alicia with barely a glance and introduced Flynn. Alicia recognized him and smiled with big brown eyes. Flynn gave her one of his famous smiles.

  Teri imagined he was sizing up Alicia. Long blond hair in a sloppy ponytail, little turned up nose, her slight figure was hidden behind worn jeans and a sweatshirt. A cute package, although hopefully he realized she was too young and interested in Kenny. Although Kenny was oblivious.

  Alicia and Kenny slid into an easy banter and they retreated downstairs, leaving Flynn at the table. He walked over to the kitchen bar to face her as she finished loading the dishwasher.

  “Teri? Can I talk to you a moment?” Flynn’s tone switched Teri’s musings from idle thoughts to alarm. She nodded, and Flynn motioned her into the living room.

  “What’s wrong?” Teri asked as she sat down.

  “Possibly nothing. First, tell me about Alicia and Kenny.”

  Teri exhaled in relief. Flynn did see Alicia’s interest in Kenny. “They’ve been friends since grade school. Kenny’s all wrapped up in his music and probably wouldn’t spare Alicia a second glance except she plays the cello. No, wait, not cello. What’s the bigger one?”

  “Bass.”

  “That’s it. Anyway, she comes around every now and again between boyfriends to see if Kenny’s ready to notice her yet.”

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “A couple of years, at least. One of these days Kenny’s going to figure out Alicia’s a young woman. It better be soon or it won’t matter. Alicia’s been taking classes at a community college and just got accepted to college out of state.”

  “Not ideal, but interesting,” Flynn said. “If you see a chance to let me talk to Alicia one-on-one, I’d appreciate a hand.”

  “All right. Now, what did you originally want to see me about?”

  Flynn paused for a moment. “Dev goes to New York every couple of months.”

  Teri groaned. She didn’t want to think about that.

  “I suspected as much. Listen, we still have a couple of weeks. Nicholas and I talked about it, and we think it’d be a better idea if I took Dev.”

  “You?”

  “I can handle a single fifteen year old, don’t sound so surprised. You’re out of the running. Nicholas doesn’t want to be left here with the kids.”

  “Meaning he doesn’t want me in New York.”

  “Do you want to be there? Specifically, do you want your first trip back to be with your son on a tight schedule? Facing those memories? If you go, I’m going too because I don’t see it as a good idea.”

  Teri looked away and nodded, not wanting to face him. She felt like she’d been pretty good lately. She still cried at night, but not like she used to. She got up, got dressed, did the dishes. Now she was threatening to break down again. A tissue appeared in front of her. She smiled and took it.

  “So, it’s either Nicholas, Tim, or me. Nicholas is your support here, I really don’t want him leaving. Tim will make time, I already have time. I’m also concerned about the emotional impact on Dev. Kenny and I talked about Dev and Paul.”

  Teri flinched slightly at hearing Paul’s name. Flynn hesitated, seeming to gauge her reaction. She nodded and he continued.

  “Dev’s upset because you’re hurting, which is normal, but that’s not the only reason. Kenny said he and Paul didn’t get along.”

  Teri looked at Flynn, but his expression was unreadable.

  “Paul told me much the same, Teri. He cared about Dev. If Dev’s attitude bothered Paul, I didn’t see any indication of it.”

  “Paul talked to you about Dev?”

  “He hired me to help get the band on their feet. We talked about all of them.”

  Teri nodded. That made sense, she just didn’t really think about it before.

  “Kenny mentioned Dev felt guilty about his relationship with Paul. Rather than being forced to deal with Tim, and the memories of Paul associated with him, think about letting me take him instead. I’ve got an apartment in New York. We can meet up with Tim for lunch to test the water for the future.”

  “Tim knows Oskar though.”

  “I’ve met Oskar in passing, but it doesn’t matter. Oskar won’t care who’s bringing Dev as long as he’s there. I also want to start looking into Dev’s shyness and it seems as good a place as any to start.”

  Teri choked back a laugh. “The expression on his face in those pictures is genuine.”

  “I figured that,” Flynn answered dryly. He didn’t seem particularly happy about it. “You’re a photographer, you can set up a situation to get a specific response from your subject. You know the concept, you did it to me.”

  Teri laughed at the memory of the first time she met Flynn, his boyish grin when she caught him in the bushes with two scantily clad women. “That seems like so long ago, but it really wasn’t.”

  “No, it wasn’t. It’s nice to hear you laughing again.”

  “That’s not where you were going with this though, was it?”

  “No. I want to see how much is being set up. Also if they’re conditioning this response in Dev.”

  “Making him worse?” Teri’s stomach hardened.

  “I want to check it out. Don’t worry about it yet. From what I understand Dev was already —”

  “But what if they’re making it worse?” Teri couldn’t think. She didn’t like Dev flying back and forth to New York, but never considered the photo-shoots could actually be hurting him.

  Flynn reached out and softly stroked her hair.

  “I’ll talk to Tim, ask him to be there for a second opinion. Teri, if we think it’s a problem, we’ll talk to Oskar.”

  “He won’t want to give up his spokes model and Dev is under contract.”

  Flynn smiled softly at her. “If that’s the case, Dev is a fifteen-year-old boy that his company would then be knowingly traumatizing. I’ll ask nicely. I’ll let Tim play hardball, he has Kyle behind him. I suspect we can work something out.”

  “He wanted to do this,” Teri protested, thinking back to just last fall when her son made the decision on his own.

  “I’m not saying we need to get Dev out of the contract, just change the focus a little. It might not even be an issue, but it’s a concern. According to Kenny he’s not getting any better. If nothing else, it’ll open the door for me to communicate with Dev about the problem naturally. I don’t want him thinking everyone’s talking about him behind his back.”

  Still trying to breathe, Teri reflected on Dev’s photo-shoots. Dev hated her fussing over him and didn’t want her there. She always suspected it was because he didn’t want Paul there, so she didn’t argue with her son. They compromised and sent him with Ti
m. But Tim didn’t have kids and wouldn’t necessarily see what Flynn suspected.

  “Okay, you take him,” Teri nodded.

  “Thank you. I promise to bring him back without lipstick stains on his collar. This time.”

  Teri laughed lightly through her tears and hit him playfully.

  “Back to the photo-shoot in Miami.”

  She laughed again. “Was that really on your agenda?”

  “Not Miami specifically, no. You might have noticed I’ve been around a bit lately.”

  Teri looked at Flynn, trying to read where this was going. Usually known for his expressive face, he was strangely difficult to read. Teri nodded.

  “I find it interesting that I haven’t seen you pick up a camera, or carry one with you when I’ve managed to get you out of the house.”

  “There’s no reason to carry one to dinner.”

  “I understand you used to.”

  “I used to carry a camera bag in lieu of a purse.”

  “Yet I haven’t seen a camera since I got here. Teri, when was the last time you picked up your camera and took a picture of something?”

  She looked away. Unfortunately, Flynn was right. She was a photographer and every wall in the house had either her photographs or Allen’s on it. There was nowhere to look without being reminded just how right he was. He reached out and pulled her chin around to face him again.

  “When was the last time you wanted to reach for a camera?”

  Regularly since you arrived, Teri realized. She wasn’t going to say that, of course.

  Behind Flynn, in a simple black frame on the end table, was one of the few pictures that neither Teri nor Allen took. Paul took it a picture of Teri taking a picture in Miami, it was his favorite picture of her. She had another copy in a box of his things from when Tim packed his desk. It was sitting in storage somewhere, she wasn’t sure where Tim and Nicholas put all of Paul’s things. They missed that picture and it caught her eye. A physical reminder of Paul — what she’d lost. Teri completely broke down.

  Flynn handed her another tissue and gently wrapped his arms around her. He stroked her hair and held her softly.

  The front door opened and Teri groaned. She didn’t want the kids to see her like this. Starting to get up with the intent of hurrying upstairs, Flynn pulled her back down.