Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series) by Donna McDonald Page B

like nothing important in the bigger picture of life. His family loving him had always been the one constant in his life. Maybe seeing them here bothered Reesa in ways she wasn’t showing him.
    “Want me to get my family out of your hair?” Shane asked, testing his theory.
    “No—I’d like to order lunch for everyone. It seems the least I can do for the rescue,” Reesa said, running a hand through her hair in response to Shane’s suggestion. “Brian has his counselor appointment after school today at three-thirty and Zack has ball practice. Chelsea is planning on just hanging at the school to wait on me to pick up Zack. She doesn’t like being home alone. I’m not going to get much done around the house before I have to leave anyway. Everyone might as well stay and have lunch with me and Sara.”
    Shane nodded at Reesa’s logistical list just as Sara came bounding back down the hall. He bowed to her.
    “Princess Sara, are you prepared to meet my family?” he asked.
    “Yes—I am repaired ,” she said.
    “ Prepared ,” Reesa corrected, smiling at the sweet nervousness on Sara’s face.
    “That’s what I said— repaired ,” Sara replied, her face serious.
    “If it’s okay, I’d like to be here when Joe comes tonight,” Shane told Reesa, smiling at Sara’s expression.
    Reesa sighed, nodded, and poked his tattooed arm. “Sure. Far be it from me to run my hero off.”
    “I think your aunt just called me a hero,” Shane said to Sara.
    “Well—you are very tall ,” Sara said wisely.
    Shane laughed as he walked into the kitchen holding Sara’s hand.
    ***
     
    That evening at seven, Shane was sitting in the floor handing Joe tools.
    In the background, he heard Zack and Chelsea in a heated debate over a teacher at the high school and whether the grading in his class was fair. Hearing them, Shane’s first thought was that it might have been interesting if he and Michael had been closer in age.
    Brian had gone to his room when he got home and had yet to come out this evening. He hadn’t really even said hello.
    Sara and Reesa were down the hall in Sara’s room picking out clothes and getting “repaired” for tomorrow. Sara’s mispronunciation made him grin. Man, he had fallen hard for the little smarty blonde, almost as hard as he’d fallen for Reesa.
    “Dude—how can you stand this craziness? You sit for hours in that condo of yours with no music, no TV, and no one around. Now you’re smiling that Buddha smile of yours in the middle of chaos,” Joe observed. “Reesa must be extremely talented in the sack to merit this level of tolerance.”
    Shane frowned. “Hey, watch it! You’re not allowed to wonder how good Reesa is or why I’m here unless you keep your thoughts PG.”
    Joe grunted inside the cabinet, swearing softly.
    “I like them, Joe,” Shane told him. “I like all of them. Being here is not a hardship.”
    “Yeah—but what’s in this homey box of crazy for you?” Joe asked quietly. “What does Shane Larson get from being here?”
    “I don’t know yet,” Shane replied seriously. “I just know this is where I need to be.”
    “You have that look I can’t argue with, which is why I’m not home drinking beer after the twelve-hour day I put in already,” Joe said, sighing. “I probably owe you several of these damn favors. When I feel paid up, you are going to catch hell, Larson. Then you will pay my friend.”
    “I’ll pay you now if you want. I’m just glad you’re able to do this stuff. Neither Reesa nor I are handy around the house,” Shane told him.
    “Tell your woman to call me when there’s a problem. Either I’ll help her or find her someone who can,” Joe said, laying down his tools at last. “If she matters so much to you, I’ll make sure no one takes advantage of her.”
    Joe turned on the main water valve again and heard the pipes fill. So far—so good, he thought.
    “Okay, Larson. Turn the cold water on very slowly and pray to your maker while