Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series) (13 page)

Teri wasn
’t in the living room, so they must have been watching TV downstairs.

“Dev is downstairs
, he’s drowning his misery in computer programming. Teri’s in her room.” Bryan jerked his thumb towards the stairs. Flynn never went upstairs. Teri’s room was up there and he didn’t want to crowd her or give her any ideas about his plans.

“All right. You
’re right, I shouldn’t have left her with you. I’ll fix it.” Flynn took a deep breath and headed upstairs.

Teri
’s room was at the end of the hall, and the door was closed. He hesitated, listening at the door. It sounded like she was still sobbing, but it was weak, she sounded almost spent. Flynn softly knocked on the door.

“Teri?
”

“Come in.
”

Flynn steeled himself and slowly opened the door. She was sitting on the bed
, wiping her eyes. Being here was a mistake. Aside from the already upset kids downstairs, Flynn always had to resist the impulse to hold her closer than strictly necessary when she cried. Alone in a bedroom was begging for a line to be crossed.

“Splash water on your face and I
’ll meet you downstairs. There’s a coffee shop not far away, we’ll go there.”

“Why?
”

“To get away from the boys.
” Flynn left, closing the door behind him. Bryan was sitting in the living room when Flynn came downstairs.

“Too fast
, I don’t buy it that she’s better,” Bryan said, folding his arms across his chest.

Flynn shook his head. “I
’m taking her to the coffee shop by the park.”

“What are you going to say that you don
’t want witnesses to?” Bryan’s suspicion was more open and hostile tonight, it reminded Flynn they’d never bonded. Every time he tried to reach out to Bryan, he ran into this wall of distrust. He knew why, Bryan knew enough to be worried about Teri, but not enough to trust him. He glanced back over his shoulder, Teri was moving around so he only had a couple of minutes at the most. He quickly crossed the room to sit beside Bryan on the sofa.

“Listen
, I don’t have time to go into details. Paul chose me specifically to give you guys a hand when logic dictated he choose someone else.”

“Why?
”

Flynn stopped short
. Bryan didn’t know the back story, he distrusted Flynn’s motives simply because of who Flynn was. The revelation shook Flynn.

“We
’ll talk about that later. For now, suffice it to say, Teri knows I wasn’t the logical or even reasonable choice. She’s starting to think about it, and she’s going to have some uncomfortable questions. I have to address her concerns without casting Paul in a bad light. He did what he thought was best.”

“That doesn
’t explain anything.”

Teri
’s footsteps in the hall upstairs caught Flynn’s attention.

“Listen
, ask Kenny when he gets home. Just tell him she’s starting to think it through. He’ll know what’s going on.”

Flynn stood up and met Teri at the bottom of the stairs. Teri turned to Bryan
, who simply waved her away. Flynn guided her out the door and settled her in his car. The drive was silent except for the occasional sniffle from Teri. Flynn didn’t try to distract her this time. He didn’t want her to think he was avoiding or making light of her concern.

Pulling
into the lot of the coffee shop, he was relieved to find it nearly empty. Opening the door for Teri, he sat her at a small table in a corner and went to get them coffee. On impulse he bought a few sweet pastries as a bribe.

“I want you to be honest with me
,” Teri said as soon as he returned. He noticed her refusal to look at him as she spoke, it was out of character.

Flynn set her coffee and the pastries in front of her. He sat across from her quietly
, trying to read her expression. Aside from the obvious signs that she’d been crying recently, there wasn’t much to see. She was upset, hurt maybe.

“All right
,” Flynn nodded.

“Why you?
”

Of course he knew that was coming so he was prepared
, and didn’t flinch at the question. She was watching him now, so he was glad he was ready.

“Have you been thinking about this all night?
”

“Don
’t evade the question.”

“It
’s a delicate topic, Teri. You’re a lot better than you were when I got here and I don’t want to see you backslide.”

She stared at him and Flynn nodded again to concede the round to her.

“Paul knew exactly what he was doing when he put me here. It’s not just about the band either. I’m here to get the boys on their feet, but I also have a personal interest in making sure they don’t get hurt in the process. He wouldn’t get that with anyone else. I know the traps they can fall into, I found them all myself so I can help them sidestep those obstacles.”

“When did he hire you
, Flynn?”

“A couple of months before he passed.
”

Teri nodded
, looking miserable. “Plenty of time to ask me how I felt about it, but he didn’t.”

“No. He didn
’t tell you he was dying because he didn’t want to ruin the time he had left. You know he tried to make everything go as smoothly as possible.”

“He told you.
”

Flynn nodded. “He couldn
’t tell you about hiring me because you would have questioned it.”

“So he never intended for you to be here mentoring the boys while he was still alive. I was trying to picture how the two of you would have worked things out and magically got along together. That was never going to happen
, was it?”

“Teri
, we did reach an understanding. I looked at your relationship with Paul after my divorce was final, and you seemed happy. I admit I was a little hesitant about this. I wouldn’t have agreed if he was still here. I’m sorry to say that. It’s nothing against Paul, I just couldn’t have worked with him long term.”

“And you didn
’t have to.” Tears welled in Teri’s eyes again.

“We only met once actually. The rest of the arrangements were through Tim. I wouldn
’t have been his choice if the situation was different.

“Drink your coffee
,” Flynn prompted as the tears ran down her cheeks. He waited until she picked up her cup and took a drink, then held it to her instead of setting it back down. Flynn handed her a napkin and she obediently wiped her face.

“I spoke to Drew
,” Flynn looked for a change of subject and remembered there were a couple of things he should mention anyway. “We’re looking for another time for him to meet up with Bryan and practice drum solos. It’s too bad Spring Break isn’t going to work out, it would have been perfect.”

“You mentioned that before. Why not?
”

“He
’ll be in Sydney, his niece is getting married. Don’t worry, I have a plan. First I should mention that when Tim spoke to Oskar about Dev’s stress levels, he also asked for a little time off for him. Officially this is while they’re reworking the ad campaign, but it’s because the psychologist suggested it.”

Teri
’s demeanor changed visibly once Flynn mentioned Dev. He felt dishonest distracting her again, but it just wasn’t time yet.

“Does Dev know?
”

“Not yet. I
’m not going to mention the psychologist, obviously, or even Tim and I interfering. I don’t want to anyway, but I have to explain it to a certain extent. Oskar cut us a deal: he’s buying in on the new direction of the campaign, and the new ads are being reviewed by doctor what’s-her-name. That’s all off the record of course. In return, I’ll do a spread for his men’s line.”

“
You
will?”

Flynn nodded. “I told Tim he could trade in on my status when dealing with Oskar. It isn
’t a surprise, but we made Oskar ask. Both sides made concessions, in theory, so the end result is workable. I suspect if Dev gets time off, then I do a shoot, he’s going to read between the lines. Whether he guesses right or wrong doesn’t matter, it’ll still be a blow to him.”

“He might think you
’re crowding in on his job?”

“It
’s possible. What are the odds of being able to take Bryan to New York to meet with Drew for a weekend?”

“Instead of Dev?
”

“Yeah.
”

“I
’m lost. Did you just change the subject again?”

“Not entirely
,” Flynn shook his head. “Dev doesn’t know about my spread with Oskar yet. I need to get Drew and Bryan together anyway, the sooner the better.”

“Agreed.
” Teri took a drink of her coffee.

“
Bryan will hear me and Tim discussing the Oskar Viktor shoot. Naturally he’ll be curious. When I’m honest with him, I think he’ll be on board with it. Bryan will have a better idea on how I should pitch it to Dev, and I’ll have a spy in the ranks on this one.”

“You have Kenny in your pocket already.
”

“Kenny won
’t be enough if Dev doesn’t like it. Bryan is closer to Dev than Kenny is. Dev isn’t as hesitant to discuss his feelings with Bryan. Even if Dev acts like it’s no big deal, I want to know for sure that he’s not jumping to conclusions.”

Teri sighed as she thought about it. “
Bryan practices his drums at home too, so I might be able to convince his parents. Drum lessons would be a relief. He’s almost eighteen anyway, and I’ve already sent Dev to New York with you.”

“
Bryan
can
play you know.”

“You keep saying that
, but I’m just not hearing it.”

“He can keep a beat
, it’s just entering and exiting solos. Give him a break, he wasn’t originally a drummer.”

“
I remember. If Drew can fix that, I stand a chance of swinging a weekend for you. When?”

“As soon as humanly possible.
”

“I
’ll call Markie tomorrow then. That’s his mom.”

“Great.
” Flynn drank his coffee, and noticed Teri watching him as he set his cup down. He raised his eyebrows at her questioningly, hoping he wasn’t inviting trouble.

“How much do you and Nicholas talk about me?
” Teri asked.

Flynn almost choked. “Less than we used to
, why? Does it bother you?”

“I don
’t know. Was it his idea to start pushing me into taking pictures again?”

“No
, that was me.” Flynn took another drink, hoping to appear casual. He wasn’t sure where she was heading with this, but she looked determined. Like she had an agenda. He hoped that offer to be naked and frisky in front of her camera didn’t come back to bite him. He was all for getting naked with her, but she wasn’t ready for the frisky he had in mind and he wouldn’t be able to hide it.

“It
’s his job to be supportive, it’s mine to get you back on your feet,” Flynn continued.

“Your job. The agreement you reached with Paul.
”

“Hmmm
,” Flynn nodded.

“What else are you supposed to do?
”

“Isn
’t that enough?”

Teri stared at him
, waiting. Flynn suppressed a grimace.

“We weren
’t sure how you’d react to me being around, of course, but I told Paul I’d do what I could to start getting you out of the house. He was worried about you. Nicholas was here to look after you. He thought you’d need more. I didn’t have to be at the reading of the will. He wanted me there because he knew there’d be trouble and wanted another adult on your side. For the record, I think I’ve been doing my jobs fairly well.”

Teri nodded and looked away.

“Still not seeing anyone?” she asked.

Flynn felt a sudden chill at Teri
’s question. She knew he wasn’t.

“No time
,” he shook his head.

“Make time. There
’s no reason for you to be alone.”

“All right
, not interested,” Flynn revised his answer.

“The night manager over there has been giving you some hopeful looks.
”

“Why are you so concerned?
” he called her on it, not really believing she’d admit interest herself but hoping nonetheless.

This time Teri chose her words carefully. “It
’s just that sometimes it’s like I’m seeing a different side of you. Something you keep hidden away. You’re always on guard for the camera, even at the house. The few times I’ve seen you drop that guard, it seems like you’re lonely but you’re holding back. I know you don’t want to set a bad example for Jess, but it doesn’t have to be. Find someone nice.”