Always Be True Read Free Page A

brother responded. “Is everything okay? I thought you were putting in a couple of hours of volunteer work at that community center just to keep Mom off your back.”
    “Yeah, I was. It’s turned out to be more complicated than I thought.”
    More silence. “Any chance the complication is female and attractive?”
    No way was he going there, not with Jack’s tendency to give him grief every chance he got. “They don’t have anyone else here today who can do a decent job patching the walls. I’d like to finish what I’ve started. If I get the drywall taped and mudded, next week they can finish painting the gym.”
    “Need a helping hand? Ricky and I could be there in twenty minutes.”
    Oh, hell no. Considering Jack now ran their family’s construction company, he definitely had the necessary skills. What he didn’t have was the ability to keep his nose out of Tino’s business.
    “No, I don’t want to take you away from Caitlyn and the kid on your day off. I can handle it.”
    “Okay, if you’re sure. Ricky will be disappointed that you’re not coming over. He mentioned something about kicking your ass at that new video game you got him. He’s been practicing.”
    “Tell him I also bought a copy for myself, and my avatar will eat his for breakfast. Apologize to Caitlyn for me for ducking out on dinner.”
    “Not a problem, little brother. See you on Monday.”
    Tino bit back the urge to remind Jack, yet again, that there was only a four-month difference in their ages. “I’ll be ready.”
    Jack did the bulk of the work in the family business, but Tino helped out whenever his brother needed an extra set of hands. He’d also taken on all the paperwork that their mother had done when their late father had run the business. As always, a sense of loss washed over Tino when he thought about the man who had been his anchor in this world. Joe Lukash’s sudden death had left a big hole in all their lives.
    “Is that seat for me?”
    How had he missed seeing Natalie approach? He lowered the phone long enough to say, “It sure is.”
    Time to hang up. “Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you on Monday.”
    “Sounds good.” There was another pause. “And, Tino, if she’s the reason you’re bailing on us, I’m all for it.”
    Not about to encourage his brother’s matchmaking efforts, Tino kept his response to a simple goodbye, but he was pretty sure his brother was laughing when he hung up. No doubt he’d get the third degree on Monday, but he’d deal with it then.
    Meanwhile, he shoved the phone back in his pocket and scooted his chair over a little to give Natalie more room to maneuver. She put her tray down next to his and sat down with a sigh. “Boy, it feels good to get off my feet for a few minutes. I’ve been on the run since about five thirty this morning.”
    “How long have you been working on this particular project?”
    “About a year and a half now.” She popped the top on her drink and took a quick sip. “That’s including the planning stages, though. The actual work started about three months ago when we had a professional contractor gut the kitchen and rebuild it pretty much from the ground up. After that, the entire place was wired for Wi-Fi and the phone system upgraded. Next up is the computer lab. We plan to offer adult training classes at low cost as well as making the lab open to students in the area to use.”
    Then she grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to go on and on about it.”
    When was the last time he’d been that excited about anything? Maybe never. Rather than pursue that depressing thought, he told her, “Don’t apologize. I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t interested. I will say that you were smart to let the pros take on the hard stuff. It might cost more to begin with, but at least you know it’s all being done right.”
    Natalie glanced around the room. “I really appreciate everyone’s willingness to pitch in and help, but there are limits to what