Written in Ink (Montgomery Ink #4)(8)

“Why are you here?” he asked, tired already.

“Is that any way to greet your mother?” Marie Montgomery asked with a smile. She opened her arms and he shuffled toward her, picking her up in a tight hug. He may be in trouble, but he wasn’t about to say no to a hug from her.

“Hi, Mom,” he mumbled and kissed the top of her head.

“That’s better,” she said as she patted his back. “Now, we’re here for a reason, though we do enjoy seeing you.”

He stood back and raised his brow at Meghan and Miranda, who hadn’t spoken, but had similarly raised brows and side smiles on their faces like his mother.

“I figured you didn’t stop by en masse just to shoot the shit.”

“Language,” Marie snapped with a smile.

He rolled his eyes at Miranda, who put her hand over her mouth to presumably hold back a laugh. Marie Montgomery cursed more than they did, but she still had fun parenting her kids when she could.

“So, what’s up?” he asked, trying not to meet Miranda’s eyes. If he did, he’d break out in a laugh, and he had a feeling his mom wouldn’t like that.

“You’re a mess, Grif,” Meghan said softly.

He winced. “And this is different than usual, how?”

Miranda snorted. “You don’t even want to deny that you’re a mess.”

He held his hands out and looked around the room. Clothes and dirty dishes littered every surface. Dust had piled up to the point he was pretty sure the dirt had run along with his plot bunnies and created hybrid creatures of doom. He was fairly certain the only things he had in his fridge were old eggs, some butter, and the beer Storm and Wes had left last week. Actually, he may have finished the beer the night before.

“Griffin, honey, you need help.” His mother sighed but didn’t try to help him clean up. She’d stopped doing that ages ago, and he was glad for it. He might be a slob on deadline, but it wasn’t his mother’s job to clean up after him. She had enough to deal with without including his mess of a life.

“I tried to hire cleaning services before and it didn’t work out. I’ll clean up after I finish my book. I promise.”

Maya huffed. “You always clean up and eat well again after you finish a book. It’s your MO. But it’s different this time. You’re behind on your deadline.”

He took a step back, his eyes wide. “How the hell did you know that?”

“The twins told us,” Meghan answered. He raised a brow. “You were drunk and mentioned it to them the last time you hung out. Really, I didn’t know beer loosened your tongue like that. Anyway, I know I used to come over and help out when I could, but I can’t anymore. None of us can.”

Way to make him feel like a loser. “I never asked you to help me out, but I’ve always been grateful for it. Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re really here and stop harping on me for being who I am.”

“Oh, shut up,” Maria said. “We’re here to help, and you are just going to have to deal. I know you like doing everything on your own, but you shouldn’t have to.”

“So we’re stepping in.”

Griffin frowned, a sense of something wrong climbing up his back. “You just said you weren’t.”

“We won’t be helping personally, but we will help in a way,” his mother said slowly. He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand. “Let me finish. You are a grown man and I understand that. You work your ass off and do things with words that I’ve never thought of. You are one of my babies and bright stars. But you don’t know how to ask for help. In fact, I’m pretty sure none of my kids do. Maybe that’s my fault, but at least you’re independent, right?”

“Mom…” he whispered.

“Shush. Now, where was I? Oh, yes, you are a brilliant writer, Griffin. Your books do well, and you have an amazing presence. But you are behind on everything else. I know you’re behind on your words as well, and that’s got to be a kick in the pants. So, what we’re going to do is help you.”

“You said that before, but I don’t understand what you mean.”

“We’ve hired you a personal assistant,” Maya added.

His gaze snapped to his sisters. “What the f*ck? You know I need to have a hand in that. You can’t just randomly hire someone for me that will be a part of my life and work.”

“We can and we did,” Miranda said simply. “You’ll like her.”

“Her?”

“Yes, her,” Meghan added. “She’ll be here to help you clean and cook since you’re beyond doing that. Though you might want to learn to take care of yourself as an adult. I know that might be asking too much, though.”

“I don’t need a live-in maid,” Griffin snapped.

“You do, honey. But she’s not going to live here,” his mother said. “She’s going to help you organize your office the way you want to and the way it needs to be done. She knows how to program, so she’s going to update your website. She’ll run your social media for you so you actually have an online presence.”

“You know what social media is?” he asked, his brain going in a hundred different directions.

“I can tweet and Facebook like nobody’s business, young man. Now let me finish!”