Beg, Borrow, or Steal (When in Rome, #3)(88)
“Don’t worry,” James says, kicked back in his seat at the end of the large porch table. “I made scrambled eggs, biscuits, and bacon too.”
“And I”—Maddie jumps in, leveling James with a saucy look—“made grown-up food. A salmon and spinach quiche.”
“Yeah, and you destroyed my kitchen in the process. You better clean up before you leave.” Any of their earlier tension seems to be gone. They’ve sunk back into their normal routine of bickering over nothing.
She lifts an eyebrow at him. “Make me.” She then shoves his booted feet to the floor. “No feet on the table, Jamesie. Why can’t you be more civilized like Tommy.” Tommy is James’s younger, more selfish brother.
His boots hit the floor with a thud, and he sits forward so his face is a few inches from Madison’s. “Civilized, meaning an asshole who’s obsessed with his own reflection in the mirror? No, thanks.”
“He’s not an asshole,” Madison says, and we all roll our eyes because even I can admit that he’s a little bit of an asshole. But he’s a gorgeous asshole, and for that reason, Maddie has had the biggest crush on him since she was little. Thankfully, Tommy rarely ever comes around Rome because he’s too busy doing whatever it is he does. (Mainly women, according to James.)
My brain immediately vaults itself back to another gorgeous man that I can’t get off my mind. Ugh. But every time I close my eyes, we’re back in my room and he’s looking at me like I’m the first sunrise after winter.
“Now, children,” says Will, putting his butterfly hand on James’s jaw and turning his scowling face away from Maddie. “Let’s not bicker at the table. It’s impolite. Who’s turn is it to try Amelia’s pancakes, anyway?”
We all immediately hold up our thumbs and slam them down. James is the last one to get his thumb on the table. We point and laugh at him like the mature adults we are.
“Dammit!” He groans, hanging his head. It pops back up just as quickly. “Emily—you owe me ten bucks for the beer Friday night. I’ll call it even if you’re taste tester tonight.”
“No way.” I would pay him a hundred dollars right now just to ensure I didn’t have to take a single bite of that pancake.
He’s hunting for more prey around the table. “Annie . . . you know that flower discount I give you?”
“Don’t you dare try to take that from her!” I say, laying my palms flat on the table and leaning toward him. “You lost fair and square!”
Everyone continues to banter and bicker and poke fun at each other around the table and for a minute, all I can do is sit back and watch with a smile on my face. Sometimes I wonder what my parents would think if they could see us all grown like this, sitting on James’s porch overlooking the vast farmland that’s been in his family for decades. The same farm my parents worked on when they first married and where my mom planted her flower crop.
I look at each of my siblings’ laughing faces (James included in that statement) as the string lights around the porch sparkle in each of their eyes—the sound of summertime crickets and some old country music playing in the background with Amelia cooking up something atrocious inside in the kitchen.
I live for nights like this with these people. They create the illusion that I’m within reaching distance of those comforting childhood days. But I can’t let myself dwell on that feeling too long anymore. I need to see this moment for what it is. Beautiful. Ever changing. We’re not kids, and Mom and Dad are not somewhere off in the distance. Annie is a woman with a thriving career and a man she loves. Noah is married with a wife (a world-famous one at that) and is soon going to support her on tour for a year. Maddie is out there getting her dreams and conquering the culinary world. And for the first time, while not trying to keep them hooked to a fishing line, I can think of the changes in their lives with some joy.
It’s okay that time is moving and changing. Maybe it’s okay if I move and change too.
“Aha!” James shouts, suddenly pointing at the porch door at my back, making us all startle. “He’s the last to arrive, so he has to be the pancake guinea pig.”
He?
Everyone turns and looks over my shoulder, and for some strange reason, I feel a change in the air. A chill runs down my spine like the warning of impending danger. Impending delight.
“You made it!” Maddie says happily, standing up from the table and going to greet—
Jack. My Jack.
And I watch as my traitor sister is giving my Jack a hug.
“Everyone, I assume you’ve met Jack by now? Jack, everyone! Grab a seat. There’s one over there by Emily.” My gaze connects with Madison’s, and she winks at me and mouths You’re welcome.
How dare she! How dare my family meddle in my life like this. How dare they love me this much. And how dare my face betray me with a smile at a time like this when I should be upset to find him here. I don’t have my answer for him yet! I haven’t had enough time to perfectly craft the words to convey: I’m afraid of how much I love you.
But as my eyes connect with Jack and his retro orange-and-white-striped crew-neck shirt, I’m so relieved he’s not in Australia.
He walks closer to the only available seat at the table, which I’m just now realizing has been added purposely! They all knew? I will kill them all after I finish hugging them furiously, because Jack is here and even though nothing is settled, my heart feels at home.