Hopeless (Chestnut Springs, #5)(102)

“You’re fucking my makeup up, Eaton,” she murmurs dryly, wiping a stray tear off her face with the sleeve of her sweater.

I just smile. She needs to hear these things so badly, be reassured of them over and over. And I’m happy to do it. “You asked me who I wanted to be once, and it’s this. Me. Right here. Right now. With you.”

All she can manage is a nod and a sniffle. “Okay. I have no poetic response to that. Other than yes, please, sir.”

Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes.

Her hands land on my cheeks, and she rises on her tiptoes to kiss me. “I love you, soldier,” she whispers as she pulls away.

“You fuckin’ better.” I kiss her back now, lifting her against me and giving her a tight squeeze. The tension seeps out of her. And when I put her back down, we stare at each other. It’s been a wild couple of years in my life, but worth every hardship to be standing here looking down at this woman.

“Ready to host our first Eaton family dinner?” I ask.

She nods, appearing stronger already. “You ready to tell them you’re moving here permanently?”

I snap my feet together and give her my best salute.

It makes her laugh.

And that makes me feel whole.

The house is full. Bustling. Loud. Warm. Chatter fills the space with life. Long, dark, quiet days spent in a cave, thinking I’d never make it out, feel so far away they hardly seem real. Even in my childhood home, I felt like I was stuck in a cave. And now it’s like a trippy dream I once had.

The mind works in mysterious ways.

Bailey sits on one side of me, hand on my thigh, chatting away with Summer. But it’s Winter, to my right, who watches carefully. Her fiancé, Theo, holds their daughter, Vivi, on his lap, chatting with Harvey and Cordelia.

I barely hear the woman beside me when she murmurs, “I’m really happy for you, Beau.”

I lean over slightly toward Winter. “Is that a medical diagnosis?”

Her lips curve up, but her face remains mostly impassive. “No, I’m not your doctor. Just a friend who’s been worried about you.”

“I didn’t know we were friends.”

All she offers back is a cool shrug as she picks up her glass of wine and takes an unaffected sip. “Family, I guess. Kindred spirits? We’re not so different, you and me. I like to see us fucked-up people pull ourselves out of our own shit.”

“We probably need therapy,” I joke quietly.

Winter nods. “Not probably. Definitely.”

“You’re not nearly as mean as everyone made you out to be, ya know?” I lean over just enough to bump my shoulder against hers.

Her lips curve up as she takes another sip of her white wine. Then she bumps my shoulder back. “And you’re not nearly as dumb as everyone made you out to be.”

I snort. She is kind of mean, and yet I’m charmed. Theo turns to glance at us, and when his eyes catch on Winter, they soften. They warm.

I know how that look feels, but seeing it is something else entirely.

I turn back to Bailey, loving the way she thrives in this environment. My family has become hers. And hers has gone radio silent since she left town. Which is a good thing. Bless them for being the perfect combination of too dumb and too lazy to bother harassing her if it requires any effort on their part. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.

Stirred to action by that thought, I clank my knife against my glass. “Everyone shut up! I have an announcement to make.”

Winter scoffs beside me, but everyone else quiets down.

Except Rhett—leave it to him to make it into a fight. “This isn’t the military, bonehead. I don’t take orders from you.”

Summer groans and gazes up at the ceiling. “Why are you like this?”

“Should we take it outside like when we were kids, then?” I quirk a brow at my little brother. Shit disturber that he is.

Rhett laughs. “No chance. You’ll kick my ass with your James Bond shit. I’m wild, not stupid.”

Winter scoffs again, but just keeps drinking. I see Theo stifle a laugh behind his fist.

“Take Cade with you,” Willa whispers as loudly as possible to Rhett from across the table while bouncing a baby on her lap. “A tag team situation. And I’ll watch. Or referee. Whatever you call it, I don’t care. It’s hot when he gets mad, so I’m all in on this idea.”

“I’m on Uncle Beau’s team!” my nephew, Luke, announces.

I point at him. “Smart, kid.”

“At this rate, we’ll just be a bunch of skeletons sitting around the table by the time he makes his announcement,” Jasper says. “We’ll die never knowing what it is he meant to say because you all were planning a Royal Rumble in Bailey’s new house.” His eyes dance with amusement from across the table as he takes a swig of his shitty, cheap beer with a dog on the label.

“I hate you.”

Jasper grins at me, reaching to take Sloane’s hand. “Hate you too, bro.”

“Listen, I’ll be the first of us to turn into a skeleton,” Harvey pitches in. “Out with it.”

Silence descends, and Bailey goes tense beside me.

“So … this isn’t just Bailey’s house. It’s mine too. I’m moving here and starting a new job with the fire department.” I glance over at Cade. “Sorry, man, this is my two weeks’ notice.”