Page 10 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck
“The solution to that is simple, dear sister. Move home,” said Henry. “The university you picked isn’tthatfar from here. Unlike London. Why anyone would want to spend a year there is beyond me.”
Amice cupped his face. “Henry, we’ve discussed this already. By the time Rachael was done navigating traffic in and out of the city, her entire day would be eaten up. It’s better that she lives close to campus.”
“In a city full of nothing but sin and debauchery,” said Henry, yet again sounding like our uncle. “And like Nile pointed out, the way she dresses puts her at risk for so many things.”
Amice’s smile faded fast. “What’s wrong with the way she dresses? Because nothing gives a man an excuse to harm a woman.Nothing.”
“Of course, my sweet,” said Henry. “I wasn’t implying anything of the sort.”
He was full of crap, and I couldn’t help but snort.
He looked at me. “Something you want to share?”
“There issomuch I want to share, Henry, but I’ll hold my tongue because I love you, and I know you get extra worked up whenever the Nightshade Clan is involved. I also know Uncle Nile gave you an earful while Amice and I were upstairs. I’m guessing he had more to say on my clothing choices after you were alone with him,” I said, before crossing my arms under my chest. “And you should know, you’re not very likable when you’re like this, so how about you stop beinglike this?”
Amice straightened his collar. “Someone owes his little sister an apology. Because someone is being a grump.”
He offered a partial grin. “Understood. And I’m sorry, Rachael. I’m thrilled to have you home, under the same roof as us. It makes me worry less about you. And you’re right. I am not the most pleasant person to be around when it involves the Nightshade Clan.”
I laughed. “Brother, you’re downright insufferable when it comes to them.”
I left off the part about him turning into a giant ass anytime Nile was involved.
“True.” Henry laughed and came for me. He gave me a hug and kissed the top of my head. “Rachael, I’m sorry about what I said. You look, um, lovely?”
Amice had a sympathetic expression on her face. “That’s at least some progress.”
I smiled. “It took all of him not to comment on my jeans. I’m sure of it. Remember when I wore that tube top home?”
Henry paled. “Please tell me you burned that horrid article of clothing. We can afford a whole blouse, Rachael. No need to wear part of one. Not only that, it defied gravity. I dislike knowing you’ve grown up at all; having evidence of it there, dangerously close to showing, was too much for me.”
Amice and I laughed.
“I never took into consideration I’d be outnumbered in my own home,” said Henry. “Now I have three women I answer to.”
“Better believe it,” I said, nudging him lightly. “And Henry?”
“Yes?”
“I missed you too,” I said softly. “Thought you should know that, since I know your whole bit about me moving home had less to do with the city and more to do with missing me.”
“Saw through that, did you?” he asked.
I nodded.
He sighed and put his hands on my shoulders. “I hated when you moved off to go to school. I worried all the time. Then, just when I got used to the idea of you being in the city, you come home to tell us you’re off to study abroad, in London of all places. Nile is who finally talked me into letting you go.”
Because he wanted me far away,I thought with a grunt.
“I was all for you going to London as well,” said Amice. “You needed to go off and experience life on your own.”
I teared up slightly. “Thank you for worrying about me, and thank you for stepping up to the plate after Dad passed away. I know raising a teenage girl couldn’t have been easy.”
He stilled. “I didn’t raise you. Nile did. I was merely present.”
I put my hands on his shoulders, too, and looked him dead in the eyes. “He didn’t raise me. You did all the heavy lifting, Henry. It was you coming to my school functions. It was you who took me and picked me up every day. You who looked over my homework and sat with a box of tissues at the ready when I had my first heartbreak. You even took me to a seamstress to have dresses for school dances made.”
Amice cupped her mouth, looking as if she was about to burst with emotions.
