Isnapped out of the reverie of wedding bells and faced her. “Andy, I told you,we cannot do that shit at Zach's place. He can't know about it, do youunderstand? We can't make him suspect a fuckin' thing.”
“Iknow, I know,” she said, tapping her fingers against the wheel erratically.“I'm just saying, I wish I could, you know? Just to take the edge off alittle.”
Ihadn't thought about it before, but now I realized that I was afraid of why mybrother wanted us to come up to his place. Our weekends together were usuallyso informal and casual, and nobody needed an invitation to come hang. But thishad been a phone call from Zach, cordially inviting us to his place for abarbecue, along with his in-laws and our sister's family. My imagination waspretty set on what this was all about, assuming it had something to do withfertility clinics and babies, and I found that I was anxious, too.
“Yeah,sweetheart,” I muttered, reaching out to take her hand in mine. “I know.”
***
“Hey,bro!” Zach shouted from the porch.
Ibriefly offered him my attention, throwing a half-hearted wave as I climbed outof the car, before diverting my eyes to the driveway. There were more cars thanI had anticipated. At least five of them were lined up in two rows, withanother half dozen parked along the curb. Andy glanced at me over the car, herbrows pinching with nervous worry. I returned the expression with a littleshrug, before shutting my door and heading around the car to take her hand.
Wewalked up the steps and the second we were within arm's length, Zach pulled mein for a hug.
“Holyshit, I've missed the fuck out of you,” he said, clapping his hand against myback. “You need to stop bein' such a stranger, man. What the hell's been upwith you?”
“Beena little distracted,” I said, stepping out of his grasp to place a hand at thesmall of Andy's back.
“I'llsettle for that excuse,” he replied with a grin, then extended an arm towardAndy. “Get over here, gorgeous. Thanks so much for coming.”
Theyhugged tightly and for a moment, all feelings of trepidation disappeared. Iwatched her, grinning against my big brother's chest, and I was overwhelmedwith the need to thrust my lips against hers. She fit in with my family like along-lost missing piece and I wanted so much to glue her into place, to ensureshe'd never break free. But I also knew the two of us were playing with fire,and anybody dancing in the flames, was destined to burn.
Andjust like that, the worry returned.
“So,uh, what the hell is with all the cars?” I asked, jabbing a thumb over myshoulder toward the street.
Zachrolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Andy's shoulders, steering her towardthe front door. “Greyson insisted on turning a little thing into something waybigger. He invited some of his relatives and Devin drove up to chill with hisdad.”
Andy’seyes grew wide. “Devin O’Leary? He’shere?”
Mybrother grinned. “Yep.”
Shemuttered an “oh, my God” beneath her breath, as I jabbed, “And, how many of thesepeople are stayin' in the guest room with us? 'Cause I mean, I'm not opposed toan orgy, but I'm gonna be picky. I got standards, you know.”
“Justyou, dick,” he laughed. “Now, go get your shit from the car. I'm stealin' yourgirl.”
Andylooked back at me, eyes dancing with insecurity and nerves. Her anxiety wasevident in the way she stiffened beneath his draped arm, and I tried to relaxher with a grin.
“I'llbe in there in a minute, sweetheart,” I said. “And don't worry, you're not histype.”
Andas I jogged back down the porch steps to the car, I thought,but she ismine, and I don't know yet if that's a good thing.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
ANDREA
The yardwas enormous. Greyson said they only lived on two acres of land, like it wasn'tthat impressive, but if I took off my glasses, their piece of property seemedto trail on forever.
Iwished I could appreciate it and all of its natural glory. I wanted to stop andsmell the literal roses, planted in the flower garden surrounding the deck, andadmire the expansive vegetable garden that Zach said took him two years toperfect. But it was hard to appreciate the peaceful joy of this beautifulbackyard when, dotted among the flowers, there were ghosts. So many ghosts.
Andthey wouldn't shut up.
Idesperately wished I was high, and I hated that almost as much as I hated theghosts.
But,amongst the distractions of my life's burden and my new addiction, I found thatI really loved Vinnie's family. They were warm, welcoming, and absolutelywonderful in every sense of the word, accepting me and my quirks. They didn'task questions about my financial situation or upbringing. And what melted myheart even more, was that I wasn't special. They all treated each other thesame way, with sharp wit and kind smiles. And I never wanted to leave.
“You'relooking good, man,” Sebastian, Greyson's dad, said to Vinnie. “You losingweight?”
