Miles grins. “I have no doubt you’d find another creative way to protect Charlie if needed.”
“So you’re the one who mistook Miles’s test break-in for a real intruder?”Zoe asks.
“‘Mistook’ is a strong word,” I say. “I prefer ‘enthusiastically overreacted.’”
Her brother, Emerson, sounds thoughtful, and I think he might be joking a little when he says, “So, Owen… What’s your long-term plan here? Because if it involves hurting my sister, I’ve already prepared charts and graphs spelling out a detailed emotional takedown strategy.”
“Good to know. I was working on a long-term plan involving baked goods and emotional stability, but I have a great respect for graphs and takedown strategies.”
Blake uses a gruff voice that kind of scares me, especially because he says, “But seriously, if you hurt her, you’ll have more to face than Emerson’s charts and graphs. You’ll have me.”
And, okay, he doesn’t just “kind of” scare me. I swallow hard.
“I assume you’re aware that we come as a package deal. You don’t just get Charlie, you get all of us.” But he adds, “Including family text threads and unsolicited advice,” and I realize that maybe he’s not quite as gruff as he sounds. Or looks. But he’s still scary.
I nod. “I’ve always wanted to be part of a group chat that both terrifies and emotionally supports me.”
Then Ledger says, “Okay, serious question: how are you planning to keep up with Charlie? She’sbasically a sunshine emoji wrapped in an emergency preparedness binder with a black belt in computers.”
Charlie gives Ledger a sisterly smack on his arm.
“Well,” I say, “So far, I’m going with caffeinating appropriately, never underestimating her, and hoping I can keep earning sticky notes like they’re merit badges.”
Ledger nods. “Good. Because fair warning: I know hackers. And if you ever make her cry in a way that isn’t happy or laughter-related, I’ll have them hack your playlist and replace every song with a kazoo version ofMy Heart Will Go On. For eternity.”
I make a show of swallowing hard. “Noted.”
Wow. Five brothers is alotof brothers. I’ve never really realized just how many it can feel like. And there are so many to keep track of. The burly one who’s a dad. The bookish one. The one who just got married. The one I thought was an intruder. And the big, athletic one.
“Are you guys done?” Charlie asks, hands on her hips. “Do you consider him properly threatened?”
The brothers all look to each other and nod. “I think we’ve got it taken care of,” Miles says.
I try to not let my breath of relief be too obvious.
Zoe, who I’m remembering is Ledger’s girlfriend, asks, “What do you do to blow off steam? Go to any bars?” I’m suddenly wondering if she is looking for a buddy to bar hop with or if I’m still beinggrilled.
“Yeah, actually.” I smile mischievously, letting her know that it’s not really about the bar. “There’s one I found recently in Baltimore. The place was built in eighteen eighty-nine. It used to be a carriage house for a nearby hotel, and they kept a lot of the original details. Exposed brick, hand-forged ironwork, arched timber beams with the original joinery. Even the stable doors are still there—they just refinished them. It’s got these leaded-glass windows that throw crazy patterns of light around at night, especially near the back mezzanine. The acoustics are incredible, too.” I shrug. “It’s a good place to think.”
“A good place to think?” Ledger puts an arm around me. “Have you met my brother, Emerson? I think you two would really get along.”
We all start chatting, then a photographer comes over and asks if she can get the Lancaster family together. She starts directing the siblings, along with Zoe and Charlie’s mom, to either side of the bride and groom. When they’re all mostly in their spots, Blake calls out, “Owen. You getting in on this?”
I hesitate. The photographer is getting a family photo, and I’m not in the family yet.
Yet. When did I start thinking like that?
Emerson says, “You’re practically in a group chat now. That counts.”
They kind of all pull me in right next to Charlie, and she wraps her arm in mine. And now I’m in thefamily picture with a very formidable family, trying not to feel out of place at all.
But Charlie is holding onto me, which makes everything right.
As the photographer takes Jace and Mackenzie to get the next shots with another group, Ledger watches as Jace walks away.
“I hope Jace won’t go off and get boring now.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Charlie says. “Both Jace and Mackenzie are allergic to boring.”
