“Son!” he called, arms open. James only made it a few steps before being enveloped in a bear hug that made me wistful. I missed getting hugs from my mom.
Once James let go and took a step back, he turned to me. “Marley, this is my dad, Chris.”
I extended my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
He reached out to shake it. The warmth in his eyes put me immediately at ease. “Likewise. We are so happy James brought you home to us.”
Interesting phrasing. I realized I hadn’t asked James what he’d told his parents about me. Did they think I was his girlfriend?
In the kitchen, James introduced me to his mother, Deanna, a petite woman who paused in her task of assembling a casserole to greet me enthusiastically. James’s face broke into a surprised grin when he noticed a large man with long blond hair and a beard sitting at the small breakfast table.
“Hey, I didn’t know you’d be here,” James said, as the man stood up and gave him a back-slapping hug.
“I wasn’t going to miss this,” the Viking replied, keeping an arm draped over James’s shoulders. Looking at me, he grinned. “I’m Leo, James’s brother.”
“Marley.”
“It’s great to meet you finally.” Leo had the same easy affability as his dad, his expression so genuine and approachable, it made me think of the dogs. “My brother has talked about you a lot these past few months.”
I glanced at James. I knew he and his family held regular video calls, but I didn’t know he’d mentioned me. He shrugged, cheeks reddening beneath his beard.
“All good, I hope?” I asked Leo.
Leo snort-huffed. “He’s been singing your praises nonstop. So, obviously I had to come see for myself—”
“Leo.” James’s voice held a warning.
“Dude, I’m just saying. After everything you said about how much she’s helped you in your new town, how you guys hang out a lot, and how awesome she is, of course I wanted to meet her.”
“Stop. Talking.” Embarrassment laced James’s voice.
“It’s okay,” I said to James with half a smirk. Of course he’d said nice things about me to his family. I’d done the same speaking to Maureen and Miranda. “I would’ve been disappointed if you hadn’t mentioned me.” Turning to Leo, I stated gravely, “I shall endeavor to live up to the hype.”
Leo barked a laugh, and James relaxed his shoulders. Deanna came over to lightly smack her older son on his shoulder. “Stop making your brother squirm, Leo. And leave Marley alone. She just met us.” Leo raised his hands in surrender, while somehow still giving me a thumbs up.
James’s mom put the casserole in the oven, and we sat at the table with mugs of coffee. I felt immediately at ease with the Wymacks. Their down-to-earth dynamic reminded me of the family I’d grown up in. Chris repaired HVAC systems for a living and enjoyed tinkering with old electronics in his spare time, pointing to a shelf in the living room filled with ancient radios, walkie-talkies, and some kind of tape recorder. Deanna worked as a librarian and told me her primary hobby was cooking. She had a goal of preparing at least one recipe from every cookbook in the library.
“I’ll probably never get there,” she said. “We just have too many and are adding more all the time. But it sure is fun to try.”
For dinner, she’d made a delicious old-fashioned tater tot casserole, one of my own mother’s specialties. As the five of us chatted over the meal, I learned Leo lived and worked as a contractor in Tacoma, which was either forty minutes or five hours away, depending on traffic. He loved giving his brother a hard time—in a playfully fond way, of course. He relayed stories about how toddler James insisted on wearing underwear on his head, and how Leo had once convinced third-grade James that their neighbor was an alien. It was uncanny how the brothers were the same, but different. Both thoughtful and kind, but where James was all soft smiles and laid-back contentment, Leo practically glowed with cheerfulness.
The conversation eventually turned to the reunion. Unsurprisingly, James’s family seemed…concerned.
At one point, Leo spoke to me directly from his seat across the table. “When James told us a few weeks ago he’d decided to go to his reunion, to be honest, I didn’t think it was the greatest idea. I don’t know what he’s said to you about Seattle Elite but—”
“Leo.” James growled.
“Relax, man. I wasn’t going to give away the game.” Leo glared at his brother before continuing. “Anyhoo, this guy gets on our call a few weeks ago and he’s all, ‘My high school is having a reunion and I’m going. Marley’s agreed to go with me, and I think it’ll be okay.’ Of course, Mom and Dad and I are like, ‘sure, James, you do you.’ But it was still a shock. Not his usual MO at all.”
James narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean ‘not my usual MO?’”
“No shade, bro. I just mean you’re not usually one to tackle problems head-on. You’re a lover, not a fighter, ya know? So I figured you’d skip the reunion. You facing those fuckers from high school? It’s unexpected. But cool.”
James scoffed, contemplating his brother’s assessment. “You realize I’m not going to fight anyone, right?”
“You know what I mean.”
Leo addressed me again. “You must have put some kind of spell on my brother. In a good way, I mean. That’s why I wanted to meet you. Like I said, I don’t know what he’s told you, but hopefully, you know what you’re getting into tomorrow night.”