“Ken,” she calls quietly for only him to hear. When he looks at her, she subtly shakes her head. The sheriff purses his lips and nods curtly, surprising the hell out of me.
The food in front of me looks like a hill I’d be happy to die on, but I can’t swallow a single piece because of the woman to my left. She’s tiny, but her presence is large. She moves a carrot on her plate without taking a single bite of anything.
“You better start fuckin’ eating because mom is getting upset that you don’t like it,” Kenneth hisses to my right.
Oh shit—that was never my intention. In fact, it’s the opposite. I’m so grateful for the invitation to be included, yet I behave like an ungrateful asshole. So, I dig into my food, and for a moment, I forget that I should be embarrassed anduncomfortable. Because this, right here, is what heaven might taste like—like a homemade beef roast with crunchy veggies.
Besides that, the tension at the table is thick without me making it worse. Alex and his father clearly have never resolved their issues. Ever since the service, Alex never talked much about his family. I knew he was forced to live with his father and his family when his mother died, but Alex never shared much. Neither did I, and that’s why we bonded there.
Right now, Alex is being Alex. Every so often, his father throws him a heavy stare, making him a beastly Alex—and that’s someone I don’t want to witness today.
I watch Leila through my peripheral like a hawk, expecting her to throw a fit at some point. That’s what women usually do when guys upset them, but she’s quiet. She just picks on her food and subtly watches everyone at the table.
Stella and Freya chat about Freya’s PTSD center and how much it’s grown since opening. Kenneth is devouring everything on the table. Keith’s brows droop lower with every look he sends Alex’s way while Alex methodically chews his beef. I must admit, it’s an interesting dinner.
Finally, Alex places his utensils to the side and clears his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. Then he drops a bomb.
“We are getting married.”
Freya’s eyes widen. She turns to him. “A little warning the next time, Boo Bear,” she hisses.
He turns to her. “What next time? We are getting married fuckin’ once. There will be no next time for you, woman.”
Stella covers her mouth with her hands in silent excitement. Big tears run down her freckled cheeks.
Kenneth drops his fork on his plate with a loud bang and draws everyone’s attention.
“Pay up,” he says, stretching his arm out, palm open.
Leila rolls her eyes and digs into the back pocket of her jeans, produces a twenty, and reaches over me toward Kenneth. Her forearm grazes my chest, and she quickly pulls away as if it burned her. She drops the money into Kenneth’s palm and retracts back into her seat, attempting to avoid touching me like the plague.
Then their father follows and does the same. Aiden groans and digs into his pocket, taking a dollar out.
“I’m nineteen bucks short.”
I glance at his mischievous face—the dude is funny.
“Pay up.” Kenneth wiggles his palm. Aiden rolls his eyes, takes a twenty out of his pocket, and drops it into Kenneth’s hand.
“What the fuck is happening?” Alex asks with furrowed brows as Freya bites her lip, trying not to laugh.
“What is happening, brother, is that I am the only one who still has faith in you.” Kenneth dramatically counts his money, folds the banknotes, and puts them into his pocket. Then with the satisfied look of a cat who just ate a canary, he leans against the back of his chair and crosses his hands over his stomach with a wide smile.
Alex shakes his head, trying to hide his amusement. I’d expect an outburst from the old Alex, and this new one is clearly a stranger to me.
“Yeah, you’re getting old, ya know. Shouldn’t wait any longer.” Aiden wiggles his brows at his brother and gets a smack on the back of his head from him.
I quickly glance at Leila, wanting to see her reaction the most. She has a beautiful, secret smile on her bright face as she watches their interaction without saying a word.
A loud sob stops everyone, and we all turn toward Stella, who’s wiping her eyes with her linen napkin.
“Mom, what happened?” Alex asks, and Stella sobs even more.
My head whips toward Alex, and his good cheek, the one without a burn scar, turns pink. No, not pink—bright red. He just called his stepmom he used to hate ‘mom.’ One of the few things he said about his family during his time in the Navy was that he didn’t want to go home because he had an ‘evil stepmother’ there. As far as I can see, the tables have turned, and Stella looks the furthest thing from evil to me. Trust me, I know. I grew up with one.
A subtle sniffle to my left makes me instantly switch my attention to Leila. Her eyes are watery, and her nose is red. But she looks happy, so I let out a sigh of relief. I can’t explain why my heart skipped a beat when I thought she was upset and crying.
“I’m so happy!” Stella sobs. “So, so happy!”
