AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Living with Ledger and Tilly hasn’t exactly provided me with that opportunity. I know that I should be looking for my own place or trying to figure out a new career. The only problem with all of that is that I don’t know if I want to stay in Fallen Peak or try to find some other place to call home.
Tilly is expecting their first baby in a few months and I need to be out before the little one gets here so that they have some time as a family. I know that Ledger and Tilly would never kick me out, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome either.
There’s a knock on the door and Ledger makes his way over to answer it as I push to my feet. My shoulder is killing me and I roll it back, trying to loosen the muscles there as the guests start to arrive.
“You must be Jonah!” says a sweet-looking brunette.
“Yeah, hi,” I say awkwardly as I hold out my hand.
“I’m Rory,” she says with a bright smile. “And this is my husband, Rhodes.”
“Nice to meet you,” Rhodes says, and I shake his hand next.
“Yeah, you too.”
“And this is Magnolia and her husband Graham, Alder and Myra, and Wells and Snow,” Rory says as she introduces everyone.
“Nice to meet you guys.”
Everyone is carrying plates or Tupperware of food and I move to the kitchen to help make room for everything. I’m grateful that I have something to do with my hands so that I don’t have to try to think of something to say.
I’ve never been great with meeting new people or with large crowds of people. I always preferred to stick to myself and after nine years in the military, living in tents with a dozen other guys, nothing has changed.
“So, you’re Ledger’s cousin, right?” Wells asks and I nod.
“Yeah.”
I’m about to ask him which cabin nearby is his, but he starts talking again before I can.
“I thought that Ledger stopped talking to his family,” he says, and I wince slightly.
“Yeah, he did for everyone else. I was already in the military when all of that drama went down and we stayed close.”
“Good,” Wells grunts, giving me a nod and a once over. “I’m glad you’re not a money-hungry bastard like the rest of them.”
I just nod at that. It’s true. Ledger cut off everyone after his parents died and left him a fortune. A lot of our family started asking him for money or trying to cozy up to him so that they could get something out of him. I was in basic training when it happened and was able to come back for the funeral and then go into the next round of training. I tried to help Ledger through it the best that I could while being stationed States away. I’m not sure that it made a difference when he was dealing with some of the vultures in our extended family.
I never blamed Ledger for wanting nothing to do with them and I actually distanced myself from everyone too. It wasn’t hard. I wasn’t outgoing like my brother and so he became the golden child and I was pushed to the side. My parents barely wrote or checked in during my time in the military and after a while, I stopped trying to force a relationship that was clearly only one-sided.
“Are you hungry?” one of the girls asks and I search my brain, trying to remember her name.
“Yeah, it smells amazing. Tilly has really outdone herself,” I compliment and everyone starts talking about what she made.
I breathe a sigh of relief when the attention is taken off of me. Everyone here seems really nice and friendly. It’s obvious that they love Ledger and Tilly and that they’re protective of them.
My shoulder protests and I roll it again. I know that it’s starting to flare up because I’m so tense. I’m going to have to ice it tonight for sure.
Rhodes passes me a plate and I join the line.
“I was in the military too,” he tells me.
“Yeah, Ledger mentioned that. Army, right?”
“Yeah.”
He studies me for a moment and I try not to let him see that I’m staring at the scars on his face and neck. They disappear into the collar of his shirt and I know without him having to say that he got them when he was in the military.
“They’ll understand,” he says quietly and I tense.
