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He gives me the finger and my mom smacks him upside the head.
“Adam! Be nice to your brother!”
Snickering to myself, the entire Casanova clan enters Cristiano’s, the Italian place on Main Street. The hostess directs us to the back room held for private parties. It’s decorated with white linens and pink and white flowers on each table. I notice a few others are here already, friends of Adam and Chelsea from college.
Chelsea is rushing from table to table, placing small gift bags at each place setting. When she sees me, she smiles. Seeing her always elicits a strange memory, but she also soothes my nerves at the same time. I reach inside my pocket and rub the small chain I’ve been carrying around for the last few months.
I don’t know why I’ve held onto it, but having it with me always leaves a soft feeling. It’s calming. Like whoever it belongs to is someone important to me.
Adley’s sweet face flashes through my mind.
“Surprise!” Everyone jumps and I’m left feeling confused as Tom and Farrah enter the room.
Chelsea admonishes everyone. “Stop it! I thought I had missed it! I cannot screw this up for her!”
My mind races and I search the room for Adley as Tom makes a beeline for me. We clasp hands and I pull him in for a quick hug. He’s home on leave for forty-eight hours and honestly, I can’t wait for this dinner to be over so I can spend time alone with him. “What’s happening, brother?” I give a quick kiss to Farrah as she turns to find Francesca.
Tom scans the room. “Chelsea’s sister is getting engaged. This is her surprise party.”
My blood runs cold and my anxiety spikes. The way my body just reacted to those five small words makes my head spin, and the first thought that dances through my mind is that I need a drink.
Right. Now.
I haven’t seen her in months. Chelsea said she got a job back home and, though she didn’t want to live with their mom, she took the job. Soon after, she said Adley had moved out of their mom’s house. Chelsea wasn’t happy she stayed in their hometown, but she was happy Adley was doing something she loved. And she was making deadline after deadline on her own writing, so she wasn’t coming to Christmas much.
I tried to remember when I saw her last, to picture the beautiful woman that made me feel things I was afraid to feel, but my last six months have been foggy. I’ve been drifting through life, avoiding my family the best I can, and suppressing and suffocating all emotions as much as possible, daily.
But if she’s getting engaged, it means there’s more than just a deadline keeping her in her hometown.
Walking away from Tom before he can say another word, I headfor the bar at the front of the restaurant, only to walk straight into Adley and Steve.
“Billy! Hey, slow down! What’s wrong?”
My hands shake, and I feel the anger building. Steve is watching me intently with a smug look and if I had had a shot or three before this interaction, I’d wipe the floor with him.
“Adley. Hi.” My eyes flit to him, then back to her, quickly realizing that this is the asshole she’s engaged to.
She eyes me with curiosity then glances over my shoulder before looking back at me. “Hi, Bill.”
She glances at Steve and her face changes, almost like a new Adley takes over when she looks at him, but then, when she returns to me, a more relaxed expression settles her, but it’s mixed with … sadness? I can’t navigate any of this right now. “Are you meeting Adam and Chelsea, too?”
I could ruin this for her right now.
I could blow up the party.
I could tell her I saw Steve six months ago in a bar with another woman.
I could tell her she deserves so much better.
I could break his nose.
And if I don’t get that drink right now, I may do all of it.
“I have a date. I was just heading to the bar to wait for her.”
She stares at me, and that same electricity that I always feel the minute Adley steps in the room surrounds me. But before I let it pull me under, I need to get away from them.
“Good to see you again, Ad.” Nodding at him, “Stan.”
