Page 278 of Nobody's Girl

He walks past me into the room, then turns around to look at me. “This feels right, doesn’t it, Al?”

I smile at him. “Right as rain, Kyle. Now once you’ve done whatever you need to do, grab Laura and make your way back downstairs so we can start eating. I’ll be waiting in the living room for you two,” I tell him as I turn to walk away, trying my best to lighten up what flows between us.

I turn back to look at him as he sends me, ‘We’ll get through this, Al.’

I send back, ‘We have to, don’t we?’

I find Eden waiting in the living room, as well as my little brother, Scotty.  “Come, Alyssa,” Eden tells me, as he pats the open space on the sofa next to him.

I smile as I walk down the stairs, still feeling uneasy with Kyle’s presence.  I sit down next to my husband. Eden puts his arm around my shoulders, then kisses my cheek. I look up at him to see he’s smiling widely at me. His emerald eyes have a sparkle to them that they only get when he’s happy about something.

“Laura looks happy, princess. They must be getting along well,” he says.

My wedding ring catches my eye as a light in the chandelier makes it sparkle. “You think?” I ask, not really wanting to talk about how my Kyle and my best friend are getting on.

Kyle and Laura come down the staircase, hand in hand. My heart thumps hard against my chest, and Eden gives me a squeeze and a kiss on the side of my head. Scotty jumps up, almost running over to Kyle. Scotty is still such a little kid at fifteen.

I suddenly realize he’s had to leave all of his friends. He’s been thrown into this completely different life just like I have. Only I have Eden and Kyle. Scotty has no one. The thought makes me a little sad.

“Hey, creep,” Scotty teases Kyle as he mock-punches him in the arm.

Kyle mock punches him back and says, “Hey there, small fry. I’ve been told you have your own game room.”

Scotty is pumped with Kyle here to play with him and nearly yells, “You wanna see it?”

I stand up quickly. “Not yet, Scotty. We need to eat first.”

“What a party pooper!” My brother mopes as he heads off to the dining room.

I immediately feel sorry for him. “After dinner we’ll see about it, Scotty,” I say and see his face light up again.

We follow Scotty’s lead, going to the dining room. Terri, the head maid from our home, has outdone herself on glamorizing it. The dining room looked good before, but now it looks grand. Large bouquets of fresh flowers are everywhere. The table is set with gorgeous crystal glasses and beautiful china.

Laura lets out a gasp. “Ally, this is beautiful. So elegant.”

“Sit here, right across from us,” I tell them.

Kyle pulls the chair out for Laura. I smile at her as I follow Eden to the other side of the enormous table. He pulls out a chair for me and I sit down. I notice Scotty has taken the chair next to Kyle. I can tell he’s glad Kyle’s here.

He and Eden get along well, but I’m pretty stingy with Eden’s attention. We’ve seen very little of my brother since we came here. I’ll have to make sure we change that.

My parents enter the dining room and Eden stands up, as is the custom when a lady enters the room, I found out. Kyle surprises me yet again as he stands up too and taps Scotty on the shoulder to get him to stand as well.

Laura looks over at me. “How formal,” she mouths to me.

My father walks to Kyle and shakes his hand. “It’s good to see you again, son.”

Kyle smiles. “Good to see you too, sir.”

Dad leans down to give Laura a hug and says, “Nice to see you too, Laura. We’ve missed seeing you.”

“Your new home is beyond gorgeous, Mr. Devlin,” she says.

My mother approaches Kyle and he takes her hand to shake it, but she pulls him into a hug instead. “It’s so good to see you, Kyle.”

Kyle hugs her back and says, “You too, Mrs. Devlin.”

Mom kisses Laura on top of the head. “We’ve missed you both so much. It’s been a month since the wedding.”