Marco, who was Drew’s absolute inverse with his thick, dark hair, deep-set laugh lines, lean frame, and sometimes fussy nature, smiled back a little primly.
Knox and I took turns washing our hands at the sink, and then I sat down while Knox hung back for a moment, leaning against the counter.
“You coming?” Webb gave Knox a look of concern. In his blue Sunday Orchard T-shirt that strained across his biceps, he was every inch a farmer and caretaker of both humans and animals. “All good?”
Knox shook his head like he was coming out of a trance. “Yeah, I guess. Depends on your definition of good. Narrowly saved your new employee from being attacked by Stella,” Knox said blandly, taking the seat opposite him. He stroked a hand over his beard. “Almost got impaled by a phone in the process.”
I rolled my eyes and took the guest chair at one end of the table, and Uncle Drew winked at me from the other end.
Hawkins, the Sunday brother closest to my age, elbowed Knox lightly. “Don’t tease Gage about the cows. Imagine if you had to go to Florida and live with alligators,” he said earnestly. “It’s the same for Gage coming here.”
“Thanks, Hawk.” I appreciated his defense too much to point out that most Floridians didn’t actually attempt to corral and domesticate alligators. Let alone milk them.
Emma brought a platter of burgers to the table that was nearly as big as she was and set it down before taking her spot next to Drew. “There.” She smiled at me, and her dark ponytail swayed. “I knew better than to put the food out before you got in here, Gage, or there’d have been none left. Though I just realized I’m still cooking as much as I did when Reed and Porter were home over the summer, so maybe not.”
“Please. This guy eats as much as Porter and Reed together,” Knox commented before passing the platter to Marco, Drew’s friend from next door.
“This guyhas a name,” I retorted. Marco passed the platter to me with a wink, and I took two burgers because why not? “And a girlish figure to keep up.”
“Me, too,” Aiden piped up from my right, reaching for a second burger, even though he still had half of his first one in his chubby hand which, frankly, was the correct and smart way of doing shit when you shared a table with a bunch of guys who were bigger and hungrier than you.
I stretched out a fist for a bump, but he bumped me back with his elbow rather than surrender either of his burgers, and I covered my laugh with a cough.
Webb took a giant bite of his burger and groaned happily. “God, that’s good. Remind me why you don’t cook every night, Ems? We’d pay you.”
“Because conforming to some patriarchal expectation that I, as the only female in this household, should shoulder more of the responsibility for cooking, cleaning, and caretaking, would be massively unfair to all ofyou,who deserve to achieve self-actualization, and part of that is learning to make food that doesn’t suck.” She grinned and flipped her long hair again. “Also, I’m student body president, captain of the girls’ lacrosse team, and I work the orchard on the weekends all fall. Truth is, you couldn’t afford me, Webb.”
“That’s my girl,” Drew said proudly.
“Oooh,” Hawk laughed. “Tell him, sis.”
I lifted my water glass. “From one youngest sibling to another, I salute you.”
Emma winked down the table at me before her gaze turned speculative. “So, Gage,” she began in a carefully neutral voice.
“Oh, jeez,” Hawk said under his breath.
“Beware,” Webb mumbled.
“Nonsense,” Emma sniffed innocently. But even after two weeks, I knew their warnings were correct. Emma Sunday wastwo hundred pounds of persuasion crammed into a five-foot, hundred-pound package, and she proved it when she continued. “I was just thinking you might like to come to the fundraising auction dance with us tomorrow night. It’s being put on by the Averill Union Athletic Association to raise money to cover sports fees at the high school.” Her big green eyes—the same eyes all the Sundays at the table besides Hawk had—went wide and limpid. “Youdowant to help underprivileged children, don’t you?”
“Er.” Red flags were popping up all over the place. “Isn’t tomorrow night a school night?”
“Nope! The high school is off Thursday and Friday for teacher in-service days.” She beamed, smelling blood in the water.
“Oh. Um. What do I have to do?”
“Show up,” Emma replied promptly. “That’s all. Dance a little, the same way the other guys will.” She smiled innocently. “Be your usual charming self.”
Knox snickered, and I tossed the lumberjack look-alike a dirty look. I was charming! I could contribute! I coulddance.
“Sure,” I said easily. “I’d be happy to. I mean…” I hesitated. “It’s not a party for high school kids, is it?”
“No way,” she assured me. “Half of the Hollow will be there, along with half of Two Rivers, and probably all of Keltyville—all the towns that send their kids to Averill Union. Webb’s going. Knox said he might come. And Hawk is coming, too, aren’t you, Hawk?”
“I said maybe.” Hawk spoke to his plate. “I’m not good at… you know. All that stuff.”
Aw. My brother Beale hated socializing, too.
