Page 110 of Sundown Somewhere

I nod. The small room feels almost cramped now with all six of us piled in here, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Alice hands me a fork, holding out the pie, letting me have the first bite.

Digging in, I take a moment to try and collect my thoughts. My very jumbled, out of control thoughts. There’s so much going on in my head, and I need to get it all out. Need to try and make sense of it all. I also need to try and do it coherently. The smooth minty-chocolatey combination hits my tongue, almost making me forget why I’m here.

Maybe this is an eat your feelings kind of moment.

“Here,” Brenna says, holding out the small, flimsy disposable plastic cup from the bathroom. It’s filled with an amber-colored liquid, matching what is in the unmarked bottle she’s holding in her other hand. A Southern Brothers special I presume. “I didn’t realize there would be pie, so I brought beer. Figured that’s why I was invited. Although it is Blue Jeans, so that’s probably the best one to mix with chocolate.”

I take the cup, placing it on the bureau next to me, so I can pull Brenna in for a hug. She squeaks, caught off guard by my gesture, hugging me in return.

“You were included because you’re family,” I tell her, still holding on.

We separate, and I let them all get settled—Emily and Rose on the bed up against the headboard, with Margeaux and Brenna seated on the edge, and Alice parked in the chair wedged in the corner. Taking another large bite of pie, I try to figure out how to start this—since none of them have answered my question from when I opened the door. But Emily breaks that ice with a single chop.

“Why did you drive to Tifton? Tell me you didn’t go to the dealership.”

Way to break the ice, Em…

I shake my head. No, the used car dealership my ex works at is the last place I wanted to be today. Or ever.

“Drove past it. Just like I drove past what would have been our place. But that was more out of autopilot than anything else. I needed to think,” I answer.

I needed to think. Simplest way to put it. If not a bit of an understatement.

“And answering our—or Hux’s—phone calls was intrusive to the process?” she pushes.

“I turned my phone off; that way I wasn’t distracted. Hux was what I needed to think about.”

Five pairs of eyes watch me expectantly, waiting for me to elaborate. I can see the questions forming in their minds, but I don’t know that I achieved any answers on my walkabout.

“I love him.” I throw my arms out wide, letting them fall immediately.

I let the bomb drop, waiting for an explosion. For all five of them to erupt—screams, yells, forks clanging, something. Instead, nothing.

“You’re the only person this is news to,” Alice says, taking a large bite of the pie and passing it to Emily.

What?!

“It’s only been a month? A little more? I mean…” I start to pace, my mind whirring again. Because I can’t make sense of this. It’s how I feel, I know that. What I don’t know is if those feelings can be trusted. “Can you really love someone after a month?”

Rose holds up her fork, as if making a point of order in court. “I fell for Pierce after three days of being snowed in with him, so…yes.”

I acquiesce, slightly. Rose and Pierce are the fairy tale. The Hallmark movie. The this doesn’t happen in real life. I can’t compare this to them, can I?

“And, it hasn’t really only been a month,” Brenna adds. “You two have been Dolly and Hux since forever. I used to watch you two when I was little and wish that I could have that, because I was so convinced you two were going to get married and be just like Miss Belle and Auggie, so in love all the time. So, it’s really been decades, if you think about it.”

“Duxley,” Rose tells her. “That’s their celebrity couple name. Please, spread it around.”

“Or don’t,” I comment.

“Oh, we’re making Duxley a thing,” Margeaux says.

“Give Milo five minutes with that…” Brenna laughs. “Actually, give Anton two…”

I roll my eyes, already able to hear the jeers coming from my brothers-in-law.

Brothers-in-law…

My heart squeezes, realizing that’s how I already think of those two. Who they already are to me. As annoying as all their teasing is and will be, and for as much as Hux is going to hate it, there’s a part of me, way down deep, that loves it. That wants to spend Sunday dinners with those two taunting us, using that name. Both of them pissed they didn’t come up with it.