Page 148

A dent still marked the wall at the bottom of the stairs where Snoh crashed.

My smile disappeared as soon as I stepped onto the porch. Since my mom died, coming home had never been easy. Some foolish part of me still believed that if I stood there long enough, the door would open and my mother would be on the other side, smiling like she’d been waiting for me all along. You would think after seven years my brain would’ve stopped expecting her.

The door flung open.

“It’s about time y’all got here. I was about to send a search party,” Snoh exclaimed, yanking me into a hug that lifted me off my feet.

At 6’2”, my brother had never needed much effort to toss me around. Years of professional snowboarding had packed lean muscle onto his frame, broadening his shoulders until very little remained of the lanky kid who used to terrorize me around the house. He wore gray sweats, a black thermal, and a beanie shoved back far enough to expose his neat hairline. A small silver hoop pierced one nostril, and two diamond studs in his ears were blinding against his rich skin.

“Put me down,” I said between gasping breaths.

“Hug me back.”

I smacked my lips and wrapped my arms tightly around him. He swung twice from side to side, then dropped me onto my feet. He reached for Danielle.

“Touch me and die,” she threatened before slipping past him into the house.

He waited until she cleared the foyer to talk shit. “She always got an attitude.”

“And you’re always an asshole,” I said, shoving him.

“Ow. What did you do that for?”

“Why did you send her to pick me up? She drives like a bat straight out of hell.”

“You’re the pot calling the kettle black.”

“Whatever,” I said, dragging my bag onto my shoulder. “Do you know what this meeting is about?”

“No idea.”

“You don’t think he’s sick, do you?”

“Nah. He looked fine to me.”

I scoffed. “Just because he looks fine doesn’t mean that something isn’t going on internally.”

“Fair enough.”

“Danielle thinks he and Celine are getting married.”

“Nah. She’s gone.”

I raised a brow. “Gone? What do you mean?”

“She got her titties and new nose and burnt off. That’s fucked up if you ask me.”

I tilted my head from side to side. “To be fair, he was disappearing for stretches. I wouldn’t put up with that shit either.”

“Meh.”

We were about to continue our gossip sesh when the front door opened behind him, and Dad stepped onto the porch. The first thing I noticed was how much older he looked since I last saw him. More silver claimed territory along his close-cropped hair. The crow’s feet around his eyes deepened, his posture was loose, and his dark slacks were wrinkled.

He smiled when he saw me, but something about it felt tired. For once he didn’t immediately open his arms or make some smart-ass comment about how long it had been since his children bothered to visit him.

He simply stood there for a moment, looking at us.

“Y’all planning on standing on the porch all night?”