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“The weather slowed us down a bit.” Gabe meets her at the bottom of the stairway and places a kiss on her cheek.
The scene makes me miss my parents even more than I already do, and thunder booms in response.
“Was it storming over in Honeyton all day?” the woman wonders while smoothing Gabe’s hair into place. “Because it’s been great weather here up until now.”
“It rained almost the entire time we were there,” Gabe says, his gaze traveling to me. “It looked like a pretty bad storm blew through last night, too?”
I nod, even though I’m not sure if he’s directly asking me. “It storms there a lot.”
I’m not sure what the big deal is. So it’s storming? It’s freakin’ December and totally normal. Sure, I know the real reason behind the storms, but they don’t.
Before he can say anything more, the woman’s weird but beautiful shade of lavender eyes light up. “Oh, my gosh, you look just like your parents.” She swings around Gabe and puts a hand on each of my arms, her gaze scrolling over me before zeroing in on my eyes. “And those eyes … Jesus, they’re gorgeous… You look just like her.”
Two things puzzle me about her statement. 1). My eyes are far from gorgeous, the color is just a simple blue. Well, a bright blue, but still, blue eyes are really common. And 2). I don’t look very much like my parents, both of them having blonde hair and green eyes.
She must read the confusion on my face because she adds, “I met your aunt Aurora a couple of times, and she looks a lot like you.”
“You’ve met my aunt?” Hurt stabs my chest. I haven’t even met her.
“It was a very long time ago,” she explains, smoothing my hair away from my face, acting very motherly. “As far as I know, she hasn’t had any contact with the real world in ages.”
“My parents haven’t spoken to her in years.” I pause, deliberating my next words carefully. “They’ve also never mentioned you guys.”
“We’ve seen each other a couple of times over the years, but we haven’t been close since college. I wish that had never turned into the case, though.” She sighs sadly. “I was so upset when I heard what happened to them.”
“So, you know my parents, too?” I ask, and she nods but makes no effort to embellish. “Who are you exactly?” I’m assuming she’s Gabe’s wife, but she hasn’t introduced herself, so I’m not positive.
“Oh, my goodness, I completely forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I?” She laughs then steps back and sticks out her hand. “I’m Emaline, Gabe’s wife and the mother to the six hellions who live in this household.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I mean my words. Emaline seems nice enough.
We shake hands, and then she casts a quick glance at Foster and Easton. “I hope everyone’s treated you wonderfully today.”
Easton and Foster smile at their mom, but then Easton smirks at me when she turns back around. Foster’s smile dissipates, too, as he gives me a hard look. It almost makes me want to tell Emaline the truth, but I also don’t want to deal with drama, so …
“Everyone’s been awesome,” I lie with a plastic smile.
She visibly relaxes while Easton’s smirk magnifies and Foster rolls his eyes.
“That’s great to hear. I was a bit worried …” She shakes her head and smiles at me. “Would you like to see your room? I’m sure you’ve had an exhausting day and probably need a bit of a break from the chaos.”
I nod, more than eager to lock myself up in a bedroom where I can pretend this isn’t my life now.
Pretend.
Pretend.
Pretend.
“Great.” She turns to Easton. “Do you mind showing her to her room while I go make sure Charlotte is getting everything ready for tonight’s dinner?”
An exaggerated smile takes over Easton’s face. “Of course, Ma.”
“Thank you, sweet boy.” She ruffles his hair like he’s still a little kid then heads off toward a door located on the far back wall.
“I’m going to get started on bringing in your stuff,” Gabe tells me. Then he pulls open the door and steps outside, leaving me standing in the foyer with Easton and Foster.
That stupid smirk instantly consumes Easton’s face. “Come on, Fost; let’s go show lightning eyes her new room.”
