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He was uncomfortable. After living here for eighteen years, he’d become a visitor the moment his father and Candace had moved her son, Jack, into his room.
"But you can stay in the guest room, Drew," Candace assured.
Shaking his head, Drew forced a smile. "That’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’ll … find somewhere else." The shock was still rolling through him, making his insides numb. But he couldn’t believe it. His dad had given his room away.
"Are you sure?" his dad asked. "We’d love to have you."
Again, Drew shook his head. We’d love to have you? You fed that polite nonsense to a stranger. Not family.
It told him exactly how much he didn’t fit into his dad’s life.
"Well, you look terrified out of your mind," Amanda teased, jostling him in the arm with her elbow.
He glanced at her soberly, picturing her ten years younger, leading him into her spare bedroom. He’d followed hesitantly, like an intruder in his sister’s home.
"Are you sure it’s okay if I sleep here?" he asked.
She sent him a puzzled, annoyed look. "Don’t be stupid. Of course, you can stay here any time you like. You’re my brother."
He nodded, not answering, and scanned his new room. Amanda had decorated it in pastels with angel posters on the wall.
"I can understand why you don’t want to bother Dad since he’s a newlywed and everything."
Forcing another nod, Drew stepped toward his new bed and set his duffle bag on the mattress.
"So, what do you think of Candace?" Amanda asked behind him. "She seems really nice, doesn’t she?"
He turned slowly and examined Amanda’s face. She looked truly happy for their dad. Not wanting to show his hurt feelings, he agreed. "Yeah … She’s nice."
But why hadn’t his dad invited him to their wedding? Why hadn’t he even bothered to introduce her to his son first?
Mandy hugged him. "I’m glad he finally found someone."
Drew could only keep nodding in agreement, totally alone in his irrational envy and heartache.
"I’m not scared," he repeated to his sister now. "Just nervous. I want to do a good job on Evie’s pictures."
As if realizing this was the perfect time for her entrance, his seventeen-year old stepsister hurried from the house, charging straight toward them.
"Drew!" she exclaimed, throwing herself at him and hugging him heartily. "You’re here."
Having never been hugged by her before, he lifted his arms in surprise. "Uh … yeah."
"She’s not excited or anything," his father’s voice told him.
Drew lifted his face to find Don Harper smiling at his stepdaughter. Returning the grin, Drew murmured, "I can tell."
As Evie pulled away from him, Don tugged her close to his side and wrapped a companionable arm around her shoulder. "You sure you’re ready for this?" he asked Drew.
Drew patted the camera bag resting on his hip. "I guess so."
"Let’s start in the gazebo," Evie said, already pulling away from Don and hurrying around the back of the house.
Helpless to follow her order, the three adults followed. All the while, Drew made sure his sister stuck close.
•
By six o’clock that evening, all the pictures had been taken, yet Drew found himself still standing in his father’s backyard, holding a Styrofoam plate smeared with leftover traces of a grilled hamburger and potato salad. He still wasn’t sure how his father’s wife had talked them into staying for a cookout, but here he stood, still plastered close to Mandy’s side.
