AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I balk in laughter. She just might, but she hasn’t so far. I glance back again. “You sure about that?” When he pauses too long, I start to walk away. “That’s what I thought.”
“Don’t fuck with her. She’s been through some shit,” he says to my back, his tone caught in some form of big brother protectiveness like he just might give a shit about Lark.
Maybe he has the right. I have no fucking clue. I stop again, standing there, my back still to him with my eyes locked on Lark. When I look back this time, I set my stare on him. “Haven’t we all.” I cross the lawn to the other side of the pool.
Unfortunately, I lose the next two hours suffering through office gossip and endless questions about my plans, serving my time at the party just as I promised my dad.
I finally use my empty cup as an excuse to escape. Just when I slip out from a group of attorneys from my dad’s office, Noah finds me, keeping step with me as I make my way toward the house. “If you’re not going to talk to her, I will,” he says with enough confidence to lead an army into a battle and then sips a beer like he’s legally allowed to do so. He’s not since he just turned twenty last month.
I’m not intimidated or jealous of my brothers. The threat to talk to Lark is made in jest at best. If he noticed the attention I’m giving her, he knows not to make a move on her. As for the drinking, it’s a ballsy move, especially at a party of my parents’ peers. “You’re going to get your ass kicked if Dad sees you.”
“I’m not worried.” He empties the glass, gulping it down, and then turns to me. “You headed back to town shortly?”
“Probably, why?” He gives me the look, the one that says he has some girl waiting on him. I laugh. “Did you get her name this time?”
That makes him laugh. “It was one time, and the only thing that matters is that she knows mine. Very well, I might add.”
We stop by the edge of the party before we reach the buffet. I turn to face him. “Look, Noah, you know I don’t usually say anything, but be careful. Okay?”
“Don’t worry. I will.” He starts walking away backward. “You’ve done your duty as my big brother. Are we good here?”
Bursting out laughing, I say, “You’re such a fucker.”
He plucks his shirt from his chest and then throws his arms out wide. “That’s why the ladies love me.”
I recognize his arrogance since I still struggle with it some days as well. You would have thought almost dying would have tempered it, but alas, the Westcott brothers are in their full glory here.
With my mood lifted, I head toward the table where Lark is working. Her eyes lift, and the smile she tries to restrain breaks free. “Hungry?” she asks when I approach.
“I’m heading out, but it was good spending time with you. If you ever scrape a knee or bust a lip, I’m your guy.”
“You’re my guy, huh?” She comes around the table. Touching her chin, she says, “Thank you for helping me.”
“You’re welcome.” I could linger a little longer, but I’ll let her work without me interrupting. “Maybe destiny will bring us together again.”
She tilts her head, looking me in the eyes, and almost knocks me on my ass from her beauty—string lights reflect in the green lagoons of her eyes, a gloss shining on her lips, and the sweetest dimple in the apple of her left cheek. “Maybe we’ll be lucky that way.”
After surviving on the side of that cliff, I start to think that maybe everyone is right. Maybe I am lucky to be here. If that’s the case, luck is something I have in spades.
5
Lark
“Dad?”I call, letting the screen door slam behind me.Bad habit.
“Don’t slam the door, Lark.” I peer through the living room to the door that leads to the kitchen, following the sound of his voice. “In here.”
I see his denim-wrapped legs sprawled across the yellow-and-white-floral linoleum. His body is revealed between open cabinets while his head is tucked under the sink. “Broken pipe again?”
His eyes find mine when he tilts to the side, a wrench in hand still attached to the pipe. “Why pay someone when you can fix it yourself?”
“Because then you wouldn’t have to fix it every few weeks.” I pull out a chair, the metal feet dragging through the barren spot in the flooring. The sound has been a part of my childhood, so neither of us bats an eye.
He tightens the seal and then lowers the wrench. “Turn on the water.”
We’ve had a few mishaps over the years fixing things ourselves, but the memories only reflect good times when thinking back. I turn on the faucet. No yelping is a good start.
He untucks himself from the awkward position under the sink and sits up. “That’s money in the bank.”
