AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Becky slaps my chest with her free hand. ‘I think they look dapper, Bill.’
He holds the lapels of the ridiculous cotton shirt. ‘Dapper? You think so?’
‘I do.’
He walks away with extra swagger in his stride.
I nip Becky’s hip in my hand until she gives me her attention. ‘You realize he’ll continue to wear those things now, don’t you?’
She shrugs and leans into me as she takes a sip of coffee. I could freak out right now. I’m sitting with this friend, who I brought home to my family, and I’ve held her in my lap as she slept all night.
But I don’t need to do anything because, as if she just had the same moment of clarity, Becky freaks out. She jumps away from me as fast as the coffee in her hands will allow without spilling.
‘Right. Well. I. Erm. I should shower.’
‘Not so fast. I’ve got bacon in the pan. You like bacon, Becky, don’t you?’ my mother says, coming onto the deck with a spatula in her hand, a thin bathrobe wrapped around her own red pajamas: almost as offensive as my dad’s.
‘Erm, yes, yep, bacon. Wonderful.’
She takes the chair next to mine and bores holes in me with her eyes when I smirk. Feisty Becky is kind of hot.
While we’re waiting for breakfast, Eddie comes back from an early morning, pacifying drive with my niece and nephew. The kids immediately dive on me, then Becky, then my dad. They make as much noise as is humanly possible, only pausing when they each have a bacon roll in their mouths.
After breakfast, Becky escapes upstairs to shower. I’ve seen her blush more during breakfast than in the two weeks I’ve known her. I feel like I’ve known her all my life. Yet there’s still so much I don’t know. So much I want to know.
I help Millie gather the dirty plates and mugs, and we head into the kitchen to clean up. I fill the sink with hot water – my parents never let me buy them a dishwasher – and Millie grabs a towel to dry. She’s the only member of my family not sporting outrageous nightwear, instead wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt.
‘She makes you happy.’
I keep my eyes on the plates in the sink, not needing her to clarify her meaning. ‘She’s a great woman. She’s fun.’
Millie raises a brow as she takes a soapy plate from me. ‘Just fun? Are you sleeping together?’
‘Seriously, Mill?’
‘Well, are you?’
‘No, as a matter of fact. She just got out of a long-term relationship, and she doesn’t want anything serious.’
‘And you?’
I shake my head and puff out a breath, scrubbing the next plate needlessly hard. ‘I’ve got a lot going on at work.’
Millie tsks. ‘Will you still be saying that when you’re in the grave from overworking yourself? Look, I get it. You worked hard to get where you are. Fine. But it’s like Mom says, you can have rootsandwings. You have a little too much in the wings department. Maybe some roots might help balance your life.’
I stare at my sister, replaying her words in my mind. Remembering Becky’s words.Roots and wings. But roots don’t exactly fit with named partner of a Manhattan law firm.
‘Even if I—’ No, I won’t go there. ‘She doesn’t want a relationship, and neither do I, Mill. Just leave it.’
Even as I say the words, I wonder how much I believe them and how much I am trying to fight what I’m starting to feel for the blonde from the bagel truck.
The sound of Becky clearing her throat draws my attention to the kitchen doorway. Even though I said the words and I meant them, even though I know she doesn’t want a relationship, the look she gives me for a fleeting moment is like the road being wrenched out from under my wheels. She obviously overheard my conversation with Millie.
I fight against my own dry throat. ‘You ready?’
‘Yep. Ready.’
There’s no emotion behind those words and the way she looks at me as I pass her to go to shower is nothing… emptiness.
