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“Somethingwith a hell of a lot of garlic.”
“Youlike garlic, right?”Shelooks worried. “Everyonelikes garlic, right?”
“Yeah,Ican’t imagine you cooking anything we wouldn’t like, though.”
“Imade lasagna and garlic bread.WithCaesarsalad.Andchocolate pie for dessert.”
Irub my grumbling stomach. “Soundsfucking perfect.”
“Good, because there’s so much food.Ihope lots of people show up or you and your brothers are going to be eating lasagna every meal for the next month.”
“Eitherway,I’ma happy man,”Ipromise her.
Whenshe smiles up at me,IknowIdon’t deserve her.Idon’t deserve to have her here.AndIdefinitely don’t deserve to have her cooking all these amazing meals and taking care of me and my family.ButI’llbe damned if anyone tries to stop her.Evenme.
“Selena?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanksfor doing this.Really,Imean it.Forall of it.Youdidn’t have to do any of it.ButI’mgrateful that you did.”
“Ofcourse, what arefrrr-girlfriendsfor?”Shesays awkwardly.Iknow she wasn’t just about to call me her damn friend.Thelast thingIwant is to be her friend.Beingher friend would be worse torture than not knowing her at all.
Mybrothers andGunnarsewer the moment as they follow me in the front door one-by-one, each letting out a low whistle over how good it smells in here.Theyhad better be talking about the lasagna and garlic bread.
“Okay, before you all wash up, canIget a couple of strongWatersboys to move your dad’s chair from the living room outside?Iwant to make sure he’s comfortable tonight.”
BeforeIcan volunteer,Selena’sheading for the living room. “Jarret,Jensen, make yourselves useful.Comeon.”
Selenagrabs the throw blanket off of my dad’s chair and the one from the sofa.Thenshe directs my brothers on how to get the old armchair out of the house. “Watchthe picture!Roosteron the left!”Sheholds the door open for them and then leads them down the back porch steps.
Ina minute, they all file back inside, andI’mstanding there like an idiot with my mouth open at the way she takes charge of everyone like that to take care of my family.Mydad.Me.
“Thanksfor your help, guys.Okay, everybody wash up, and then head out back.Weset up to have dinner outside,” she calls out.
“Who’swe?”Iask with an edge to my voice, likeSelenamight have random dudes shoved in my parent’s coat closet or under the living room sofa.WhyamIsuch a jealous asshole?
Shefrowns at me. “Lilyhelped.She’sjust upstairs getting changed.”
Aftersending a dark glare in my direction, she turns to my brothers. “Gowash up, everyone.I’mgetting myself a glass of wine… or three,” she mutters to herself as she walks into the kitchen.
I’mhome less than three minutes, andI’vealready pissed her off.Fan-fucking-tastic.
chapterthirty-seven
jackson
Afterwashing my face and changing my shirt,Ihead back downstairs and out onto the back porch.SelenaandLilyput an old white tablecloth of my mom’s over the long table out behind the house.Thenthey covered it with a downright chaotic amount of plates, side plates, silverware, and glasses, not to mention flowers and candles, so that everything looks just a little bit precarious.Theyleft big gaps for the food when it’s ready.Itall looks amazing.Ican’t believeSelenadid any of this.Forme.Withoutme even asking.
Shemust’ve brought every single chair they could find in the house out to the backyard and rounded up all the outdoor furniture here, too.She’seven set up bales of hay with blankets on them in loose rings around the old brick fire pit halfway between the house and the barn.AndIsee where she had my brothers put my dad’s chair.Onthe far side of the fire pit, so he can look out over the entire yard and see everybody who loves him all together at once.
Butshit, those bales must weigh at least fifty pounds.Ihate that she did all this work without me.
“Whatdo you think?”
“Ithink it looks amazing.Andif you ever try to move bales of hay without me again,Iwill not be happy.”
Shesmiles up at me. “Theywere surprisingly heavy.Idon’t get how a bunch of grass can get that heavy?LilyandIhad to move them together.”
