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“You did. I know you were trying to help him at first, but you can’t talk people into doing things they don’t want to do, and they get mad when they act out about it.”
“Okay. I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry, Mrs. Emerson.”
I check in with Becca, and she says, “You owe Storm an apology if he’s willing to hear it.”
He nods, then carefully climbs off the picnic bench and slowly makes his way to Storm and Neva. She tenses up, and I’m sure she’s ready to wedge herself between the kids to stop a fight. We can’t hear them from our vantage point, but Owen wipes his eyes on the back of his hand and says something with his shoulders slumped and his posture crimped.
Storm scoots off the bench and squares up to him. After a minute, the kids hug each other and Storm hands Owen his ice pack, showing his face. The red mark on his cheek is prominent.My kid has boxing in his future.
When the kids run onto the playground, I’m astonished by their capacity for forgiveness. I just hope it runs in the family. Through his sob story, guilt sickened me. I have to tell Everett everything. Keeping Owen from him and vice versa is only going to make this shit worse. The only question now is, how?
-
14
Everett
An impromptu family meal on Wednesday has me distracted from what’s been bugging me since Saturday, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it. But after the dinner ends, Mom and Dad take Cormac’s kids and leave for bed, and I’m left in the remodeled lounge with my brothers and their significant others. I don’t mind the ladies being there, but I feel like a seventh wheel.
The lounge is now kitted out in gray and white marble—Mom’s newest taste—with several oversized couches arranged haphazardly to make for easy conversation. A massive fireplace burns bright, so we sit nearby. Even with the heat on, the fire lends a nice ambiance. The couples sit together, while I take the leather wingback chair closest to the fireplace. Scotch glimmers amber in the warm light, and I can’t help but think of the way Aria’s hair shines.
There goes my distraction.
Lily, Cormac’s new wife, teases, “I would have thought sitting near the fire would put you into work mode, Everett.”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “I can appreciate a fire when it’s in its place.”
Elsie, Beau’s fiancé, smiles. She’s a refined, icy-looking blond architect, the kind of woman I’d expect on Beau’s arm. Except during supper, she made some off-color jokes that had Mom laughing and blushing in equal measure. “Then you’d love the cabin we just bought upstate. A fireplace is in every bedroom. Very romantic.”
Ugh. Romance. “I’m sure it’s lovely.”
“You don’t seem quite like yourself, Everett,” Sophie notes. She’s an emergency room doctor, and according to Beckett, utterly brilliant at her job. Her sweet smile seems to have tamed him, and now he only has eyes for the doctor. It’s strange to think of Beckett that way—he was worse than me when it came to bedhopping. But by all accounts, he’s a changed man, and this inciteful doctor has been the catalyst.
In short, I am jealous of each of my brothers.
They’ve found their matches, and here I am, dangling in the wind. It’s hard not to feel sorry for myself at the moment. But I can’t let myself get wrapped up in all that. There’s no point. “I’m fine, Sophie. But thank you for asking.”
Beckett frowns, and I ignore the same expression on my other brother’s faces. He pulls her a little closer. “Is it being around all the happy couples? We could try being less cute—"
“Speak for yourself,” Cormac says, as he nuzzles into Lily’s hair, and she giggles.
Newlyweds. I force a smile on. “I am nothing but happy for you. All of you. Don’t feel you have to hide your happiness just because I have none of my own.”
“None?” Beau asks facetiously. “I find that rather difficult to believe of you, Everett. Since when do you not have a string of girls, all clamoring for your attention?”
I chuckle at the thought. “Not for a long time, Beau.”
“How come?” Beau asks.
A deep sigh floods through my lungs, and I scarf down most of my scotch. “I want something more than that. Something real. I’m done settling for easy ass—sorry, ladies—and—"
“Don’t mind us,” Elsie says with a laugh. “Pretty sure we’ve all had our share of one-night stands and all that.”
Lily nods enthusiastically, while Sophie meekly nods.
“Alright, then. Anyway, I want more, and as much as uncomplicated sex is great, I’m pretty much done with the concept of the one-night stand. It doesn’t appeal to me anymore.”
“So, why do you seem morose?” Cormac asks. “Did something happen at work?”
