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“Who knows? Do yourself a favor and don’t bring it up in front of my dad. Sheilagh’s crazy smart. She was accepted at Princeton, Catholic U., and Penn State Main. She won a grant for the school of her choosing that’ll cover a huge part of her tuition, which in a family of seven kids is nothing to sneeze at.”
“So which one do you think she’ll choose?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t think she’ll choose any of them. She’s still figuring out what she wants to do and she doesn’t want to leave home until she’s sure. See, at home, Sheilagh’s a force to be reckoned with, but take her out of her fish bowl and she’s just a scared little girl from a redneck town.”
“So you think she’s nervous?”
Braydon twisted his lips and tilted his head in consideration. “Yes, but she’ll never admit it. Girl’s got more guts than brains and for a girl who’s IQ’s been off the charts since elementary school that’s saying a lot.”
“And what about Kelly? Does she work?”
“First of all, Kelly’s a guy and he makes sure anything with female parts is completely aware of it. He may be lacking in ambition, but he has an overabundance of confidence.”
“You say that as if you don’t get along with him.”
“Kelly’s fine, but sometimes it gets old, you know? Like, grow up already. He’s twenty-two, works at my aunt and uncle's bar, sleeps in a different bed almost every night, and never takes anything seriously.”
Sam was cataloging everything Braydon said in her mind. If she was going to be spending three weeks with the McCulloughs she wanted to be prepared. There was nothing worse than living with people whose names she constantly confused.
“And who are the twins?”
“Luke and Finn. They’re identical, but Luke’s a little more built from playing sports all his life. He’s your typical athlete, star quarterback in high school, and in a small community that equates to being the town hero. He was homecoming king, dated the prom queen until he left for college, plays hard and takes losing harder. He used to be the go to guy when you needed to laugh, but since he hurt his knee he’s been in kind of a mood. He would’ve been recruited to the pros. You'll see. When he plays sports from time to time, there’s this fire in his eyes, like a passion. That’s still there, but he’ll never go big now. His field injury can’t take the relentless pressure. He went from being predicted as the upcoming draft sensation to a risk factor no one would gamble on.”
“That’s a shame. Does he have any other skills?”
“Not really. Football was his life. Once that got taken away from him he kind of pulled into himself. When he graduated and came home he moved right into the barn and began fixing it up as an apartment. He never went back to his old room. I think all the trophies and newspaper clippings were an ugly reminder for him. Once my mom realized he wouldn’t be living there anymore she boxed up all his awards and turned his room into a nursery for my nieces and nephew.”
“Kate’s kids?”
“Yup. Frankie, Skylar, and Hannah. You’ll meet them tomorrow. Katherine probably is spending the night because she knows I’m coming home.”
“So you’re close to your older sister.”
“Yeah. Kate’s almost ten years older than me so she’s always favored me. Where Colin and the twins were close enough to her age to fight with her like true siblings, I fell into that perfect era of her life where she wanted a real baby to nurture. My sister was born to be a mother. She’ll probably have a baseball team of children someday.”
Braydon wore an affectionate smile as he spoke of his older sister. He obviously loved her very much. As if he could read her thoughts he admitted, “She spoils me rotten.”
“And what about the other twin?”
“Finn? Finn’s quiet. He likes to read and mostly keeps to himself. He was sort of in the transition of moving in with Erin, but I guess that didn’t work out. I don’t think anyone’s really disappointed. She didn’t really mesh with the family. We’re pretty close, so things like that matter.”
Sam was almost starting to relax until she considered about what would happen if the McCulloughs didn’t mesh with her. Sensing her tension Braydon squeezed her leg and reassured, “Don’t worry. They’ll love you.”
He adjusted the volume of the radio and Sam assumed he was done with her inquisition for now. She settled back into her seat and stared out the windshield as they drove into the black night. Worried what his family would think of her, she replayed each of his siblings’ characteristics in her head, committing them to memory, and hoped she’d make a good impression.
Her ears popped and although she couldn’t see past her reflection and the glow of interior lights in the car window, her equilibrium told her they were deep in the mountains. She covertly watched Braydon as he navigated off the highway and onto a dark patch of road.
His wavy blond hair fell onto his forehead in unruly curls Sam imagined most women would find it tempting to run their fingers through. His pale blue eyes traveled over the road, and in the dimness of the car his five o’clock shadow showed darkest at the thin cleft of his chin. He was one of those peculiarly handsome metropolitan men that could model department store sweaters and get away with wearing pink. He was masculine enough that one could actually call him pretty. It was frustrating kissing someone you knew was prettier than yourself.
Sam was never referred to as anything beyond cute. She supposed she had that American girl-next-door thing going for her. Plain, straight brown hair, boring brown eyes, skin that only burned and freckled in the sun, and dusty colored eyelashes. By the time she was sixteen, she already accepted that no amount of makeup would hide the freckles that covered the crests of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She was plain, pure and simple. She wondered if Braydon’s family would question what he was doing with such a girl.
She didn’t even own makeup. She wore Chap Stick, but she didn’t think that counted. Going to school in the more metro section of Philadelphia brought out a lot of impulses to appear more sophisticated, but it was too much, on top of school and worrying about her parents, to keep up with the Joneses as well.
She’d resigned herself to being a cotton-blend kind of girl. While the rest of the world fought to squeeze their hips into skinny jeans, Sam decided her worn in boot cut ones were just fine. They were only clothes. What mattered was what was on the inside.
But if that was true, why was she suddenly wishing she brought a more impressive wardrobe with her to meet the McCulloughs? She was being ridiculous. Having never suffered from superficial insecurities before, it didn’t make sense, at age twenty-four to give such silly doubts space in her mind. She supposed it was hearing Braydon refer to her earlier as his girlfriend that triggered this unusual train of thought.
Wasshe his girlfriend? He hadn’t asked her out. They hadn’t slept together. When she met him four months ago he asked her if she was going to an event being sponsored by Villanova at the student union building. She was and of course told him so.
