Cohen’s being dragged over to help Caro, Cece, and Maren with some crazy new dance moves.
And even though they weren’t supposed to be in until Thanksgiving, Deo’s sister Hattie is playing bocce ball with her boyfriend, Ryan, and jumping up and down to cheer when she throws the winning ball. He grins and scoops her into his huge arms, kissing her quiet.
“I had no idea Hattie and Ryan would be here!” I cry. “I thought they didn’t have break until next month. Come on, babe, I’ll introduce you.”
But it’s when I’m walking toward Hattie to introduce her to Isaac and demand information about that stunning ring I can see sparkling on her fourth finger from across the yard that I nearly get trampled.
Twice!
First, I’m tangled and tripped by the arms and legs of my youngest sister, Genevieve, who hurls herself at me and yells, “Lyd!” As soon as she releases me and I catch a breath, I’m scooped up by our brother, Enzo.
“What…what…what?” is all I can stutter as I hug Gen close and kiss Enzo’s cheek. “What are you guys doing here? I can’t believe it! Enzo! You came home!”
My handsome brother shrugs and gives me his signature half smile. The one that’s always made the girls crazy. “Couldn’t miss the chance to say goodbye to you a second time, sis.”
My eyes brim with tears remembering how he bailed, leaving town without a goodbye to anyone and breaking our mother’s heart in the process. Gen and Adam—who’d been there for his whole terrible fallout with his ex—explained his reasoning, and, once his life settled down, he started to open up more and let us know what was going on in his enigmatic life.
But hearing about what he went through and listening to his explanations didn’t cut it for me. What I’d been missing, what I needed, was this—the chance to hug my brother and see with my own eyes that he’s okay.
“How long are you in town for?” I ask him.
I glance over my shoulder and see Isaac standing back, giving me my space with my family, but smiling broadly at me—finding happiness in the fact that I have everyone I love in one space right now.
Every single person.
My cup seriously overfloweth.
“In and out trip. I’ve got to be back for work Monday,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. “But no worries, things are good. And I see things are good for you too, Lyd.” He gives Isaac a quick salute.
“Isaac come meet my brother, Enzo,” I say, smiling as they shake hands before I turn to my sister, pulling her aside. “And you!” I cry, grabbing her in another long hug. “How the hell did you manage to get in from Belgium? And where is your husband?”
Gen looks around, then leans in close and raises her eyebrows. “Don’t tell a soul. He ran to get back-up sustenance, if you know what I mean.”
I stifle a giggle, knowing that Adam is going to get reamed if Marigold finds out that he brought additional food into the house for those who just can’t stomach her culinary creations.
“He should be back any time, though. He’ll be so happy to see you.” Gen looks me up and down, her gorgeous face glowing with happiness. “It’s so good to see you, Lydia. So, so good. Is that my dress?”
I turn self-consciously. “Yes. I’m sorry! I know I gave you shit about your clothes growing up, but guess what? You have awesome taste, and I’m an old, stuffy ex-lawyer who owns nothing but gray suits and yoga pants. I promise you, I’m going on a shopping spree soon.”
“Not without me,” she says. Her smile is gorgeous and confident. When did my tantrum-throwing baby sister become such a beautiful, composed woman? “I’m glad you’ve realized my taste is awesome, by the way. Remember how you used to say if a Vegas showgirl and every pop star from the 80s had a baby, she would dress like me?”
I grimace. “Shit. That was low. And now I can eat my words. And beg you to help me build my own wardrobe.”
“My pleasure.” Gen grins and yanks me close, her whisper tickling my ear like it always did when we were kids. “Cece filled me in on everything. Seriously, I’m just so happy for you. Is that—” She nods to Isaac and raises her perfectly arched eyebrows high on her forehead. “Is that your man?” When I don’t answer immediately, my sister points over toward Isaac, and I swat her finger down.
“It’s rude to point,” I hiss.
“Oh, a guy that hot? I’m gonna bet he’s used to it. Good catch, sis,” Gennie says, elbowing me in the ribs and laughing like a loon. “Isaac!”
Isaac finally comes over to join the conversation, Enzo at his side. He kisses Genevieve on the cheek and continues to win over every person on earth with his charm and kindness. We move back to the group and he and Grandpa Beckett talk fishing while Deo and Cohen butt in to join the conversation. My father walks over with Adam and Isaac gets introduced to my brother-in-law.
“I know a little about you,” Isaac says, shaking a finger at Adam. “Cody is very mopey not to have you around. And he’s waiting to meet his own Genevieve.”
Adam’s eyes flash, and he puts a protective arm around my sister. “I was actually complaining to Cody about how Genevieve was always late to our tutoring sessions, and he offered to switch with me.”
“I didn’t know that,” Gen says, looking up at Adam and smiling. “You know, Cody’s pretty cute. I wonder what would have happened if—”
But Adam cuts her off with a kiss. “No wondering. You and I happened, and that’s the perfect ending to that story.”
“Speaking of endings to stories,” Gen says. “Hattie! Get your ass over here right now!”
Hattie puts down the croquet mallet. She and Ryan are playing with Caro, Cece, Maren, and Cohen. She jogs over, a big smile on her face. “It’s cool. I was whipping them all. They needed a break.” She fans her hand in front of her face, letting the ring pick up the sunlight. “My, my, it’s so hot out here isn’t it, ladies?” she says with a mischievous grin that is the mirror image of Deo’s.
“Let me see that rock!” Gen grabs her hand and squeals. “Hattie! This is amazing. When? How?”
“He rented a boat and we sailed to, no joke, a private island. I know, it was amazing. He had this whole romantic picnic set up, complete with flower petals and all these little sample bottles of wine.” Hattie laughs and Ryan, who dropped his mallet after he took his turn, comes up behind her, brushing her shiny black hair to the side so he can kiss her neck.
“What’s so funny?” he asks. I can’t believe how much bulk he’s put on since he joined the Coast Guard. The boy has muscles on top of his muscles.
“The assortment of wines you had set out for me,” Hattie says, threading her fingers through his.
“Ah. Well, I know how you like to keep it classy, getting tipsy off your tiny bottles of vino.” He grins at Isaac and sticks his hand out. “Sorry, man. I’m Ryan. They tend to assume everyone knows everyone in this family, since they’ve all been hanging since they were in diapers.”
“I’m sorry guys. Isaac, this is Deo’s sister, Hattie and Hattie’s, ahem, fiancé, Ryan.” I grab her in a tight hug. Hattie is a no-holds-barred alpha female like me. We get along very well, and I’m so happy to have her included in my extended honorary sibling brood. “Congratulations, you two!”
“Thank you,” Ryan says, and I swear he puffs his chest out. “We’ll probably wait till Hattie gets her first PhD done before we get married.”
“Says who?” Hattie asks, squeezing him hard. “I think I’d like to do graduate work in the married dorms. You’ll need to make an honest woman of me.”
Gen sighs, tucking herself more securely under Adam’s arm. “Remember the married dorms?”
“Remember when you insisted on painting our living room blood red?” Adam asks.
We all laugh, even Hattie, Ryan, and Isaac, who weren’t even there for the crazy day we helped Adam and Gen move into their first place.
I guess that’s what makes us official family: deciding to laugh with together because we trust each other’s sense of humor.
I hear the clinking of glasses, and we all wander to the patio, where Rocco and Marigold are handing out twisted glass flutes filled with bubbly champagne.
My father lifts his glass and we all gather close.
“I look around,” he says, his voice thick, “and I see the most beautiful faces. Every morning I wake up and say a prayer of thanks for the wonderful people in my life. I may not be a rich man or an important one. I may not be all that smart or all that funny. And I’m definitely not all that easy on the eyes, unless you ask my beautiful wife, Dinah.” He chuckles and we all laugh along with him, though I see Cece and Maren wipe tears away with quick swipes of their fingers.
“When you’re young, the world is so big and exciting, you wonder how you’ll ever get to see it all. How you’ll ever manage to take it all in. But, I’m going to tell you now, you’ll be a very lucky person if you can fit all you love in the world on one patio. A very lucky person indeed.” My father sniffles, and it feels like I swallowed a ball of barbed wire.
“Jewish people say ‘l’chaim’ when we toast. It means ‘to life.’ I look around and tell you all that you, my family—you have made my life worth something. And…” He swallows hard and his moustache quivers. When he speaks again, his words shake. “And, no matter how far away you go…no matter how long you’re gone…you will always be in my heart, mi familia. Always. L’chaim.”
There’s a loud chorus of “l’chaim” and a whole lot of throat clearing and nervous, damp laughter as we drink.
Suddenly Deo says, “Maren, you have to drink. It’s bad luck not to.”
Cohen puts an arm around her and she blushes a deep, pleased pink. She hands Cohen her glass and he downs it. “Sorry, Deo. Can’t risk it.” She puts a hand on her stomach.
“What?” he and Whit scream together.
“Cohen? Maren? Is this true?” Mami asks, her eyes bright with tears.
Maren takes my mother’s hands and holds them tight. “We’ve had a change of plans about our move. I’m going to put graduate school on hold for now. I’d love to be close to you when I give birth.”
“We’re having a baby! Best anniversary gift ever!” Deo yells, grabbing Cohen in a crushing hug. “Dude, if it’s a boy, I’m totally cool with you naming it Deo. You have my blessing.”
Marigold lets out a long whoop, the girls go wild with shrieks of joy, and then the entire party dissolves into a full-on, crazy-ass group hug. Isaac and I are tangled in it for a good few minutes before he drifts to the outside of the circle. I give a few last tearful hugs and join him, wrapping my arm around his waist.
“So, are you sure you want to be part of all of this insanity?” I ask with a laugh, gesturing at the group of people who have moved on from hugging to lunatic-like freestyle dancing.
Isaac looks at them, his eyes soft, his mouth curved into a smile. “All my lonely years as a little boy, I tried to imagine what a perfect family would be like. The kind of family who would love bravely. Ferociously, even.” He pulls me close and kisses my temple. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine anything as beautiful as this.” He closes his arms tight around me. “Thank you. Thank you for sharing this with me.”
My heart hammers so hard in my chest, it feels like it jumps into my throat. I want to tell him that I’m the one who needs to thank him. That his love unlocked my ability to appreciate all of this, to see what was in front of me and be brave enough to embrace it. But the words feel caged in.
“What is it, mi amor?” he asks, his voice low and sweet.
“I love you,” I choke out on a sob. “I love you, and I’m desperate to tell you all the reasons why, but you know what? There’s no rush. We have forever, don’t we?”
“Te amo.” He turns me in his arms and presses his lips to mine. “Siempre, mi vida. Siempre.”
I lean my head back and listen to the strong, solid beat of his heart, my thoughts drifting from the beauty of my present to the promise of my future with Isaac, filled with all the love my heart could ever expand to hold.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Liz grew up on the East Coast, and Steph on the West Coast—and somehow they both ended up making their homes with their husbands and children in small, Southern towns.
Liz loves Raisinettes, even if they aren’t really candy, the Oxford comma, movies that are hilarious or feature zombies, any and all books, but especially romance (the smarter and hotter, the better), the sound of her daughter’s incessantly wise and entertaining chatter, and watching her husband work on cars in the driveway.
You can read her blog at elizabethreinhardt.blogspot.com or like her on Facebook!
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Steph has one husband, four children, and a serious nail polish obsession. When she isn’t reading, writing or wiping someone’s nose, you can usually find her baking something.
You can find Steph on Facebook, @stephcampbell_ on Twitter, stephcampbell.blogspot.
More books by Liz Reinhardt & Steph Campbell:
LENGTHS (Lengths series #1)
DEPTHS (Lengths series #2)
LIMITS (Lengths series #3)
TIES (Lengths series #4)
RIPTIDES (Lengths Series novella)
A TOAST TO THE GOOD TIMES
Books by Liz Reinhardt:
DOUBLE CLUTCH
JUNK MILES
SLOW TWITCH
INHERIT
FORGIVING TRINITY
FALL GUY
PERFECTLY UNMATCHED
Books by Steph Campbell:
DELICATE
GROUNDING QUINN
BEAUTIFUL THINGS NEVER LAST
MY HEART FOR YOURS (WITH JOLENE PERRY)
MY FATE FOR YOURS (WITH JOLENE PERRY)
Drift (Lengths) Page 25