“Turning the tables, huh? Sounds fun. What did you have in mind?”
“It’s a surprise. Just keep Friday afternoon free. Maybe around four o’clock?”
“That works.” He took a sip of coffee, then handed it to Sienna. “As much as I want to stay here forever, we should probably leave. It’s almost midnight, and we’ve got an hour drive home.”
When Sienna slipped into her room that night, it was empty. Liv was probably still out with Eldon. Sienna got ready for bed, then grabbed her phone to plug it in. She frowned when she saw a text message blinking. She must’ve been too wrapped up in Aaron to hear the buzz.
She clicked it open.
Dane: I called and talked to the Petersons tonight. They didn’t let me talk to Hunter. I don’t know if they’re going to let me see him. Call me.
Sienna threw the phone on her bed like it was lava. She couldn’t blame Kyra and David for being hesitant, and Sienna wasn’t going to convince them otherwise. Why on earth did Dane think she would?
She wasn’t about to call him. Their relationship was over, and what he did from here on out had nothing to do with her. She crawled into bed, her mouth tasting sour.
Leave it to Dane to ruin a perfectly good evening.
Sienna looked around the kitchen, hoping she hadn’t forgotten anything for their date. Potato salad, check. Fried chicken, check. Rolls, chocolate chip cookies, soda, chips. Check, check, check, check. All homemade, of course. This wasn’t the type of thing to spring on someone after serving store-bought potato salad and deli-counter chicken. She’d gone to the grocery store last night and started cooking like mad as soon as class was over today.
Her mother always said the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Sienna planned to put that theory to the test. She grabbed her laundry basket and dumped the contents onto her bed, then went back into the kitchen and started piling the items for the picnic inside. Blanket, food, Frisbee. Maybe they’d need something fun to break the tension after she told him about Hunter.
If he stuck around once she told him.
“Stop it,” Sienna said aloud to the empty kitchen. Liv was at play practice again, so Sienna was alone. Aaron was not the kind of guy who would dump her because of something that had happened two years before they’d ever met. It might take him a while to get used to the idea, but they’d get through it.
Her phone rang. Dane again. She quickly sent the call to voice mail. She knew she needed to talk to him soon, but she couldn’t deal with it right now.
Sienna looked around the kitchen, making sure she hadn’t missed anything. A knock came at the door, and she jumped. Four o’clock. Aaron was right on time. She grabbed the laundry basket off the counter and headed to the door.
“Hey,” Aaron said, leaning in for a kiss. He raised an eyebrow. “We’re going to the laundromat for our date?”
Sienna tried to smile at the teasing tone, but her stomach was rolling with anxiety. “A picnic. I had to get creative.”
“Sounds fun. Like the painting at the art gallery.”
“Exactly,” Sienna said, relieved he’d made the connection.
Aaron took the basket from her, sniffing. He gave a whoop. “Fried chicken—you remembered. The painting would be so upset.”
“Well, I didn’t want to cause you emotional distress.” Except that she was totally going to.
“Smells amazing. It’s even homemade.”
“Your mama isn’t the only one who can cook.”
Aaron put a hand to his chest. “You’re stealing my heart, darlin’. Have I ever told you how much I love picnics? You even remembered the Frisbee. That’s the most important part.”
“I thought the fried chicken was the most important part.”
“Well, okay. Frisbee is second.”
Sienna tried to smile. “For me it’s feeding ducks. Okay, and flying kites. But I didn’t have a kite on hand for today.” She motioned to the bread crumbs. “There’s a pond, so I thought we’d share our bounty.”
“Sounds like a fantastic afternoon.”
The park was picture perfect. Green grass spread out in every direction, and a small pond was nestled at one end. A few people passed by on the walking trail with their dogs, but otherwise the place was empty. Aaron carried the basket, and Sienna led them to a sunny patch of grass near the pond, far away from the walking trail so they’d have plenty of privacy.
“It’s beautiful,” Aaron said, looking around.
“And the weather couldn’t be more cooperative.” It was the perfect fall day—crisp without being cold.
Everything was quiet for the next few minutes as they unpacked the food and started eating.
“Mmmm,” Aaron said. “Don’t tell my mom, but your fried chicken’s even better than hers.”
“That is a high compliment.”
“You’ve been holding out on me.”
Sienna’s head snapped up. A bird nearby startled and flew off, squawking. “What do you mean?”
Aaron raised an eyebrow. “Just that I knew you were an amazing pianist, but I had no idea you could cook, too. I’d be a fool to let you go, especially now that I have you all to myself.”
She hoped so. Sienna relaxed, taking a bite of her potato salad.
“I messaged that guy for a few hours last night,” Aaron said. “The one who thinks he might be my brother.”
“And?”
Aaron plucked a blade of grass and twisted it into knots. “The information seems to match up. He’s going to talk to his mom this weekend.”
“Wow. This is big.”
“I know.”
“Where does he live?”
“Maryland, not far outside Baltimore. It’s only about a ninety-minute drive. His mom lives in Baltimore, too.” He laced his fingers through hers. “I want you to come with me to meet him, Sienna.”
Sienna sucked in a breath. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Being adopted is a big part of who I am. And I want you to be a part of it.”
“I’d be honored. There’s actually something I was hoping to talk to you about as well.” She took a deep breath, her stomach twisting into knots as she looked into Aaron’s curious eyes.
“Okay.” His phone rang, breaking the moment. “Sorry, I thought I silenced it. Hold on, it’s my sister. She hardly ever calls me, so it must be important.”
Sienna nodded, her heart in her throat. His sister couldn’t have waited five minutes to call? She just wanted to get this over with. The anticipation was making her nauseous. It’s going to be fine, she repeated over and over like a mantra. He’ll be surprised, but it won’t change anything.
“Hi, Dana,” Aaron said.
Sienna watched him, fighting the urge to play with his hair or stroke his face. Anything to touch him again.
“I’m kinda busy,” Aaron said. “Uh-huh. What? Okay . . . why didn’t you tell me about this last week? Or last month? Yeah . . . that doesn’t help me now. There’s no way I can come home this weekend. Well, I have homework and a job. I can’t just drop everything at a moment’s notice . . . No, you tell Mom that you didn’t involve me in your plans, and that’s why I’m not there. No. No! I can’t talk about this right now . . . yeah. I’ll see what I can do. Bye.” Aaron threw the phone across the blanket. “I can’t believe they did this.”
Sienna’s chest tightened. “Who did what?”
“My sisters.” Aaron let out a growl, covering his face with his arm. “It’s my mom’s birthday this weekend. They’ve been planning a surprise party for over a month apparently. My sisters all thought someone else had called me and just figured out today that I didn’t know.”
“What a pain,” Sienna said, trying to focus on this conversation instead of the sick pit in her stomach. “I’m sorry.”
“I called my mom a couple of weeks ago and asked if I should come home this weekend, but of course she didn’t know about the party so she told me they didn’t have anything planned.”
“So your
sisters will all be there?”
“Yes—they still all live there. Once again, I wasn’t included in their plans, and I’m the last to find out. There’s no way I can make it to Virginia this weekend on such short notice. The party’s tomorrow night.”
“Is your mom going to be really upset you’re not there?”
“Probably. I’m sure it’ll hurt her feelings.” Aaron blew out a breath. “It’s like everyone forgets I’m part of the family. I’m always the afterthought, and I’m always the last one to know. I’m not Aaron, their son or brother. I’m Aaron, their adopted son and brother. I get so frustrated!” He let out a growl. “And now they’re going to make out like it’s me who refuses to fully participate in the family, because I’m not there for this stupid party, when really I’m not there because they didn’t tell me until it was too late. I’m supposed to be there in less than twenty-four hours.”
Sienna couldn’t help herself . . . she reached out and played with the strand of beads in Aaron’s hair. “I’m so sorry. Do they do it intentionally?”
“No, at least I don’t think so. Maybe subconsciously? I try so hard to be the son they want me to be. But I can’t even come close when they refuse to let me into their lives.”
“I’m sorry,” Sienna repeated. “I didn’t realize it was like this for you.”
Aaron captured Sienna’s hand and pulled it to his cheek. “I want you to understand who I am as a person. And I want to understand you.” His hands threaded into her hair as he kissed her deeply. “I want to make this work.”
“Me too,” Sienna said.
Aaron sighed. “I have to go home. If I leave tonight and come home early on Sunday, I can make it work.”
“How far is it to home?”
“About six hours.” He crushed her to him in a hug, and she could feel the stress in the tight way he held her. “Please come home with me. I don’t know if I can get through this weekend without you.”
Going home. Meeting the parents. Blood roared through her ears. “Really?”
He ran a hand through her hair, and she shivered. “I don’t want to be away from you all weekend. Please, come with me. You don’t have to work, right?”
She didn’t have anything to do this weekend but homework. Sienna saw the vulnerability in his expression, the desperate need for someone to see his family situation and tell him he wasn’t crazy.
Maybe he was blowing things out of proportion. But maybe his family did treat him differently because he was adopted. Sienna had to see for herself.
“I’ll come,” she said.
“Really?”
“Really. I don’t have any performances this weekend, and I want to meet your family.”
“This means a lot to me.” Aaron rubbed his thumb over the top of her knuckles. “This feels like a big deal.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
“What if I want it to be?”
“I want it to be, too.” Sienna leaned forward and kissed him.
“My family’s going to love you. Probably more than they like me. Thank you.”
“We’re a couple, right? That means I’m here for you, no matter what.”
“The same goes for me. Wasn’t there something you were going to tell me?”
Yes. But now wasn’t the time. Aaron needed her this weekend, and they needed a less stressful situation to rebuild their trust after she told him about Hunter.
She would tell Aaron next week. Meeting his family might even help her be sensitive, while also helping him understand why she’d made the choice she had.
“Just that I’m really enjoying spending time together,” Sienna said.
“You did all this just to tell me that?”
“I really, really like you.”
Aaron laughed and wrapped her in a hug. “Me too. But seriously, what were you going to tell me?”
“I’ll tell you later. This weekend is all about you and your family.”
Liv lounged on her bed, the tight cat suit hugging her body, and face still covered in crazy makeup. “So let me get this straight. You’re going home with Aaron for the weekend.”
“Right.” Sienna grabbed a pair of pants and tossed them into her duffel bag.
“And you didn’t tell Aaron about Hunter.”
A twinge of unease ricocheted through Sienna’s stomach. Had she made the right decision? “Right.”
“Okay, explain something to me. How the heck did you get from ‘I’m going to tell my boyfriend about Hunter’ to ‘I’m going to meet my boyfriend’s family and not tell him about Hunter’? Seems like a pretty big leap.”
“What was I supposed to do? He was really upset about the phone call from his sister and went on and on about how much he resents his family for treating him differently because he’s adopted. It wasn’t exactly a great time to tell him.” Sienna pulled a few shirts off their hangers and started folding them. “He’s struggling right now, and I think he really needs me this weekend. I can’t dump more on him right now.”
“Going home for the weekend would’ve been a great way for him to get some space and digest the news.”
Sienna bit her lip. “Yeah, but telling him when he was already experiencing so many negative emotions felt like setting our relationship up for failure. It’ll be better if I wait until next week. He’s super tense over this party.”
“Maybe his family really does treat him differently. Not all parents are as awesome as Kyra and David.”
“That’s what I want to find out.” Sienna threw the last few items in her bag and zipped it closed. “I’ll tell him, okay? Today just wasn’t the right time.”
“If you say so.” Liv rolled to her feet, the movements fluid and cat-like—a leftover of today’s rehearsal. She hugged Sienna. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Sienna returned the hug, swallowing hard. “Aaron isn’t the type of guy to hurt me.”
“He’d better not, or I’ll kick his trash. Or tell Eldon to hire guys to rough him up, at least. I’ve got to be careful with Cats in two weeks and Aida right before Christmas. No way am I letting my understudy take over either show.”
Sienna rolled her eyes. Her phone buzzed, and she quickly read the text from Dane.
Dane: Sie, I’m begging you. I’m going to be in Utah next month for a game, and I want to see Hunter. Help me convince the Petersons.
Sienna showed the text to Liv. “See how much stress I’m dealing with right now?”
“Are you going to help him?”
“No. I can’t deal with Dane right now.”
A knock echoed through the apartment. Sienna cast one last quick glance around the room, then hoisted her duffel bag onto her shoulder.
“I think you’re going down a dangerous road,” Liv said, following her into the living room.
“I’ll worry about that on Monday. This weekend is about being there for Aaron and making a good impression on his family. Now shhh.” Sienna opened the door and gave Aaron a quick kiss. “Hi.”
“Ready to go?” her asked, taking her duffel bag.
Sienna nodded.
Liv pulled the door open wider, then folded her arms and glared at Aaron. At least, Sienna thought it was a glare. It was hard to tell through all the cat makeup. “Meeting the family, huh? Sounds pretty serious.”
“I hope it is,” Aaron said, smiling at Sienna.
“You know, Sienna isn’t like most girls. She has really strict standards, and God is really important to her.”
“Those things are important to me too,” Aaron said.
“Just checking.”
“Okay, okay,” Sienna interrupted. “We’ve got to go. Bye, Liv.”
“Make good choices,” Liv called at their retreating backs.
Aaron waved. Sienna could tell from the lines around his eyes that he was holding back a laugh.
“Sorry about that,” Sienna said. “Liv’s overprotective.”
“I think it’s sweet. I’m glad you have someone lo
oking out for you.” Aaron popped the trunk on the car and set her bag inside. Once they were in the car, he handed her his phone. “It’s hooked to the stereo. You’re in charge of the music selection.”
“Nice.” Sienna scrolled through the playlist. “You know, they say you can tell a lot about a person by their music tastes.”
“And what can you tell about me from mine?”
“You’ve got a decent selection. A little heavy metal, which tells me you have a rebellious streak and like to swim against the current.”
Aaron laughed and pointed to his dreads. “I go to church every Sunday looking like this. I don’t think that’s a secret.”
Sienna continued scrolling, hiding a smile. “You also have some love ballads, which tells me you’re a romantic at heart. Classic rock, so you appreciate the tried-and-true favorites.” Sienna stopped. “Justin Bieber? I think I just lost all respect for you.”
Aaron’s ears turned red. “He has some good songs.”
“Uh-uh, I don’t think so.”
“I would think a music major would find something to appreciate in every song.”
Sienna laughed. She picked a classic rock song and pushed play. “It’s a good thing I’m picking the tunes for this trip.”
“Fine, you win. Having Justin on my phone is embarrassing.”
“Don’t tell anyone, but I have a few Britney Spears songs on mine.”
“So what you’re telling me is we all have embarrassing music obsessions?”
“Pretty much.” Sienna set the phone to shuffle, then turned the volume down so they could talk more comfortably. “Tell me what I’m getting into with this trip. I want to know about your family.”
“Okay. My mom’s a pretty typical housewife. She’s really involved in the community, and she’s very opinionated.”
“What about your dad?”
“He works for the post office and loves sports and fishing. He and my mom bicker a lot. ‘Frank, why didn’t you take out the trash? Frank, the toilet’s clogged! Frank, didn’t I tell you dinner was ready five minutes ago?’ I swear they’re constantly on each other’s nerves. But they really love each other, too, and they’ve made it work for thirty-five years.”
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