Help me, I mouthed to Collette, who watched with undisguised amusement.
God love her, she took mercy on me and said, “Here, put this on before you turn into a Rysicle.”
Grandma and Mom laughed, shooing me away. They turned to my father and two granddads, who were arguing over where to go for breakfast.
“Thank you,” I whispered in Collette’s ear, giving her a chaste peck on the lips. “They didn’t drive you too crazy while I was on the course, did they?”
She shook her head and handed over my coat. “I hung out with your dad and Grandpa Belanger most of the time. They told me all about your glory days on the varsity track team. How come you never told me about the school records you hold? Gramps says two of them are still unbroken.”
“It never came up in conversation.” I stretched a skull cap–knitted by Grandma–over my ears and pulled on a pair of gloves. “Flip a coin or something before I wither away,” I jokingly called to my still-debating family members.
“Where do you want to go?” Dad asked over Mom’s head.
“Eggstatica. We’ll meet you there.” Sliding an arm around Collette’s waist, I turned toward the parking lot on the other side of the village green. “You’ll love this place. Best omelets in the state. Made with six eggs and served in the frying pan they’re cooked in.”
Half an hour later, our party of seven sipped assorted hot beverages at a large round table. Following my recommendation, Collette had ordered a cheese and bacon omelet with a side of hash browns. My mother and grandmother exchanged a look, murmuring their approval of her hearty appetite.
“Oh, now you’ve done it,” I whispered to Collette, nudging her foot under the table. “They’ll have our three children named before the turkey is finished roasting.”
“Three?” Her hand dropped to her cashmere-covered stomach. “Think I could talk them down to two? At least we wouldn’t be outnumbered.”
“Good luck.”
We drove to my parents’ house in a caravan after the meal. Collette scored major brownie points with my mother after openly admiring the leaf-trimmed wreath hanging on the front door. Mom crafted on the side and sold her creations at local shows during the holiday season. Her face lit up with pride, and she promised to grab one out of her workshop for Collette to take home.
I set Collette’s overnight bag in the guest room and headed to the bathroom off of my old bedroom for a shower. It felt great to get out of my damp running gear. The hot water finally chased away the bone-deep chill and relaxed my sore muscles.
Familiar laughter rang out from the family room as I jogged down the stairs a little while later. It was a distinctive sound, and I knew exactly whose belly it came from. Pausing to scoop up some salsa with a tortilla chip from a bowl on the dining room table, I pushed one of the pocket doors open with my foot. “You’d better not be tarnishing my image,” I warned.
“It was never pristine to begin with,” a deep voice replied.
Poking my head around the wooden frame, I glared at my cousin. “Refresh my memory. Who thought climbing the trellis on the Milne sisters’ house at one in the morning was a good idea and left me on the roof when it fell off?”
Jeremy sighed deeply and grinned at Collette. “Rhino took the fall while I ran like a girl.”
“Dickless wonder is more accurate, Germ.” I gave him a handshake-hug and plopped down next to Collette on the loveseat. “Their father wasn’t happy when he found me.”
Her eyes shifted from me to the man sitting in the overstuffed armchair, and back to me. “Were you separated at birth? The resemblance is freaking me out.”
Jeremy and I laughed because we’d fielded this question many times. People often thought we were fraternal twins. I was slightly taller, and his hair was a lighter shade of brown, but our eyes were the same navy blue hue, and our faces were the same shape. “Our mothers are identical twins, and we took after them in the looks department,” he explained. “I’m three months older than Rhino. And way cooler.”
“Boys!” my mother yelled. “Go set up the chairs for the football game. Everyone else should be here soon. Kickoff is in an hour.”
Collette went to see if there was anything she could help with in the kitchen while Jeremy and I headed to the garage. As we carried lawn chairs to the backyard, he nodded at the women setting trays of snacks on the patio table. “Collette’s a great girl. What she’s doing with you is beyond me,” he teased, jumping back as my foot missed his shin by a centimeter. “Ease up. You know I’m joking.”
I’d tackle his sarcastic ass hard enough to knock the wind out of him during the football game. Every year–weather permitting–the younger generations scrimmaged as the oldsters cheered from the sidelines. It was supposed to be touch only, but Germ and I usually went ass-over-elbows at least once while the ball was in play. Bragging rights for the next twelve months were worth a few scrapes and bruises.
And I did know he was only kidding. Jeremy was the one man I implicitly trusted and never viewed as a threat. He’d moved to St. Louis to take an associate position at a well-known firm after law school, so we didn’t see each other as often as we had in the past. He and I were more like brothers than cousins, and we never passed up a chance to harass one another.
“Things still going strong between you and that court reporter?”
Hinges creaked as he unfolded a metal chair. “Trish is moving in with me when her lease is up in January. She really wanted to be here today, but her great-grandma is sick. This will probably be Betty’s last holiday, so she stayed home.”
“Wow. Congratulations, man. I’m happy for you. Sorry about Trish’s gram, though.”
“Yeah, so am I.” He brushed cobwebs off the frame and set it next to the others. “I’ve been looking at rings. Narrowed it down to three. Just have to pick which one to put a deposit on.”
“Holy shit, Germ. This is…huge. When are you going to pop the question?” I cast a furtive glance at the house and straightened the legs of my last chair. Aunt Michelle would be thrilled to see the youngest of her four sons be the first to get engaged. Jeremy was her crown jewel, the hardworking overachiever who would probably be Attorney General someday.
“Not for a while. We’re planning a trip next summer to London or Paris. I like the idea of proposing in front of a famous building or monument. Might even hire a photographer to snap a few pictures.” He jammed his hands in his pockets and kicked a stray chunk of mulch back into the berm running along my parents’ property line. “You’re the first person I’ve told about any of this. I’d rather keep it between us for now, just in case the plans fall through.”
“What plans?” I asked in an innocent tone, garnering a grin from him.
We headed over to the deck and grabbed a couple of beers from a tub. More of my relatives had arrived. The house bustled with activity as people dropped off side dishes and desserts in the kitchen before heading outside to greet the rest of the clan.
Clutching a glass of mulled wine, Collette watched the rowdiness with wide eyes. My family was big and loud and boisterous and probably came off as a bit intimidating to someone from a much smaller one. I wondered if she missed Les and Neil, who had made plans to deep-fry a turkey with some of their friends. A smile spread across her beautiful face when Ellie and Savannah, two of my younger female cousins, approached her.
“How serious are you and Collette?” Jeremy asked quietly. “Will there be church bells or the pattering of tiny feet in your futures?”
“We’ve only been dating two months. Quit trying to mess with my head, assmunch.”
He cracked up laughing. “But it’s so much fun.”
I took a pull from my bottle, middle finger extended over the green glass neck.
Dad popped two fingers in the corners of his mouth and let loose a piercing whistle. “Time to pick team captains,” he announced, holding up a Pilgrim’s hat containing slips of paper with the names of all the football game participants. He set it in f
ront of Aunt Agnes, the oldest person in attendance.
She shakily withdrew two folded triangles and unfurled them. “Ryan and Carter.”
Sweet. I’d never been captain before. Squinting at my twelve-year-old opponent, I grinned and smacked my hands together. “I’m in a giving mood, so you can go first.”
The little shit picked Collette and smirked at me when she slung an arm around his shoulders. We quickly alternated turns, snapping up the athletes first before moving on to the little kids and finishing up with the parental generation. When all was said and done, Jeremy patted me on the shoulder and told me to buck up before swaggering over to the empty spot next to Collette in the huddle at the opposite end of the yard.
Shithead would get flipped before halftime.
I gathered my players together and gave a quick pep talk. As we got into formation after losing the coin toss, Collette pulled me to a stop. “Conversing with the enemy right in front of everyone?” I joked, pulling her beanie over her eyes.
She shoved it back up and leaned over, motioning for me to come closer as she shrugged out of her coat. “You know that itty-bitty red thong I have? The one you removed with your teeth last weekend?”
“Mmmhmm.” I smiled fondly at the memory of how easily the scrap of red silk had slid down her legs. Then my eyes narrowed in suspicion. Why was she mentioning the scantiest of scanties with my entire family within earshot? And damn it, now I had a partial hard-on.
“I’m wearing it right now.” She turned on a Nike-clad heel and bounced across the leaf-strewn lawn, adding her coat to the pile before crouching next to Jeremy.
He tipped his head toward her as she spoke and burst into hysterical laughter. I shifted my glare to him as he plunked down on the ground and wiped his eyes. Pointing two fingers at my eyes, I turned them around and aimed the digits at him. “Bring it!” he yelled, gaining his feet. “Take your best shot, Rhino.”
I’d deal with Collette and her big mouth later, but his ass was mine right after the ball went airborne. Dropping down next to Ellie, I placed my palms on my knees and willed the throbbing behind my fly to go away.
A foot connected with the pigskin, hurtling it end-over-end right into Uncle Leo’s outstretched hands. He took off, an arm extended to ward off his opposition as he zigzagged across the field, and made it three-quarters of the way before Carter tagged him on the shoulder. Not bad for a guy in his early fifties.
By halftime, my team was ahead by three points. True to my vow, I put Jeremy on his back during the second quarter and sat on the sidelines after Gramps blew his ref’s whistle and ejected me for unnecessary roughness. I’d have to watch my back during the second half because Germ would definitely try to get revenge.
Down by four points in the last quarter, with under a minute left on the clock, I met Collette’s gaze while waiting for the snap. Not taking her eyes off of mine, she hitched up the side of her sweater and tugged on a thin red strap, wiggling her hips. The ball slammed into my chest seconds after Dad hiked it, knocking me on my ass.
Jeremy charged through the mass of players and let out a Tarzan cry, body-slamming me into the cold ground. “Payback’s a bitch,” he sang, squashing my balls with an elbow. “And your girlfriend is my new favorite person.”
“Get off me, jackass,” I wheezed, trying to breathe through the pain and ignoring the assistance he offered as I struggled to stand. “Timeout. I need a few minutes to...you know.” Hunched over, I hobbled over to an empty canvas chair and gingerly sat down.
“You looked like Bambi,” four-year-old Gracie–the youngest of my second cousins–said with a giggle, setting a makeshift pom-pom of pink streamers on my head. “But now you look pretty.”
Collette and Jeremy chest-bumped. She bit her lip and gave me an apprehensive wave. Mom materialized with a baggie full of ice cubes and tried her best to keep a straight face when Gracie asked if “my boy parts had a boo-boo.”
Refusing the bag, I got up and returned to the field. I pulled my team into a huddle. Heads shook, and noses wrinkled as I explained the play I wanted to execute.
“Unless one of you has a better idea, this is our best chance to score a touchdown and win.” I looked around the silent circle and sighed. “Hail Mary it is, then.”
I caught the snap and cocked back my arm as Jacob sprinted unnoticed toward the opposite goal. Jeremy caught wind of what was happening as I released the ball and spun around, advancing on the seven-year-old boy. Jacob’s arms stretched as Jeremy made a grab for the back of the kid’s sweatshirt. The football bounced from one small hand to another for a few heart-stopping seconds before Jacob clutched it to his chest. Jeremy face-planted on the turf and raised his head in time to watch the boy run across the goal line.
“How ya like me now?” I crowed, jumping over him as I rushed over to lift a beaming Jacob onto my shoulders. “Good job, bud. Knew you could do it!”
Collette cheered with everyone else as Jacob took the trophy–a plastic turkey glued to a foil-covered paper towel tube–from Gramps and held it high above his head.
24
Ryan
Soft tapping diverted my attention from the computer screen. My bedroom door opened, and slender fingers curled around the edge. Glittering dark eyes peered through the crack.
I quickly closed the browser window–because holy shit, no one needed to see what I had been looking at–and shut my laptop, setting it on the nightstand as Collette slipped inside my bedroom. “Hey, I thought you’d be clocking Zs by now after getting up so early this morning and running around all day,” I whispered.
She crept across the floor and climbed on the bed, resting her back against the footboard. “I’ve been trying to fall asleep, but I just can’t.”
Concern flooded my system. Settling Collette’s feet on my lap, I peeled off a candy corn patterned sock and pressed my thumbs into the arch of her left foot. “Is something on your mind or are you just having a hard time getting comfortable?”
“Both, actually.”
Biting back a smile, I gently tugged on her tiny, pink-painted toes. “Yeah, I don’t sleep well without you next to me, either. But it’s only for one night.”
“Your parents are awesome, and I have no problem with their rules. Guess I didn’t realize how much I’d gotten used to you sleeping over all the time.”
“They adore you. Go in Mom’s workshop and you’ll probably find a bunch of her calligraphy pens scattered around a mock-up of our wedding invitation. And as for Dad…he might not say much, but I can tell he thinks highly of you.”
She smiled, but it looked strained.
“What’s bothering you? You know you can tell me anything, right?”
Collette’s eyes moved around my childhood bedroom, studying the colorful pennants and posters of my favorite Chicago teams. Sliding her foot out of my grasp, she hopped off the bed and wandered over to the built-in bookcase between the windows. “So many trophies,” she murmured, touching a gilded runner on a tall first-place award for the half-mile race I’d won at the state meet my senior year.
Why hadn’t she answered my question? Something was definitely bothering her, but what would make her deliberately avoid telling me? A sick feeling took root in my stomach as an insane thought crossed my mind.
Had Jeremy put the moves on her?
No. No damn way would he piss on our unwritten bro code and betray my trust after telling me he wanted to marry the girl he’s currently dating. It had to be something else.
But what?
I thought about everything that had happened today. The race, meeting my family, playing football in the backyard, watching Planes, Trains & Automobiles, eating dinner in the crowded dining room, and trimming the tree during dessert.
Wait a second. Collette hadn’t touched a single ornament. Come to think of it, she’d spent the entire time up to her elbows in soapsuds while washing dishes. It was the only time she hadn’t been right in the thick of whatever was going on.
Sc
ooting out from beneath the blue-and-white plaid bedspread, I cautiously moved toward her. “Are you allergic to pine trees?”
She turned around, her brow creased. “No. Why do you ask?”
“It would explain why you stayed away when we were decorating the tree.”
“I have a bit of a hang-up with Christmas trees. They remind me of Henri’s last holiday.” Her shoulders rose and fell on a deep sigh. “I’m sorry if it seemed like I was rude. I’ll apologize to your parents in the morning.”
My chest felt hollow as I realized how hard the holidays must be for her with her parents and Henri gone. How insensitive of me to not take her feelings into account and get swept up in a tinsel tidal wave while she scrubbed pots and pans. Yet at the same time, I appreciated how she had dealt with it privately instead of making a scene. There were lots of people out there who wanted everyone to be unhappy with them, but Collette was not one of them. She wasn’t selfish enough to take others down with her.
Reason #82 why I loved her, right there.
“No one thought you were impolite. Crazy for jumping at the chance to lead the cleanup effort, maybe. But not the least bit rude.”
She shrugged, a ghost of a smile curling her lips. “I was alone with a countertop full of desserts. Don’t think for one second I wasn’t sampling between sink loads.”
I laughed. “I’m still pissed about not getting one of those caramel apple tartlet thingies you made. They were gone when I got back from putting empty bins in the attic.”
“You sure about that?”
Tossing her sock at her, I quickly padded over to the door. “Where did you hide them?”
We ran downstairs. Collette opened the pantry door and rose up on her toes, moving aside canisters of sugar and flour on the top shelf. She pointed at a covered plate tucked in a corner.
More than Money (Found in Chicago Book 1) Page 19