Hallie contemplated that for the millionth time as she sat at the breakfast table in Beej’s parents’ kitchen the morning after Thanksgiving. Besides herself, her cousin, Elise, and Kendall, no one occupied the room, a rare feat due to the massive amount of family members attending the holiday get-together.
“Isn’t it so fun finally being under the same roof again?” Beej got up from the table to place her cereal bowl in the sink. “It’s just like old times.”
Elise tugged at the sleeves of her oversized pajama shirt andcrossed her arms on the table. “Agreed. Yale is amazing and all, but I’ve really missed you girls. Too bad Zee’s not here.”
“We tried to get her to come with us but apparently spending Thanksgiving with Mitch’s family was more enticing to her,” Hallie said before biting off a piece of the roll she’d made for yesterday’s dinner.
“I don’t know why she’d think that,” Kendall scoffed in exaggerated disbelief. “We’re much cooler.”
Amused agreement rippled around the table, interrupted by Hallie’s phone buzzing in front of her. Heart jumping to her throat, she snatched it up. Had Christian finally reached out?
“You’re a little eager for that phone call.” Elise leaned over to catch a glimpse at the screen. “Is it Christian?”
Hallie frowned at the unfamiliar number. Setting the device back on the table, she slumped in her seat. “No, must be a telemarketer.”
“You’ve been awfully quiet about him since we’ve been here.” Her sister watched her carefully. “Everything okay between you two?”
Did she have the ability to read minds? How else would she ask the question right as Hallie’s worry for him plunged to new depths?
“I really don’t know,” she muttered.
“I thought things were developing between you two.” Kendall stood from her chair, walking her egg-smeared plate to the dishwasher.
Hallie washed her breakfast down with a glass of orange juice before responding. “So did I until his ex came back.”
Beej gasped. “You’ve been holding out on us. When did that happen?”
“Tuesday.”
Before she could add more, Brad shuffled into the kitchen, sleep lines creasing his cheeks.
“Morning, sleepyhead,” Kendall crooned as she returned to the table.
He ran both hands down the blond stubble on his jaw. “What’s up, girlies?” he mumbled, plucking the tea kettle off the stove and heading for the sink.
“Hallie’s giving us the dirt about Christian.” Elise shot a sympathetic smile in her sister’s direction. “His ex is back.”
That revelation lit a fire under Brad’s half-comatose state. He jerked away from the sink, water sloshing from the top of the kettle. His eyes flashed. “What does she want?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Hallie admitted amid a fresh wave of worry. She launched into what she’d found when getting back to the house with the girls on Tuesday. “Then he asked me to leave, and I haven’t heard from him since.”
Why hadn’t he at least texted her? Was he having second thoughts? He couldn’t possibly have decided to reconcile with his ex.
He wouldn’t.
Right?
Brad set the kettle on the stove, turning on the burner before taking a seat at the bar near the table. “She better not weasel her way back into a relationship.”
The force of his animosity surprised Hallie. But then she remembered Christian mentioning how much her cousin disliked Sabrina.
Before she could respond, the back door opened, revealing the one person she’d rather not have this conversation with. Tyler, bundled in a thick sweatshirt and joggers with a beanie covering his blond hair, stepped inside. Bags circled underneath his eyes, making him look like he hadn’t slept for days. Gemma, carrying Will, entered the house behind him, her dark curls framing her face in haphazardly beautiful waves.
“Whoa.” Brad chuckled. “Rough night?”
“Remind me again why we haven’t moved this shindig to a larger location?” Tyler pulled a carton of baby yogurt from the fridge while his wife lowered Will into Elise’s outstretched arms before plucking a banana and apple from the fruit basket on one counter. “Gem found some really nice vacation homes in the mountains that would fit the family better. Think of it. No one would have to sleep in tents in the backyard. Spending the night outside in fifty-degree weather might’ve been fun when I was younger, but not anymore.”
Hallie wasn’t opposed to camping, but not in November. Whichwas why she was perfectly fine letting her brothers, and some cousins, have the backyard. She gladly claimed the floor of the living room every year.
