“Hey, Jer? ” I asked him before we stepped inside of the bigger of the two houses. “Do you miss Manhattan?”
He really was a city boy. I didn’t know how long he was going to hold out here. He blinked. “Yes. But I missed you more, so I’m good.”
“Really? What if I can never go back?”
He kissed my temple. Wow. He smelled really good. Like sandalwood. I breathed him in. He seemed like he was doing the same to me. “You’re going to be eighteen in less than a year. You can go back then for sure if we can’t figure out something before.”
It wasn’t just me who couldn’t go back right then. Phoenix was doing really well here. Did he ever want to go back? Should he?
I looked at his strong profile. Had he really thought I’d just settled for him?
He turned to me. “Alatheia.” Oh, it was serious if he wasn’t calling me Red. “In that scenario you gave me where you had a crush but wouldn’t speak to me? Yeah, I’d never have let you not speak to me. Why do you think I stole your wallet?”
We stepped inside, my head whirling. Wow. Okay. I was going to have to mull over that. But now we were inside of Sam’shouse. His very big house with a big gaping chandelier. But it was the only fancy thing I could see because otherwise it looked like chaos. Happy chaos. I smiled. This was once what I had imagined having a family looked like.
Three little girls—I didn’t know how old they were— ran through the house shouting, one of them holding a doll in the air like it was a prize she was protecting. The other two shrieked. In the corner, Jules and Barrett spoke to two guys I didn’t know—they were probably Sam’s brothers. I didn’t see Sam anywhere until I spotted him across the house standing on the porch by himself.
There were three older men mi lling about— one of them seemed to be picking up toys— and I heard a woman’s voice from the kitchen talking about orange juice.
Phoenix nodded toward the porch. “Be right back.”
He walked quickly toward Sam, and I dropped my gaze. Whatever went on between them wasn’t my business unless he proved to be some kind of liar who was involved in what had happened. But seeing this house? I doubted it. This was a happy family.
“Hey.” One of the guys raised his hand to us. “Jeremy. You found her.”
He put his arm around me. “I’ll always find her.” He looked down at me. “Even if it takes four months. I’m sorry that took so long.”
“Jeremy, it’s okay. I know you were doing everything you could do. It’s okay to let that go.”
“Maybe someday but not yet.”
We walked together toward the crowd, and as we reached them, I took off my hat. It was hot inside. Just better to take it off. The whole town knew what I looked like by now or had heard.
Barrett took my hand. “Alatheia, these are Sam’s older brothers. This is Jadon and Carl.” He motioned to both of them. They looked a lot like Sam, same smile, same facial structure.
“Oh my gosh, what happened to your hair?” A little girl behind me shouted. It was partially a question, partially a shock.
Carl’s eyes widened. “Kelly, you can’t talk like that. It’s not polite.”
“No, it’s okay.” I didn’t have to look at my guys; I could feel how stiff they had gotten. I needed to fix this if we were going to progress. I got down on her level. “I had it shaved. It’s pretty funny looking, right?”
I wasn’t going to tell this eight-year-old—at least I was pretty sure she was eight, maybe nine—what happened to my head.
She grinned and had two dimples. “Yes.”
“Right. So, it’s fuzzy. Want to feel it?”
Her smile broadened when she did. “Do you like it like that?”
“No but it’ll grow back. That’s what hair does.”
That must have satisfied her because she ran back up. I stood up straight. “Hi, I’m Alatheia.”
Jadon opened and closed his mouth. “Do girls like this just fall from the sky in Manhattan? Like for real? How did you manage this woman?”
“No,” all three of them answered together. Julian must not have liked that because he pulled me against his side. I was happy to be there. It was a comfortable place.
“Here we are. Orange juice.” A brightly smiling woman who had gray hair and kind brown eyes exited the kitchen. “Sorry this took so long. Anyone want some juice?”
