Her words hit me hard. Wearefamily. Because even though Brie and I have only been together a short while, we’re forever. There’s no doubt about that anymore.
“Thank you,” I laugh, giving her another hug, the kind a brother might give a little sister. “I was hoping for these at Christmas.”
She beams. “I couldn’t wait that long.” She lowers her voice to a stage whisper. “But I have another idea for Christmas.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“I hope everyone likes Fred Rogers as much as Bob Ross.” She winks just as Tucker tugs at her pinkie, folding her into whatever he’s talking about with Senora Martinez.
“Thanks, Mara, I love them,” I holler, and drop the bag off in my room before hunting for Brie again.
“Seen Brie?” I ask Ethan quietly as Abbi and Nash chat politely. Tess’s brother is in the process of moving to Blue Ridge this weekend, so I appreciate him making an appearance.
Ethan shakes his head.
“Do you have lots of friends here from school?” Abbi asks Nash.
He tips his head toward me and Ethan. “I’d call these guys friends, but not really, no. I only lived in Blue Ridge for part of high school. What about you?” he asks her. “If you were away for ten years, was it hard to come back?”
Abbi smiles warmly at Ethan. “Easiest thing I ever did. Besides, Ethan’s sisters, my two best friends, live here still. And more people than I thought stuck around or came back.”
Ethan frowns down at his wife. “Like who?”
“Like Roxy. Kira.”
Nash shudders.
“What was that?” Abbi laughs.
“Just a pavlovian response to that name,” Nash says.
“What, Kira?” I ask, and he does it again, making us all laugh.
“There was a Kira at law school with me,” he explains. “People talk about the devil like it’s a man, but it’s not. Satan is a woman, and her name is Kira.”
Abbi’s in stitches. “Not this Kira, she can be intense and competitive, but she’s also the sweetest. You’d like her.”
Nash shakes his head. “Better to just keep a safe distance from anyone with that name.”
Ethan rolls his eyes. “Wuss.”
“What is this, seventh grade?” Nash says.
“If the shoe fits,” Ethan shrugs.
“No pressure,” Abbi says to Nash. “But once you’re settled, we’ll have a night out, you can meet some people, make some friends. And if one of those new friends happens to be named Kira Mehr, then”—her eyes widen— “What? What’s wrong?”
“Kira . . . Mehr?” Nash says. “KiraMehr?”
“Yeah,” Abbi says, drawing out the word.
“Fuck me,” he mutters.
I shake my head and walk away, searching for Brie again. Dev walks through the front door, and we nod our hellos from across the house. Lizzie barrels into me, wide-eyed.
“I was never here,” she whispers, before throwing herself over the couch.
Finn, her classmate, comes out from behind the kitchen island, Nerf gun at the ready as he searches for, presumably, Lizzie.
