“Let me.”
If her family heard that I dragged Amanda out of my grandparents’ anniversary party last night and have come to gloat, they’re going to have to gloat to me.
That’ll be awkward for them.
If they’re here to offer support, great.
They can do that for me, too, if they mean it.
Amanda lunges for her suitcase. I dash to the door.
My bag is still in the living room, and it takes me about three seconds to grab shorts and pull them on before I open the door after a second knock.
I take one look at who’s standing there, though, and I shut it before he can say a word.
“Honey, it’s for you,” I call.
Front windows are still open. We forgot to close those.
He can hear me.
Amanda dashes into the living room, still in my T-shirt, but with pajama pants added beneath it. Her cheeks are stained pink and her eyes hold that half-wary, half-excited look of someone who’s not sure they want the surprise on the other side of the door.
“It’s my uncle,” I say quietly as she joins me at the door.
“He wants to talk to me?” she whispers.
“I have no idea what he wants, but if he wants to talk to me, he’ll have to apologize to you first.”
She squeezes my hand. “You don’t have to—”
“This one’s for me.”
I haven’t checked my phone yet today. No idea how many members of my family have tried to get in touch. No idea if I’m facing screen after screen full of insults and yelling, or if there are excuses and apologies in the mix.
I just know that if my family insists on continuing to take joy in fighting with the Andersons, I’m done.
My dad’s coming around. Lorelei’s good. Esme’s good.
If my grandparents and my uncle want to pick a feud over family, when they can’t even tell me what the fucking feud is about, then I’m just done.
Iwoulddate Amanda.
I’d pick her over family.
She doesn’t make me feel like a pawn in a game.
She makes me feel like her partner in doing something that no one else in our families ever had the courage or dignity to do.
“You don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to,” I tell her.
That earns me a devious smile. “You think I don’t want to talk to someone who insulted my fiancé so thoroughly and publicly last night that he made you leave your grandparents’ anniversary party?”
Oh, shit.
I might not have thought this all the way through.
But it’s too late. She’s flinging the door open and stepping out onto the porch. “Good morning, Uncle Rob. What can I do for you today?”
