He holds up his hands. “We’ve been readingA Little Princess. She’s picked up some vocabulary.”
“I’m veryliterarynow,” Chloe announces, over-enunciating each syllable with the confidence of someone who learned the word yesterday and has been waiting for a chance to use it.
The front door opens and heavy footsteps sound down the hall. I turn and Dominic appears in the kitchen doorway.
“Hey,” I say. “Good to see you. You’re not as late as I thought you were going to be.”
“Yeah, I had to make a stop on the way and thought traffic would be worse.” His voice is casual, but there’s a slight smug look to him that throws me off. Something’s up.
“Well, I’m glad to see you too,” Alex says, glancing up from the stove. “But you better not have shown up empty-handed to Thanksgiving dinner.”
The smug smile grows. “Oh, I didn’t show up empty-handed.”
And that’s when Jack and Lark step into view from the hallway behind him, both of them grinning like they’ve just pulled off the heist of the century.
My jaw drops. We all thought they were doing Thanksgiving with Lark’s family in California this year.
“UNCLE JACK! UNCLE JACK!” Chloe squeals. “YOU’RE HERE! YOU’RE ACTUALLY HERE!”
“Monster!” Jack calls out, his affectionate nickname for her since she was a baby, and drops into a crouch just in time to catch her as she launches herself at him. He scoops her up, spinning her.
Maren makes a sound that’s half laugh, half sob and crosses the kitchen in about three steps to tackle Lark in a hug that nearly knocks them both into the doorframe. They’re both laughing, holding onto each other tight, talking over each other in that way they have where neither of them finishes a sentence but they both seem to understand perfectly what the other is saying.
“Surprise,” Jack says, looking at the rest of us over Chloe’s head, wearing that grin that’s gotten him out of trouble his entire life. “Thought we’d crash the party. Hope that’s okay.”
“I thought you were in California!” Maren pulls back from Lark to look at both of them, her hands still gripping Lark’s arms like she might disappear. “You said you were doing Thanksgiving with your family!”
Lark’s practically bouncing. “We did early Thanksgiving three days ago because my parents are flying to Mexico tomorrow for my cousin’s birthday. It’s this whole thing. So we celebrated early and Jack and I figured, why not surprise everyone?”
“Best surprise ever,” Maren says, pulling her into another hug. “Best surprise in the history of surprises.”
Calvin moves over to clap Jack on the back, grinning wide.Alex has abandoned the gravy entirely to join the chaos, wiping his hands on his apron. Dominic’s standing back with his arms crossed, looking enormously satisfied with himself.
I walk over to my youngest brother and he sets Chloe down—though she immediately attaches herself to his leg like a barnacle—and pulls me into a tight hug.
“Missed you, man,” he says into my shoulder.
We’ve barely talked over the past few months. Just quick texts here and there, squeezed between his race schedule and time zone differences and the general chaos of our respective lives. I hadn’t realized how much I missed him until right now.
“I missed you too.” I clap his back hard, then step back to look at him properly. “You look good, Jack. Looks like life is treating you well.”
He glances over at Lark, who’s still wrapped up with Maren, and his whole face softens. “Yeah. It’s been better than I ever could have imagined.”
I smile at that, and we all migrate back toward the kitchen in a chaotic group, everyone talking over each other, voices overlapping. Dom starts opening beers for everyone, passing them around. Maren’s already peppering Jack and Lark with questions about Monaco, about the racing season that just ended, about Lark’s music career and the album she’s been working on.
Jack leans against the counter next to me while Chloe hangs off his other arm like a barnacle that’s found its permanent home. He catches us up properly on everything that’s been happening.
“The season went well,” he says. “The car’s been performing better than expected, and it looks like we have a real shot at the championship next year. Potentially a driver’s championship, which I’m sure Luca and I will have fun battling out.”
“Oooh,” Chloe says, tugging on his arm. “Does that mean we can come to more races?” She looks back at me with those hopeful eyes that make it impossible to say no to anything.
“Sounds like we’re gonna have to, huh?” I ruffle her hair and she beams up at me.
“You better,” Jack says to her. “You’re my little good luck charm. I need you in the stands cheering me on.” She squeals, and he laughs, scooping her back up.
Lark appears at Jack’s side, leaning into him comfortably. “And we finally finished the spare bedroom, so it’s easier for you guys to come stay. Now that the tour’s wrapped, I actually have some free time.” She pauses. “Well, kind of. Sort of. Theoretically.”
Maren laughs. “How’s the album coming?”
