“That’s a promise.” I laugh. “Let’s find the rest of the group.”
Hopefully, she can clear the air with her sister. She’s so used to being treated like the outcast because she doesn’t want the same things that her first instinct is to go into defense mode. Hopefully, that can change before we leave. We only have one more full day, and I want them all to be on the same page.
Not for them, but for Paula. She needs to know her family has her back even if she’s not working for Starlit Fields.
“You want to help with the grill?” Peter asks as I come into the kitchen.
“Sure.” Luckily, I know what I’m doing when it comes to grilling. It’s one of the things my dad had me help him with when I was living at home.
Mom always did theatre and music things with me. With Dad, we grilled and watched football. He’d come to my shows, but he didn’t have the same passion for it my mom did. Well, still does. She always asks if I want to see a play if the stars align while I’m in town.
“You may want to get a jacket before we head out there. We have the outdoor heater, but it’s still chilly.”
“I’ll be right back.”
I rush down the hallway and to our room. That has a nice ring to it. Too bad it’s only ours one more night. At least then we can have some privacy.
Paula is sitting on the bed with her phone in her hands.
“What are you looking at?”
She looks up, teary-eyed, and wipes her face. “It’s the picture my sister took.”
“Wow. It’s so bad it’s making you cry?” I sit down next to her. “It’s because of me, right?”
“No, weirdo.” She smacks my chest. “It’s not because of you. It’s a really great picture.”
I don’t make any movements to let her have her moment. It must be a really good picture if she’s rendered speechless.
“Can I see it? Or, are you keeping it a secret from me.”
She laughs before leaning on my shoulder. “I’m not keeping it to myself. Just savoring the moment.”
“Did you and Piper talk?” Honestly, the picture doesn’t mean as much to me as her relationship with her sister. She’s one of the few siblings Paula is close to. I know arguments happen in families, but I think if everyone here talked more, there wouldn’t be so many hard feelings toward each other.
“Yeah.” She nods. “It was exactly like you said. She thought it was something we would cherish. I apologized so much for flying off the handle. She’s the one I trust most in this family and I treated her like crap.”
“As long as things are good between you now, then I’d say it was a good talk.”
“Yeah, we’re cool. Lucky for me, she knows I only need time. She was more embarrassed because you’re the one who caught her taking the picture.”
“I’m used to it.” I wave the comment away. “I’m sure some of Crooked Halo’s fans have some pretty horrible pictures of me.”
“But this isn’t horrible.” She grabs her phone and lifts it to my face. “It’s perfect.”
She’s not wrong. The sun is illuminating us through the windows and she caught the exact moment I kissed Paula’s forehead. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was a posed picture. This photo is something I’ll treasure for a long time.
Despite the meltdown she was having, she looks comfortable and completely at ease in my embrace. People say a picture is worth a thousand words, but thisone leaves me without them. All I see is adoration and the inkling of something more. Something I don’t want to put a name to because I know Paula will think it’s too early for those kind of declarations. But when you know, you know. And I know without a doubt I’m falling head over heels for her.
“Can you send that to me?”
“Yeah.” She presses a few buttons and my phone dings in my pocket. “Why were you rushing in here?”
“Oh, I was getting a jacket. Peter’s probably waiting on me.”
“For what?”
“Grilling dinner.”
