THEO
“Ihave to hand it to you,” Theo said. “This place reallyiskind of perfect.”
The two of them were back inside now. They had pushed a bunch of the most comfortable-looking furniture over to the fire and found some blankets in a wicker container at one end of the room. It was a makeshift sleeping arrangement, but as Theo punched a throw pillow into shape behind his head, he had to admit that it was a lot more comfortable than he had any right to expect.
“You really like it?” Harper asked him.
“I really do,” he said. “I think we should go with this for the wedding.”
“Not the Crystal Ballroom?”
“No, you were right about that place. It’s completely impersonal. It’ll look beautiful in the pictures, but it won’t make themfeelanything.”
“I thought the same thing,” Harper said. “I’m glad you see it that way. I wasn’t sure you would.”
“This place reminds me of a vacation we took once,” Theo said.
“You mean, before your dad left?”
“No, actually. Much later.” He smiled, remembering. It had been so long since he had thought about this. “I went to work as soon as I was old enough to get a job so I could help support the family, and I saved up as much money as I could. In my senior year of high school, I’d gotten enough together to treat Max and our mom to a little getaway. We got a cabin for the weekend — it wasn’t spacious or fancy like this place, but the aesthetic was similar. The exposed woodwork, the fire, even the colors, the deep greens and browns. It all reminds me of that place and that trip. It’s such a lovely memory. And I’m sure Max will be reminded of the same thing when he sees it.”
“Then it’s perfect,” Harper said, her voice warm and satisfied. “That’s exactly what I want. Nostalgia is so powerful. And I think there’s something beautiful about reflecting on moments from your past as you step into the future.”
Theo smiled to himself in the dark. That was such a Harper thing to say. She was always coming out with stuff like that — stuff that sounded like she must have read it in a book of poems or something. At first, he had found it strange, but now it was such a quintessential part of who she was that he couldn’t help being charmed by it. She wasn’t putting on a show when she said things like that, she meant it genuinely. And that made it kind of beautiful.
Besides, she was right. Therewassomething sweet about the idea of Max tying the memories from their shared childhood intothe future he was making with Tara. With their own children. It united the family, which was what marriage was all about. And for the first time since this wedding had been announced, Theo could see the point of what they were trying to do here. He could understand the desire to formalize the relationship between Max and Tara. Getting married… it still wasn’t for him, but he thought he could begin to understand why it might be for his brother. And maybe he could even agree that Max was making the right decision.
“It’s a little chilly in here,” Harper said.
He looked at her. “You’re cold?”
“I’m used to sleeping with more blankets.”
“Should we look around? Maybe there are more around here somewhere.”
“No, I think we got them all.” The problem was that all the blankets they had were so thin. They would have been great for laying over your lap during a long fireside chat, but for sleeping under, they felt subpar. He wasn’t surprised that she was cold. He was a little chilly himself.
He thought for a moment. Then he got up, walked around to the far side of the couch he’d been lying on, and pushed it toward Harper.
She sat up on her own couch. “What are you doing?”
“It’ll be warmer if we’re closer together,” he said.
She watched as he pushed his couch all the way over to hers. He stopped just short of the point where they would have collided. It felt weird to have themthatclose. It would have been like sharing a bed.
“You may as well,” she said. “If there’s only going to be a foot between us anyway.”
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable,” she told him. “It’s all right. We’re already locked in here together, right? This is already weird. It’s not going to bother me if we get a little bit closer.”
He nodded. Something about the way she’d phrased that had his heart pounding madly in his chest. Half of him wished that they could turn on the lights, that they could break the tension in the room. The other half of him was strangely glad that it wasn’t an option.
He pushed his couch right up against hers. Then he threw his leg over the back and climbed onto the shared space he’d created for them. He positioned himself so that his head and hers were at opposite ends, so they were facing one another, and leaned back against the arm.
She watched him as he got settled, her eyes glinting in the darkness, saying nothing.
“This okay?” he asked.
