He held my hand and grinned at me. "You're so beautiful," he said. "I’m relieved you're here. Can you never leave me again, please?"
His question was in a lighthearted, joking tone, and I just laughed and said, "I wish!" but I meant it. I wanted to stay with him forever, and deep down, I knew he wanted me to.
"Come on, everyone's waiting for you," he said.
He took my luggage and closed the long handle, grabbing and holding it by the short one. He was so strong that he handled my suitcase like it weighed nothing, even though the bowl alone was eight pounds—I had weighed it.
It felt natural and normal to be walking behind EJ.
The next few minutes seemed like a complete whirlwind.
His parents were there. Eddie Decker, for goodness' sake. His sister and her husband were there. And there were his grandparents and two ofhis aunts. I was pretty sure they asked questions one at a time, but it felt a bit like they were a firing squad and I was just standing in the entryway, answering questions and doing my best to keep up. It was all so much to take in that it took me a second to realize that EJ was holding my hand. He had not let me go, and he was holding onto me through all of their greetings. I had even hugged a few of them, and I was pretty sure he had never let me go. The whole scene was all a bit like a dream, though, so I couldn’t be sure.
Everyone sort of moved with us toward the kitchen as we talked, disbursing a bit as we went along. Caroline Decker, EJ's mom, came to walk beside me. She was beautiful and well put together, and I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.
"I'm so happy to meet you, Savannah," she said sweetly. "I like what you've done with my son's hair," she continued.
"Thank you. EJ's got great hair."
"You must be some kind of hairdresser if my son drives to Pennsylvania for a haircut."
"The last time I drove there, I didn't even get one," EJ said.
"I'm joking, we knew it was more than the haircuts taking him on those road trips. After a season or two on the road with a professional sports team, Pittsburgh doesn't seem like that much of a haul, anyway."
"Yeah, it's not that bad," he said to his mom.
"Savannah, EJ said you made friends with him that summer he broke his foot." Caroline said, smiling at me.
"We did spend time together that summer," I agreed with a smile. "I was remembering it just a second ago, and I could picture him hopping on one foot."
Everyone laughed at my comment, and it made me feel like a million bucks.
"So, he was staying at our house in Pontiac when he met you," his grandma said.
"We were just talking about how you knew each other back then," Eddie said.
"Yeah, I figured there was a woman behind all that smiling and that haircut," Pa said, causing us all to laugh.
I made a regretful face. "Sorry about the haircut," I said, causing everyone to laugh more.
"I was just telling her what a good job she does on EJ's hair now," Caroline said sweetly. "He drives to Pittsburgh. That's where her salon is."
Their grandfather replied to her, but I couldn’t hear him because Lila came up to us they were still talking. She stood right in our way, grinning and demanding my attention. I liked her instantly. "My husband is the one who told him to call you," Lila said, looking straight at me.
"Your husband's Caleb, right?" I said, smiling at her.
"Yes!" she agreed.
She was beautiful with dark hair and light eyes.
"I heard about that," I said. I wanted to say, 'I guess I have Caleb to thank for reuniting me with the love of my life,' but I didn't. "I'm thankful for whatever Caleb said to him," I said instead. "Which one is Caleb?" I asked, glancing around. "Oh, yes. I've seen the television show."
"What? My ears are burning, and it's coming from over here," Caleb said, coming up to us.
"I'll be right back, I'm going to set this over there," EJ said, squeezing my hand and talking to me. He left us so that he could stash my bag on the other side of the room.
"We were saying that you're responsible for my brother calling Savannah," Lila said to Caleb.
