I look up when I hear the bell ring over the shop door. Expecting Leanna, I wave a hand when I see my older brother walking toward me.
“Jeremy?” I push to stand. “What are you doing here?”
Holding out his arms, he motions for me to embrace him. I do.
I’ve always found comfort in my oldest brother’s arms. He was the anchor that held me steady when my mom and his dad were sent to prison for stealing from the clients of the investment firm they ran together.
Jeremy took my brothers and me in and made sure we knew that his home was our home.
We fought through our mutual pain to build a strong sibling bond even though we’re not related by blood.
I take a step back after we hug. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you here?”
He looks around. “I’m here to buy my wife flowers.”
I know him better than that. When he wants flowers for Linny, he texts me and then insists I meet him somewhere for lunch with the bouquet in hand. Ever since I moved out, he’s been worried that I don’t eat enough.
I play along because when he’s ready to tell me why he’s really here, he will.
“What do you have in mind, Mr. Weston?” I tap a finger to my forehead. “If memory serves me correctly, your wife likes roses.”
“My wife likes a lot of things.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “You’d be interested to know what went on in our bedroom last night.”
“Stop.” I scrunch my nose. “I don’t want to know about that. I’m your sister. We don’t talk about stuff like that.”
“Linny couldn’t stop talking about you before she fell asleep.” He reaches forward to inch my pink sweater up my arm to my shoulder. “She told me about Liam.”
“What’s there to tell?” I quip.
The only conversation Linny and I have had about Liam was focused on his ex-girlfriends. I thought she forgot all about him.
“She told me he has some baggage.” He narrows his brown eyes. “Are you still seeing him?”
“Why are you asking me that?” I go for the confrontational approach because it’s served me well in the past.
He rolls his eyes. “Linny sent me down here to find out why you were so over-the-moon happy yesterday.”
Shrugging a shoulder, I chuckle. “It’s a crime to be happy?”
“If it is you better lock me up and toss the key in the Hudson River because I am one happy son-of-a-bitch.”
I love knowing that Jeremy has found the happiness he deserves. He’s done so much for my brothers and I. He deserves to spend the rest of his life with the woman he loves raising their daughter.
“I don’t care about how much baggage anyone carries on their back.” He pats the shoulder of his gray suit jacket. “I care about the heart beating in your chest. I don’t want this Liam guy to damage that. If he does, I’m going to hunt him down.”
“We’re having fun,” I admit. “I like him, Jeremy. He’s good to me.”
“What about the reappearing exes?”
“They’ve disappeared into the ether.” I wave a hand over my head. “They are officially out of sight and out of mind.”
“Keep them that way,” he says with a glance at the watch on his wrist. “Put together something for Linny and something pink for Cass. I’ll meet you at Crispy Biscuit at noon.”
It’s one of my favorite diners. Jeremy loves the food there too.
“I’ll be there.”
Leaning forward, he plants a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. “I’m still getting used to this independent, grown-up version ofyou, so look the other way if I overstep a boundary or two along the way.”
