"Alright."
***
Looks like everyone decided to come to dinner. Cassandra called ahead and booked a table big enough for ten—if you count Willow.
And somehow…everyone’s getting along?
It’s kind of freaking me out. Though Mom’s using the baby as a distraction, avoiding eye contact with Avery or me for more than a few seconds, constantly asking Cassandra if she can help in some way. Much to Roxanne Herring’s disappointment, my big sister and Harley have everything under control.
Also? Mom’s a total baby hog. I had to pry Willow from her grip just to sneak in a quick cuddle before her next feed.
But apparently, Willow finds me comfortable. She’s been using me as her personal mattress for the last hour.
Avery, Harley, Cole, and my dad have spent the entire dinner talking about sports. I thought it would be awkward. I thought Dad would make it hard for my husband to even breathe. I didn’t think Avery would even want to talk to anyone, especially since he’s barely spoken to me. But I’ve never been happier to be wrong.
"So," Cassandra says loud enough for everyone at the table to hear, though I know in my gut she’s talking to one person in particular. Avery shifts in his seat beside me, uncomfortable, while Willow squirms at the sound of her mom’s voice.
I catch Lizzie’s head snap toward Cass, bracing for whatever’s about to come next.
"So." Avery clears his throat, the corners of his lips tugging up—just barely. He can feel the weight of everyone’s eyes on him, but he doesn’t seem to care. His eyes are firmly locked on Cassandra’s.
"Olive?" She raises her brow, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn’t say my name to get my attention. No, she said it like a question, aimed at Avery. Like she’s trying to kick off a conversation they’ve already been having in their heads.
"Olive." Avery nods, draping his arm across the back of my chair, and kisses my temple. My body melts into his. Cassandra’seyes flick from him to me. With a slight tilt of her head, she smiles in approval at us.
"You won't hurt her?" she asks. Mom’s cutlery clatters loudly against her salad bowl.
"Momma Cass is fiery, I like it." Jenna snickers while Cole pins her with a look. She throws her hands up in surrender, and he kisses her shoulder.
Cassandra might sound like the protective big sister just trying to guard my heart, but everyone here knows what she really meant. That question had two edges.
Hurt…orhurt.
As much as I hope Avery’s not offended by the double-edged dagger my sister just tossed at him, his face is unreadable.
He could be offended.
He could be fucking pissed.
Either way, he doesn’t let it show.
"I won’t." His brows knit as he lifts his ice-cold glass of water, takes a sip, then sets it back on the table. "But…"
"But? Come on, I was just starting to think I could like you, Jones." Cassandra slouches back into her seat with a defeated sigh. Dad chokes on his beer but doesn’t say a word. This is not a battle he wants to fight. Mom rises from the table and gently lifts Willow from my arms. I let her go, not sure how awkward this is about to get.
"But," he continues, "who’s to say she won’t be the one to hurt me?"
Talk about a loaded question.I swallow the lump in my throat, my body going stiff under the heat of my mom’s stare.
I won’t.The words hover on the tip of my tongue, so close to spilling across this table for everyone to hear. But those words and the weight behind them, it feels like something meant for just him and me.
No one else.
Because to me, those two words carry just as much weight as the famous three. The ones that have been clawing their way to the surface since that night in Florida.
And I’ve been too much of a chickenshit to do anything about it.
The silence is thick enough to taste.
