“Listen, kiddo . . .”
“I’m all ears.”
I ruffle her hair and she shoos me off. “Even if I’m acting different, I’m still the same big brother you’ve always had. I’m still me, Stone, someone who wants nothing more than to spend this weekend spoiling you rotten.”
She blinks, shocked by my words. “Really?”
“Absolutely. Whatever you want to do, just name it.”
Natalie rubs her hands together devilishly. “This is going to be fun. Woo-hoo! Best weekend ever!” She spins toward Coco. “You can come over now. We’re done having our little tête-à-tête. It’s safe.”
Coco strolls over casually with Hercules, who walks slowly, as if he doesn’t like being led by Coco. That can’t be right. Hercules loves her. He loves everyone.
Natalie bends down and the lambicorn licks her nose. My sister giggles before wiping off the kiss.
“It’s safe, huh?” Coco says to Natalie but looks at me. Worry flits across her face until I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her into my side.
“It’s more than safe.” I press a kiss to her temple. “Natalie gets to do whatever she wants this weekend.”
“Whatever I want,” she seconds, tossing her arms into the air. “And that means tomorrow morning, we tube down the river.”
Coco places her warm hand on top of my shoulder. “Tubing? Isn’t it a little cold for that?”
I grab her hand and kiss the underside of it. “It’ll be fine.”
Chapter 35
Coco
“It’s too damn cold for this,” Stone exclaims the next morning, his breath heaving.
He stands in the chilly water, having jumped in to retrieve the stick that Natalie has lost.Again.About every ten minutes or so, the stick she uses to push away from the creek’s edge gets lodged between rocks and she drops it, leaving her big brother to jump in and save it.
Natalie presses her lips together, but the sparkle in her eyes gives her away.The little gremlin is absolutely doing this on purpose.
Methinks the tiny puppet master is pulling strings just to watch her brother suffer in soggy swim trunks.
He grabs the stick before it can float away and hands it back to her. “Aren’t you cold?”
“Nope.” She gestures with the stick like she’s the conductor of a river symphony. “I’m just getting started. After this, we’re having unicorn waffles for brunch.”
Natalie floats past us, and Stone rubs a hand down his cheek like he takes waffles seriously. “I could go for unicorn waffles. What about you?”
“I’m just tagging along,” I reply, even though it feels like I’ve been folded into something warm and impossibly perfect. “Today is about y’all. Whatever you want to do, I’m up for it.”
He shoots me a firm look. “You’re more than justtagging along. Hey, Natalie!”
“Yeah?” she calls back.
“Is Coco just tagging along?”
“No! She’s with us all the way—from tubing to waffles! She’s part of the group. There’s no justtagging along.”
“See? What’d I tell you?” Stone sinks back onto his tube. “Waffles it is. And after that, no more cold river water.”
A splash hits the surface and Natalie twists her body to look back at us. “I lost it again!”
He shakes his head and jumps from the tube. “That’s it. I’m walking the rest of the way. I’ll be the guy dragging a tube and my dignity downriver.”
