There are kids everywhere. Most of them – I think – are related in some way or form to me. There are dogs, as well. Two of them are chasing each other in ever-widening circles, their tongues lolling out like they’re living their best lives.
I swear there’s even a squirrel, sitting on the side wall, scowling at me as I decide whether to get out of my car or turn around.
My brother, Hudson, has gone full Snow White since he and Ayda met Skyler and he fell in love with her. He has it all now, the big house, the huge family, and apparently, the mandate that Sunday mornings are open house for family breakfast.
He sent me a text this morning. And to be fair, I have nothing else to do. Apart from annoying the pretty bookshop and art gallery owner who looks at me like I’m the devil in dark jeans.
About a millisecond after I open the car door and climb out, I’m surrounded. Ayda – my eldest niece, who I’m prettysure is nine now, possibly ten – is first, running up to me and throwing her arms around my waist. Her brother toddles behind, a thumb firmly stuck in his mouth as he tries to figure out who I am.
And then there are the dogs. Distracted from their zoomies, they make a beeline for me.
Christ, this place is different from how it was when we were all kids. The Captain’s House was built in the last century, and it’s the house my siblings and I were all born in. Six of us, running around these rooms, shouting and playing with each other like we were the luckiest kids in the world.
Until we weren’t.
It was also completely neglected. Benignly by our mother, who was too busy painting to notice that the kitchen needed remodeling, and deliberately by our father, who spent every dime he could on gambling and alcohol instead of on the kitchen or the holes in the roof.
But now it belongs to Hudson and Skyler, and it’s immaculate. The exterior has been completely refinished, a new roof put on, the widow’s walk at the top repaved, and the round cupola painted into an inch of its life. The interior is just as updated, thanks to Autumn and her designs.
“Uncle Zach, you came! Dad said you would be here,” Ayda says, still holding onto me like she’s scared I might disappear.
I ruffle her hair. “Who said you were allowed to grow up?” I ask her. “I swear you’ve grown another six inches since I last saw you.”
She grins up at me. “I can’t help it. It just keeps happening.”
Over her dark hair, I see Hudson appear in the doorway. Ayda’s brother, Milo, toddles back over to him, and Hudsonscoops him up in his arms, balancing him on one hip all while holding a coffee mug.
I lift a brow, because his ability to multitask is impressive.
With Ayda’s arms still wrapped around me, I walk toward him, just as Skyler appears next to him.
“Look at the prodigal brother returning,” she says, her eyes dancing with delight at my appearance.
I’ve always liked Skyler. She makes my brother happy, and that’s no mean feat. Hudson has been a grumpy ass since our dad gambled away everything we had, including this house and all the land he owned on the island.
Hudson was determined to get it back. It took him years, along with help from friends and family, but he did it. Not that I doubted him for a moment.
“Who dat?” Milo asks, pointing his chubby finger at me.
Skyler laughs softly. “That’s your Uncle Zach. You’ve met him before.”
“But clearly not enough,” Hudson says pointedly, and I have the good grace to grimace. “Coffee?” he asks.
“Sounds good.”
I follow them inside to find more of my family huddled in the kitchen. My other brother, Asher and his wife Francie are leaning over a crossword, bickering about the answers. Autumn and her husband Parker are cooing at their new baby, Elijah, who looks exactly like his dad.
And then Eden and West are looking out of the window toward the ocean, Eden murmuring in his ear, probably about creating a sustainable electricity station on the land, because my baby sister is all about saving the world, one ecological project at a time.
They all greet me as I walk in, so damn happy to see me that it makes my chest tighten.
Because they don’t know. And when I tell them, the shit will hit the fan so fast the whole island’s gonna stink.
Hudson pours me a coffee and offers me a pastry. I grab it and eat, because I swear I’ll need the energy to deal with my family.
“Don’t tell me,” I say, when I’ve swallowed down the mouthful. “Wyatt’s hiding in the laundry room.” Because he’s the only one of my siblings who isn’t here.
Autumn laughs. “Sadly not. We did invite him but…”
