He smiled tiredly, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “Any time. Thank you for having us over. I know our family isn’t exactly the most wanted in town right now.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, but thankfully, Wyatt stepped in to save the day. “Don’t count on some happy meal. We’re not known for our family gatherings.”
I ignored the semi-hostile tone and tried to lighten the mood. “You don’t normally celebrate?”
He took a beer from my dad, shaking his head. “We’re not exactly the type of family that spends time together.”
The others drifted off, chatting about things around town, but Wyatt stuck close to me. I didn’t quite understand why until Austin came out of the bathroom and his eyes skated over me. At least, I hoped that was why he was sticking close.
Wyatt narrowed his gaze at his brother, stepping closer to me. “Is there a reason you decided to invite us here tonight?”
“W-what?” I asked, swallowing hard as he stepped into my space.
“A woman like you…haven’t seen you hang around with anyone like us since high school. Which begs the question, what could you possibly want with an outcast family like ours?”
I took a step back, uncomfortable with how close he was getting and that disturbing look in his eyes. I glanced over to my family, but they were all busy chatting, completely unaware that I was being cornered.
But I wasn’t usually scared this easily, and I wasn’t going to allow him to frighten me off now. Standing taller, I pushed into his space, making it clear that I wasn’t backing down.
“I didn’t invite you here. You have my mother to thank for that.”
“You could have told her no.”
“She had already invited you. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t step foot near anyone in your family ever again.”
I made it clear that his intimidation tactics weren’t going to work before I shoved away from him to finish up with the dinner. But even as I started working on the potatoes, a twinge of guilt washed over me. The only person I had a problem with in this family was Austin.
But I was beginning to think that would soon extend to Wyatt.
By the time dinner was ready, I had the table set with my best dishes. Not that they were anything special, but since I didn’t normally decorate a table, I thought it looked pretty nice. I brought over the turkey, grinning at how perfect it turned out, considering how late I got started on everything.
Thankfully, my headache had receded to the back of my head and was nothing more than a dull throb by now. As much as I wanted a glass of wine, I wasn’t going to tempt fate and risk making myself feel worse.
“Oh, that looks wonderful, darling.”
“It does,” John beamed, raising a glass. “To our lovely hostess. For this wonderful meal. Thank you for allowing us to join you on this special day.”
I smiled, forcing myself not to open my mouth and tell him I had nothing to do with the invitation. Mom would be mortified if I said anything like that.
Before we could all saycheersand end this uncomfortable moment, Austin shoved to his feet, his beer in hand.
“It’s great, isn’t it? Being together like this. Neighbors and people you used to call friends.” His eyes narrowed on me at that last comment, but I kept my mouth shut. “I mean, if you thinkabout it, we’re damn lucky we even have my brother here with us today,” he said, clapping Clay on the shoulder.
“Austin,” Wyatt warned.
“You know, it was about this time, just a little over seven years ago, that we lost the brother we all knew and were left with this shell of a man.”
He gripped Clay’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. As for Clay, he didn’t seem to really understand what was going on. He was checking out all the food on the table, completely oblivious to the conversation around us.
“A terrible tragedy,” my mother spoke up, still not able to read the room for what it was.
“But there’s someone in this room just as responsible for the state he’s in.”
Himself. He only had himself to blame for what happened. He was stupid enough to go drag racing in the first place. If he hadn’t decided to do that, his brother never would have gotten in that vehicle.
“To Cassidy.”
My gaze snapped up to meet his devil eyes, my heart hammering out of control as a sinister smile spread across his face. “After all, you were part of that crowd that taunted my brother.”
