Page 86 of Deacon

Watching him fight the bubble wrap brought Ink to mind. “So you haven’t asked Ink to help?”

The shift in Evan was immediate. His attention dropped, and Jade’s tape gun went quiet. “Uh, no.”

That answer carried none of his usual sparkle. “No?”

He gave a careful shrug that tried too hard for indifference. “You guys were right about him.”

My stomach sank before he said anything else. “Turns out I’m a little too much for him.” Evan tried for a smile and missed. “So. No hunky biker for me.”

Anger reached me before sympathy. Evan could make a joke out of almost anything except a wound he was still standing inside. “Did something happen? Do I need to go kick someone’s ass?”

A small laugh escaped him. “No ass-kicking needed. He didn’t do anything awful.” His gaze settled somewhere beyond me. “He’s just got too much emotional baggage to deal with all of me.”

Jade’s face tightened with sympathy. I wrapped my arms around him. He held on hard, his usual performance stripped away.

“The right man is going to want all of you,” I said against his shoulder. “Every loud, ridiculous, fabulous inch.”

His laugh warmed my hair. I eased back enough to see him. “And when you find him, God help the rest of us.”

That finally broke through. Evan laughed properly, pulling Jade in with him. “Oh, Lord help you all. I will sparkle when I find him.”

The heaviness loosened. The heaviness loosened. He wiped beneath his eyes, his usual dramatic flair already beginning to return. “Now. Are we ready to let your father disapprove of your entire future?”

Absolutely not. “No.”

Jade resumed taping. “Same.”

The drive to Dad’s house felt offensively short. Familiar streets passed beneath soft afternoon light while my stomach tightened with every turn.

Evan studied the house when I parked. “If this goes badly, fake food poisoning remains available.”

His emergency plan appeared at nearly every uncomfortable family gathering. “You say that every time.”

“And yet you never let me use it.”

The problem was never the idea. It was Evan. I knew exactly how far he would take it. “Because you get theatrical and overcommit.”

His wounded expression made Jade smile. “That is a gift.”

At least one of us was enjoying herself.

Dad opened the door before we knocked, his gaze sweeping over us and lingering briefly on Evan. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

Roast chicken and rosemary pulled a memory loose. For a heartbeat I was ten again, grass on my knees while Mom moved around the kitchen. Then Matty’s voice brought me back.

Matty was already leaning against the counter with a beer, and his face warmed when Jade came in. “There’s my favorite Morgan.”

She gave him the same look she gave him every Sunday. “You tell Mom that every week.” The exchange was so familiar it softened the knot under my ribs.

“Your mother knows where she stands.”

I hugged him anyway.

Dinner began beneath the usual family camouflage. Evan kept Dad occupied with the Packers while Jade and Matty fought over the rolls, but the announcement sat heavy behind my ribs. Waiting only gave it more weight.

“I have something to tell you.”

Dad’s attention snapped to me. Matty stopped eating, and Jade went still beside me. “What is it?”