Page 36 of Temporarily in Love

Brian walked into the kitchen, and his eyebrows rose in shock at seeing Declan at the table with me. I started working on the nose on my pumpkin, and pretended I didn’t see Brian’s questioning look.

Brian kissed Cora’s head and set her back down in her seat. “What’s Auntie Lila got you doing, munchkin?”

“We’re making jack-o'-lanterns!” Cora told him excitedly.

I continued to ignore Brian’s look as I popped out the nose and threw my pieces in the trash. I started working on the mouth while Declan began on his own jack-o'-lantern face.

“Hey, Declan. Did you actually take a day off at the brewery? I’m shocked!” Brian teased him.

Declan smiled. “Yeah, yeah. Well, ever since Nolan had a baby, he’s been on my case about work-life balance.”

Brian laughed. “Yeah, man, it’s like Avery completely transformed him. He’s no longer the biggest Grinch in all of Drakesville.”

“Wait, seriously?” I asked.

It was well known that Nolan hated Christmas, which I understood. Their parents had been on their way back from a Christmas party when they were hit by a drunk driver and killed. We had been twelve, and Nolan tried, but Declan knew his heart was never in the holidays after the accident.

“Oh, right, you don’t know,” Brian said.

“Know what?” I asked, peering at Declan.

“Oh, well, he put up Christmas decorations for Avery, and they got married on Christmas,” Declan explained.

I put my carving knife down. “Shut your face! I don’t believe it. Your brother?”

Declan pulled out his phone, swiped at it a few times, and then showed me a photo on the brewery’s Instagram page. Nolan was in a suit and Avery was wearing a cute vintage-style wedding dress with a flower crown on her head while they stood in front of a Christmas tree. Nolan smiled while he held onto Avery’s visibly pregnant belly.

“Wow. Nolan’s smiling in that! At Christmas!”

Declan laughed. “Yeah. She brings him out of his grumpy moods.”

Brian nudged me. “See? Those are the things you miss when you never come home.”

I frowned and couldn’t meet either of their eyes.

I heard a commotion from upstairs, and my sister came into the kitchen a few minutes later with Callie on her hip. Brian’s face lit up when he saw his wife. He put a hand on her still flat stomach and murmured something to her I couldn’t hear. Brian was always so sweet with my sister, and I was glad she got everything she wanted with him.

Declan and I continued to work on our pumpkins in silence. I kept thinking about what my niece asked. There was a time back in high school when I imagined our life together. We’d have the house with a dog and two kids. But I wanted to chase my dreams, so I let him go. And I had been a coward not speaking to him for so long. I could only give him as long as I was in town. This could only be a fling until I went home and sorted my life out.

“Are you two going to stay for dinner?” Kelsey asked.

“I can’t,” Declan said.

“Oh, right. It’s Sunday,” Kelsey said.

I eyed Declan in confusion. “What’s special about Sunday?”

He sighed. “Avery always makes us have family dinner together.”

“Oh.”

I popped out the smile on my jack-o'-lantern and threw out the chunks. I cleaned up my work and then held it up for Declan to see. A smile spread across his face, and he held up his own, and I laughed that we both did the same basic design.

“Quit copying me!” I teased and put my pumpkin down.

“It’s the only design I can do!”

My sister and her husband were watching us curiously, but I ignored them. Declan and I moved our pumpkins to the counter and then worked at getting rid of the newspaper we had laid on the kitchen table. I wiped down the table while he cleaned up the utensils.