Page 30 of Sunday Morning

My glutes tightened, and I pretended that it was an accident. But who was I kidding? Nothing he did was by accident.

Isaac snatched a plate and loaded it with food. “It was a start, but they didn’t have my favorite turkey sandwiches.”

“I’m surprised you stayed,” Violet murmured without giving it much thought.

However, I couldn’t think of anything else as I gawked at Isaac’s mountain of food. When he glanced up at me, I scowled at him.

“Did you wet your pants?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes before heading toward the back door through the mudroom.

“Sarah!” Heather called. “Just in time.” She ran toward me and threw her arms around my neck. “I’m so glad my party was last weekend.Everyonehas theirs today.” After a quick hug, she looped her arm with mine, and we walked down the hill toward the enormous pile of brush and tree limbs.

“I wondered when you’d get here.” Matt smiled, and it was my favorite smile.

I felt complete adoration when he gave me that smile, and I would miss it when he left in the fall. There were some deep parts to our relationship, but it wasn’t anywhere close to standing at an altar and promising forever.

“Did you have a lot of people? I bet it was packed with every single person from church.”

“Of course,” I said as Heather wandered toward some of the other kids. I wrapped an arm around Matt and stole his can of Coke even though I was a Pepsi girl. “Did you think it was weird that your brother stayed after you and your parents left?” I took a few sips and handed the can back to him.

“No. He knew Coach Harvey might show up here.”

My eyebrows reached for my hairline. “You invited Coach Harvey?”

Matt smirked.

He did it just to upset his brother.

“Dude, let’s go hit some targets,” Tyler said to Matt.

The Corys had an area behind one of their barns with haystacks and empty can targets. Matt and his buddies liked to shoot BB guns.

“Coming?” Matt asked me.

I shook my head and hugged myself. “I’m cold. I’ll hangout by the fire.”

“There’s a hoodie on my bed if you can sneak upstairs,” Matt said before leading a few of the guys toward the barn.

I headed up the hill, staring at my feet to avoid making eye contact with Isaac sitting on the concrete steps at the back door. “Some of the guys are shooting BB guns behind the barn. You should go make friends.”

“I have you, Sunday Morning. What other friends could I possibly need?”

“We’re not friends. You’re just my boyfriend’s brother, who I tolerate.” I squeezed past him.

“Where are you going?”

“None of your beeswax.”

He chuckled. “Beeswax?”

I ignored him as the screen door shut behind me. Then I wormed my way through the people in the living room and dashed up the stairs when I didn’t think anyone was looking. After I returned to the main level, Violet and some of the Corys’ extended family pulled me aside to ask a million questions about my future plans. By the time I made it out back again, Isaac was nowhere in sight, and I relaxed while trekking toward the barn in Matt’s sweatshirt that was too long in the arms.

Before I reached the back side of the barn, I heard something inside—a guitar. I paused my steps for a few seconds and listened to the melancholy chords. Falling prey to my curiosity, I eased open the creaky door and wandered toward the weathered ladder to the loft, where there was light coming from the corner. When I reached the top, the boards whined beneath my steps, and the music stopped.

“Are you lost?” Isaac said as I peeked around the corner of the stacked hay bales. He sat beneath a utility light with asoft yellow glow cast over him. With one knee bent and the other outstretched, he hugged an acoustic guitar.

“How many guitars do you have?” I asked, ignoring his question.

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