Page 88 of Falling for You

Peeks his head back in, “Nice to meet you, Chloe.” Then the punk adds, “You’re a helluva lot better to look at than your brother. When you’re sick of that geek,” he nods in my direction, “give me a call.” He winks at her and I growl. Then he scurries away, his annoying laughter echoing through the hallway as he walks away.

“Your brother needs to find his own woman,” I tell Olivia.

“Fat chance of that happening since he rarely goes out in public.”

“She’s not wrong. He’s like a recluse.” Ethan’s struggling with his wig, how, I’m not sure, but he has it on sideways so Chloe sighs and walks over to him.

“Here, let me help,” Chloe says, putting the wig on his head and fixing the mess of fake hair so it looks smooth.

Liv and I share another look.

“Thanks,” Ethan’s voice is thick when he croaks out the single word and he wipes at his eyes.

“You’re welcome. It’s what I do.”

“Olivia looked beautiful that day of her friend’s wedding when you did her hair. She always does, but she took my breath away,” he tells her, paying her a compliment.

“You’re right. She is beautiful, but thank you. We had fun. She also made me a promise it looks like might come true.”

Liv squeals and jumps between them. “Oh my gosh! That’s right! Ethan. She’s the one who helped me see that I was pretty much in love with you. Remember how I told you later that night? Anyway — she was like,” Liv places a protective hand over her stomach and grins, “‘hey, you can name your children after me one day.’”

Chloe eyes Olivia’s stomach and I wonder what she’s thinking. “I was putting on a brave face. Your story about Ethan and confiding in me helped me get through the day without breaking down in tears. Only a few days before that is when I found out about having a brother. I think I was still in shock. And then mom died later that night.”

Liv pulls her in for a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

I rub Chloe’s back, and she steps into my embrace when Liv releases her. “She was in pain. It was time.”

“Not tonight, because we have a party to get going, but I want to know more. About you. And eventually her. But I’m not…”

“Ready. I get that.”

“Right.”

“Ethan?”

“Chloe?”

“I’m going to give you a hug. And it’s going to be awkward because you’re dressed like a woman and this time neither of us are going to be crying but I need to know that we’re okay.”

“We’re okay, Chloe.” He assures her, but she’s not satisfied with his response. She pulls him in for a hug, whispering something to him I can’t hear.

“Really?” she asks, pulling away.

“Really. No more blame. The past is behind us. Let’s move on and fix it.”

She hugs him and he closes his eyes, dropping his chin to her shoulder.

The strength she possesses is incredible. Humbling, even. She stood up for herself when Ethan was overstepping and trying to blame her, put him in his place.

I feel myself falling harder for her every day.

But right now, I know one day really soon I’ll be saying those three little words to her and praying she says them back.

I have no doubt that it won’t be an easy road, moving forward with the next stage of their lives as siblings. Figuring out their places with each other, and working through their issues.

But I know it will be okay. I see determination in each of them, wanting to make it work.

Now if I can just prove to her that any storm we encounter we can get through together, life will be good.

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