Page 164 of Champagne Nights

His question and the way he said it irritated me. “Lindsey isn’t dumping her. She has to go to Phoenix for two weeks for job training, and she doesn’t want to leave Leah home alone. I feel bad about that because I haven’t seen her in a long time. You haven’t either. She’s our sister.”

“Half-sister.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

I was really getting aggravated by Finn’s attitude. For years, the family tried to pretend that Leah didn’t exist. My dad always saw her as a mistake, and he figured that since she lived in Texas, she was out of sight, out of mind. He didn’t even know her. He didn’t want to get to know her. And my mom. She would never accept Leah because all she saw was the product of my father’s affair.

“I have to go, Finn. I have to be at the station early. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.”

“You too, bro.”

I went to bed and tried to put the ignorance of my brother out of my mind. But the one thing I couldn’t put to rest was the thought of Paisley. I would give anything right now to have her arms around me. As I lay there, I could still feel her soft lips on mine after I kissed her goodbye. Spending Thanksgiving with her and Leah was going to be great, and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect holiday. I closed my eyes, caught some z’s, and then worked a forty-eight-hour shift.

I stoodnear the baggage claim area, holding up a sign that said “Leah Roberts.” Her last name wasn’t Preston because Lindsey wanted her last name to be hers, not my father’s since he was never going to be in her life. I saw Leah coming down the escalator, and I held up the sign above my head with a big grin. She looked so beautiful and taller since I saw her last. She saw me and smiled as she ran to me. I picked her up and spun her around.

“Look at you. You grew!” I smiled as I signed. “You’re gorgeous.”

“I’m so happy to be here. Thank you for letting me stay with you. I want you to tell me all about this girl named Paisley.”

“I will. Are you hungry?” I signed.

“Yes. I’m starving.”

“I’ll tell you all about her over breakfast.”

I grabbed her suitcase, put my arm around her, and we left the airport and headed for breakfast. The waitress came over to take our order, and Leah signed what she wanted. I ordered her strawberry pancakes and then my omelet. We sat and talked before, during, and after our breakfast. I could see people stealing glances from the corner of my eye as if they had never seen two people signing before. Hell, maybe they hadn’t. I told her about Paisley, and her eyes lit up.

“I can’t wait to meet her.” She signed.

“I can’t wait for you to meet her and her family.”

We got up from the booth, and as we walked out the door, I put my arm around her and signed how happy I was she was here.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Paisley

I packed a bag and Romeo and spent the night over at my parent’s house so I could help my mom cook. I rolled over on my full-size bed and opened my eyes. When I looked at the red numbers on the clock, it read six fifteen. Sadness and despair washed over me as I remembered this day last year.

“Time to get up, sleepy head,” he said as he softly stroked my cheek.

“Ten more minutes.”

“You can have your ten minutes but won’t use them to sleep. I need to wish you a happy Thanksgiving properly, my love.”

Tears began to fall down my face as I felt like I was entering into a panic attack. My heart was palpitating. My body was shaking, and it felt like my throat was closing. I couldn’t catch my breath. I knocked over the lamp on my nightstand, and it crashed to the ground. Before I knew it, the door flung open, and Keaton ran in, quickly closing it behind him before running over to me and clasping my shoulders.

“Take a deep breath, Paisley—deep breath. Come on. Breathe with me.”

As I stared into his eyes and focused on his words, I took a deep breath and slowly began calming down.

“That’s it,” he whispered as he slowly nodded.

Once my breathing returned to normal, Keaton wrapped his arms around me. “I’m glad you stayed the night. I knew something like this would happen, being it’s your first Thanksgiving.”

I sniffled as he broke the embrace.

“Don’t do this to yourself, sis. You’re moving on, and you’re not alone. There is a house full of people who love you and another on his way.” He smiled.

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