Page 72 of Revival

“The way she straddled you,” Sutton slaps his thigh. “I’ve never seen a woman of her age move so fast.”

Silas looks like he’s going to puke. “I hate you.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Sutton twists the dial on his chest, lowering the sounds of the radio chatter.

The unexpected tale garners a few laughs. Silas’s pale face pinks up at the attention. “I’m getting a snack,” he mumbles on his way to the kitchen.

“I thought I told you to bring Spencer.” Mom’s voice carries into the room from the kitchen around the corner.

Lee pins me with a sharp stare, his brow furrowing angrily.

“What?” I mouth.

He jerks his head subtly toward the kitchen as if to say,Did you hear that?

I shrug and try not to appear like I’m tuning in to the conversation in the other room.

“Sorry, Nancy. He’s disappeared again.”

“I thought you said he was gone last week.”

“He was. And the week before that. I thought he was coming home yesterday, but he said he needed to go back to North Dakota,” Silas answers, his words garbled as he more than likely found one of Mom’s treats to devour.

Sudden dryness seizes my throat. I pray nobody pieces together that Spencer and I left town and returned on the same timeline.

By the way Lee continues to scowl, I’m sure he wouldn’t be thrilled by the news.

“That’s too bad. Is he coming back?” Mom’s question spurs me to listen intently again.

A pause.

“I’m honestly not sure. Mom hopes he just went to get more things, but with Spencer, you can never be sure. I’m afraid he’s a bit too much like our dad.”

“Is that true?” Lee asks Sutton quietly.

Sutton shrugs, slipping his palms into the front of his vest. “That’s what we know.”

“Can’t say it’s unhappy news. I know he’s your brother and all, but he needs to keep his distance.” Lee focuses on me again. “He’s not welcome here.”

“What?” I grumble.

Lee leans forward and puts his elbows to his knees. “You okay with this?”

“Am I okay with an individual living his life on his own terms? Of course. What Spencer does is not my concern.”

My eldest brother shakes his head. “I’m not sure you’d be saying the same thing if you ran into him.”

“I don’t think you have a clue what I think.”

“Maybe we don’t need to discuss ancient matters on a nice Sunday afternoon.” Jack hands off his baby to his wife. Whitney assesses the conversation with a concerned frown.

“Agreed,” Jude grunts.

“If you want to wait until I get a snack, I’m okay if you all resume.” Aiden shrugs from his spot on the floor beside Isla.

She nudges him in the ribs. “Nobody asked you, honey.”

“I take my job as the instigator very seriously. It’s part of the youngest sibling code.” Aiden delivers a swift kiss to her cheek.

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