Page 142 of Liam

We all watch in silence as Dad exits the house and wait to hear his truck take off before all speaking at once.

“That was weird, right?”

“Who isshe?”

“What the fuck?”

“I hope it’s pecan pie!”

That last one was Lachlan.

“Did you check with anyone else?” Logan asks me.

I shake my head. “Just you.”

He pulls out his phone, and a beat later, our phonesdingwith his text in the sibling group chat. Followed byding! Ding! Ding!

Within minutes, Leo, Lucas, and Lucy are all here, standing around the kitchen island, slamming us with questions we don’t have answers to.

Dad returns with pecan pie.

The food arrives.

Then, so doesshe.

55

Liam

“She” is Alyssa Wilks—a woman we’re all familiar with, but none more so than Lucas. And Dad now. Obviously.

Alyssa has a son named Garray, who our family calls Dumb Name—usually behind his back, but sometimes accidentally to his face. Luke and Dumb Name have been best friends since I can remember. He’s a great guy, regardless of the name, and Alyssa seems like a great lady, regardless of herchoiceof names. From the little information I can pull from my memory bank, Dumb Name’s parents divorced right before Luke’s senior year of high school. That would’ve been around nine years ago. Which has me wondering how long Dad and Alyssa have been seeing each other. In a small town like ours, gossip runs rampant, and a secret relationship with a widow and divorcée wouldn’t stay secret for very long. But, I also don’t see my dad introducing her to us as his “special guest” if it wasn’t all that serious. So, really… I don’t know what to think.

When Dad returned from picking up the pie, he didn’t seem at all surprised by the fact that all seven of his kids were here,even though only three of them said they would be. And, when the food arrived, it appeared he had ordered enough forallof us, which meant that either he was expecting Linc, Lachy and me to be really fuckin’ hungry, or he knew exactly what he was doing by leaving us breadcrumbs.

I’d wager on the latter.

Now, we’re all sitting around the table, and all of Tom and Kathy Preston’s kids are on their best behavior. Kind of. I’m not going to lie; it’s weird. Maybe Alyssa has dated before, and maybe she’s even sat down for dinner to meet said date’s kids before, but for the rest of us—this is new.

And it’s not as if we haven’t met her before or seen her around town and waved, smiled, shared pleasantries, butthis…this is different.

When Alyssa first arrived, Dad brought her into the kitchen, where we all were, and said something to the effect of, “I know you know them all, but just as a refresher…” and then he introduced us all, one by one, in age order. He even introduced Lucas, who spent a large portion of his younger years atherhouse.

As soon as their backs were turned to head into the dining room, we all turned to Lucy. Being the oldest and only girl, she was, by far, the closest to our mother. I think, in that moment, us boys silently agreed to take her lead. If she was happy to accept this new woman into our lives, then we all would. If she was going to smash the pie in Alyssa’s face, then, well… we wouldn’tjoinher, but we also wouldn’t stop her.

The thing is, Lucy’s face was blank, passive, void of any emotion. She’sstillthat way now, even as she tries to speak and smile at the appropriate times. She hasn’t touched her food. Hasn’t even picked up her fork. We’re almost done with dessert.

“Well, it was so lovely to see you all again, like this, all together,” Alyssa says, her eyes sweeping around the table. “I hope we can do it again soon.”

Everyone mumbles something in return.

Everyone but Lucy.

Dad stands, offers his hand to Alyssa. “How about we go for a walk?” His beard shifts with his smile. “The kids can clean up.”

The moment Alyssa stands, all the boys do, too. Dad drilled old-school manners and chivalry into us at a young age, I guess.

We all silently watch them walk out of the room, hand in hand, and listen to the front door open, then close. Then we turn to Lucy. She stands, her eyes empty as she picks up her untouched plate and brings it to the kitchen. We all follow, like useless newborn puppies chasing after their mama. Lucy sets the plate on the kitchen island, then just stares at it for a long moment.

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