Page 28 of Landing Her Eagle
I love this house. It’s a large brick home in an upscale neighborhood, but where other homes on the street are like soulless McMansions, Aunt Faith has infused warmth and character with the potted mums flanking the porch and scarecrows sitting on hay bales on the lawn.
The oak front door opens as we follow the walkway to the porch, and I can see my cousin Kendall waiting for us.
“Finally!” she says. “I thought you guys were going to stay in the car kissing all night and starve me to death.”
Kennie is petite and seems delicate, but her years as a competitive cheerleader have given her the metabolism of a linebacker, and she’s always hungry. You wouldn’t think a five-foot, two-inch pixie could pack away pizza and wings the way she does, but she’s a force of nature.
Kennie waves us in. “Mom made her beef stew, and it smells so good. Hurry and get in here so we can get started.”
“Kendall Maureen Morgan, go finish setting the table.” Aunt Faith appears next to Kennie and snaps her hip with the dishtowel in her hand.
“Ooh, you got middle named!” Liam calls out from the living room.
“William James Morgan III. Go help your sister!” Aunt Faith isn’t one to take any sass. Years of teaching high school have made her tough. It doesn’t matter that her kids are twenty-one and twenty-seven and no longer teenagers. She’s in charge, and that’s it. I hear Ken tease Liam about being thirded. They are such goofs.
Aunt Faith smiles brightly. “Logan, Daphne! Welcome! Give me a hug.” She envelops me in a tight hug. She’s like Kendall, tiny but strong.
Uncle Will welcomes Daphne, taking the cake box from her with a smile. “Come on in, guys. Does this need to be refrigerated, Daphne?”
“No, it doesn’t have to be. It’s a caramel apple cake with cream cheese frosting, so on the slim chance there are leftovers, refrigerate them, but for dessert, it’s best to let it come to room temperature while we eat dinner.”
We wander further into the house. Dad is pouring wine and gestures toward us with the bottle. I shake my head no since I’m driving, but Daphne smiles and nods yes. I’m assuming my parents brought the wine, so it’s probably a Cabernet Sauvignon from a local winery. Mom loves the Cabs.
“About time you two got here!” Mom embraces Daphne and smiles at me over her shoulder. “We were going to start without you!”
“Don’t lie, Holly. You were two minutes from calling them.” Dad holds out his hand for a shake and pulls me into a backslapping hug. As if they choreographed it, Mom and Dad switch, and I’m getting a hug and cheek kiss from my mother while Dad embraces Daphne. They saw me last Friday, but you’d think it’s been two years from the way they’re acting.
“Daphne, it’s great to see you outside of your dungeon of an office. Will, we need to move Daphne and Mallory upstairs to join the rest of the legal team,” Dad says.
Uncle Will turns from setting the cake box on the counter and ambles over to join us, picking up Daph’s wine glass and handing it to her.
She takes a big sip.
“You do a great job,” Dad continues, “but it’s a shame to have you down there. Move you two upstairs where there are windows and natural light. You’d adapt to leasing, or with your accounting background, maybe you’d rather be in finance.”
I see the panic on Daphne’s face. Work is the last thing she wants to discuss at dinner, or any time, but especially not now.
I clear my throat. “No Morgan Development talk tonight. There’s enough to discuss without boring office stuff.” Winking at Daphne, I introduce a new subject while we take our seats at the table. “How about the Flyers last night? That power play in the second period was insane, right?” That’s the trick to get the conversation on a new track. Everyone except for Mom and Kendall loves hockey and will talk about it anytime, anywhere. Kennie and Mom are similarly rabid over the Phillies, but their season is over. Liam takes the seat on Daphne’s other side and gives her a side hug and kiss on the cheek, shooting me a smug look over her head as he pulls away. My parents sit across from us, with Kennie across from Liam. Uncle Will and Aunt Faith are at either end.
We all bend our heads as Aunt Faith says grace. After the ‘Amen,’ the bowls of stew get passed around from one direction and the basket of warm French bread from the other way. It’s a well-choreographed dance from all the family dinners we’ve had through the years. Since I’m foregoing wine, I only have water with my stew. It is so flavorful nothing else sounds good with it. I know the Cabernet the others are drinking is an excellent wine, but I’m driving us to the casino after dinner and I don’t drink at all if I’m driving. Daphne has never said anything, but knowing a drunk driver killed her parents, I don’t want her to worry for a second about me driving while impaired.
“This is so good, Faith. Thanks for having us,” Daphne says after we’ve all started eating.
“My pleasure,” Aunt Faith replies. “I’m so glad you could visit before Logan heads out again. You leave Monday?”
Grr… I don’t want this to be our topic of conversation. She tries to hide it, but I can tell it distresses Daphne to think about me leaving. We discussed it this week, and there were tears, more hers than mine, but I had a few too. We just got together. We’re just getting used to being together. As more than friends. It sucks. It may even suck ass.
Daphne has issues about being left behind, and I hate that, but she could always come with me. I’m not leaving her behind. She’s choosing to stay here. I have commitments until right before Christmas. Maybe I should have waited until I fulfilled my commitments before coming home and telling Daph about my feelings, but I didn’t want to hold back any longer, especially with Liam sniffing around.
I’m not proud to admit that part of it was waiting to make sure she knew how I felt because I was afraid she’d find someone else as part of her mission to go out more. Once she was out, other men would flock to her. I want to make sure she’s mine. If Liam was successful in getting Daphne to go out with him, I’m not sure my friendship with him would survive. I couldn’t spend holiday dinners across the table from them without wanting to leap across and beat the hell out of Liam. If I saw Daphne kissing him, I’d lose it.
Swallowing my bite of buttered bread, I nod. “Yeah, I leave early Monday evening, arriving in Spain on Tuesday morning. I’ll be going to a kite festival on one of the Canary Islands and then the Portugal Horse Fair. I’ll be covering the Christmas markets and whatever else I come across. I’ll be back the week before Christmas.”
Daphne stiffens next to me, and I place my hand on her thigh and give a gentle squeeze. She relaxes slightly, but I know she doesn’t like this topic.
Kennie’s face lights up, and she gives a slight squee. “Ooh, that’s exciting! Will this be your first time going, Daphne?”
Ah, damn. Why did Kendall have to bring that up? An awkward silence falls around the table. Apparently, no one filled in Kennie regarding the situation.
