Page 54 of Slow Burn
"And when are we meeting the mysterious man?" my sister inquired after her wine was poured and we were back on the patio.
A visual of how uncomfortable Adam had been in front of Mr. Stevenson flashed before me. "I don't know," I told her honestly. He might not have opened up to me, but from the things he wasn't saying, I knew that Adam's scars ran a lot deeper than the ones I could see.
Tommy's laughter drew our attention to him where he was lying flat on his back on the grass with Sheldon furiously licking at his face.
"Maybe you can invite him to Mom's birthday bash?" Jennah quietly said from beside me.
My gaze flicked to the house next door. Perhaps there was the slightest chance that he'd go with me. The thought alone made me feel giddy. Shifting in my seat, I eyed my sister. "Speaking of…there won't be a party to invite him to if we're not planning it."
With a quick tilt of her head, she brought her glass to her lips and took a delicate sip. "So, I was thinking." She set the glass down and ran her thumb and index finger up and down the stem. "We could do it at the community center. Maybe have fifty balloons drop on her when she walks through the door."
My sister kept coming up with new ideas. Every one better than the previous one. The little details she thought of and how she could envision the layout and which colors would go where. All of it amazed me.Sheamazed me.
"What?" she asked when I simply stared. Her hand shot to her chin, furiously wiping over her skin. "Do I have wine dripping from my chin?"
I shook my head. "You missed your calling, Jen. You should totally be doing this for a living."
Her cheeks flushed, and I knew it had nothing to do with the wine she was drinking. "I don't know. It seems irresponsible to chase after this now. I have Tommy to think about. Securing his future is the most important thing for me."
Reaching for her hand, I covered it with mine and squeezed. "You're a good mom and I know you're givinghim the best you can. But you deserve to be happy too. You could always do this on the side. See how it goes."
I could practically see her wheels turn, and it filled me with warmth to think she was really considering this.
We spent the next three hours planning our mother's party and chatting about anything and everything. By the time I walked her to her car, I was genuinely sad to see her go.
When Tommy was secured in the backseat, Jennah surprised me by spinning around instead of sliding behind the wheel. She launched herself at me, wrapping me up in her arms. The crushing hug she was giving me had a gigantic lump forming in my throat.
"I'm so happy we got to do this today," she breathed into my hair. The slight trip in her voice betraying her emotions.
My arms around her tightened. "Me too, Jennah." I swallowed and swallowed, but the lump refused to go down. The backs of my eyes stung, and my nose burned with the tears I was holding in.
After way too many years, I finally had my sister back.
26
ADAM
Yet again I found myself watching Maddie, only this time it was more than me wanting to stay in the shadows. I didn't want to intrude on what looked like an intimate moment between her and her sister.
You didn't have to be a genius to know the two women were related. They shared the same blonde hair and the same facial features. And right now, they were locked in an embrace that had my heart doing strange things and my brain drifting to my own sibling.
I missed the days where I'd been comfortable enough to simply pick up the phone because I wanted to hear my little sister's laugh. Or when she used to show up out of the blue to torment me with herboy troubles.
I missed Zoe. Missed my family.
The sputter of an engine coming alive drew my attention to the driveway next door in time to see the Honda pull out and roll down the street. Maddie stood stock-still until the early evening swallowed the retreating taillights.
Emerging from where I was standing, I made my way to the fence just as she pivoted. When she spotted me, thesmile playing on her gorgeous lips stretched even wider. My heart stuttered in response.
There weren't words—there probably were, I just didn't have them—to adequately explain how it made me feel when she looked at me like that. All I knew was, I wanted to see a hell of a lot more of it.
I opened my mouth to greet her but before a single sound could come out, Sheldon darted around the corner. His shrill barking reaching a new octave the closer he came.
"Looks like someone is happy to see you." Maddie laughed.
I planted my hands on top of the fence and pinned her with a stare. "He the only one?"
"No." Her answer came without hesitation, loosening the band around my chest a little more. My gaze flicked to Sheldon sitting against the fence; head tilted back, tongue lolling, he was watching me expectantly. "I've been thinking about those movies you were on about," I told Maddie when our eyes locked again.
