Page 139 of The Persistence of Thornes
We settle into the makeshift line behind the crowd that also includes Thayer’s parents and Salem’s sister and her family. All day, everyone has commented on my goofy grin, but there’s no tempering it. This right here is what I’ve always wanted.
The kids take over the table in the kitchen, so the adults end up in the dining room.
Beside me, Halle takes a bite of macaroni and cheese and moans softly.
“Good?” My voice is heavy with humor.
“You have no idea.” She goes in for another bite.
“How have you been?” Georgia, Salem’s older sister, asks me. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
It’s the first quiet moment we adults have really had, and like every other gathering we have, it won’t last long.
“I’ve been good, G. Thanks for asking.”
Georgia leans forward, eyeing Halle. “I hear you’re the girlfriend.”
Halle’s eyes flare wide and the mac and cheese fallsfrom her fork onto her plate. “Uh…”
“Georgia’s a bit intense, but she won’t eat you,” I promise.
“Yeah,” Halle says, voice small, looking to me for reassurance.
I wink, hoping she can sense how at ease I am with these people. If that’s the case, maybe she’ll feel the same way.
Georgia hums. “Good. He’s a keeper.”
“Thanks, G.” I shake my head, biting back a smile.
Georgia barely tolerated me when Salem and I dated in high school. She warmed to me a bit when we got back together, but that was stamped out when the two of us split and the truth came out.
“Halle,” Georgia says. “What do you do for a living?”
“Oh.” She wipes her mouth with her napkin. “I work for a medical office answering calls from home—scheduling appointments, getting insurance information, stuff like that. And then before… um… before we”—she looks to me—“started seeing each other, Caleb hired me as his assistant.”
“That’s our Caleb,” Georgia croons. “Always so charitable.”
“Georgia,” I snap. The word is harsher than I mean for it to be, but knowing Halle, G’s comment is going to hit her the wrong way.
“Oh.” Georgia pales. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just—” She blows out a breath. “You know what? I’m going to stop talking now. I just keep putting my foot in my mouth.”
“It’s okay,” Halle says softly, looking at me. “Caleb has been really good to me and my brothers.”
I tilt close and press my lips to her temple. The move inspires an annoying chorus ofaws.
We’re finished with dinner and the kitchen is mostly picked up, though we haven’t had dessert yet, when the doorbell rings.
“Were we expecting someone else?” Salem asks over her shoulder, rinsing a dish.
Thayer presses a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll get it.”
He disappears, and when he returns thirty seconds later, he’s wearing a grimace. “It’s for you.”
It takes me a moment to realize he’s talking to me, but when I do, confusion swirls in my mind. “For me?” Everyone I know is already here.
“Yeah.” His lips twitch. “It’s your mother.”
Shit.
