Page 13 of In Case You Didn't Know
Autumn shrugs. “We’re having an adult party in the evening. This island is too quiet. It needs a little shaking up.”
It’s warm outside so I press the button to roll down the window as she drives along the country roads that lead to the lighthouse where she lives.
When we were all growing up, it was a shell of a building. The kind of place that you only went to if you wanted to make out with somebody, or scare them. But she’s worked magic on it, using her interior design degree to its full strength, creating a home where she and Parker can live for the rest of their lives.
“Speaking of which, I’ve got a great costume for you.” She grins at me. “I can’t wait for you to try it on.”
“Has your family all arrived?” I ask lightly, because I don’t dare ask if Asher is coming.
But I’m determined not to let that spoil my fun.
“Eden can’t get away,” Autumn says. Her younger sister by two years is in South America right now. She has a degree in environmental science, and is working on a sustainability project there. She’s also a huge animal lover and is involved in campaigning against animal cruelty, so that keeps her pretty busy.
“And Wyatt and Zach are busy too,” Autumn adds, looking sad. Those are her two other brothers – younger than Hudson and Asher but older than Autumn and me. “But Asher has promised to be here by Saturday morning.”
I take a deep breath. So there it is. I try to ignore how it makes me feel, because I’m in way too good a mood to think about that.
Autumn pulls up outside the lighthouse. She’s done some more work since I was here last. Vibrant peonies clash with purple lupins in the cottage garden she’s planted. There’s a vegetable garden too.
“Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?” I ask her. Because seriously, she wouldn’t eat anything that wasn’t completely processed when we lived together. Her diet was based on pizza, which she would demand covers all the main food groups.
“That’s not mine, it’s Parker’s,” she says, climbing out of the car. She opens the trunk and we have a little tussle over who is going to carry my luggage until Parker walks out and takes it from both of us. I grin, because Parker is the kind of gorgeous, tall, laid back ex-NFL player that is perfect for Autumn.
He’s the ice to her fire in the best of ways.
“Hi,” he says to me, kissing my cheek after he’s put my case in the hallway of the lighthouse. There’s a guest suite attached to the tall structure in the back. I have a feeling it won’t be very long until they think about either extending or converting the guest room to a nursery.
“Hello handsome.” I beam at him. “Thank you for letting me invade your castle.”
“Anytime.” He winks and leaves me and Autumn to it. Like he knows she needs girl time. Another tick in theParker is the Perfect Manbook.
“So,” she says, turning on the Keurig because she knows I need coffee like I need oxygen, “how’s your love life?”
“Nonexistent.” Unless you count me being intimately close to many naked bodies in the Ivory Room a month ago. Which I don’t.
She wrinkles her nose. “You should get back on the apps. I want somebody to double date with. Parker’s lovely, but I need estrogen in my life.”
“The apps are the devil’s work. You know what happened the last time I tried.”
Autumn has the good grace to look sympathetic. She knows that dating and I don’t mix. And yes, I wish we did. I wish I had somebody like she has Parker. But not everybody gets to be that lucky.
She hits the button on the machine and it starts to hiss. My body relaxes in anticipation of the caffeine hit. By the time she adds the cream and hands me the mug, my stomach is gurgling.
We finish our coffees in no time, and follow them up with a glass of wine, which quickly turns into us drinking the whole bottle. So we’re all giggly by the time Parker comes back into the lighthouse, looking at us through narrowed eyes.
“Should I leave again?” he asks, eyeing the empty bottle.
“No. Come in.” Autumn holds out her hand and he gives her that soft smile that he only seems to have for her. My stomach tightens at the way they seem to communicate through their gazes. “Listen, we need you to find somebody for Francie to date.”
My mouth drops open. “What? No.”
Parker grins at my obvious dismay. “Like somebody local, or somebody on my old football team?”
“I’m fine,” I say firmly. “I don’t need you two organizing my love life for me.”
“Of course, there’s always your brothers,” Parker continues, looking at Autumn.
She wrinkles her nose. “Ugh, no way. She deserves better.”
