Page 37 of With You Here
“Any interesting guys around? Don’t think because you’re thousands of miles away that one of us can’t hop a plane and give the mandatoryif you hurt my sister we’re going to pummel youspeech.”
“If she’s too busy to call her family, she’s too busy to be meeting guys.” Michael shook his head.
Amber looked away, pretending to be messing with something on her lap. Something her family wouldn’t be able to see was imaginary because it wouldn’t be onscreen.
“Wait.” Michael sat forward. “Okay, yeah, there is definitely someone or something she hasn’t told us about.”
Amber huffed. “You know, it’s completely unfair to have one brother who is an expert in the art of cross-examination, one who has been trained in interrogation tactics, and one who is more informed about the female psyche than is fair for any man to possess.”
Trent hooted. “That’s as much of an admission as we’re going to get. So, who is he? That coach person you’ve been working so closely with?” He winked. “And just how closely have you been working with him, squirt?”
“You’re a man-child, you know that?”
His self-satisfied smile said he knew it and was proud of that particular part of his personality. “Don’t try to change the subject.”
“Yeah,” Michael interjected. “What’s his name?”
“Why? So you can have one of your military buddies do a background check on him?”
Michael maintained eye contact, not denying that’s exactly what he’d do.
Amber focused on the square image of her parents. “Mom, Dad, rein the boys back, won’t you?”
Mom laughed. “Sorry, I’m afraid I’m on their side on this one. I don’t think I’ve seen you have more than a small crush on a boy. You’ve always been too focused. This must be some special man to get you to break your no-dating rule.”
“I haven’t broken my rule.”
“Poor sop,” Trent muttered.
“Good girl. Guys are only trouble.” Michael nodded like that was that.
“You’rea guy.” Amber wasn’t sure why she’d pointed that out. Michael was on her side. He’d stand behind her rule and help defend her against her family. Especially Trent, who loved nothing better than to pry into other people’s love lives. But something made her want to stick up for Seth. Some guys may be trouble and personify all the warnings from all the mamas the world over, but Seth didn’t seem to fit that mold to her. Case in point, he could be in Vegas living it up right now, but instead, he was spending his time helping a group of displaced, hurting kids.
“And I’m trouble. Just ask Jack.”
Amber rolled her eyes. “I’m sure your fiancé would say you were worth it.”
Michael’s expression softened. “That’s because she’s a saint.”
“Speaking of Jack,” Mom interjected, “how are the wedding plans going?”
“I stay out of it, which is exactly where she wants me to be.”
“Well, you tell her to give me a call if she needs any help. I can’t believe another of my babies is going to be married in a little over a month.”
“And on that sappy note, I’ll talk to you all later.” Michael’s finger hovered over his keyboard. “Love you guys.”
“Love you too,” everyone echoed. The screen changed, dividing into three boxes.
“We should probably go too.” Dad smiled. “Prayer meeting at the church starts in an hour, and I’m filling in for the pastor today. Love you, baby girl. We’re all praying for you over there.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
Mom blew a kiss, and her parents signed off.
Trent’s image expanded to fill almost the entire screen. One brow rose. “You’re really going to stick to this silly rule you made up when you were fifteen?”
She twirled the ring on her finger. “It’s not silly.”
