Page 27 of Watch Me
“You have glow-in-the-dark stars?”I’d asked, even though I was staring atthem.
He’d sighed, and I could briefly make out that he was staring up at the ceiling too.“Ashtyn gave them to me for my birthday a few years ago. She was eight, and I couldn’t tell her that a fourteen-year-old boy didn’t want stars on his ceiling. She made me put them up.”
“And you’ve kept them?”I’d grinned, looking back up at the neon green stars because hehadkept them up. He was a good olderbrother.
“She would have whined if I took them down. She got stars for her and Carter too.”
“I’d always wanted my first time to be under the stars. This is … perfect.”
We didn’t speak much after that, but my first time was amazing, and when I thought about that night, I always remembered the stars that I’d looked at over his shoulder as he’d made love to me the first time. Over the years, when I would stare up at the black night sky with real stars flickering, I would think about Ethan and wonder what he wasdoing.
Walking into the familiar house, which smelled like home cooking, I felt as though I was walking into my family’s home and not the home of strangers. It seemed as though everyone was waiting in the living room when we crossed the threshold. Ethan’s mom was the first to stand, a huge smile across her face as she moved toward us.
“Reagan!” She wrapped me in her arms. “It’s so good to see you again.”
I smiled. “Hi, Mrs. Valor. It’s good to see you again too.”
She pulled back, keeping her hands on my arms. “We’re both adults now. You can call me Shannon.”
“Okay.” I grinned wider. She gave me another hug before moving to the side. Ethan’s father, Glen, was next, and I hugged him hello as well. Then Carter and his wife, Rachel, took turns shaking myhand.
“It’s good to see you again,” Cartergreeted.
“You too.”
Ashtyn stepped forward next, a sleeping baby on her shoulder. Ethan had mentioned to me that Ashtyn had given birth to her daughter a month or so before and was still on maternity leave. “I was too young to really remember you, but I do sort of. It’s nice to meet you again.”
I smiled, and we hugged gently to not disturb the baby. “I remember you, and yes, it’s nice to meet you again. Who’s this?” I ran my finger along the back of the soft babyhand.
“This is our daughter. And this is my husband, Rhys.”
Rhys stood, and I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” hereplied.
“Your daughter is beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Ashtynreplied.
“What’s her name?”
“Jeremy,” Rhysadvised.
I smiled, looking around the room briefly because I wasn’t sure if I’d heard the name correctly. Jeremy for a girl? I turned my attention back to Ashtyn and Rhys. “Jeremy?”
“Named her after my idol,” Rhys answered. “And we know it’s unusual for a girl to be named Jeremy, but we don’t care. We named our son after Glen’s father—Ashtyn’s choice—and it was my turn to pick for our daughter.”
“I think it’s cute,” I stated. I knew there were girls named Spencer, Ryan, Avery, Billie, Blake, andmore.
“We think so too.” Ashtyn kissed the top of Jeremy’s fuzzy head. My heart smiled. I missed having a newborn baby in my life. It had been several years, of course, given that Maddison would be nineteen in a few months, but the woman in me melted at the tendermoment.
The kids had run off down a set of stairs to what I assumed was the basement playroom. It was a playroom the last time I’d seen it. You could hear the laughter and giggles coming up the stairs, and my heart warmed further. The Valors seemed to have a close, happy family, and I loved that. My parents only saw Maddie on holidays and a few weeks out of the summer months when she was growing up. They were in Chicago while we lived in Denver, and now they lived in Florida, which was still far away from Michigan andIllinois.
“Now that we’ve gotten the pleasantries out of the way, is dinner almost ready?” Ethan asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
“Just waiting on the meat,” Shannon replied as she looked over atGlen.
Glen looked at his watch. “Fifteen minutes until we can pull it off. Then let it rest for ten minutes more.”
