Page 32 of Bursting With Love
Jack realized she had been doing the same thing to him. “How many brothers do you have?”
Her eyes lit up. “Five. I’m the typical adoring sister, I’m afraid.”
Jack laughed. “That’s cute. I think my sister is the same way toward me. I have four brothers and a sister.”
“You have a big family, too. Don’t you love it? Gosh, I can’t imagine life without them. We’re all really close, and my brothers are all like you—big and burly, very masculine.”
He could tell by the excitement in her voice that she really did adore them, and it made him long to be close with his family once again.
“They’re also overprotective,” Savannah added. “If I had cell service, they’d probably have called me sixteen times already to make sure I was okay. Are you close to your family?”
Jack thought about lying. It would be easier than admitting that he’d driven them away. But he didn’t want to begin a relationship with Savannah based on lies. “We used to be. I’m the oldest, and until two years ago, we were all very close.” He smiled at the thought. “There are eleven years between me and Siena and Dex, the youngest. They’re twenty-six, twins. Siena’s a model. She’s a firecracker. You’d like her. Dex is a gamer. Well, he calls himself a gamer, but really he’s a game developer.”
“That’s cool, but isn’t it funny that there’s even a career like gamer? I can’t even imagine what that would be like.” Savannah laughed.
Savannah laughed without any worry over what he might think, or if he thought what she said was funny. Her confidence and ease were two of the things he most admired about her, but the sound of her laughter, the uninhibited joy as it left her lips, that’s what brought a smile to his face.
Before escaping to the mountains, Jack used to say the same thing to Dex about his career, and Dex used to tease him about being old. God, I miss him.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with it,” Savannah added. “It’s just so different from anything I grew up with. We rarely even watched television on my dad’s ranch.” She sighed. “So, eleven years between you and them? Second marriage for your parents?”
Jack loved how easily she reeled off her thoughts, like they’d known each other forever. “Accident,” he said with a smile. “Or maybe on purpose. Who knows with them? Sage is twenty-eight. I’m sure you know of him.”
“Sage Remington is your brother? As in the artist?”
Jack nodded. “The one and only. I can hardly believe how quickly he climbed that ladder to fame. His sculptures are in museums all over the world. He’s a great guy, too.”
Savannah’s eyes washed over his face. “I guess I should have seen a resemblance, but I never put two and two together.”
“He got my mother’s artistic talent. God, she’s been sculpting and painting since before I was born. She put her family first, though, and that probably hindered how far she could go. It’s hard to pour your heart and soul into art when you’re already pouring it into six children and a husband. She never seemed to resent us for it, though. My mom is like a shining light. She’s the happiest woman I know.”
There were so many things Jack had missed in his family’s lives over the past two years that, as he said their names, he was hit with the same pang of longing that he’d felt recently when he was back in New York.
“Then there’s Rush and Kurt. Rush’s thirty-two. He’s a competitive skier, and Kurt is thirty, a writer.” Rush was six two, with massive legs and powerful arms. As a competitive skier, there was not an inch of him that wasn’t solid, and despite the five-year age difference, they’d always been close—until Jack left Bedford Corners for the mountains. He looked at Savannah and brushed a strand of hair from her chin. “I really miss them. How about you? Youngest, oldest?”
“I’m in the middle. Treat, Dane, and Rex are older than me and Josh and Hugh are younger.”
“Why does Hugh Braden sound familiar?” Jack tried to remember where he’d heard that name.
“He should. He’s one of the top race car drivers in the United States, handsome as Patrick Dempsey and cocky as hell.” She laughed. “I shouldn’t say that. Hugh’s the youngest. He can be a little self-centered, but he’s changed a lot over the last few months. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for one another.”
“That’s nice. That’s how we always were.” As he had on the way to the airport, Jack thought about trying to find his way back to the life he left behind and the family he loved. Savannah struck so many chords in his heart that, as he looked at her, he swore he felt his heart softening. At the same time, his nerves tightened. She made him want to jump the hurdles he’d believed were too big to even try, which scared the shit out of him.
