Page 130 of Mark my Words

“It’s not that interesting, Bec,” I sighed as I pulled my jacket from the back of my seat and shrugged into it. I hesitated at sitting back down because she’d try to suck me back into the conversation. “Actually, I think I’m going to take off. Go back to Mom and Dad’s house.” Where I was staying in the basement on the pull-out couch like a loser for the weekend. When Kelly was supposed to come as my date, we’d booked—separate—rooms at the hotel where the reception was being held, but I’d canceled mine when I found out I’d be flying solo.

“No, no, no,” she slurred slightly, her eyes flashing toward the phone resting on the table in front of her and then leaning around me to look toward the door. “You can’t leave yet. Come on. We never get to see you.”

“I was here a few weeks ago.” I’d been an asshole the entire trip, but I’d shown up for our other sister’s birthday dinner like the dutiful son, brother, and uncle that I was. Now that I was only a few hour’s car ride from home, I was trying to be more present.

“Yeah, but we didn’t get to talk to you about how you’re settling in. Are you all unpacked now? Have you had a chance to explore the city? Are you...” she paused, her eyes flashing to her phone as a text message scrolled across the screen.

“Am I?” I prompted as she frowned at the screen.

“Are you...” she trailed off. “Oh, sorry. It’s just the babysitter. Are you dating anyone?”

“Am I dating anyone since I saw you two weeks ago? And you asked the same question then.” I looked over at my brother-in-law, who seemed more sober than his wife but still acted strangely. “I’m not ready, Bec. Maybe in a few months.”

“Things can change in a few weeks or even a few hours.” She shrugged as she passed her phone to Keith, nudging him in the elbow. “You never know. It wouldn’t hurt you to be open-minded about things.”

“No, I’m not interested in dating anyone,” I sighed, looking back toward my parents again. “And Kelly is just my friend. I told you all that. It’s...”

“Complicated, I know,” she laughed. “You made it clear this morning when you laid into Mom about calling her your girlfriend. I’m just worried about you, Sam. You’ve seemed sad since you moved back, and I’m worried you moved to Chicago to appease Mom. I’m sure she’d understand if you want to go back to Boston. If you want to go back to work things out with...” Her eyes widened as her words cut off, but she pulled her drink glass in front of her face, glancing away.

Shaking my head, I reluctantly dropped into my seat, looking toward where my brother-in-law had disappeared. I was glad they’d been invited to the wedding—my sister was the bride’s babysitter when we were little—so I wasn’t stuck with Mom and Dad all night, but they’d seemed distracted by their phones all evening.

“There’s no reason for me to return to Boston. My job is in Chicago now. I like my new position and my team. It’s just...” Claire was the only one in my family I’d talked to about Kristine, but even she didn’t know she was supposed to be here tonight. When things had fallen apart, I’d assumed that her promise to be my date to this wedding wasn’t on the table anymore. Since she wasn’t talking to me either, I’d kept quiet about our relationship and how it’d all blown up in my face.

“It’s complicated, or at least it was.” I wasn’t going to pour my heart out to another sister. It’d been decades since she dated anyone, and she’d been with Keith since they were teenagers. My life in Boston wasn’t like that. I didn’t have a college sweetheart and a life in the suburbs. My love life had been spotty, uncommitted, and, more recently, messy. “I was seeing someone, and it didn’t work out.”

“So, talk to her and figure it out.”

“Have you been talking to Kelly?” I laughed, squinting my eyes at my sister when she choked on the sip of wine she’d been swallowing.

“No,” she sputtered, sitting upright in her seat, her cheeks bright red. “Why would I talk to Kelly? How would I even get her phone number?”

She glanced back at her phone again, tilting the screen away from me as another text scrolled across the center of the screen. “Trouble with the babysitter?”

Keith still hadn’t come back yet, and I felt like there was something I was missing. Becca wasn’t the type to keep secrets, but they’d been acting weird all evening.

“What?” she asked absently as she looked down at the phone she’d pulled into her lap. “Oh, no. Keith was taking care of something for me. He’s on his way back now.”

“The boys okay?” I knew they were with their regular babysitter tonight, but my sister still had trouble letting go sometimes.

“Oh, they’re fine. Hailey was making slime with them. I warned them about putting it in each other’s hair this time, so I’m sure they’ll be good for her. They seem to behave for everyone but me. They love having a babysitter. Probably because it means they get pizza and ice cream for dinner.”

Keith rejoined us ten minutes later, his hair a little wet, but he seemed satisfied with whatever errand he’d been on for the last twenty minutes for my sister. I knew they planned on staying at the hotel tonight, so maybe he was taking care of their room. Not that I wanted to think about my sister and her husband having a hotel room together. There were just certain things you pretended weren’t happening. Like your sister’s husband planning to get laid after they’d fulfilled their duty to keep her little brother entertained after his date to a wedding ditched him.

“I can get out of your hair if you two want some time alone,” I offered as a slow song drifted over the speakers, the group of wedding guests starting to thin out as people headed home for the night.

Their heads started shaking in unison as Keith’s eyes darted up to the doorway, his lips pursing as he glanced down at his lap.

“Well, at least go dance.” I nodded to the dance floor, “Don’t let me keep you from enjoying yourselves. I’ll be fine here by myself for a few minutes.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, tucking her phone into her purse before she took her husband’s outstretched hand. “You can’t sneak off while we’re gone.”

“I won’t. It’s fine. I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Promise?” She held out her pinky, and I shook my head as I reached over and linked mine with hers.

“I promise.”

“Don’t make me hunt you down,” she teased.

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