Page 96 of Wish You Were Mine

Still, if he needed time and space, I’d give it to him as best I could.

“I’m trying to get my head around it,” Liam said, giving me more than I’d expected. “I can see how you might be well-matched, but I don’t like the fact you kept things secret as they were developing.”

I nodded. “I get that.”

“Like I said on Friday, I also don’t know how to feel about the fact Summer has had a crush on you since high school. It seems like a power imbalance. It makes her more vulnerable than you.”

I nodded again. In his shoes, I might have the same concerns. “My feelings for her are newer, but they’re intense. This isn’t some whim.”

Before he could reply, Eugene appeared in the doorway. “Brunch is ready in the dining room. Come on through.”

Toby stood and whistled. “Phew. The tension in here is a bit much.”

The Braddock men trailed out of the room in single file. I went last but was glad to see that Summer had saved me a seat beside her. I pulled it out and sat.

The table was almost full. There was one chair free because Tess was with her mother this weekend. Grace held baby Finn against her chest, and I was curious how she planned to juggle him and eat.

A breeze swept into the room, carrying the scent of patchouli and weed. Desdemona glided in, a deck of tarot cards clutched in her hands. She smiled serenely at each person in the room.

“Sorry I’m late.”

I glanced at Grace, whose eyebrows were raised. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t expected Desdemona. As I looked around, it seemed everyone else was as startled as me. So if no one had invited her, what had brought her here?

45

SUMMER

“There’s space over here for you,” Grace said to Desdemona, gesturing at the empty seat that Tess would usually occupy.

Desdemona bustled over, but instead of sitting, she picked up the chair and carried it around the table, placing it between me and Kennedy. Heather left and returned with a plate, which she set in front of her unexpected guest.

Desdemona angled herself toward me and beamed. “Felicitations on your new relationship.”

“Thank you.” I looked at Grace. “You didn’t mention you’d told Desdemona.”

“She didn’t,” Desdemona said.

Grace shook her head, silently confirming that. Her eyes were as wide as mine. We both knew Desdemona claimed to have psychic abilities, and maybe we even believed she had a powerful intuition, but surely, she hadn’t simply woken up this morning and somehow known the Braddocks were holding a brunch to announce the fact Asher and I were dating.

That was too specific.

Heather gestured for brunch to begin, and we all reached for the bowls and platters stationed along the center of the table. I grabbed a Danish and then ladled fruit salad into a small bowl.

On one side of me, Asher piled bacon and eggs onto his plate, while on the other, Desdemona only poured hot water onto a tea bag that smelled faintly of lemons.

“So, Summer,” Desdemona said as she set the kettle back down, “I had a dream last night, and for some reason, I’m called to share it with you.”

“Okay.” I tore off a piece of Danish and popped the flaky pastry into my mouth. For some, this might seem a strange conversation starter, but I’d heard about many of Desdemona’s dreams over the years. “What did you dream about?”

She gazed into the distance somewhere over Grace’s shoulder and shivered. “I was surrounded by white, and cold to my bones. The kind of cold where you feel like you’ll never get warm again.”

I frowned. “Do you know where you were?”

“No.” She wrapped her hands around the cup of tea, as if needing to chase away the chill still lingering inside her. “Just that it was white. It could have been a white room, or a cloudy sky, or even somewhere in the mountains. All I know is that it’s connected to you.”

I shredded the Danish, my fingers moving automatically, acting out a nervous habit. “How?”

She shrugged. “I wish I could say, but I have no idea.”

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