Page 5 of Lost the Handle

Aiden is ready to argue, but before he can, Mom wraps an arm around his and Asher’s middles, and Dad does the same to Stella and me. I close my eyes as my father’s lips press to my temple, and when I look up, he is grinning down at me. Even at the age I know he is, he doesn’t look a day over forty. Bright gray eyes, dark hair with a dusting of silver along the sides. Laugh lines pull at his mouth and eyes, but he’s fitter than a fiddle. And even though I threw up in my mouth when my mom called him her silver fox, she isn’t wrong. Dad still turns the heads of all the puck bunnies.

Not mine.

Gross.

Also, I’m not a puck bunny. More a computer sloth.

He gives me a soft smile. “The fact that we sold the house is no one’s fault.”

“Dad is right.” I glance over to where my mom is lovingly looking at our family home. She has aged like the fine wine shesells. She is all curves, and her hair is long, dark, and as luscious as it was when I was younger. My gorgeous mom doesn’t need Botox. Though, I think she went to a party over at the Adlers’ house the other day, which is why her face looks a little tight. Not that I’d ever call her out on it. My parents are pillars. Two beautiful souls who built one hell of a family. “We have all this house but no one to live in it. We want something smaller since we don’t have y’all anymore.”

Asher pouts. “But we are giving you grandchildren. They could fill the home.”

Mom beams. “Which is why we are building a home that can accommodate everyone, but also is just Dad’s and mine.”

Dad nods. “It’s time for another family to make new memories here.”

My stomach drops a bit at that. But this is our home.

Or it was.

Emotion gathers in my chest as I look from each of my parents to my siblings. So much has changed. It’s not just us anymore. I’m not saying we’re perfect—while that house holds all the loving memories, it also contains a ton of screaming matches and bloody pranks. Asher threw a TV at Aiden once, and I cut Stella’s hair more times than I can count.

What? She has always had such great hair, while mine is a tangled, curly mess.

Thanks, Dad.

Nevertheless, we’ve grown, and so has our love. We have Aiden’s wife, Shelli, who has always been family but now carries our name and gave us two incredible little boys. Then Asher’s wife—again, who has always been family—Ally, with their sweet baby girl, Alexis. While Stella took Wes’s last name, Wes McMillan is kind and loves my sister hard. I don’t know that they’ll have kids, but I’m thankful to call Wes my brother.

Then there is me.

Honestly, there aren’t enough words in the world to dissect my shit-ass choices.

While I’ve done some really great things, I’ve also done some equally dumb shit.

I’m nowhere near perfect; that’s for sure.

I exhale as I look back at the house, the sign in the front yard announcing it has been sold. I’ve been back in Tennessee for less than an hour, and already, my world has been turned upside down.

This wasn’t my plan.

I came home with the direct mission to make sure the love of my life doesn’t get married.

On top of that, now I have to do that while also finding a place to stay.

“Where are you guys staying until the new house is finished?” I find myself asking.

Dad cuddles me close, squeezing my arm with his fingers. “The Adlers’.”

Not going there since I’m pretty sure Elli Adler hates me for how things went down between her son and me. I’ll need to add getting in her good graces once again to my list. It’ll be a battle, but I’m ready to win it. “Well, okay.”

“They have the room for you,” Mom tells me, but I shake my head.

“I’m good. I was just worried about you,” I lie, sending her a grin.

She sees past my lie in an instant. “Oh yeah? Where?”

“Quinn’s,” I say simply, without thinking. “Benson moved out.”

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