Page 24 of Me and Mr. Just Right

Haydn put the first-aid kit away and washed his hands before taking his food and hot chocolate into the living room.

Bennett was telling another story about a fighting couple who decided to get a divorce in the first hour of an eight-hour boat trip. Bennett could always be counted on to have the best stories. Haydn was used to being alone and reveling in the quiet when he was out photographing new locations. He didn’t mind it—not much, anyway. But being in this cozy, warm room with his brothers and Lia, talking and laughing, made him realize how lonely it could get out there.

“I can’t imagine anything more awkward,” Lia said through fingers that covered her mouth in horror. Her eyes were alight with humor that dispelled some of the sadness that always seemed to linger on her face even when she smiled.

“Seven hours of a pendulum swinging between ignoring each other and screaming every grievance they had. Then they only caught one fish, and they were yelling about who was going to get custody of it in the settlement—even though I kept assuring them I could cut it into equal halves. I felt like I was the anti-Solomon.”

Her eyes were watery with tears of laughter. “Stop. You’re totally making this up.”

He held up his fingers in the scout salute. “I swear I’m not. If I’ve learned one thing in my job, it’s that people are weird and unexplainable.”

She took a sip of her hot chocolate, looking contemplative. “You know, you’re absolutely right.”

“Except for us, of course,” Haydn assured her, wanting her to look his way again, wanting her to smile at him like that and hear her snort-laugh again. “We’re just three normal blokes.” Blokes? Was he British now?Yep, way to prove you’re normal.It was too much to hope his brothers could let that one go.

“Right-o, mate,” Jules replied in an accent. “Doesn’t get more normal than us.”

“Blimey, after a proper cuppa, we’re just grand,” Bennett added. He held out his mug toward Jules, who tapped his mug against it with his pinkie held aloft.

Haydn rubbed his temples. So much for playing it cool. Out in the wild, people respected him and looked to him for his leadership. They’d never mock him like this. That’s what he got for having two brothers. If he acted as defensive as he felt, they’d never let it go. Which meant he had to lean in.

“I’m trying to assure Lia that we’re not … dodgy.” He gave the last word the most Oliver-Twisty accent he could muster.

His brothers howled, and Lia’s eyes glowed as brightly as the fire as she watched them all.

“On that note …” She set her mug on the table and stood, clutching the blanket around her shoulders. “I’m going to get ready for bed.” She gave Haydn a mischievous smile. “I’m feeling absolutely knackered.” Her accent sounded so real, Haydn wouldn’t have been surprised to learn she’d spent a significant amount of time in Europe.

Bennett and Jules chuckled while Haydn shook his head in defeat. “Fine, fine. You all win. Especially Lia. Did you grow up in England?”

She gave him one of her unreadable smiles that made him want to sit and talk with her for hours and find out all of her secrets. “I’ve spent some time there.”

He wanted to ask more, get her to stay with them, to keep joking around and telling stories and learn more about her, but she yawned into the blanket. “Do you mind if I use the hallway bathroom for a quick shower?” she asked.

“It’s yours,” Bennett assured her. “We can use the bathroom in Jules’s room if we need to.”

“Thank you.” She paused. Was it Haydn’s imagination, or did her gaze linger on him extra long before she left?

The room felt too quiet once she was in the bathroom. She’d brought a vibrancy to the group, and now that it was missing, he wished to have it back.

The sound of her humming drifted out to them, that same tune she’d been thinking out loud to at the cabin, and then the sound of the shower turned on and drowned it out.

“You think she’s gorgeous,” Bennett said in a singsong voice.

“You want to kiss her,” Jules said, quotingMiss Congeniality, another movie Rosie had made them watch with her.

“You want to—”

Haydn threw a pillow at Bennett’s face before he could finish. “Stop,” he moaned. “It was bad enough when Rosie made us watch it. Don’t make it a part of our family lexicon.”

“Too late. That one’s an earworm,” Jules told him.

“They all are,” Bennett agreed, “but I find them appropriate for most occasions.”

“Well, I did have to promise Rosie we’d watch two more romantic comedies next time we’re all together,” Haydn said. “To make up for the cabin thing.”

“Make up for it?” Jules sat up straighter. “She’s the one who—”

“I know.”

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