Page 21 of The Re-Proposal

I focus on her. “Sorry. I missed that.”

“I said Clay’s gone to pick up ice cream. Abe’s upstairs playing video games with Micheal and Bailey.”

“How is he?” I ask in a low voice.

“He’s acting like he doesn’t care about the commercial, but I had to slip him some antacids after he threw up in the bathroom downstairs.”

“Abe isn’t the type to want a big viewing party,” I tell Island, keeping Stinton in my peripherals. Currently, he’s shaking hands with a tall Asian guy in a suit.

“I was just as surprised.”

“Did he give a reason?”

“Between you and me?” She leans forward. “This party is an excuse to hang out with a girl.”

My eyes swing to her. “What girl?”

“Do you really think Abe would give me that information?”

She got a whole lot more from my tight-lipped nephew than I ever have. And I’ve been in Abe’s life since day one.

“I’ll head upstairs.”

She waves me away.

I follow the sounds of video game music into a room with a Batman emblem on the wall and the coolest decals I’ve ever seen. If I were a teenaged boy, I’d want to live in here.

Hell, I’d probably want to take some of these design ideas to my house right now.

I spot Abe sitting cross-legged on the floor. He’s got an arm slung around his stomach and he seems a little pale.

“Hey, Abe,” I call.

All four heads turn to look at me. There’s a kid with dark hair and a solemn expression, another kid with big eyes and window glasses, and another with a mischievous stare.

When Abe sees me, he hops to his feet. “Uncle Cody.”

I motion for him to follow me and take him into another room.

“You okay, champ?”

Abe chews on his bottom lip. He’s small for his age with frail shoulders covered in an oversized hoodie and a head of floppy hair that Island somehow manages to tame every month.

His eyes are filled with nerves when he looks up. “Uncle Cody, I’m starting to regret this. Can I go home?”

“Of course you can, bud.” I kneel so I’m level with the eleven year-old. “It is more than okay to run away and come back when you’re ready.” I hold a hand out to him. “Want to take off now? I’ll send your dad a text.”

He grits his teeth. Slowly, he shakes his head. “I can’t.”

Gingerly, I broach the topic, “Why’d you push yourself to do something like this, Abe?”

He gives me a desperate look. “I wanted to be cool for once.”

“What do you mean?” I ruffle his hair. “You areverycool.”

“No, I’m not. I can’t change a tire and fix cars like Beth.”Beth? Who’s Beth?My nephew continues. “I can’t paint like Rowan. And I can’t play piano like Nikko.” His cheeks flush with color when he says her name. “I got this commercial and I wanted to show it off, but I think I might die before that.”

“You’re not going to die, Abe.” I grab his shoulders and look him square in the eyes. “You’re doing amazing. Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

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