Page 64 of Loving You

“Should he still be driving a Harley?” I ask.

“Yes.” The look my grandmother gives me could kill, and I almost laugh at how quickly she answered me. “Now, what are we talking about?”

“Oh, just how Mike seems to take more risks than Miles,” Natalie says with a laugh.

“Nat,” I scold and then cover my face.

Maybe I could tell these two the truth. They won’t tell anyone, will they? I mean, they are family. Maybe I could even get Tobias on board with this whole thing.

“Well, risk or not, I’m thrilled over this. Does it mean you’ll stay in Lovers longer than just a summer? My grandma heart says, ‘Don't get your hopes up,’ but they are high, my dear.”

Well, so much for telling her the truth.

“I … I’m not sure what it means.”

“Well, haven’t you two talked about it?”

“Of course.” I lean back and cross my arms. “It’s a sensitive subject.”

“I’ll bet it is,” Grandma adds. She picks up Nina and bounces her on her hip toward the kitchen.

Natalie hands me Dixon, then stretches her legs out.

“Whatever you two decide, don't let anyone guilt you intoanything, okay? The best things take time. Look at me and your brother.”

“I don’t think it’s going to take Miles and I ten years to figure this out.”

Less than ten weeks together actually, but those are details Natalie doesn’t need to know.

“I’ll bring it by next week. Thank you, Miles,” Mike says as they all file out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“Bring what by?” I ask Miles.

He scratches the back of his neck. “His Harley. The fuel tank is acting up, so I told him I’d look at it.”

“You don’t have time on your schedule for that.”

“I’ll make time.”

“Now, now.” Grandma Betty marches into the room. “Don’t be doing my fiancée any favors if it means taking away time from my granddaughter. I need you to keep her absolutely smitten—that way she never wants to leave Lovers again.”

Miles meets my eyes over the top of the baby Dixon’s head.

I give him a half smile, and he mirrors it.

First his dad and now Grandma Betty. We didn’t take the effect this would have on our loved ones into consideration.

“Is everything all set up for the ceremony?” I ask quickly to change the subject. This specific question sends Grandma into a frenzy where she starts to share all the details. As she talks, my gaze falls to the fireplace, where a wedding photo of Natalie and my brother sits, then it drifts to a shot of the twins propped against it, waiting for the frame my grandmother has yet to purchase for it.

I scan the mantle over her fireplace. There is one of her and Mike, more of Natalie and Tobias, and a couple of my parents. At the end is a picture of me. Alone.

I remember when she took it. It was a good day. We were at one of the many festivals that Lovers has, and I won a gift basketfilled with random goodies the town is known for. There were books, baked goods, a gift certificate for the spa at Lovers Lodge, and a few other knickknacks.

I’d bet Tobias I would win it, and I was smiling so big because, as his sister, I still love when I’m right instead of him.

Yet right now, looking at the photo makes me sad.

I take in all the other pictures around the room, and one by one, memories come back to me. Weddings, graduations, birthdays.

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