Page 8 of Only One I Ever Wanted

I stopped at one of the red lights on Hope Street. “How about we go to Gram’s house and see if we can get a decent dinner for a change?”

Danny’s lips twitched, but he nodded.

A great cook, I was not.

YouTube had helped me find my way around the air fryer to at least change things up from frozen dinners, but not by much. I knew I needed to figure out something more structured, but it wasn’t going to be tonight.

I pulled into our driveway and Danny hopped out, taking off to my parents’ place next door. I glanced over to see his Switch on his seat.

That was a good sign.

Then again, Anna Murdock had a way with boys—especially since Danny was their first grandchild. I loped after him and made a mental note to fix the flowers on the way home that Trouble had dug up.

The screen door slapped shut and I heard the delighted voices of my mom and dad. They doted on Danny and had been heartbroken when Mindy had taken off with him years ago. We were all determined that it wouldn’t happen again.

Proving how tight we all were, the front door of Anna and Joe Murdock’s house was never locked.

I shouldered my way in and found Danny sitting at the kitchen table with a package of his current hyper fixation—Fruit Snacks—in front of him and a big glass of water. While my place was a split ranch, my folks’ place was an eclectic farmhouse with lots of add-ons, making it a crazy hodgepodge of styles.

My father being a contractor meant the house was a showcase. Period.

The kitchen was massive and contained a big enough table to seat all of us, and smelled of something mouthwateringly spicy. My dad sat at his usual seat with his newspaper in front of him.

Some things never changed—even if he was probably one of the only people on our street to get a physical paper these days.

“Hey, Dad. Where’s Mom?”

“Flipping laundry.”

I gave his shoulder a squeeze then went to the coffee bar where a pot was always on. My mom was a coffee freak and had every iteration of bougee coffee. I couldn’t deny that her blend always tasted superior.

I filled a big mug and dumped in a half spoonful of raw sugar. “Guess who’s back in town?”

My dad tipped down a corner of his newspaper. “You got a scoop, Sully?”

I grinned behind my cup. “I just might.” I took a sip, and the scald was worth it. “Nora Baker.”

His eyebrows shot up as he folded the paper. “Haven’t heard that name in a damn long time. She and Booker move back?”

“Just Nora.”

“Huh.” He folded his hands over the paper. “Well, that’s surprising.”

I know. “She looks good.” I sat down next to Danny and stole a berry-shaped gummy.

“Is that so?”

“Get that look off your face, Dad.”

“What? I always liked that girl.”

“Woman.”

He rolled his eyes. “She’ll always be a girl, just like you idiots are my boys.”

My mom came down the stairs, her salt sprinkled curls haloing around her youthful face. She had on her typical workout clothes with a zip-up hoodie over it. “Oh, Sullivan. I didn’t know you were coming over.” She went right over to Danny and gave him a loud smacking kiss on his cheek. “And you too, sweetie. How was school?”

He scrunched up his shoulders, but he leaned into her instead of away like he did with me half the time. “Good. Mrs. Phillips went into labor in the middle of class on Friday.”

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