Page 42 of Finally Home

Payton closes the fridge with a huff and slams the pitcher on the counter. “Oliver. Will you please just be nice?” She storms out of the room in the same direction Joel went.

“Who says I’m not nice?” He looks around the room for help, but no one seems to want to contradict him.

I turn and place my palm on his chest. “How about that tour, babe?” I ask, saving himself from this awkward conversation. So far from what I’ve known of Oliver, he’s not a dick to be a dick. I mean, hell, the night he met me, he offered to help me, a complete stranger. There is a reason he’s not a fan of this guy, and after only a brief interaction, I have a feeling I know why. But I’m not here to judge anyone.

He laces our hands together and leads me out of the room. We pass by the family room where Payton and Joel sit on the couch, talking in hushed tones.

“No need to go in there. It’s your typical family room.” Clearly, he wants to avoid them or, maybe more importantly, avoid Joel.

We pass a wall with a giant collage of photo frames. “Not so fast, Mr. Mosby.” I tug on his hand to keep him from rushing up the stairs.

Taking in all the photos, some colored and some black and white, is like traveling in time. I’m currently walking on a trip down memory lane in the Mosby family. There’re photos of all three kids throughout the years. The same photo I saw at Oliver’s from Payton’s graduation is in a frame with a second image—the one post-fall and yes, it’s as funny as Oliver had described.

There’s a black-and-white photo of their dad, dressed in his uniform. Oliver explained this week that they lost his dad a few years ago. I could tell that it was a tough subject for him, so we haven’t talked all that much about it since then. I may not get along with my dad, but I think I would still miss him if he were gone. So, I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose him being super close. I’ve had enough struggles with my grief over my Grams.

“I can see where you get your handsomeness from.” Looking up at Ollie, I see him also staring at the image I’d just been looking at.

“Yeah.” He clears his throat. I don’t want to have him stuck in his head, so I step up so that we’re standing on the same step and kiss him. Our time is running out, so I kiss him longer than I had originally planned. At first, I wanted to get him out of his head, but now I just can’t seem to pull myself away from him.

“Get a room,” a deep voice comes from the bottom of the stairs. I’m not sure if it was Archer or Rhyland who said it.

“I would, but it seems mine’s taken,” he mutters.

“Aww, such a bitter baby,” I tease as I pass him and head up to the second floor to continue the tour.

Chapter 19

Hollie

Dinner was absolutely delicious. It’s impressive that Payton managed a single bite since she had peppered me with questions the whole time.

“So, how did you and my brother meet?”

“Are you loving Elmhurst?”

“What got you into photography?”

“Did you want to be a photographer when you were little?”

“What’s your favorite shoot you’ve ever done?”

I tried to answer the best I could in between eating. At moments when I couldn’t answer, Ollie stepped in. Payton’s eyes lit up as Ollie recalled the story once again about the puppy yoga shoot.

Both Connie and Payton mention they would love to do that.What a stark contrast to my mother’s reaction.I’m ninety-nine percent sure everyone is actually interested in what I have tosay and not blowing smoke up my ass or trying to belittle my opinion. That one percent falls on Payton’slovelyboyfriend.

Joel had excused himself for a phone call during dinner and never returned. Payton went to search for him while I helped Connie clear the table.

“Thank you, sweetheart. Did you get enough to eat?” she asks as she accepts the casserole dish from me and places it in the sink to soak.

“Oh yes. Everything was wonderful.”

“Well, I hoped you saved room for dessert. I made a strawberry shortcake.”

My eyes widen. I don’t think I could eat another bite, even if I tried.

Connie laughs at my expression. “Don’t worry, my dear, we’ll let our food digest a while.”

That only partially makes me feel better. I excuse myself to use the restroom. Someone is in the downstairs bathroom, so I rush up the stairs to use the one that Oliver had shown me earlier between his and Archer’s room.

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