Page 330 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
“The guy coming through the door—that’s Perry. He’s the oldest. He and my little sister, Olivia, she’s the youngest of all of us, run Stonebrook Farm together.”
She nods. “I’ve heard of the farm. Apples, right?”
“Mostly. And strawberries. They grow a little bit of everything. And host events. Weddings, reunions. That kind of thing.” I point at Lennox and Tatum, who are standing by the grill. “That’s Lennox, and his wife, Tatum. They’re both chefs. They’ve got a baby now too, but I don’t know where she is. Oh—right over there with my dad. Her name is Hannah, after my mom. And there’s Olivia and her two kids, Asher and Maggie, right there, getting in the water. Her husband is out of town, so he’s the only one not here, and that’s my mom sitting by the door.”
“Wow.” Audrey’s eyes are wide. “I hope you aren’t going to quiz me later because I’m not going to remember anyone’s names.”
“There will absolutely be a quiz,” I say. “If you want to study the squirrels, I expect first names, last names, ages, occupations. All of it.”
She nudges my shoulder with her knee. “Shut up.”
I look up and grin. “No quizzes, I promise.”
“Do they all live in Silver Creek?” she asks.
“Believe it or not. It’s the biggest reason why I moved back. Couldn’t stand the thought of them all being together without me.”
“I can’t imagine,” Audrey says. “I live with my two younger sisters, and sometimes even just they feel like too much. This is…”
“A lot,” I finish for her. “For sure. But most of the time, they’re worth it.”
“I guess you don’t really need friends when you have a family like this.”
“No, I guess not,” I say, but as I survey the scene, it’s not lost on me that Idoneed something else. In a family where everyone has someone, I’m the only one still alone.
I’m working on being okay with this. My life has always been different from the rest of my siblings, but before, it was always because of my career. Now, it’s different for other reasons. More personal reasons. And they somehow feel so much more substantial. I’ve never been particularly opposed to meeting someone and settling down. But now, seeing my siblings so firmly entrenched in family life is only making it obvious how much I want the same thing.
With someonenotlike my fame-hungry ex.
I lift an eyebrow as my gaze turns back to Audrey. She couldn’t be more different from Claire. “Hey, what’s your favorite movie?” I ask.
She leans back like the question surprises her. “Me?”
“I’m not talking to the squirrels,” I joke.
She looks up, her eyes scanning the trees. Apparently, the very mention of her squirrels requires her to look for them. She looks back at me with a sardonic expression and pulls her dark ponytail forward so it’s hanging over her shoulder. “I guess I don’t have a favorite. I don’t really watch movies.”
I stare. She doesn’t watch movies? Who doesn’t watch movies? “Like, ever?”
She grimaces. “I realize that might be an insult to you, considering your profession. I just…I don’t know. I have a hard time giving up two hours to do something so…pointless?” This last word she says like a question, almost like she senses it might not land well.
“Pointless,” I repeat. I’m not exactly offended. I don’t need everyone in the world to like movies. I’m just surprised. And maybe a little disappointed since, so far, I’ve liked everything about this woman. “The point is to relax. To be entertained. To feel…I don’t know. Happy.”
“There are other things that make me happy,” she says, like that alone is enough to disqualify my argument.
“Like what?”
She takes another sip of her water. “Sometimes I read.”
“Science books?”
She rolls her eyes. “Notalways.I read novels, too.”
“Novels about science?”
“Or nature, or—” She huffs and sits up a little taller. “You know what? It’s okay if I like different things.”
“Sure. If you liked differentkindsof movies. But to not like movies at all? I don’t know that I’ve ever metanyonewho doesn’t like movies.”
