Page 413 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
“She totally is.” Lucy flips the pancakes and smirks. “The attention isn’t always bad, Audrey. Sometimes it can be fun. Now go wake up Summer. Breakfast first, then I know exactly what we need to do to celebrate.”
Lucy’s idea of celebrating is watching movies all day.
And by movies, I meanFlint Hawthornemovies.
My first impulse is to refuse. I can’t watch all his movies. Watching his movies will only make me love him more. But then I think of Lucy’s words.
Let go and be with him.
I take a steadying breath, then drop onto the couch. “Fine, but you have to fast-forward through any kissing.”
Summer pops some popcorn even though it’s only ten-thirty and we only just finished breakfast, then drops onto my other side, plopping the bowl into my lap.
I look from one to the other. “I know what you guys are doing,” I say.
“What? What are we doing?” Summer asks.
“You’rehere,” I say. “I can’t remember the last time either of you was around on a Saturday. I know you’re staying in for me.” I link my arms through each of theirs. “I just want you to know I appreciate it.”
Lucy nudges my knee. “You’re watching amoviewith us, Audrey. Even if Ihadplans, I’d cancel them to see this miracle happen.”
I roll my eyes and grab a handful of popcorn. “Just shut up and push play already.”
One movie turns into two, then three. With my limited experience, I’m probably a poor judge, but Flint deserved the Oscar for the World War II movie. After that one is over, we watch the first twoAgent Twelvemovies back-to-back, and I fall a little bit in love with Flint as a beard-wearing, gun-wielding CIA agent. Next up is the time travel movie (my sisters say it isn’t nearly as bad as Flint claimed) but we’re breaking for dinner first because Lucy insists we can’t survive on popcorn and Red Vines alone. I feel like we’re doing a pretty solid job, but I’ll feel better tomorrow if I get a little protein, so I don’t need much convincing when she mentions pasta Bolognese.
Just before we start the next movie, a knock sounds on the front door.
My heart stops. I’m pretty sure Nate is still out front, and he wouldn’t let anyone approach unless he trusted them. Could it be Flint? The way my chest suddenly aches tells me just how much I want it to be.
Summer gets up to answer the door, but it isn’t Flint.
It’s his mother.
Hannah Hawthorne smiles wide as she sets a gift basket down on my coffee table. “Well, this looks like fun,” she says as she surveys my very messy living room. Soda cans, red vine wrappers, an empty ice cream carton.
I jump up and start scrambling around the room, picking up trash. “We’ve been watching movies all day. Had I known you were coming, I would have—”
Summer shuts me up with a hard stare and pulls the trash I’ve collected out of my hands. “Just sit down and stop being a weirdo,” she whispers.
“Don’t clean up on my account, Audrey. I don’t want to interrupt your movie. But I come with news.” She motions toward the basket. “And a few things from the farm.”
Lucy and Summer disappear into the kitchen. “Oh. That’s really sweet of you.”
“There’s some goats’ milk soap, some fresh apples—first of the season, and they’re delicious—and a box of almond pillow cookies that are going to be your new favorite. Lennox makes them,” she says easily. “But he doesn’t give them to just anyone, so you should feel pretty special.”
I pick up a bar of soap and lift it to my nose. It smells like apple blossoms and spring sunshine. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
We settle onto the couch, her warm gaze putting me at ease despite the tension I initially felt at her arrival. “I hear you had a bit of a scare earlier this week.”
I nod.
“That’s actually the news I mentioned earlier. Flint wanted me to tell you Ed Cooper was arrested. Hedidviolate his parole when he left California, so the cops have been looking for him. They found him early this morning at a motel up in Hendersonville.”
Relief washes over me, and I close my eyes. “That’s really good news.”
She smiles. “I thought so too.”
“But you didn’t have to come all this way just to tell me. Nate could have—”Oh.It suddenly occurs to me why Hannah is here. Flint told me he’d have Nate keep his distance so my life could feel as normal as possible. A visit from his mom is still significant, but it’s more personal—morenormal—than an update from his security team.
