Page 60 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
“Morning,” I say brightly. I haven’t seen him since the school board meeting on Thursday night, and it feels good to be with him again.
“I hope you’re hungry. Lennox is the one feeding us this morning.”
“Does he ever get tired of cooking?” My stomach grumbles, making Brody grin, and I press a hand against my midsection.
“Not that I’ve ever seen,” he says. “We’re test subjects this morning. He and Olivia have decided to offer Sunday brunch at the restaurant, so he’s been focusing on breakfast foods lately.”
The conversation flows as we drive the short distance over to his parents’ house. We don’t talk about anything important. Not really. I tell him about my plans to update the kitchen. He tells me about a couple he had a kayaking lesson with yesterday, and an email he got from one of his former AP Chemistry students. It’s all completely inconsequential. Just normal, everyday stuff. But I want to know it all anyway. I tell myself it’s not all that different from how our friendship has always been. I’ve alwayscared about things going on in Brody’s life. But now itfeelsdifferent.
Even if it shouldn’t, it does.
We don’t use the main entrance to the farm but cut up a back road that leads right to the family homestead without meandering through the event and farm space. If the number of cars in the driveway is any indication, everyone else is already here.
“Do you guys really do this every Sunday?” I ask as I follow Brody to the front door.
“There’s always a meal,” Brody says. “But not everyone comes every week. Perry always comes. And I usually do. Tyler and Olivia go down to Charleston a lot to see his family, so they’re here maybe half the time. Lennox was never here until he moved back, so it’s been nice having him come.”
“And Flint?”
“Once or twice a year, maybe? He does the best he can. I’m honestly surprised he’s able to make it as often as he does.”
As soon as Brody pushes through the front door, I am quickly enveloped by the familiar bustle of a Hawthorne family gathering. Hannah hugs me first, then Lennox gives me a quick hug before darting back into the kitchen.
Olivia is standing off to the side with her husband Tyler, who walks forward long enough to shake my hand, but Olivia only waves, her smile tight and her expression wary. Perry is sitting in the corner of the living room reading a book.
“Come and see Ray,” Hannah says, ushering me away from my worries about Olivia and toward Mr. Hawthorne, who is already seated at the head of the enormous farm table in the dining room. “He’s been so excited to see you.”
Ray Hawthorne greets me with kind eyes and invites me to sit beside him and tell him about my latest adventure.
The first thing that pops into my head is kayaking the Lower Green with Brody, but I know that isn’t what Mr. Hawthorne means. Instead, I tell him about the time I spent in Ireland just before coming home.
Olivia soon joins us, sliding into the chair across from me, one hand resting on her baby bump. “You must be itching to get back on the road, Kate,” she says a little too sweetly. “You’ve been back in Silver Creek, what, a month? That’s long enough for a lot of people.”
There’s something about her assumption that rubs me the wrong way. The same uneasiness I felt when I first visited with Olivia and her mom wiggles its way into my mind. It almost feels like shewantsme to leave. “No, I’m enjoying myself. There’s still a lot of work to do to get the house ready to sell. That’s enough to keep my mind busy.”
She asks a few more questions about the house, and we chat back and forth, but as soon as the conversation shifts to something farm related, I get up to find Brody. He’s in the kitchen with Lennox, leaning against the counter while his brother pulls something that smells delicious out of the oven.
“Hey,” Brody says as he sees me approach. “You okay?”
I nod, but gesture for him to follow me into the hallway.
“What’s going on?” he asks once we’re alone.
“I don’t know exactly. But...I think Olivia doesn’t want me here.”
His eyebrows go up. “What? Like, here at breakfast?”
I shake my head. “No. Here in Silver Creek. I can’t explain why. She hasn’t said anything specific. I just get the sense that...I don’t know. That she’s worried, maybe?”
A flash of understanding crosses Brody’s face, but then he just smiles and squeezes my shoulder. “I’m sure it’s nothing, Kate. Olivia loves you.”
A knot forms in the pit of my stomach. There’s something he isn’t telling me. Still, it isn’t a conversation I want to have with half a dozen Hawthornes standing around, so I return his smile and nod. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“Foods up!” Lennox calls from around the corner.
“Come on,” Brody says. “Let’s eat, and then we can get out of here.”
The food is amazing. A frittata with fresh tomato, arugula, and crumbled goat cheese. Thick slices of French toast with sliced strawberries and some sort of maple bourbon drizzle that makes me moan out loud. A tossed salad with baby greens, thinly sliced pears, candied walnuts, and a lemon vinaigrette that is somehow sweet and spicy at the same time.
