Page 72 of Chips & Checks
Bowen doesn’t seem to mind.
Things get even dicier when my brother blows through the front door and starts removing his shoes.
“You made it!” Mom runs over to him and kisses his cheeks.
Beside me, Bowen looks as taken aback as I am. Nobody told me that my brother was invited to today’s shindig, too. Great. This day is getting better by the second. If my sister weren’t in college in California, she’d be here too.
“What’s up?” Bowen asks. He does that chin lift thing guys like to do when they run into each other.
“Hey, man.” Lenyx’s eyes flick from me to Bowen and back again. He winks. “So, you’re at themeet the parentsstage, huh?”
“We work with your dad,” Bowen says in a flat voice. “I met him on day one.”
“Yeah, but this is more formal, you know?” Lenyx looks to me and points at Bowen. “Do I need to have a talk with this guy, Vi? Make it clear that if he hurts my sister, it’s…” He makes a swiping motion across his neck.
“We’re good.” I give my brother a thin-lipped smile. Our relationship is complicated—we grew up together, but he and our little sister, Lark, were always closer to each other than I was. Maybe it’s because they’re closer in age, or maybe I was the odd one out because we’re only half-siblings. Lenyx is also very… loud, like Dad.
The parents drift off to look at the promised photo albums. Bowen follows. For a moment, I’m left with just my brother.
“Speaking of havingconversations… Do I need to have words with Chad?” Lenyx’s eyes search my face, and there’s no teasing or grandstanding in his posture or tone. “Because something’s going on there, and I’m guessing you’re not a fan.”
“Thanks, but I’m handling it.” I give Lenyx a one-armed hug. I shriek when he wraps his arm around my neck and rubs his knuckles in my hair.
“Hah! Gotcha!”
I elbow him in the ribs. “Fuck off, Len, I did my hair for this?”
“Because you wanted to look pretty for yourboyfriend?” Lenyx makes kissy lips next to my ear. “Bowen and Violet, sitting in a tree…”
“Grow up.” I squirm out of his grip. “What are you, five?”
My idiot brother just blows a raspberry at me and trots toward the door to the back deck, where everyone else is serving themselves food and laughing their asses off at the plethora of humiliating baby pictures my parents are trotting out.
For all my family’s shenanigans and my brother’s extensive clowning, brunch goes pretty smoothly. Declyn and my dad get along like a house afire, telling all kinds of goofy stories about the minor league team they played for back in the day called the Sorrowville Slammers.
Apparently, my Uncle Shep was the talk of Sorrowville with his crazy impersonations of some old wrestler named Ric Flair.
Toward the end of the meal, Dad taps my shoulder and whispers, “Want to help me clear the plates?” I recognize secret father-daughter code when I hear it, so I gather up the leftovers and carry them into the kitchen for what’s sure to be a heart-to-heart.
Sure enough, Dad closes the sliding door behind him and joins me by the sink to put the cut fruit and leftover frittata in Tupperware. “Listen, you know that talk we had about never dating a hockey player?”
“Mm-hm. How could I forget? And I know you see me with him, but it’s not what you think it is. I haven’t forgotten.”
“Maybe youshouldforget,” Dad muses.
I whirl toward him so fast I almost send the fruit flying. “Dad! Really? Bowen Murphy is a manwhore who comes with a veritable handbook full of rules. Did you know that if we were really dating, he wouldn’t even be here right now? Because meeting the parents isnoton his list of acceptable activities.”
“Nah.” Dad catches the dish and pushes it to safety. “Bowen Murphy is me. He just needed to find the right woman, someone who made him want to break all his rules. He about put Chad’s face into another zip code after he inappropriately touched you. So, officially dating or not, from what I’ve seen, that woman is you, Violet.”
“Gross, Dad.”
He pats my arm. “You don’t have to answer out loud. For the love of God, don’t answer out loud. But he was never going to sleep over, right? That’s the number one rule. How about no public displays of affection? I watched him wrap an arm around you last night in front of a crowd of your friends and his. Hey, let’s not forget there’s no meeting the parents. Oh, look who came to brunch. You know how I know all his rules, Violet? I wrote them.”
My throat burns, and a prickling heat builds behind my eyes. “What do I do, Dad?”
He pulls me into a one-armed hug, steady and sure. “You follow your heart. Give Bowen a chance. He wouldn’t be here if he didn’t want one. There’s only one rule you need to follow. Let him think it was all his idea. He who falls first, falls hard, and falls forever.”
I nod against his shoulder, but it feels fragile—like I’m made of glass and the tiniest push will shatter me. I want to believe Bowen’s here because he’s choosing me. That he’s breaking his rules because he can’t not. But I’ve seen what happens when men get scared. I’ve watched my mom’s heart break in slow motion when the promises stopped and the silence started. And I’m terrified Bowen’s already holding the jagged piece of my heart that could wreck me.
