Page 143 of Give My Everything
“Do you think your mom would have a problem with me going?” Lucas asks. “I know she’s had some opinions about…”
“No. You should absolutely visit. Spending time with Ivy and helping to keep her upbeat and happy is the priority, not anything my mom has said about”—I wave my hand—“anything. You’re her brother, too, and she needs all the love she can get.”
He gives me a small smile then returns his eyes to the menu.
“He’s just parking,” Hannah says, looking at her phone then up at me. “Wyatt, I mean.”
I nod. “Hey, weren’t you guys supposed to go on a trip?” I ask, realizing I never heard about the week in London that had to be rescheduled because of Ivy’s hospital stay.
Hannah grins at me.
“We’re leaving in a few days. Wyatt said he was going to talk to you about time with Ivy to make sure…”
“Whatever it is, I’m there,” I interrupt. “You guys deserve a trip, and I love my sister. I’ll handle it.”
It’s hard not to feel good when Hannah beams at me, her smile radiating across the table like the sun.
“Will you be back for the fundraiser?” Lennon asks, drawing all of our attention to where she sits quietly next to Lucas.
“Oh I’m pretty sure that’s the plan. We’re only supposed to be gone for a week.”
Lennon’s relief is obvious, her shoulders dropping and her smile reappearing.
When her eyes connect with mine, she explains.
“Events like these fundraisers arealwaysfilled with friends of my mother’s, and it will be helpful for me to have some of my own friends there so I have people to look at when I’m doing my speech.” She shudders. “I hate standing up at the front.”
Lucas drapes his arm across her shoulders. “Why don’t you practice it for everyone?”
Her cheeks blush. “Maybe later.”
Wyatt chooses that moment to drop into a seat next to mine, giving me a grin that says he’s exhausted.
“Give me the dates you’ll be gone,” I say before he even has a chance to bring it up. “I’ll make sure Ivy’s taken care of.”
He squeezes my shoulder, a familiar sign of affection from him when he’s unable to express his gratitude.
Over the next fifteen minutes, the conversation ebbs and flows as more of my brother’s friends join us, a handful of people I recognize but whose names I couldn’t come up with even though I’ve been introduced to them in the past.
Whenever I look at Remmy, she has this odd look on her face. For a little while, I worry about it.
Until she turns and looks at me, smiling.
“You okay?” I ask.
She nods, her eyes returning to look out over the group of people at the table with us.
“It’s just a weird feeling, you know?”
“What is?”
“I never thought I’d have anything like this again—a group of friends.” Then she places her hand in mine. “It’s just an idea I’m adjusting to.”
I lift her hand and kiss the knuckles, knowing in that moment that I need to get her a ring, something I didn’t do the first time around.
“New can be good,” I say. “Relationships can be good. There is a lot of good still coming your way in life, Remmy. Don’t doubt that.”
She grins at me. “I’m trying not to.”
