Page 19 of Marriage is a Shore Thing
“He’s in love with the coffee shop’s owner, Brynn, even though she wants nothing to do with him.”
“At least I’m trying,” he says, his hand unsteady as he picks up his mug for another gulp. “That’s more than I can say about a certain someone who hides behind her fists.”
“Okay.” Van claps his hands, efficiently disrupting our death stares. “It feels like this went off the rails.”
Noah smirks. “Bickering is pretty much our status quo. You’ll get used to it.”
“Maybe so, but this feels like more than bickering. I don’t want either of you to say something you’d regret.”
My stomach twists.
Too late.
“You’re really this good of a guy all the time, aren’t you?” My brother settles himself against the counter, crossing one black boot over the other. “That story about you delivering twins at a music festival only to turn around and help birth a baby goat wasn’t a lie?”
Van chuckles. “No. That was just a very weird night—much like last night, if I’m being honest. What was the deal with those lightning bugs?”
“She didn’t tell you.” Noah shakes his head. “Figures. Geneva doesn’t let herself believe in fluffy stuff, like the goodness of others, baby giggles, life-long friendships—”
“Enough,” I bark.
I want to smack the look of victory off Noah’s face.
“Basically, there are some strange occurrences that most locals attribute to magic—the library presenting you with a book you should read, or the items you need repositioning themselves in your house, or it’ll rain everywhere except right around you. That kind of stuff.”
“Huh.” Van rubs his jaw. “So with the lightning bugs, that wasn’t some fluke?”
I’ll give it to Van, he takes things in stride. I nearly had a heart attack the first time fireflies flew in shape patterns around me.
“Nope.”
“Alright.” He takes another sip from his mug. “Unexpected wife. Magic island. Let’s roll.”
Noah’s smile grows ridiculously large. “I officially like you. You can stay. I mean, we’ve got to figure out a way for you to leave peacefully so it doesn’t ruin my mom, but in the meantime, you’re my new best friend.”
“You already have a new best friend. And he’s a billionaire,” I quip, just to keep the floor from slipping from beneath my feet.
“Wait. You’re kidding.” Van’s eyes widen.
“Technically, but he’s a down-to-earth guy. He’s a librarian, if you can believe it. Oh, wait, you met him last night. Finn.” Noah’s expression brightens, which should be impossible since the two of them in one room are like twin suns. “We should all get together sometime.”
“That’d be great.”
“No!” My outburst sounds ridiculous even to me, but I’ve never lost so much ground so quickly. I can’t have Van folding into the life I’ve carved out here. It’s the only one that’s ever felt genuinely mine. “He can’t because we’re supposed to be laying low, remember?”
Noah shrugs. “We can hang at my place. I live in the condo tower at the end of the— Dude, you play guitar?” When my easilydistracted brother takes a step toward the living room, I catch him by the shoulders.
“Nope. None of this.” I forcibly push Noah toward the back door—since no one ever uses my broken front door. “Besides, you need to head home and get some sleep. Have a nice day, and we’ll see you never.”
Noah chuckles, allowing me to lead him outside. “Love you too, Geneva.”
I grunt in response as I close him on the other side of my gate. Then I take my first deep breath when I notice I’m alone in the backyard. Now that everything isn’t spiraling out of control, I let my chickens out of their coop.
“Good morning, ladies.” I give each of them an affectionate pat on the head, tucking Hank beneath my arm since she loves morning cuddles as much as I do.
When I turn around to get a scoop of their layer feed, Van is standing on my small deck, two steaming mugs in hand.
“I topped you off,” he tells me, coming barefoot into the yard and extending my mug.
