Page 43 of Free to Believe
“Seriously? She won’t mind?” Jenna says, jumping up and running around the lounger.
“There is nothing, and I do mean nothing, my family won’t do for me.” Feeling the warmth of that steal through me, I switch out of my sunglasses so I can see the screen. Pressing FaceTime video on Corinna’s number on my list of favorites, I’m surprised when a shirtless Colby answers. Both girls gasp. “Colby! Put a damn shirt on! I have two teenagers with me, for Christ’s sake!” I yell.
“Not on my account,” Jenna says dreamily.
“Dibs,” Lynne calls. Jenna elbows her, in mock exasperation.
Colby’s deep laugh crinkles his eyes in the corner. “Sorry, girls, I’m already taken. Hey, princess, Em’s on FaceTime!”
“Ohh! I’ll be right there!” my sister yells from offscreen.
“How’s life in Nantucket, Em?” Colby tries to keep the phone above his chin but fails abysmally when he slides into one of the stools surrounding Cori’s kitchen counter. I slap my forehead as the duo behind me let loose with another round of giggles. “Oops, sorry.” His wry grin tells me he knows the effect he’s having.
“What are you doing home anyway?” I ask curiously. “Aren’t you normally at the office by this time?”
He nods. “Except Caleb, Keene, and I had a meeting with the other department heads that went really late. So, the guys and I decided we’d sleep in and go for a run this morning instead.”
I let out a loud snort. “I can just picture the three of you out on a run. Who had to come in first?” My brothers-in-law are seriously competitive with one another. To make it worse, they’re all military veterans who all work together. Competitive is an understatement.
Laughing, my sister pulls the phone away from her fiancé. “Ali. That’s because she dropped off Kalie and decided to join them. She then decided to race them all to…hey! I didn’t know you had company!” Corinna’s musical drawl lights up in excitement. “Hi, girls!”
“Hi!” Jenna leans over my shoulder in excitement. Lynne leans closer and waves.
“Cori, the blonde hanging over me like a new appendage is Jenna, Dani’s niece. The brunette sitting next to me is her best friend, Lynne.” I gesture to each girl in turn.
“Hi, Miss Corinna,” Lynne says shyly.
“Hey, Miss Corinna.” Jenna waves.
“Oh, please. Drop the ‘Miss.’ I don’t need to feel older than I am.” Corinna laughs.
“Princess, you look about twenty again in that getup,” Colby says from offscreen.
“Do I want to know you’re wearing, Cori?” She has the phone so close, I can only see the edges of her trademark tank. I lament my sister’s choice of clothing. Then again, as she often points out, she works long hours in a too-hot kitchen, so style isn’t a concern.
“Hold on.” The image jostles as Cori starts walking. “Here you go.” Using the flip function, Cori turns the screen around so I can see her outfit in the mirror.
I burst out laughing. Colby’s right. Corinna does look about twenty in her cutoff jean shorts and hot-pink sneakers. I narrow my eyes. “Is that Colby’s ratty-ass Army tank you’re wearing, missy?” I demand.
“Hooyah,” she chants. Smacking my forehead into the iPad, everyone starts laughing at me. “Listen, you try baking in a kitchen that’s hotter than my man without a shirt on… Um, Em? Did I send them into shock?” Corinna looks worried.
I look at the girls who are both in a dreamlike state. Grinning, I tell my sister, “Nope. That would be your man who did that when he answered your phone a few minutes ago. Shirtless,” I add when Corinna’s confused expression doesn’t clear.
“Colby! You didn’t!”
“It was Em, babe. How was I to know she’d have two girls with her?”
Corinna rolls her eyes.
“I feel for the parents of those girls though. They’re both knockouts. If we ever have girls, I swear, I’m getting another gun.”
“Then I get another knife,” Corinna replies sweetly.
“Hold on. How is that fair?” Colby argues. “Your knives cost more than my guns.”
“Exactly. Now let me talk to my sister and we can argue the protection of our future children later.”
“I’m sorry,” Lynne interrupts. “But did that man just call me a knockout?” Wonderment fills her voice.
