Page 40 of Her Greatest Mistake

“Oh, swoon,” I sigh dramatically, and she pinches me again before laughing.

“You tease, but one day, you’ll do the same things for someone.”

“Don’t hold your breath, Ma. Your hair might turn grey before then.”

She scowls up at me and scoffs, “We both know I’ll never go grey.”

“Are you sure? I think I see . . .” I pinch a piece of hair between my fingers and hold it up in front of my face.

“You do not!” She swats at my hand, and I drop the hair.

I snort a laugh. “Look at that. A false alarm.”

We stop in front of the patio door, and she says, “Go say hi to everyone. They’re antsy.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say. Then, I pull the door open and shout, “Your favourite person has finally arrived!”

“Cooper’s here?” my cousin Jamieson yells, looking around the backyard, bypassing me entirely.

I narrow my eyes. “Aye, asshole. Don’t you have a football to catch or something? Are you sure you’re okay to use that axe? We wouldn’t want you to get a callus on those precious hands.”

The wide receiver drops his head back and bellows a deep laugh. His grip on the axe Dad keeps by the woodshed loosens as he drops it on the grass and then crouches to slip a stack of chopped logs into his massive arms before carrying and dropping them in front of the blazing fire. It’s a bit out of control, but if I had to guess, someone probably started it with gasoline.

Something I’m sure Jamie’s firefighter older brother, Oliver, wasn’t entirely thrilled about.

“These hands see more hard work than yours, pretty boy,” Jamie teases me after brushing off the wood chips from his arms.

“When’s the last time you did anything even remotely labour-related, son?” My uncle Tyler grins at his youngest son.

“Probably around the same time you did,” Jamie returns.

Shaking my head, I take in the familiar scene of our big family spread throughout the yard. Behind Jamie, Oliver and my uncle Ty are chatting with themselves, keeping watchful eyes on the fire while sitting on low-rise wooden patio chairs with beers in hand. Adalyn attempts to toast a marshmallow on the blazing flames, her face twisted with concentration.

Tyler’s wife—my aunt Gracie—is busying herself with a long white table piled with food and presents. That’s the direction Mom takes off in, and a second later, Dad is behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and pulling her back into him.

My heart warms at their affection. It’s the same type of love I’ve seen them show throughout my entire life. Suddenly, I frown. There is only one face missing from the crowd, and it’s one that has to hurt Mom the most.

“Where is Noah?” I grind out, facing Addie now.

Addie looks at me over the flames. “Toronto.”

“Toronto?”

“Look, before you blow a gasket, he didn’t go for no reason.”

“We’re celebrating Mom’s birthday, Addie. There’s nothing more important than that.”

She cocks a brow. “Really? You’re being a hypocrite right now.”

She’s right, but I don’t admit that out loud. “He went to see Tiny, didn’t he?”

“Of course he did, Dox. But he was here on Mom’s actual birthday, so just let him go see his best friend without the judgment. You should know how he’s feeling better than anyone.”

Slowly, I lower myself to the grass and pull my knees up, draping my arms over them. I don’t like him leaving like this, but my opinion means shit to my brother, anyway.

Tinsley Lowry—or better known to all of us as Tiny—is my uncle Tyler’s half-brother’s daughter. While a goddamn mouthful, there’s no blood relation to me or my siblings as Tyler married into the family. And thank fuck for that because Noah has been in love with her from the moment he laid eyes on her.

Dad always told us that Huttons are like penguins. We mate for life. And while I didn’t buy it when I was younger . . . I think he might not have been as out to lunch as I thought.

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