Blinking back a whirlwind of emotion, I squeeze the kids tighter.
“Good to have you back, Joey,” a deep voice calls out to me.
I grin up at Ethan, who’s always been like an older brother to me. He’s four years older than Logan, and where Logan is the wild, party boy, Ethan is the stalwart family man.
I drag the kids with me to greet their dad, and then I’m the one squealing when I see my friend Tori.
“There’s my maid of honor.” She hauls me to her for a quick hug, somehow managing to avoid the chocolate. She grimaces when she gets a closer look at my clothes. “Codybug, please apologize for sliming this girl with pudding.”
“Sorry, Aunt Jojo.” Two dimples pop out on his chubby cheeks.
The little booger doesn’t look the least bit apologetic. I laugh and brush those thick blond locks out of his face and kiss his forehead. “It’s okay, dude. I’m not gonna melt.”
He’ll be four next month, but you’d never guess it from his height. I shouldn’t be surprised, though. The Carter men are all over six feet tall.
“I huwt my arm.” He holds it up to me for my inspection.
“Aww, sorry, buddy.” I kiss his elbow for safe measure.
Behind me, a throat clears. “Hey, Joey,” Patrick calls out. “I have a booboo too that’s swollen. Been keeping me up at night. But kisses might make it feel better.”
I turn in time to catch Logan elbow his friend in the gut, and Tori snickers. She loops her arm in mine and pulls me down the hall. “Come on. Let’s get you changed.”
Once we’re out of earshot of the boys, I tug Tori to a stop. Shame, hot and familiar, flushes my cheeks. “I need to do laundry,” I whisper. “I’m not sure I have anything clean to wear.”
After giving my cousin a huge down payment for our new business, I didn’t have much left. I had to work overtime last week so I could scrounge the money to afford this trip and didn’t have time to wash anything. With the exception of some underwear, everything in my suitcase is dirty. I thought laundry would be the first thing I’d do when I arrived at my grandma’s house.
Which your brother sold. You have some real winners in the family, Jo.
Tori shrugs. “No prob. I’m sure I have something you can borrow.”
In her bedroom, she digs around her dresser and tosses me a tank top and jean shorts. Because I have chocolate handprints on my rear too.
I eye the clothes in my hands warily. Tori is taller than I am, but I have more junk in the trunk. “Not sure I’m gonna be able to squeeze into your shorts.”
“Try them. If not, I’ll find some sweat pants or something. It’s just so hot.”
In the ensuite bathroom, I change into her clothes and then go wide-eyed when I catch myself in the mirror. “Tor, I can’t go out in this!”
She sticks her head in, looks me over, and gives me a thumbs up. “Looking good, mama.”
“My boobs are gonna pop out of this top if I bend over too far.”
She scoffs. “You’re fine. You have a great body, and it’s not like you’re prancing around in a bikini on your way to church.” When she senses my turmoil, a worried expression crosses her face. “I need to do my own laundry or I’d offer you something else. I can grab you one of Ethan’s t-shirts if you’re really uncomfortable.”
For some reason, wearing another man’s clothes feels weird. Especially when they belong to my friend’s fiancée.
“This is fine.” I don’t want to be any trouble.
She gives me a reassuring smile and then glances at the bedroom door behind her. “Didn’t mean to throw you under the bus earlier by having Logan pick you up, but Cody had an earache that wouldn’t go away, and I had to take him to the pediatrician.”
“It’s okay. I appreciate the ride. Is Cody okay?”
After she assures me Cody is fine, she studies me a second. “Did you guys talk on the way over here?”
I know she wants Logan and me to resolve our issues, which are basically my issues. “Not really. He kinda said we could let bygones be bygones, and we left things at that.”
Nodding, she reaches for me and gives me a big hug. “I’m not pushing you one way or the other, but I do think you’ll feel better if you tell him what happened and clear the air.”
When she lets me go, we sit at the edge of her bed. “You’re probably right, but if I tell him what happened at Christmas, then I have to tell him everything else, and that’s hard for me. It’s embarrassing.” And pathetic. I’m quiet for a moment. “I didn’t mean to hurt him when I left. I was upset and confused.”
“I was upset when you told me what happened too. It’s a miracle I didn’t maim him on your behalf.” She gives me another reassuring squeeze. “And you don’t have to be embarrassed. You feel how you feel. There’s no shame in caring about your best friend. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know, and he’s damn lucky to have you by his side.”
My face flames, and I laugh awkwardly. Sometimes I still feel like that gawky teenager who doesn’t always know how to talk to people.
“If I haven’t told you lately, I’m really honored to be in your wedding.” I bump her shoulder with mine. “Thank God Logan made Ethan hire you that summer.” Tori and I became fast friends when she came to work at the ranch two years ago.
“If you’d told me on the day I interviewed that I’d be marrying Ethan Carter, I’d have laughed in your face.”
She swears she hated him when they met, but I think it was lust at first sight with a heaping side of denial.
“And now you’re getting married!”
We look at each other and squeal like maniacs.
While my own love life is a train wreck, I couldn’t be happier for Tori and Ethan. Tori is like a sister, and Ethan’s always treated me better than my own brother.
Our powwow is interrupted when Mila calls for her in the other room.
“I gotta go make sure no one is burning down the house, but are you sure you’re okay with my clothes?”
“Sure. Yeah.” I mean, I think I am.
“Trust me when I say you look beautiful.” She trots off with my soiled shirt and shorts to toss them in the laundry, and I take a minute to wash my hands and face in the bathroom because I feel grimy after that bus ride.
Staring at my reflection, I tug on my top to stretch it a little. I work out enough that I’m toned everywhere I should be, but showing this much skin makes me nervous from years of being told horrible things by my parents.
I shake my head, hating that I’m being dramatic. Tori wears tanks all the time, and she looks fine. My boobs aren’t that much bigger. I just… won’t bend over. And I’ll probably be sitting most of the time for dinner this evening, so it’s not like anyone will even notice my rear.
I can do this. No one here cares what I’m wearing.
I almost smile at the rebellion. If my father could see me now, he’d break out his shotgun to scare off any boys who looked in my direction.
Of course, he’d have to actually be here to do that.
And degenerate fathers who ditch their families don’t get a say in what their daughters wear.