"Eight years ago," I start, “I walked into your grandparents’ picnic, and she was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt tied at the waist. She was on her horse, and she was laughing, the sight of her literally stopped me in my tracks. Then every single time I came, I would secretly hope I could see her." I shake my head now. "I know that I shouldn’t have thought of her in that way out of respect to you. And I swear if…"
"The heart wants what the heart wants," Chelsea says, and I look at her. "That’s what Mom told me."
"For fuck’s sake, Chelsea," Ethan says.
"With all due respect,” I say. "Don’t talk to her like that."
Ethan just stares at me. "Excuse me?"
"Look, I get she’s your sister, but you have to understand she’s mine,” I say. "I don’t have anything to offer her. I have nothing." I look over at her. "I have the clothes on my back."
"You know I don’t care about that," she says to me, then turns to Ethan. "I chose him," she says. "Out of every single person in this whole world." She squeezes my hand. "I want him."
He runs his hand through his hair. "Dad is going to fucking freak out," he says. "This is crazy." He shakes his head. "Your father is hunting you down, and now my sister is involved."
"I was involved the minute I opened the door." She steps forward now. "I’m not backing away from him because of his father. I don’t care what you say or Dad says or what anyone says. I have loved this man for the past fucking eight years," she says. "Waiting, hoping that he would somehow see me as not just your little sister but a woman who wanted nothing more than for him to notice."
I noticed you,” I say, pushing her hair behind her ear. "I noticed you. I noticed all of you."
Chapter 26
Chelsea
"I noticed you. I noticed all of you," he says softly, putting his arms around my waist and pulling me to him. My arms wrap around him, and I lay my head on his chest.
"This is not okay," Ethan says, shaking his head. "She knew." We both look at him. "Emily, she saw it. I told her she was crazy."
"She is not crazy," Mayson says.
"Now what?" Ethan looks at me.
"Now, I call Mom and go over there for dinner and tell them." I look over at Mayson, who just nods.
"I really hope you know what you’re doing," Ethan says. "Now get dressed. We have work to do."
"Let me make breakfast," I say, walking over to the fridge. "He has to change his bandages anyway."
Mayson kisses my lips and walks to his bedroom. I turn now and look at Ethan. "Whatever you want to say,” I say, "don’t."
"If you get hurt," he says, his voice tight and low. "I will kill him myself." I’ve always known Ethan was cutthroat. He came back from the military, and with one look, he would have you backing out of the room. I look at him. "Without thinking twice."
"If anything happens to him." I point at the bedroom. "I don’t know if I would survive," I say. "I love him. Like so much, the thought of him not being here is just." I shake my head and swallow down the lump in my throat. "I can’t explain it." Even though I fight back the tears, they still come. "I can’t lose him, not now that I have him."
"Why is she crying?" I hear Mayson hiss from behind me and turn to him.
"I’m not crying." I wipe my cheek with the palm of my hand. "I was just talking."
"She’s fine," Ethan says, and I make them both breakfast. Ethan places his plate in the sink at the same time Mayson finishes. "You ready?"
"Yeah," Mayson says, getting up now and coming over to the sink.
"Let’s go," Ethan says, and Mayson doesn’t move this time.
"I’ll be right out," he says to Ethan, and I just smile at him. "Come here, Chelsea."
I walk to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Will you be safe?" I ask, scared now that something is going to happen to him.
"I’ll be fine,” he says. "Give me a kiss." He doesn’t have to ask me twice before my lips are on his. I don’t stop kissing him until we hear the car horn blare, and we both laugh. "I have to go."
"You do," I say and then look down. "But I’m not sure if you want my brother to see you saluting." I wink at him and walk away. "I’ll text you later." I walk into the bedroom and fix the bed.
Grabbing my phone, I call my mother, who answers after half a ring. "Chelsea," she says almost with a fear. "Are you okay?"
"I’m fine,” I say, "but I was wondering if I could come over for dinner."
"Why the hell are you asking that?" my mother shrieks. "You don’t have to ask to come over to your own house for dinner."
I laugh. "Okay, well, then, I can come over soon, and we can spend the day cooking together."
"Or I pick you up in thirty, and we can go get our nails done," she says, and I laugh. "See you soon, baby girl."
I toss the phone on the bed and slip on the baby pink T-shirt dress and grab my gold flip-flops. I tie my hair in a ponytail, and when my mother comes to get me, I walk out of the house with a smile. But then I feel someone watching me, and I stop and look around. My mother gets out and comes over to me. "You okay?" she asks, and I just nod.
"I’m fine, just felt eyes on me." I shake my head. "It’s probably just in my head." I close the car door, and for the rest of the day, I forget about the feeling.
"Ethan said he’s going to be here in ten minutes," Emily says to us as she holds Aubrey in her arms. "Can you hold her? I need to go to the bathroom." She hands me my niece, who just smiles at me and lays her head down on my chest. "She didn’t nap today, and if she goes down now." She shakes her head. "There will be no mommy daddy time."
I laugh at Emily as she walks away from me. I sit on the couch, kissing her head as she watches her cartoon on the television. The screen door slams shut, and I hear footsteps coming into the room. My father is the first one to walk in smiling when he sees me and then Aubrey.
Ethan and Mayson are right behind him. Aubrey sees Ethan and calls his name. "Da da da da." Holding out her arms, he comes over and takes her from me. "There is my princess," he says, kissing her head. "Where is Momma?"
"Bathroom," I say, and Mayson stands there next to my father with a weird look on his face. "Hey," I say to him and then get up to hug my father. My mother comes into the room, and my father walks to her and hugs her, kissing her lips.
I walk to Mayson, and I smile at him. "Hey there," I say, and I don’t know if I should kiss him or not. I am not sure how we are going to do this. I’ve thought about it all day, and then I tried to tell my mother, no lie over a hundred times, but each time, I stopped talking.
"Hi," he says softly, and I just walk close to him and kiss his lips.