He winked at Mallory before he walked away and she had to suppress a smile.
When it was back to the three of them, she reached over and grasped Jake’s hand before facing her brother. “Are you okay?”
Sam looked at their hands before looking up at their faces and Mallory could still see a hint of rage there. “I should have stayed the hell home,” he murmured before walking away. When she went to go after him, Jake held her back.
“I need to talk to him,” she stated, but Jake didn’t release her hand.
“He needs some time to cool off,” he replied soothingly, pulling her into his embrace. Placing a kiss on her forehead, he hugged her close. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Why didn’t you tell Sam we were dating?”
Good question.
She let out a quiet sigh. “I don’t know. He sort of…he’s known all along how I felt about you and the night of Pops’ party, he even suspected I had done this whole makeover thing for you.” Her face was buried against his chest and she was slightly mortified that she was admitting this to him.
Tucking a finger under her chin, he gently forced her to look up at him. “Did you?”
Shrugging, she said, “I don’t know. Maybe.” She paused. “Honestly, it was probably more for me. For so long I just felt…invisible. There was nothing remarkable about me and…I guess…” She let out a long breath. “It was just time to do something – to stop complaining about my life and actually do something to try to make it better.”
For a long moment he simply studied her – his eyes scanning her face. “There was never anything wrong with you.”
She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of his statement. After all, he never noticed her before. He never saw her as anything other than Zeke’s great-granddaughter who came to visit once a year.
But right now wasn’t the time to remind him of it or to pull at that thread.
“Bottom line,” she forced herself to say, “it was for me and I didn’t want to tell Sam about us because – even though we normally tell each other everything – I knew he’d get all big-brotherish and come down here and do exactly what he just did.”
“Big brotherish?” Jake repeated with a laugh. “You’re twins.”
“He’s two minutes older and makes it seem like that gives him the advantage.”
He kissed her again. “Yeah, well…it’s a good thing that he looks out for you. You shouldn’t get upset about it.”
“It’s annoying.” And yes, she was pouting.
“If I had a younger sister – and she was only two minutes younger than me – I’d want to kick every guy’s ass who even tried to touch her.”
Now she did laugh. “You would not.”
Pulling back, he looked down at her. “Yes. Yes, I would. And as much as I don’t want to fight with Sam, I understand why he’s upset so…let him cool down and later on I’ll talk to him.”
“We’ll talk to him,” she corrected.
Luckily, he didn’t argue.
The yard was starting to fill with guests and together they began walking around talking to people. For Mallory, this was the best family get-together ever. And it was all because of the man holding her hand and walking beside her. They did get several curious glances, but for the most part, everyone was just their normal selves and it was awesome. When they needed extra hands to man the numerous grills, Jake offered to go help which was fine with her. Parker and Peyton were heading her way with knowing grins on their faces.
“Look at the two of you!” Parker said, practically giddy. “You’re adorable!”
Fortunately, Jake was out of earshot for that comment. She wasn’t sure he would appreciate being referred to as “adorable.”
“I have to admit, when we saw Sam was here, we thought there was gonna be a fight,” Peyton added. “He looked really pissed when he stormed by us in the house.”
Mallory told them about the near-brawl he and Jake almost had. “Luckily Pops shut that down.”
“Leave it to Pops,” Parker laughed. “I swear, it’s like he’s not even ninety. Everyone’s still a bit afraid of him even though he wouldn’t hurt a fly!”
“It’s called respect,” Peyton said, looking over her shoulder to where Pops was sitting and talking with some of his friends. “He’s the glue that holds everything together so we should all pay attention to what he wants and listen to him.”
The three of them fell silent for a moment as they studied their family’s patriarch. Mallory had always been a little envious of all her cousins who lived here in Magnolia Sound just for the mere fact that they got to see Pops all the time. Part of her considered moving here once she finished college, but there wasn’t much call for tech careers here in the small town. Still, a move to North Carolina might not be a bad thing. Especially once Jake was done with college too. She knew he hoped to come back and continue with Coleman Construction in more of a management-level position – engineer or architect. How amazing would it be to live close by and be able to come see her family whenever she wanted?
It was her dreamy sigh that had her cousins turning back to her.
“Are you thinking about Jake? Is that why you’ve got that goofy look on your face?”
“I do not have a goofy look on my face,” she argued. “I was just thinking about the possibility of moving to North Carolina after graduation.”
They both squealed with delight and hugged her. “That would be amazing!” Peyton said and then instantly frowned. “No. Wait. I’ll be away at school and Parker will be leaving too! Sure, you decide to move here when we all can’t be together to hang out. How fair is that?”
“Oh, stop. You’re staying in-state for college,” Mallory reminded her, “and Parker will probably do the same, right?”
Shaking her head, Parker said, “Oh, no. I can’t even think about college right now. It’s not even on my radar.”
“Oh, shut up,” her sister said with annoyance. “You’re just waiting to see where Tyler goes so you can go to the same school. Admit it.”
“Wait…who’s Tyler?” Mallory asked.
Before Parker could reply, Peyton did it for her. “He’s her best friend and I swear they do everything together. Every. Thing. He’s always over at the house and she’s constantly talking about him, but she swears there’s nothing going on between them.” Then she laughed. “Just admit it, Parks, you love him.”
It was typical sibling teasing, Mallory knew that, but it was obvious it bothered Parker because she muttered a heated, “Shut up!” before storming away.
“I think you hit a sore spot,” Mallory said.
With a smile, Peyton replied, “I know.”
“Nice to know Sam and I aren’t the only siblings who do this sort of thing to each other.”
“You should see some of the stuff we do to Mason.” Her smile turned a little devious. “It’s why he doesn’t come home nearly as much as our parents would like.” She sighed. “Never a dull moment, that’s for sure.”