CHAPTER TEN
AMBER THOUGHT IT A loss that she hadn’t met Evelyn sooner.
She was like a beam of sunlight in a cold room. Her light drew a person close but her warmth, her sunshine kept them around her. Amber barely noticed the drive to Noah’s house as she and Evelyn talked through the ride.
Noah kept his gaze on the road. He was so still Amber would have forgotten he was in the car with them if their eyes didn’t keep meeting in the rearview mirror every few seconds. She tried to ignore the weird shivers that raced down her arms every time it did. At least Evelyn didn’t seem to notice. She was turned over in the front seat, her back to the dashboard her seatbelt was the only thing anchoring her as she chatted with vigor.
Amber took in the peaceful neighborhood as the car slowed to a stop. The house before her was a large four -bedroom home that gave off a cozy and inviting air with its blue paint, black shingles and a wraparound porch. A wooden swing hung on the porch, adorned with throw pillows.
Noah neatly parked the dark green Tacoma in the driveway, forgoing the garage which already housed a car. Evelyn had mentioned her brother would be meeting them here. Was that his car? Amber wanted to ask but they were already moving towards the porch steps. She pushed her bag under the seat and shut the car door. She had earlier switched out her leotard for a breezy shirt and a pair of black leggings.
Noah pulled open the front door, leading them into the house. Evelyn immediately made herself at home, pulling her shoes off in a flash and hanging things in the hallway closet. She flew into the house announcing, “I smell cookies!”
A soft giggle echoed from inside the house. Amber froze at the entrance. Was that Noah’s mom? Did that mean the car in the garage was hers and not Emmett’s? Oh god.
“I-Is that your mom?”
Noah turned to her with a raised brow. “Uh, yeah?”
She wrung her hands, suddenly restless at the thought of meeting the woman whose son she called her nemesis and had constantly picked arguments with for years. The whole thing was so weird. Amber had never in a million years thought she would ever be paired with Noah, meet his friends or even have a conversation with him that wasn’t heavily loaded with sass and sarcasm. Barely a week after she had accepted his help, she was stepping into his house, about to meet his mother.
She was a bit freaked out.
Noah didn’t seem to remember that there had ever been bad blood between them. He calmly shrugged off his shoes and turned to walk out of the anteroom. When he realized she wasn’t following, he paused.
“Are you waiting for another invitation?” That stupid, thick brow lifted again. She should shave it off, if only to get him to stop angling it at people like he expected them to jump at his every request. Rude.
“Could you find a worse time to be insensitive? I’m about to meet your mom. What am I even going to say?”
He stilled, brows drawing down like he was starting to understand the enormity of all this. Amber needed him to catch up faster. He was the genius.
“You’re nervous about meeting my mom?”
Her own brows drew down at the smile that slowly climbed onto his face. Noah kept his gaze on her, his dark eyes glinting for some reason. Should she be alarmed?
“Is this when I ask where all your social skills have gone, m’lady?”
Amber rolled her eyes, both at the fact that he was enjoying this and at that damn nickname. All of a sudden, his hand was wrapped around her wrist as he tugged her into his home. Her gaze darted around, trying to take in the living room to the left as he dragged her past it and into the large open plan kitchen to the side of the house. Standing there was Evelyn, her mouth full with what Amber assumed were the cookies she had been after and a dark haired woman wearing an apron. She turned when they entered and Amber held in the urge to gasp when she smiled at them.
She was beautiful.
“Hi mom. I see Evelyn got you to cave.”
The woman smiled, her bright smile dazzling Amber for a moment. Was she an angel?
“She took one look at my cute face and couldn’t resist giving me the best cookies on the rack,” Evelyn boasted, her cheeks comically full. She looked like one of the Chipmunks. Maybe Theodore.
The woman laughed, the delightful sound filling the warm kitchen. “I love feeding you kids. It’s my pleasure.”
“Then I guess you’ll love this. Mom, meet Amber.”
His mother’s eyes fell on her. For a second, they took on the same dazed expression her son’s eyes had at the theatre. She rounded the counter to meet them and Amber’s eyes widened at the sky high heels on her feet. How did she move so fast in those?
Her eyes were a bright green highlighted by kohl and smoky eyeshadow. Despite her makeup, Amber recognized the features she shared with her son. Their eyes were deep-set, bridged with long lashes and their nose had the same upturned curve. Amber noticed the dark grey slacks and white button up his mother had on under her apron. Had she gotten off work and entered into the kitchen to bake cookies for her son and his friends? That was insanely sweet.
“Hi, Mrs. Rhodes. It’s nice to meet you. You have a lovely home.”
Mrs. Rhodes beamed. A certain light radiated from her that almost made her tan skin glow. She took Amber’s outstretched hand and enveloped it between hers. “Thank you. It’s lovely to meet you too. I mean, you’re Amber. The Amber. I can’t believe I finally get to meet you after hearing Noah talk about you all these years.”
A record scratch went off in her head. Noah did what?
“Mom!” he interrupted, his voice stern. Amber stared at the flush that creeped up his neck. He was embarrassed. Because his mom said Noah had talked about her? He had mentioned her enough times that his mother had recognized Amber by name alone. Her.
She blinked, her mind sputtering over that little piece of information. She was probably dreaming all this up. Maybe Evelyn and Noah hadn’t actually met her at the class then invited her back to his house. Maybe she was back at her own house, snuggled up in bed and lost in dreamland. All of this could be a product of her imagination, an incredibly realistic one.
Mrs. Rhodes waved off her son’s protest. “Where are my manners? Come in. You must be hungry. Evelyn always works up an appetite after her ballet practice. She mentioned you recently placed second at a regional competition. How was the experience? I would love to hear all about it.”
It was a mild surprise hearing Mrs. Rhodes say so much so fast when her son barely liked to communicate at all. A slight accent peaked at her pronunciation of certain words. She had never heard it from Noah.
Amber took a seat at the counter beside Evelyn. “It was a grand experience. There was so much excitement in the air. The crew we had working with us was amazing. They helped all the contestants get settled, gave us our schedules and helped with any costume or technical issues as best they could.” Her nerves slowly eased as she spoke. Mrs. Rhodes listened closely, her smile in place.
“It must have been unforgettable too. I remember the only competition I ever went for. It was the Valle de Santiago Miss Teen Pageant my mama signed me in. I was prepared to hate it until we got to see the other girls. The moment I saw them in their crowns and sparkly dresses, I was a goner.”
Mrs. Rhodes plated three cookies and placed it before Amber, so immersed in her story that she missed Amber’s hesitation. She was hungry and the cookies looked delicious but her mother’s words came unbidden to her mind.
The seat on the other side of Amber scraped lightly against the tile. Noah took a glance at the plate and slowly pulled it to their middle. With his eyes focused on his mom, he picked a cookie and bit into it. Amber found herself staring at his profile and only jerked away when he met her gaze. His mom was now instructing Evelyn to grab ingredients from the pantry, but she was moaning about how she couldn’t leave or all the cookies would disappear.
Sitting there, in the house of the boy she’d been convinced she detested for years, eating cookies and talking with his mom, it felt like the world had slowed down for a minute. Like the feeling she had when it was only her and the music.
It felt… nice.
Until a loud crash sounded at the front door.
“Emmett, those better not be my spices!” Mrs. Rhodes’ roared from the pantry.
The brunet Amber recognized as Evelyn’s brother barely registered the scolding. The door fell shut behind him as he blinked intermittently, looking around like he was unsure where he was.
“Is that Amber Coleman? Here? Sitting in Noah’s kitchen? How did this even- Am I in the wrong house?” he paused to sniff the air. “Wait, no. It can’t be, I smell cookies.”
Amber laughed. There was no denying he and Evelyn were twins. They shared the same features, except Emmett’s cheeks were a little more defined and his hair a slight shade lighter than Evelyn’s. His jaw unhinged at the sound.
“You’re real. She’s real,” he muttered in disbelief. Amber sent him a wave to aid his clarity.
“Don’t break your tiny brain trying to figure it out. We invited her over.” Evelyn stepped out of the pantry after Mrs. Rhodes, her arms full with ingredients. Emmett quickly packed up the brown bags that had fallen at his feet at Mrs. Rhodes’ narrowed eyes. It was a struggle with his other hand holding up pizza so Noah went to the rescue.
“You mean you forced her to come,” he said as he dropped the bags on the counter.
“She wanted to come. Didn’t you, Amber?”
She nodded helplessly, seeing no other answer. Also, she was too amused for words. Emmett stepped further in the room, keeping the large pizza boxes in his hands.
“Hi, Amber. Nice to officially meet you. I’m Emmett, the twin who unfortunately got stuck with Eve.”
“I’m the unfortunate one,” Evelyn muttered as she added more cookies onto her plate.
“Nope. Pretty sure it’s the other way around,” he retorted, deepening his sister’s scowl. He ignored her and leaned closer. “Also, I’m way more charming. You might think she is because you got to meet her first but I came out first so technically, I still win.”
“By two minutes.” Evelyn stepped up to them, pushing her brother back with a nudge to his chest.
“Still counts. Biology says the swimmer who hit the egg first is the winner. I won fair and square.”
“It’s different for twins, dummy. We’re the same split egg.”
“No, it’s not. It’s different eggs in the same womb. Tell her Amber.”
Noah saved her from responding. “Don’t let these two turn you into a yes man.” He threw them a glare and turned to scrubbing his plate at the sink. “Quit bothering her.”
Amber’s cheeks flared when Evelyn and Emmett let out resounding ‘ooohs.’ Noah rinsed his hands, looking ready to tell them off but was distracted by Evelyn pulling Amber off the stool. “Thanks for the cookies, Mrs. R. We’ll be upstairs where we can’t bother you anymore.”
Noah’s mom laughed after them, “Have fun, kids.”
Led by the twins, Amber took the first step to the staircase. She paused for a moment as Noah, clutching paper plates and water bottles in his hand, stopped to kiss his mom on her cheek and speak to her in a low voice.
“Amber, you coming?”
She turned away, melted goo in her chest where her heart once was. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“We usually hang out in Ronan’s room,” Evelyn told her when she reached the landing. “That’s Noah’s brother. His room sits empty since he’s off to college, but he has a huge TV in there we like to use. Come on, let’s choose a movie before the boys do.”
Amber giggled at the urgency in her friend’s voice. Emmett, who was a step behind them said, “Sorry ladies. The ‘boys’ have chosen tonight’s movie.”
“We’ll see about that.” Evelyn stuck out her tongue. Towards the left, she pulled open a door. The room they entered was spacious, painted a light grey and had a bed, desk and chair off to one end. Two closed doors to the side probably led to a closet and ensuite. She followed Evelyn deeper into the room where a large TV was hung up and encircled by a two seater couch, bean bags and a rectangular mini coffee table. A little rack against the wall held a display for movies and games.
Evelyn snatched up the remote and flopped onto the couch, patting the space beside her for Amber. They were scrolling through Netflix selections and arguing movie titles with Emmett when Noah walked in. He looked over them, unfazed by the squabble. His eyes lingered on Amber as he walked over, dropping the paper plates and water bottles beside the pizza boxes on the table.
“What are they arguing about now?” He settled into one of the bean bags next to the couch.
Amber shrugged. “Evelyn wants to watch a rom-com that was recently released but Emmett said you already chose a scary movie.”
“And you? What’s your choice?”
“I-I’m not a huge fan of horror movies.”
“We’re watching our movie. Evelyn got to pick last time and it was a horrible decision.”
“That wasn’t last time! It was two months ago!”
“We don’t want to be stuck with another sappy movie.”
“A little romance won’t kill you.”
“Blah, blah, blah. I’m not listening.”
“Don’t be unfair. Amber and I should get to pick.”
“Let them pick.”
Noah broke into the argument. He folded his arms over his chest, his hair somehow more tussled than when they had been downstairs. It fit him, like this was the real Noah in pants and a loose shirt, not the surly student body president everyone knew at school.
“Dude.” The single word of protest was painted with disbelief.
Noah shrugged. “Eve’s right. Amber is our guest. We should let them pick. She invited Amber so they could tag team against us. Let them have this one.”
Emmett sighed and reluctantly handed the remote back to his sister. It seemed his competitiveness wasn’t restricted to playing on the football field. When she reached for it, he moved it away for a moment. “It better be a good one or we’ll change it.”
Evelyn grabbed at the controls, victory clear on her face. She winked at Amber. “Looks like you have some magic of your own. Up top, girl.”
Amber laughed and obliged her friend. They settled in as the movie began to play. The boys stayed quiet at the start, munching on the pizza but fifteen minutes in, Emmett had leaned forward and Noah couldn’t pull his eyes off the screen. The room in silence as they fixated on the movie,
Amber leaned back on the couch, her eyes cantering over everyone, her arm resting against Evelyn’s.
She thought she had felt free when she’d been dancing alone at the studio, but amongst them, she was so much more at ease. The comfortable silence replicated the one in her mind and heart. She allowed herself to revel in the simplicity of the moment.
It was the first time she’d felt free in a long time.