Chapter 17 #2
“On the other side of the hill with the house. Give it a minute, you’ll see them.”
Sure enough, as we drive up the road toward the house, I catch glimpses of blue.
It expands as we drive closer, until there’s nothing else but sparkling water, one small lake and one large.
The large one is surrounded by trees and cabins – belonging to Myles and his brothers, I assume.
He pulls into the driveway and parks, and I notice that all the other cars here are as sporty as his.
The Salinger brothers have a thing for speed, I guess.
When he kills the engine, I suddenly feel anxious. Like he’s bringing me home to meet the parents. And even though I remind myself that I’m not Myles’ girlfriend and I’m only here for one reason, the feeling doesn’t dissipate.
“Remind me of your dad’s name,” I say as he walks around to open my door. His fingers curl around mine as I climb out of the seat.
“Rupert.”
“And your stepmom is Julia?”
“His wife is Julia. We don’t call her our stepmom.”
I’m about to ask him why, but then a couple walks onto the front steps of the house and I realize exactly why. Julia is young. Younger than Rupert. Not very different in age to Myles.
Yeah, calling her his stepmom would be weird.
A second later, the front steps are filled with men. Tall, broad men who bear an uncanny resemblance to Myles. They’re grinning and shouting at him, and I start to feel overwhelmed because I’m never going to remember all their names.
Myles squeezes my hand. “Relax,” he murmurs. “You’ll be great.”
“Darling! You made it.” I look up to see one familiar face in a crowd of strangers.
Myles’ mom looks as beautiful as I remember as she walks down the steps, beaming.
“Ava, it’s so lovely to see you again.” Linda reaches out to clasp my hand.
“Let me introduce you to everyone while Myles gets your things.”
“Aren’t we driving down to the cabins?” I ask.
She laughs. “Oh no, there’s no road. You have to walk down to them.”
Myles reluctantly lets go of my other hand as Linda leads me up the steps. “Rupert, have you met Ava Quinn?”
Myles’ dad catches my eye and smiles. There’s a presence to him that you don’t see in many men. It’s in the way he looks at me, as though I’m the most important person on the steps. It isn’t lecherous or weird, just warming.
And now I’m starting to see why he’s had so many wives.
“Ava, it’s a pleasure,” he says, leaning forward to kiss my cheek. The man even smells perfect. “This is my wife, Julia.”
Julia Salinger leans forward to hug me. “Thank you for bringing Myles,” she whispers in my ear. “I wasn’t sure he’d come.”
Well that’s weird. I accept her thanks and store away the question created by the interaction for Myles later. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I have high hopes for the Salinger Olympics.”
She rolls her eyes. “I swear those boys would make a competition out of a funeral.” It’s also weird how she calls them boys when some of them look older than her. But then I turn around to see Myles and Liam laughing uproariously at something, and somehow they all do look boyish.
Myles’ eyes land on mine and I feel my stomach contract. He mouths ‘okay?’ and I nod.
“Let’s go inside. I want to introduce you to everybody,” Julia says, putting her arm through mine. Myles’ mom takes my other arm and we walk inside.
I’m in a Mrs. Salinger sandwich and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. It gets even more complicated when they introduce me to Deandra, a pretty fifty-something brunette who’s cooking at the stove.
“Hi,” Deandra says, smiling at me while she stirs. “It’s so lovely to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“You have?” I blink, because what is there to hear?
“You publish the Dandy the Lion books, right?” Deandra asks. “I read them to my pre-school class every Friday. They love them.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Linda says. “Myles told me about those. You’re a publishing sensation.”
“That’s the one character he would have loved to publish,” Julia joins in. “He always says so.”
Before I can respond, Julia pulls me away and introduces me to her friends and family. I nod and smile but I know that I’ll never remember anybody’s name.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I ask, when I realize everybody is either cooking, making wedding favors, or polishing silver right now.
“Oh no,” Linda says. “We’ve got this. I’ll take you back to Myles in a minute so you can freshen up. You’ve had a long drive.”
“We need you to bring his grumpy ass to the party tonight,” Deandra says, nodding. “He usually finds an excuse to avoid us all.”
“I’ve never known somebody to have so many work meetings,” Linda agrees. “Remember the Christmas after Rupert and Julia eloped?”
Julia bites her lip, as though embarrassed.
“It’s nice that you’re all friends,” I say. “Being ex-wives and his current wife.”
Deandra beams. “Honestly, Rupert has many faults, but he has an excellent taste in women.”
“Why thank you.” Linda beams. Even Julia’s cheeks pink up.
“I’m very lucky to have them both,” she says.
I’m fascinated by this set up. Every divorce I know has ended up in acrimony. Most of my friends’ estranged parents won’t even be in the same room with each other, let alone help with reunions and vow renewals.
It’s hard to get my head around, but I like it. I like that there’s kindness and love here, along with a big portion of mutual respect. It’s like having sister wives without the husband sharing. And it must be great for the boys to have their parents all get along so well.
“You should have a reality show,” I blurt out, then immediately regret it.
“We should.” Deandra laughs. “Three wives, six boys, and a…”
“Handsome man you can’t resist,” Rupert says, walking into the kitchen. He puts his arm around Julia’s waist and the blush she had earlier deepens. He kisses her cheek and murmurs something in her ear and it’s like she blooms.
The man could make the polar ice caps melt.
A smile pulls at my lips as I look over his shoulder. A younger man with dark hair and the wickedest grin you could imagine walks in and grabs a pastry from a cooling rack. Deandra slaps his hand and he winks at her.
“Liam, those are for tonight.”
“I’m just testing them,” he tells her, pushing it whole into his mouth.
Two more men walk in. One of them wearing a hoodie with the Razors logo, so I assume that’s Eli. He’s even broader than Myles, if that’s possible, and almost as tall. His hair is shorter, though, and there’s a big scar from the corner of his eye to his ear.
And that leaves…Holden? Yeah, that’s right.
The brother who also works in New York. I can’t begin to imagine the kind of attention the Salinger brothers must attract when they go out en masse.
It would be like Henry Cavill co-opting the Hemsworth brothers and adding Jamie Dornan into the mix. They’re testosterone in human form.
And they’re going to be part of my baby’s gene pool. I take a moment to marvel at that, but then I realize that the baby will never know any of this. The other side of his or her family. The love and the acceptance and the kindness.
That makes me feel sad.
Myles walks to my side and looks down at me. “You want to head to the cabin?”
“Hey, you need to introduce us first,” Liam says, grinning as he grabs another pastry. “Liam,” he says, offering his free hand. I take it and he circles my hand with his warm, firm fingers.
“Ava,” I tell him.
“Oh, I know who you are.” He winks.
“And this is Eli,” Myles says, introducing me to his second younger brother.
“Hi,” I say, smiling. “Love the hoodie.”
“I’ve got a box of them in my car for the team. You’re more than welcome to one.”
Oh, I like him, too.
“Holden,” the one who looks the youngest says. He looks shyer than the others, but the trademark Salinger smile is still there. I shake his hand and try to decide which of the brothers I like the most.
Apart from Myles, of course. And it’s a tie, which is good because I don’t like playing favorites.
“What about your other brothers?” I ask him, desperately trying to remember his half-brothers’ names. “Are they here?”
“I sent Linc and Brooks outside to collect firewood,” Deandra says, shaking her head. “They were fighting again.”
“Over what?” Julia asks, looking worried.
“I have no idea. Could have been whether the sky is blue, could have been over a football team.” Deandra shrugs. “You know those two.”
“Fighting as in arguing?” I ask. “Or fighting as in…”
“Punching the heck out of each other.” Deandra shrugs as though it’s an everyday occurrence. “I told them that if either one of them has a black eye for the photographs, they’ll know what a real punch feels like.”
Myles’ mom was right. His dad does have great taste. I love them all.
“I’ll introduce you later,” Myles promises. “Shall we go to the cabin now?”
“Sure.” I smile at them all. “Let me know if I can do anything, okay?” I say to Julia.
She smiles warmly back. “I will.”
And then we head outside to get our luggage.