Chapter 24 #2
Graham and I stood off to the side as everyone started to mingle.
He whispered quiet introductions to all his brothers, and I was extremely grateful he wasn’t dragging me around to meet them all face-to-face.
I was feeling very overwhelmed. I’d never been in this position before, where I actually… wanted to be liked.
I’d spent my entire life hardening myself to others’ opinions of me.
When my brother was first arrested, it was agonizing—the way people would look at me.
The whispers I’d hear not only about myself, but about him.
How our entire family was “sick in the head.” I’d had to learn not to care, not to let it bother me.
But I wanted these people to see me in a light that wasn’t tainted, and I didn’t know how to handle it.
Graham drew in close to me, resting a hand on the small of my back, grounding me and my thoughts as he continued explaining who everyone was.
It was Fox who stood with Warner and Roman by the stew simmering over the fire.
His fiancée was Skye Adler, who’d been the woman with the shorter, dark hair.
I realized why I recognized her; she was an investigative journalist I’d seen a few times on TV.
The youngest brother was Reid, and he stood by his wife, Lark.
As Graham was introducing their baby—Thea Grace—Warner shouted, “Soup’s ready!”
I watched anxiously as Warner, Fox, and Roman managed to move the giant cast-iron off the direct flame and to the side. Raleigh jaunted over with a smaller soup pot and a ladle.
Raleigh set the pot steaming with stew in the middle of the gorgeously decorated table. “Come on, everyone,” she called. “Time to eat!”
When the table was cleared and stomachs were full, everyone drifted toward the bonfire.
The lights strung above our heads made everything feel warmer than it really was.
Raleigh and Lark were roasting marshmallows, laughing at some joke I’d missed.
Reid was curled up with a sleeping Thea Grace in his lap, the two of them tucked under a flannel blanket.
He looked like he was minutes away from falling asleep himself.
I sat forward in my chair, leaning toward the fire with a cup of hot chocolate wrapped in my gloved hands.
Graham was beside me, one leg crossed over the other as he lifted his own cup to his lips.
He’d been right—the hot chocolate was to die for.
I’d almost gone for the coffee, out of habit, but the hot chocolate was the perfect dessert.
Rich and creamy, but not too sweet. I savored every sip.
I stared at Graham, watching the firelight flicker in his eyes.
As if he sensed me looking, he glanced at me. “What?” He arched a brow.
“Nothing.” I shook my head, falling back in my chair and cuddling the warm cup close to my chest.
He gave me a doubtful look. “Liar.”
I pursed my lips, hesitating. I wasn’t used to this, wanting to share things with someone.
“I was just—” I cleared my throat. “I was just enjoying myself.”
A wicked smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He leaned toward me; his chair was close enough to mine that he could almost whisper into my ear. “Are you enjoying looking at me, little lynx?”
My entire face burned hotter than the flames before us. “Yeah, well,” I said, flustered, but refusing to look away. “You have pretty eyes.”
His grin widened and he opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was drowned out when Warner grabbed a wooden paddle and banged it against the cast-iron cauldron. The loud clang made everyone’s heads snap toward him.
Warner’s grin was almost as mischievous as Graham’s.
“I’ve been informed that someone needs to make an announcement tonight.” He lifted the paddle, pointing it straight at August and Emersyn.
They were curled up together around the fire—Emersyn perched in August’s lap, his arms wrapped around her. They both blinked as everyone turned their way. August gave her an encouraging smile. She bit her lip.
After a beat of silence, August spoke. “We have something to tell everyone.”
He shared one last look with Emersyn before adding, “We’re—well, I guess it’s really just Emersyn, but I helped—”
Emersyn smacked him on the shoulder, and he chuckled. “Emersyn is pregnant.”
Excited cheers erupted around the fire.
Raleigh instantly burst into tears, letting her half-cooked marshmallow drop off her stick as she launched herself forward to gather them both into a hug.
Hailey shrieked with excitement from where she’d been sitting cross-legged at her dad’s feet, her face smeared with chocolate and marshmallow goo.
“Yes!! Another cousin! Oh my goodness, he’s going to be SO cute!”
Graham huffed a laugh under his breath. “He? What if it’s a girl?”
Hailey shrugged. “I already have a girl cousin.”
Roman frowned at her. “That’s not how that works, baby girl.”
Hailey licked her lips—completely missing the glob of marshmallow stuck to the corner of her mouth. “I just think it’s gonna be a boy. And I’m usually right about these kinds of things.”
No one corrected her, but Fox snorted quietly. Graham shook his head, amusement softening his features.
For a moment, I let myself feel the warmth of it all. The fire. The laughter. The way this family wrapped around each other so easily and completely.
It was all almost perfect. Too perfect.
As the excitement over the announcement started to die down, Lark and Emersyn fell into conversation about motherhood. Raleigh went back to roasting marshmallows, happy tears glistening in her eyes.
I stayed quiet beside Graham, clutching my hot chocolate. A sudden coldness that had nothing to do with the weather slithered down my spine. Fear wrapped around my insides like serpents.
At first, I didn’t know what was wrong. The feeling of anxiety was so unexpected.
Raleigh turned toward me. “Quinn, do you want a s’more?”
I blinked at her like she’d spoken another language. “Oh—I…no. Thank you.”
“You sure?” Her smile faltered. “They’re really good.”
I nodded too quickly. “I’m sure.”
She gave me a puzzled little frown before turning away.
I lifted my cup for the last sip of hot chocolate, but the moment the sweetness hit my tongue, it turned sour in my stomach, a knot tightening low and hard.
This night had been…wonderful. The kind of night I’d never expected to have. Even though I didn’t belong in a place like this, a small, reckless part of my heart wished that I did.
A heavy blanket of dread pressed down on me, squeezing the air out of my lungs. This family was too good. Too untouched by the kind of rot and ruin I came from.
I had never let myself imagine what it might feel like to have a real family again. Now that I had felt a glimpse of it—a few hours of warmth and noise and love—it was torture.
I couldn’t keep this.
I had no reason to stay in Ember Hollow now. I’d have to leave the Ramsey family behind and that’s how it should be.
None of this was mine.
Before I even fully realized it, I was standing. My legs felt stiff, my hands numb.
I felt Graham’s attention on me immediately—steady and sharp.
Raleigh noticed, too. “Quinn? You all right, honey?”
“I’m—I’m getting a little tired,” I heard myself say. My voice sounded wrong, distant, like it was echoing from somewhere far away. “Thank you so much for tonight.”
I turned toward Emersyn and August. They were glowing, wrapped around each other, smiling in a way that made my chest ache.
“Congratulations,” I whispered, breathless.
Before anyone could say anything back, I turned on my heel and headed toward the house—my pulse pounding in my ears.
I ran back toward the isolation where I belonged.