“Let’s not argue with the birthday girl, huh?” Jensen said, butting in between me and Emery.
I took a step back and realized that everyone was looking at us. I hadn’t really meant to seamlessly fall into their family dynamic, but I had dated Emery for two years. Sometimes, it was easy to be around them. But that didn’t mean anything about me and Emery. We were long over, and she was head over heels for my brother…and I was head over heels for her best friend.
Heidi’s eyes found me. They were searching, and she looked confused. Julia grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room without a word. I wondered if Heidi had told Julia. If she had told Emery. Except that now that I’d seen Emery, she looked completely oblivious to it. So, I didn’t know. Whatever. Maybe I was overanalyzing everyone’s reactions.
I took a piece of cake that Kimber had offered me and followed the rest of the party out of the house and into the backyard. Jensen was planning to grill out for the afternoon, and there were games for the kids and drinks for the adults.
Austin grabbed a beer as soon as we were all outside and offered me one.
I shook my head. “Nah, man, I’m good.”
Austin shrugged and was having enough to make up for the rest of the party not drinking. I wanted to keep my wits about me. Morgan and Sutton meandered over to us, and Morgan shot Austin a disdainful look.
“Do you ever do anything other than drink?” she asked.
“Why? You want one?” He offered her the beer he had in his hand.
She rolled her eyes. “No, thanks. I’m just glad we get to have this birthday party in peace without that bitch here. No offense, Landon.”
“Offense was intended but not taken,” I told her.
Talking about Miranda pushed me to drink.
“And she had to be one of my bridesmaids,” Sutton grumbled. “You couldn’t have divorced her before the wedding?”
“Well, if you hadn’t gotten knocked up at twenty-one, then we could have probably fit it into your timetable.”
Sutton’s eyes moved over to Maverick, who was holding baby Jason. He was holding on to him as if he were precious cargo and not perturbed in the least that Sutton had wandered off without him. Kimber had moved over to sit next to him with Bethany in her lap.
“I have no regrets,” she pronounced just like a Wright.
Way to make your mistakes seem purposeful.
“So, are you going to finish school or what?” Morgan asked. This must have been on her mind for a long time.
Sutton shrugged. “Eh, why bother? I want to stay at home with Jason.”
Morgan’s eyes bulged. “Sometimes, I don’t know how we’re sisters.”
“You run the company, Morgan,” Sutton said, affectionately patting her on the shoulder. “I’ll do my own thing. I always have.”
“That’s for damn sure,” Austin agreed. “Do you remember that princess superhero outfit?”
“This again?” Sutton groaned.
“It’s pretty memorable,” I told her.
“What is going on over here?” Patrick asked as he sauntered into the backyard.
“Oh no, trouble is here,” Austin said. He shook hands with Patrick and clapped him on the back.
Patrick waggled his eyebrows at my sisters. “Ladies.”
“You know you’re late, right?” Morgan asked defiantly. Her eyes were trained on Patrick’s face. “You missed the surprise.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I had to go pick up Mindi.”
Morgan took a step backward. “Who is Mindi?”
Patrick grinned at me and Austin. “The guys will tell you. She’s this bartender at West Table. We met when I was there for a business dinner.”
“A girlfriend?” Sutton asked when it was clear that Morgan couldn’t.
“Uh,” Patrick said nervously. “I mean…you know I don’t do labels and shit.”
“There are children,” I reminded him, watching this train wreck crash through the party.
“Right. Sorry, dude. Oh, here she is.” Patrick plastered on a smile as the tall brunette from Friday night sauntered into Jensen’s backyard in cutoff jean shorts, a white shirt that showed off her stomach, and cowboy boots.
Morgan went pale as a ghost as Mindi approached and waved at us.
“Hey, y’all!” she cried. “Austin. Landon.”
We nodded our heads at her and said, “Hey.”
Patrick introduced her to the girls, and I zoned out of the conversation.
Having my family all together in one place was the best. We were a close-knit group, and even though we all had skeletons in our closets, it never stopped us from loving each other. This was where it all just felt right.
But that didn’t keep me from searching out Heidi. She and Julia had just returned from wherever they had been stashed away. Heidi looked ashen, and her eyes skirted the party. She frowned when she saw our group all piled together.
And, even as Julia hurried over to hug Emery, Heidi stayed in place. She seemed frozen. Heidi wasn’t normally an outsider. She was usually a full-loving, center-of-attention kind of girl. She smiled brighter than the sun and laughed with abandon. Her personality was a big joke, and she reveled in being unique and outrageous. I adored all of these things about her.
Yet, right now, right at this very moment, she was not that girl.
Something was wrong. And I didn’t think it was me that was causing her this stress. Maybe Julia had said something, but the Heidi I knew would brush off her stresses and put on a brave face. This Heidi couldn’t seem to manage it.
Without a backward glance, I walked away from my family and left them to Patrick’s antics. My feet carried me across the backyard to where she was standing alone.
“Hey, wallflower,” I said. “What are you doing all alone?”
“Oh, hey,” she said, glancing away from me before her eyes darted back. “I didn’t realize I was making a spectacle of myself.”
“I don’t think you are. I think I’m the only one who noticed.”
She bit her lip and seemed unsure if she liked that I had noted her discomfort. “Well, thanks. I’m fine.”
“Heidi Martin is not the kind of girl who is ever just fine.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, I’m fine.”
“You usually take over the world in a group. Your personality cannot be contained. But you don’t seem happy.”
“I am happy.”
“Liar.”
She laughed humorlessly. “Well, I’m happy for Emery. I’m happy that she has her whole family here and her whole humongous new family here. Your family. I’m so happy that there’s so much love around her. She deserves that.”
“And you don’t?” I asked.
“I wasn’t talking about me.” She tucked her fair hair behind an ear and turned her head away from me.
“Weren’t you?”
“It’s silly. Forget about it.”
“It’s not silly if you’re upset. Talk to me, Heidi,” I encouraged her. “If we have anything at all, it’s that we can talk to each other. You know that I’m here. That I’ll listen.”