smile and that little ‘please.’
I could do this. It didn’t have to be a big deal.
“Fine. But if your mom takes me out to the backyard and shoots me, it’s your fault.”
“She doesn’t even know how to use a gun. It’s my dad you have to worry about when it comes to using firearms.”
“Good to know,” I said as she pulled my violin out of the back and handed it to me.
Katie
Stryker stayed. Mom got herself together with the help of Dad, and everyone else warmed to him after he started interacting, and especially after he played a heartbreaking rendition of “Brown Eyed Girl”. Dad belted it out and danced her around the living room and she laughed as he dipped her. I rolled my brown eyes when I recognized the song, but Grampa Jack just laughed and joined Dad with his baritone voice.
Kayla got me aside for a few minutes as Mom served everyone coffee and Grampa Jack told stories about the Vietnam War.
“You like him, Katiebug. Admit it.”
“Keep your voice down,” I said, glancing at the group in the living room. “It’s complicated. He’s just a distraction.”
“Yeah, okay. You just keep telling yourself that.”
Adam walked into the kitchen and Kayla wrapped her arms around him.
“Hey, husband.”
“Hey, wife,” he said and they shared a quick kiss. “Sorry to break up the sisterly moment, but I wanted to have a chance to talk to the girl who’s going to be my new little sister.”
“First of all, the way to butter me up isn’t to call me ‘little sister’, okay?” I said.
Adam just grinned a wide smile and looked at Kayla.
“Yeah, she’s exactly like you said she would be,” he said.
I was at a loss for something to say, so Kayla just honked my nose.
“Well, you didn’t tell me anything about him, sooo…” I said, poking her in the ribs.
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Kayla said. Adam jumped into to rescue her.
“It’s my fault. I told her not to say anything. I didn’t know how your family would react, seeing as how they hadn’t even met me yet. I wanted her to keep the engagement a secret, but I lost that fight. It will be the first of many, I’m sure.”
“Yes, yes you did.” Kayla twisted the ring on her finger.
“Couldn’t spring for the big rock, Adam?” I said, but this time Kayla saved him from answering.
“I didn’t want one. There’s no point in having a huge diamond when we’re going to be going into areas where people don’t even have drinking water. It seemed extravagant. Plus, it would get stolen quicker than you could say, ‘stick ‘em up.’”
“So what are you two going to do after you get married?”
“I still have to get through medical school, so I’ll be doing that and then I want to join Doctors Without Borders and travel around the world. I’m lucky I found a girl who wants to go with me,” Adam said as Kayla rocked back and forth, taking him with her.
“Now you’re stuck with me, husband.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, wife.”
“Get a room,” I said, pretending to be disgusted. I’d never seen her like this.
Kayla had always been selfless. Between starting a penny drive that raised thousands of dollars for the food pantry when she was seven to the hundreds of hours of community service she’d put in, to volunteering to go places other people would avoid so she could build wells and deliver mosquito nets and help anyone who needed it.
My parents secretly wished her altruistic values would rub off on me, but no such luck. Attempting to be better than Kayla was something I didn’t even want to try. Plus, I was a self-centered brat almost half of the time. Some people would say it was more.
“We’re just going to do whatever feels right. You know?”
“Yeah,” I said, even though I had no idea what she was talking about.
She sighed and looked at the clock. “We should get going soon,” Kayla said. “We’re flying back on Saturday.”
“Where are you staying?”
“We haven’t figured that out yet,” Kayla said.
“You can stay in the basement,” Dad said, jumping into the conversation. For a tall guy, he was really good at sneaking up on people. “There’s that extra bed down there. We got brand new sheets and everything.” I shared a look with Kayla. The basement hadn’t changed much from when she’d moved out, and she knew that.
“Oh, that’s fine Dad, I’m sure we can just get a hotel room or something.”
“Absolutely not.” Mom