Crazy Stupid Bromance (Bromance Book Club #3) - Lyssa Kay Adams Page 0,78
on the bed. “This is our grandparents.”
Alexis studied the first photo, a black-and-white picture of a beaming couple standing in front of a church altar.
“They got married in 1960. Dad was born exactly eight months later, which was sort of a scandal, I guess, because they tried to tell everyone he was premature but . . .” Candi shrugged. “The truth is that Grandma was probably knocked up on her wedding day.”
Alexis lifted an eyebrow. “Unplanned pregnancies do happen.”
Candi blinked. “Right.”
“You mentioned an aunt and uncle. Does Elliott have siblings?”
Candi nodded and turned the page. “A brother and a sister. They both still live in California.”
Alexis looked down at another photo of three children in an unmistakable sepia-toned filter of 1960s color film.
“That’s Dad,” Candi said, pointing at the oldest child. “And that’s Uncle Jack, and this is Aunt Caroline.” Candi paused and then looked up at Alexis. “You kind of look like her.”
Alexis didn’t see it. She’d been told all her life that she looked like her mother, and she was struggling to accept that anyone else’s DNA could have shaped her features.
“We have six cousins too,” Candi said, turning to another page. “Aunt Caroline had four kids, and Uncle Jack had two. They’re all pretty cool, but our cousin Jimmy is sort of messed up.”
“In what way?”
“He dropped out of high school and got mixed up in drugs and stuff.”
“That’s too bad.”
“He’s in rehab right now, though.”
“And the others?”
Candi beamed. Every tiny encouragement on Alexis’s part seemed to cement in the young woman’s mind that they were about to become BFFs. Alexis almost felt guilty. She was just being polite, but Candi seemed to take her interest as evidence of a blossoming relationship.
And maybe if Alexis was willing to be honest with herself, she’d admit that it was.
“So, our cousin Stephanie just got married last summer, and she works for some bank doing financial stuff. I’m not really sure what it is. That’s her brother.” Candi pointed at another picture. “He goes to UCLA. I think he’s majoring in business. Something boring like that. And our cousin Nicole graduated a couple of years ago from UC Santa Barbara and does, like, environmental stuff. She works for the forestry service or something.”
Alexis listened as Candi prattled on. She felt like an intruder, hearing family stories she had no business knowing. This was a family. She was part of this bloodline but knew none of them. She was the crooked branch on the family tree.
Alexis cleared her throat. “Are your, our, grandparents still alive?” The words tripped over themselves.
“Grandma is. She lives in a nursing home, though. She has Alzheimer’s.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Grandpa died ten years ago. He had a heart attack.”
It took a full half hour to get through all the pictures, and by the time they were done, Alexis felt like she’d just sat through a PowerPoint presentation on her own personal ancestry.
“So, there you go. Now you know everyone.” Candi handed the photo album to Alexis.
Alexis smiled as she accepted the heavy leather-bound album on her lap. The silence stretched out just long enough to get awkward.
Alexis finally cleared her throat. “So, Caroline and Jack . . . They aren’t a match for Elliott?”
Candi shook her head. “They got tested, but neither of them matched. And Grandma can’t donate because she has Alzheimer’s. She can’t consent.”
“So it’s really just me, huh?”
“I’m sorry,” Candi said in a rush. “I didn’t tell you that to make you feel bad.”
Alexis rose from the bed and set the photo album on the table there. “Don’t be sorry. I asked. You answered.”
“I know, but I feel like I keep saying stupid stuff around you.”
Alexis turned around and crossed her arms. “Well, stop feeling that way. This whole thing is weird.”
Candi burst out laughing. “Yes, it is.”
They shared a look through matching eyes, and something peaceful passed between them. Candi hadn’t asked for this situation any more than Alexis had. They’d both been tossed unwillingly into the game of parental mistakes and consequences, and they had both suffered in their own ways because of it.
A warm sensation took root in Alexis’s chest. “Tell me about you,” she said, returning to the bed.
Candi blinked in surprise. “Me?”
“You’ve told me about everyone else in the family, but the only thing I know about you is that you feel guilty a lot and you once took a DNA test.”
Candi shrugged, but the simple motion carried the weight of a lot of unspoken things. “I’m the