Meant To Be (The Callahans #4) - Monica Murphy Page 0,41

off at the school where I left my car and I drove straight home.

I come to a stop by the kitchen counter, glancing over at the table to see my entire family sitting there. Dad, Autumn, Jake and Beck. In front of them, empty plates with a few scant crumbs. Remnants of their Saturday morning breakfast.

I feel like I missed out.

“Um, sure,” I answer hesitantly. It’s weird, how they’re all staring at me.

Autumn grins. “I’m so glad. We’re all going, so we can watch Ash play.”

“Doesn’t Beck have a game this afternoon?” I meet my little brother’s gaze, who shrugs before he returns his attention to his new phone.

“When it’s over, we’ll head straight for the stadium,” Dad says. I inwardly groan. The last thing I want to do is go to another one of Beck’s youth league games. “I still have one extra ticket for the game. You want to invite Ellie?”

No. I want to invite Eli. “She’s working all day,” I say. “She probably can’t go.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. She hasn’t been over in a while,” Dad says, sending me a meaningful look. I’m sure that’s some sort of jab at me, but I’m ignoring it.

“Is Hannah coming with us?” I meet Jake’s gaze. He seems shocked I’d talk to him.

“Yeah, she is,” he admits.

“Then I definitely have someone I want to invite,” I tell Dad. I can feel Mom stiffen next to me. I’m sure she’s preparing for my answer. I’m also sure she knows who I’m going to say.

“Who?” Dad says, his brows lowering like he’s confused.

I press my lips together, taking a deep breath before I blurt, “Eli.”

“Absolutely not,” Dad says at the same time Jake says, “Hell no.”

Autumn reaches over and slaps Jake’s arm. “You can’t tell her who she can and cannot invite.”

He glares at her, rubbing his arm where she smacked him but, otherwise, says nothing.

“Why not, Daddy?” I ask, my voice shaky.

“I thought you two were broken up,” Mom says to me, her voice low.

“We want to make it work.” I turn, so I’m facing her. “We’ve been talking.”

“Really?” Mom sounds full of doubt, when I really need her to be on my side.

“Yes, really.” I glance over at my father, whose thunderous expression tells me he doesn’t approve. “If you get to know him, you’ll realize Eli is actually a good guy.”

Jake makes a derisive noise, and I send him a dirty look.

“I don’t care who they are. No boys are good enough for my daughters,” Dad says with a scowl.

“What about Ash?” Autumn asks, as she gets up from her chair and walks over to our father, dropping into his lap. He automatically wraps his arms around her waist, and she loops her arms loosely around his neck. “You approve of him, right?”

Her pointed question and expression make him visibly squirm.

“I’ve—come to accept him,” Dad says haltingly, making Autumn laugh and shake her head.

“Then you have to give Ava’s boyfriend a chance,” she tells him, and I stand there in wonder, watching as my big sister works our dad over for me. When she still lived at home, she treated me like garbage. All the time. I was a nuisance, a pest. I didn’t understand. I was too young and got in all her shit and was too nosey and she basically made my freshman year a living hell.

Now, finally, she’s on my side. It’s actually pretty amazing.

And heartwarming.

“Let him come with us,” Autumn continues, as she plants a noisy kiss on Dad’s cheek before she rises to her feet. “Not like he’s going to try anything when we’re all there together. He’ll be on his best behavior.”

“Yeah right. You have no idea what this guy is like, Autumn. Trust me, he doesn’t know how to be on his best behavior. I don’t want him there,” Jake says. Always making sure we know how he feels about Eli.

We get it, Jake. We get it.

“We know,” Autumn says drolly before she glances over at me and Mom. “You won’t know what he’s really like unless you actually spend time with him. Don’t judge him for what he’s done.”

“He’s done some pretty awful stuff,” Dad says.

“Please?” I turn to Mom who offers me a soft smile. “It would mean so much to me—and to Eli—if he could come tonight. Let him prove to you that he’s not a bad guy.”

Mom sends Dad a knowing look and he returns it, lifting a brow. It’s pretty crazy how they can communicate with each