Shelly’s demand to hear how he proposed. Careful to be discrete, Mike moved to the patio and into the house where Kris paced the living room.
“Are you kidding me?” she hissed, the second he walked in.
“Hold up,” he said, motioning for her to be quiet. “Let’s take this downstairs.”
Again, Kris didn’t hesitate. She moved down the stairs as if relieved to get farther away from the celebration. Mike couldn’t speak for her, but he felt better once he couldn’t hear the voices anymore.
“What does he think he’s doing?” Kris objected, much louder this time. “He’s only been gone a few weeks!”
“You’re asking me?”
She stabbed her finger accusatively in the direction of the back yard. “She’s not right for him! Not even close. Does she know what foods he likes to eat, or how to get him to put down an Xbox controller? Does she know his allergies and bizarre phobias?” She started pacing. “This is absolutely ridiculous. She’s not even his type.”
“Well, let’s be honest,” Mike said, knowing he wasn’t being helpful. “Luke’s never really had a ‘type.’”
His sweet, little sister leveled such a death glare on him that Mike knew it was best just to keep his mouth shut.
“Of course he has a type. The only girls he’s lasted any amount of time with have been girls who give him boundaries and hold him to them. Did you see his fiancée when he was hugging me? She was so uncomfortable and Luke didn’t even notice. That’s how he is. He hurts people without even thinking about it. You know that better than anyone, Mike. Luke has the rare gift of kicking you right in the heart even as he smiles to your face.”
That was true enough. It would be unfair to say that Luke wasn’t loyal. He just wasn’t aware of all the disloyal things he did. But Mike didn’t have much time to ponder on that since his sister was currently crying and swiping at her tears as if their very presence offended her. “It’s amazing, really,” she said. “Every time I see that stupid guy, he makes me cry.”
“Wait? He does?”
Kris waved him off and stepped away. “It’s nothing. My fault, really, when you think about it. I just can’t believe this.” Then her eyebrows drew together as if realizing something. “And what are you doing in here with me, by the way? You’ve never noticed when I got all moody before. Why aren’t you out there congratulating your buddy on his hot trophy wife?”
Mike hesitated. “Let’s just say I have my concerns as well.”
“Well, duh,” she snorted. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to spot the red flags.”
“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed, which seemed to make her a little bit happier.
“Do you think the others feel the same way?”
“Some of them,” Mike decided. “Mostly the women, I would think.”
“Totally,” Kris said, settling down. “Marrying Luke would be like marrying Peter Pan. He’s the poster boy for unmedicated ADHD. He can’t hold a job or focus on anything he doesn’t like for more than a few seconds. How does she plan on making that work in a marriage?”
Mike fought back the urge to ask his sister how she was planning on making that work with Luke. It wasn’t the right time, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer anyway.
“Let’s talk about this later,” Mike suggested. “We stay away too much longer and we’re going to raise questions.”
“Hate to break it to you, bro, but we already have. Luke announces he’s engaged and we both disappear? I promise you everyone has noticed by now.”
She was right. Mike looked around nervously. “Then we need an alibi.”
Kris shook her head and finished dabbing the tears away from her eyes. “I’ll leave that to you. You’ve always been the smooth one. At this point, I really don’t care.”
He grabbed his sister by the shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Kris, you’ve held it together for years, watching Luke and other women without any of us having a clue you felt anything.” Yes, he’d suspected, but she’d always denied. “Hold it together for the night until we can get a feel for this girl, okay? Drama is not going to help anyone, so let’s save confessionals for a time and place where there won’t be audience participation.”
“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “You’re right. Might as well find out what she has that I don’t, right?”
“Exactly,” he said, although he wasn’t really listening at that point. He was looking