right about our tough-love generation, which was probably why Harley was so tough on Marshall when you boys lived at home.”
Harley and Marshall exchanged a glance. Even with their fights, they’d never ratted on each other.
Their mother looked at them coyly. “Come on, boys. Give your mama a little credit. Do you think I really bought all those tales you two told when you were kids? How many accidents can two kids have? Bicycle, skateboard, Jet Ski, or—your father’s favorite—the one you told all the time when you were just little boys and you’d both come home with bruises and scratches.”
Marshall chuckled. “The one where we said we fell down a hill chasing Mrs. Treadway’s lost dog and then climbed under the boathouse at the marina when it hid there?” Mrs. Treadway was a teacher at the elementary school.
“I thought that one was our best,” Harley said.
“It might have worked if Mrs. Treadway had a dog,” Delaney said.
A dog barked outside. “Jiggs!” Harley jumped to his feet and looked out the window. Jiggs was standing by the passenger door of Piper’s truck barking, and Willow was walking around the front of the truck, wearing pink pajamas and slippers. What the . . . ?
“Jiggs?” Delaney asked, popping to her feet next to Harley.
“Why is Willow wearing pajamas?” Marshall asked from behind Harley.
“No idea.” Harley ran to the front door with his family close behind and flew out the door. He ran down the steps, and Piper hobble-hopped toward him with one arm around Willow’s neck, her right knee bent. His chest constricted. She was barefoot, and her right foot was swollen and black-and-blue. Her hair was tangled and streaked with green, as were her cheeks. She didn’t appear to have any pants on, only one of his sweatshirts, which hung halfway down her thighs.
Jiggs was running between the truck and Harley, barking.
Piper looked up, locking eyes with Harley as he closed the distance between them. She put her hand out and said, “Stop.”
He stopped cold a few feet away. The fissures the long night had left in his heart split wide open. “What happened?”
“Don’t ask,” Willow said.
He was going to fucking ask—after he apologized. “Piper, I’m sorry about—”
“Stop talking or I’ll cry!” Piper snapped. “Please don’t say a word. Darn it!” She motioned impatiently with her hand, beckoning Harley closer.
He took a few steps. Jiggs ran over and sat beside him. Harley absently scratched his head. Now that he was closer, he saw pieces of food in Piper’s hair and on her sweatshirt. He couldn’t miss her red-rimmed eyes or the dark circles beneath them, sending his heart into another frenzy of distress.
She took his hand, and he felt hers trembling, breaking his heart even more.
“I’m sorry for freaking out,” she said softly.
“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have proposed.”
“You proposed?” his mother said from behind him.
He’d forgotten his family was there.
“She’s not wearing a ring,” Delaney said. “Oh my God! Did you say no?”
Harley said, “Delaney!” at the same second Piper said, “Yes!”
“Yes, you said no?” Delaney asked. “Or yes, as in you accepted? Did you know this, Marshall?”
Harley looked over his shoulder, scowling at Delaney. “The first one. Now, can you please give her a chance to speak? I’m dying here.” He turned his attention back to Piper and said, “Sorry.”
“I have to start over,” Piper said anxiously.
She inhaled a few deep breaths, exhaling so damn slowly Harley thought he’d lose his mind.
“I’m sorry I freaked out,” she said shakily. “I know I’m messed up because I don’t want to get married, but—”
“Ever?” Delaney asked.
“Shh, honey,” their mother chided her.
Piper’s eyes remained trained on Harley as she said, “I don’t want to get married, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want forever with you. I want the same things you do, Harley. I want to have our babies one day—not right away.” She glanced apologetically at his mother. “But one day. And I want to be with you and know we’ve committed ourselves wholly and completely to each other—”
Her words were drowned out by a line of cars and trucks honking their horns as they pulled up to the curb. Piper glared at Willow.
“I didn’t do it! It must have been Heaven,” Willow said frantically.
Heaven? Harley was officially lost.
“Wait!” Bridgette yelled as she, Bodhi, Zane, and Louie climbed out of her minivan. Louie sprinted across the lawn toward them.
The rest of their family members piled out of their cars and trucks, followed by Remi, Mason, Kase, and a few of