Wide Open Spaces (Shooting Stars #2) - Aurora Rose Reynolds Page 0,75

hell are you doing?” I hear him ask, and I groan, pulling my pillow over my head, knowing I probably don’t want to know what she’s done now. Since the time she was a toddler, she’s been on the move and into everything. Plus, she’s smart, so damn smart it scares me.

“I’m trying to make Aubrey pancakes. It’s her wedding day! She needs to have a good breakfast,” she cries, and I hear pots and pans clinking and then a loud thud, and I roll out of bed, grabbing one of Zach’s flannels on the way to the door. I still can’t believe my girl is getting married. Part of me thinks it’s far too soon for her to be a wife, but the other part of me trusts she’s smart and knows what she wants. Not that it has helped Zach at all—he’s been an angry bear ever since Gabe proposed.

I didn’t see Aubrey with Gabe in the beginning, but since her freshman year of high school, they have been friends, and then eventually, Gabe—who is a little bit of a nerd—worked up the courage to ask her out, and since then, they have been tight. I know Aubrey loves him, but I don’t know if she’s in love with him, and that is truly my only worry when it come to the two of them getting married. But then again, he’s her best friend, and with a relationship built on that kind of foundation, I don’t see bad things for either of them.

“Hey, honey.” I smile at a rumpled looking Steven, as he almost sleepily walks into me in the hall. He, on the other hand, gets the heebie-jeebies anytime you even mention commitment or long-term relationship, but I have no doubt he will find someone and fall hard. He’s been going to college in Seattle, close to Max, who has done a one-eighty since the birth of his daughter Justine. He’s even helped Steven out on more than one occasion, when he’s needed a recommendation or just a ride, and is always willing to be there if we can’t for any reason.

Grunting, he runs his hand through his hair then looks to the side as Hunter comes down the stairs.

“Sheesh, you’d think Pen would still be in bed. She didn’t go to sleep until after one. What the hell is she doing up? It’s only seven,” he asks, looking at the clock on the wall.

“You know your sister,” I mutter, moving past them. Hunter has one more year of high school left, and then he’s off to Seattle, where he and Steven plan to get a place together. They were close while they were both living at home, and that bond has only gotten stronger over the years, and every time Hunter flies out to see Max, he bounces between Steven’s dorm and Max’s house.

Feeling something furry sliding between my feet, I look down and find Dime, who has obviously decided to get away from the chaos in the kitchen. Penny passed away a few years ago, and it took a long time before we were able to get another animal. We didn’t get another dog, but a big, fat tabby cat that Pen decided to name Dime, short for Diamond.

“I can’t even deal with this right now,” Zach growls, meeting me just outside the kitchen doorway.

“That bad?” I ask, peeking around him, then feel my eyes widen. The room is covered in hearts, giant and little hearts from all different kinds of paper, all hand-cut at some point. “That’s so sweet,” I whisper, and his eyes narrow.

“There is pink gunk everywhere.”

“Pink gunk?” I frown.

“Pink batter for heart-shaped pancakes,” he grumbles, and I smile.

“Pen,” Aubrey says, pushing us out of the way to get into the kitchen. “This is so beautiful.” She twirls around, taking in all the decorations, then walks to her sister, grabbing her up into a hug.

“I think the pancakes turned out more like Mickey Mouse than hearts,” Pen says, sounding disappointed, and Aubrey laughs then looks at me over her shoulder with tears in her eyes.

“Well, I love Mickey Mouse, so this is going to be one of the best parts of my day.”

“Oh, God, I’m going to cry,” I blurt, and hear both boys groan then feel Zach’s arms around me. I love my girls, and I’m going to miss having them both home. Even though Aubrey will only be next door. We never sold Zach’s house. We have made a killing