Page 67 of An Unexpected Everything

Don’t stress him out. We don’t want to startle him.

Sydney:

Yes, you just need to hold out your hand flat so that way he’ll come to you with what you need very, very quietly.

Lance:

You’re not breaking a horse.

Sam:

You might as well be. He’s skittish.

Me:

You know I can see all of these texts, right? You’re not in the side group chat.

Sydney:

Of course. This way you are forced to listen to us. We like Isabella. Don’t let her go. We don’t care if we have to move to Denver and all live in a tiny little apartment with you because you’ve decided to change your entire life. We’re in.

Lance:

Way to just put it right out there, sister.

Sam:

I don’t know if a tiny apartment would be good. I’m sure we can pool our resources for something a little bigger. But we’re in. Don’t let her go. Or the Cages. I really like the Cages. And not just the shoes and this house.

Lance:

Same, big brother.

Me:

Get out of my love life.

Sydney:

He said love!

Sam:

Love, love, love, love, love.

Lance:

See what you did? Just tell her you love her already and then we’ll make plans. We’ve got you, bro. It’s your time.

And with that, they quit texting, and I knew they had gone off to their own side chat.

I swallowed the hard lump in my throat. It was easy for them to say. They were so willing to uproot their lives and tell me Iwas allowed to live mine. And maybe it wasn’t too much of an uproot since they were all starting over in new phases, but what was I supposed to do? I was a fucking mechanic. Sure, I could maybe start up my own business like I was planning to before everything changed. But it was different now. Everything was different now.

And while Isabella kept mentioning things in the future. Like dinners and weddings. We weren’t talking about us.

And she was so damn special. She had this entire life with her family up here. With so many changes between the wedding and the new Cages. Her time in Cage Lake was temporary. So when would she wake up and realize that it was time for her to move on and leave me behind like I had been forced to do the first time?

The shower went off, and I made sure my phone wasn’t on so she couldn’t read the texts. Not that Bella would, but I didn’t want her to inadvertently realize that the kids were planning my future.