Page 72 of My One

“Avery!” Jane beamed the moment she saw me walk into the living room. I’d expected her to be in the kitchen like she always was, but instead, she was standing next to Jimmy, who was in his recliner while Easton, Brooke, and Cheyenne sat across from them on one of the couches.

“Hey,” I greeted back with a slight smile.

She rushed to me and wrapped me in her arms. “How are you doing? How was California?”

My gaze moved to Easton’s over his mom’s shoulder, and he shook his head slightly. I took that to mean he hadn’t told them anything. “I’m tired, and California was—California.”

“Do you want a cup of coffee?” Jane asked, pulling away from our hug.

“Sure. Thank you.”

Jane moved and gave Nicole a hug too. “Hey, honey. Do you want a cup of coffee too?”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll wait for wine with dinner.”

Jane went into the kitchen and Jimmy spoke as Nic and I sat on the loveseat next to the long sofa. “Easton was just telling us that you kids had In-N-Out.”

“A few times,” I answered.

“So?” Jimmy asked, looking at my wife. “What did you think?”

Her blue eyes moved to me and then back to Jimmy. “Don’t tell Avery, but I loved it.”

We all chuckled, and Jimmy asked, “Better than Shake Shack?”

Nicole nodded. “Yes, but never tell my husband that.”

I snorted because I was sitting right next to her. “Yeah, let’s not tell him.”

Jane returned with coffee for me. “Dinner will be ready shortly.”

“So, C.C., what’s the deal with homecoming?” I asked Cheyenne as she stared at her phone, messing with the screen and probably texting eighty of her friends at the same time.

She looked up from her device and glared at Easton. “Why don’t you ask my dad?”

“I said you could go,” Easton stated.

“But not in the limo,” Cheyenne whined.

I understood why Easton was so protective of Cheyenne. She was his little girl, but there had to come a time when he realized she was going to grow up and have a life out of his control.

“I said I’m still thinking about it,” Easton retorted.

They glared at each other and then Jane asked, “How was—how was California really?”

I rubbed the back of my neck as I looked at Easton, knowing she wasn’t actually referring to the state but what had happened while we were there. “It was—interesting.”

“Oh?” Jane asked.

My gaze darted to Cheyenne, and even though she was in her own world—back to texting or whatever—I also knew that she was listening. “Maybe a conversation after dinner?”

Jimmy and Jane shared a look, and I wanted to jump up and scream at them that I knew—that for twenty plus years they’d known my dad wasn’t my real father and they never told me. If they had, maybe I could have had more time with my mother. I could have told my parents that I knew and there was no reason to hate me. Fuck, I just needed to scream.

Instead, I stood, set my coffee cup on the table and walked to the front door. “Avery!” I heard my name but didn’t stop.

Easton followed me out the door. “Hey!” he called and ran up beside me as I walked down the driveway. “Come talk to them.”

“I will,” I admitted. “But I don’t want to ruin dinner, and I need some air.”