Page 58 of That Fake Feeling

“Who?”Iask, also in a whisper since it seems to be a secret.

Shejerks her head toward the kitchen door thatConnorandJimleft through on their mission to the liquor cabinet.

“Connor.”Almostno sound comes out as she exaggeratedly mouths his name.

Wow.Imean, he’s definitely happier here thanI’veseen him at home, butI’dthought that must be the way he always is when he’s surrounded by the family.

“Really?”Iask. “Buthe seems to be in so much trouble at work.”

“Iknow.”Sheglances toward the door to check that they’re not coming back and leans toward me conspiratorially. “Butyou know all it takes to bring a man back to life is the right woman.”Shesmiles as she nods and points at me.

“Oh, but you know, we’re not…”

Sheflaps her hand to dismiss my objection. “Iknow,Iknow.Butyou two go together so wellIalmost showed you both to the same room earlier.”

Iswallow a gasp before it leaks out. “Well, that would have been awkward.”

Shewinks. “Orthe best mistakeIcould have made.”

Iwithdraw myself from the conspiracy and lean back in my chair.

“Well, anyway.”Isure as hell need to change the subject. “Thankyou for being so welcoming this evening.I’mthe square peg in the round hole here, but you didn’t make me feel like that for a single second.”

“Thisone is perfect,”Jimsays as he walks back into the room withConnor, examining the label of the bottle he’s holding.

Connorplaces two of the glasses he’s carrying on the side table byMaggie, sits in the other chair, and puts the other two glasses on the table between us.

Maggieuncurls her legs and stretches them out in front of her, her arms high above her head, and makes a dramatic yawn. “Okay.I’mdone.”

“Oh.”Jimstops mid-unscrew of the bottle cap.

Maggiepushes herself off the sofa, steps over to me, and bends down to give me a hug. “Whata delight to meet you,Rose.”

Thenshe grabsConnor’sface and plants a big kiss on his forehead. “Andso good to see you looking so happy.”

Hescrews up his face as she taps his cheeks.

Jimtightens the lid on the bottle and sighs.

“Well,Iguess that meansI’mturning in too.”Heputs the scotch down next to the glasses betweenConnorand me. “I’llleave this here for you two lovebirds.”

“It’spretend!”ConnorandIsay together.

15

CONNOR

Thecandles cast a warm, golden light onRose’sface as we watchMomandDadleave the room.

Sheshows no sign of wanting to follow them.Thethought that she might want to hang out with me for a while is pretty thrilling.Ican’t remember the last timeIhad as much fun in anyone’s company asIdid on the drive here, even though we ended up bickering.Ormaybe it was because of the bickering.Rosechallenges my mind in a way it’s never been challenged before.Andwhile it’s great to see my folks,I’vebeen craving more time alone with her from the moment we arrived.

Ipoint atDad’sscotch bottle sitting between us. “Nightcap?”

“Um.”Shelooks unsure for a second and searches my face like she wonders ifI’mjust being polite.Theright answer must be written all over me.

“Okay,” she says. “Let’stry some.”

Sheturns in her chair to face me, wrapping her skirt over her legs as she pulls up her knees and hugs them to her chest. “Yourfamily is amazing.”