Here With Us (The Archer Brothers)

“I’ve missed you. How are things?”

She nods and smiles. “Things are good. Is Nate here? I went to the house first, but he wasn’t there.”

“Yep, in the back, drinking beer with Evan and Tucker. Go say hi, and then I want to show you around the house.” I point down the driveway to where Cara can find Nate and then start heading up the stairs, only to turn around when I hear a door slam. For a brief second, my heart lurches. I guess the anxiety will always be there. I wave at Lois while Carter and Grace head right to the backyard.

“Am I the last one here?” Lois asks.

“Pretty much.” Before we go inside, I tell her about Julianne and how she’s a chatty Cathy today. “I’m going to milk it for all its worth because the whole thin ice game isn’t much fun.”

“Everyone gets happy around weddings. Besides, it’s not like you and Evan just met or are having a shotgun wedding.”

“Right.”

“Right? As in you are or aren’t having a shotgun wedding?”

I look at her oddly. “What are you even talking about?”

She shrugs. “Just wondering if you’re pregnant?”

I shake my head and walk into the house. My mom is holding court in the living room with Penny they’re animatedly talking about something, and I don’t want to know what it is. In the kitchen, I make Lois a drink and then step outside. For some reason, I count the people and notice two are missing. I suspect the same two have something going on and are trying to hide it from a certain someone’s brothers.

Back inside, I head down the hall and stop near the guest bedroom at the sound of hushed voices. The door is left ajar, and I take a peek, only to gasp. I step into the room and close the door behind me.

“Spill,” I say to a very shocked Justin and Livvie. Justin opens his mouth to say something but closes it quickly.

“Please don’t say anything to Evan or Nate,” Livvie begs. “It’s not what it looks like, or it is, I don’t know, but I do . . .” Livvie looks panicked.

“Justin, can you excuse us for a second?”

He nods. “Yes, ma’am.”

As soon as he closes the door, I step toward the young woman I consider my sister. “Are you guys together?”

“No,” she says, shaking her head. “We’ve hung out a few times, almost hooked up once, but nothing really happened. I like him, though, and I feel bad for him. He’s so lost sometimes, without his family, and so lonely.”

“I know, his family—” I don’t finish my sentence. I have nothing nice to say about the Rasks. “I’m going to be honest with you, Olivia. I suspected something was going on between the both of you and said something to Evan. I imagine when he and Nate went shooting, he mentioned it. So, your brothers sort of already know.” I shrug.

“Great. They’ll probably haze him or something.”

“I doubt it. I think, considering what we all went through, the last thing they’ll want to do is scare Justin away. He’s family. They might have the big brother talk, though, but you’d expect that. Justin may have been on Evan’s team, but you’re his sister, his priority.”

“The one rule with them, no dating teammates.”

I shrug again. “Times have changed.”

Livvie and I leave the bedroom and head back outside, where everyone has gathered. This is exactly the kind of rehearsal dinner I wanted. After a few minutes, we all walk toward the beach to meet with the wedding planner from the hotel.

Socialite Wedding Planning is the premier agency for planning beachside weddings. I could’ve done it all myself, with the help of my mom and Lois, but I didn’t want any stress, so I hired April Love to take care of everything.

April greets us when we get to the spot where we’ll marry, right on the sands of SEAL beach. She suggested we find a different location because there’s a good chance we’ll have SEALs in training photobombing our photos. The thought made Evan and I laugh. If they did, we’d be okay with it. April also encouraged us to pick attendants and said no one likes to stand at the altar alone. We won’t be alone, we’ll have EJ, and while we technically have attendants, they’ll sit through the ceremony. Evan and I just want it to be the three of us up there.

She shows us where the chairs will go, where I’ll be before the ceremony starts, and where I’ll walk. April shows Evan where to stand and says we’ll do a couple of practice runs before we all head back to the house for dinner. When she signals to walk out, I slip off my shoes and sink my toes into the warm sand.