Lark (First & Forever 5)

“My mom loves photos. She has an unreasonable number of albums from when my sister and I were growing up.”

“That’s nice. Lots of happy memories, it looks like.”

“Some bittersweet ones, too.”

I nodded and took a deep breath before turning to him. “I’m glad your mom and sister are working on preserving your family photos. That’s important. I only have four pictures from my childhood. I found them among Gran’s things after she died. There wasn’t much worth remembering, I guess.”

He gently caressed my cheek and said, “I bet you were an adorable child.”

My heart ached as I looked up into his beautiful dark eyes. I wanted Dylan to be mine with every part of me, but right now that felt like more of an impossibility than ever.

Again though, not the time and place for any of this.

I kept my tone light and flashed him a smile as I joked, “Oh, I was.” Then I linked arms with him and changed the subject with, “Let’s go see if brunch is ready. I’m starving.”

The meal ended up being unbelievably fancy and delicious. Was this just a typical weekend breakfast for them? There were three varieties of savory mini quiches on a pretty serving tray, along with six different side dishes—I counted. One of them was colorful fruit salad I couldn’t get enough of. Dylan’s parents probably thought I was fighting off scurvy, given the way I kept going back for more.

Meanwhile, the conversation for the most part went right over my head, even though they made a real effort to include me. Doctor and Doctor Hawkins mentioned something about their jobs at the university at one point, and I made the mistake of admitting I didn’t really know what sociology was. That set them off on a very long, animated discussion about the field of sociology, their areas of interest within that field, the classes they taught—on and on it went, while I made sure to look interested and nod a lot.

I tried not to completely gorge myself on all that wonderful food. I didn’t want to give the impression I was some feral, starving wildebeest that Dylan had just dragged in off the street. Still though, I was pretty stuffed by the time brunch ended.

Then Dylan and Diane insisted on doing the clean-up, and I tried to help, even though I was really just in the way. While Dylan scrubbed the kitchen counters like someone was going to perform surgery on them, his sister rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher. My task was to move the leftovers into a matched set of storage containers, but mostly I just moved the last of the fruit salad into my mouth.

Once we were finished, Dylan said, “I’m going to go find my dad and have him help me get the tools together for our shelf project. Want to come with me, Lark?”

Before I could say anything, Diane cut in with, “That sounds boring. Hang out with Mom and me instead, and I’ll show you those embarrassing photos I mentioned.”

I grinned at Dylan and told him, “That’s a much better offer.”

He shot his sister a wary look and said, “Be nice.” Then he told me, “I’ll be in the garage or backyard if you need me. Just ask Mom, she’ll know where to find me.”

Diane sighed dramatically. “He’ll be fine without you for twenty minutes.”

Her brother didn’t look convinced. “You can also text me, Lark, and I’ll come right in.”

Diane exclaimed, “Just go already! We can’t talk about you behind your back if you don’t leave.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m still standing here.” His sister stared him down, until Dylan finally said, “Fine, I’m going.” He kissed my forehead, then added, “Seriously, text me if you need me,” as he left the kitchen.

Diane watched him go before turning to me with a big smile. “Come and sit down, then tell me everything.”

We took a seat at the counter, and I asked, “What do you want to know?”

“I don’t even know where to start. This is only the second time in his life Dylan’s brought a boy home to meet the family. He married the other one.”

“He didn’t exactly bring me home to meet you guys. He just needed some tools because he’s building some shelves for me, so he asked me to come along.”

She raised a perfectly shaped brow and shot me a look. “He could have gotten the tools without you. The fact that he brought you along means something.”

“Do you really think so?”

“I know it. This is how Dylan operates. He tries to act like everything he does is casual and no big deal, but there’s usually a bigger picture. I remember when he brought Travis to meet us, Dylan told him they just needed to drop by the house for a minute, so he could change his shoes.” She rolled her eyes and grinned at that.

“You probably shouldn’t compare that situation to this one. I’m very obviously not Travis.”

“No, and who says you have to be?” When I didn’t say anything, she said, “It must be tough, getting involved with my brother while he’s trying to cling to the past with both hands. I really hope you don’t feel like you have to compete with Travis’s memory, or anything like that.”

“Actually, that’s exactly how I feel. And it’s pretty depressing, because I know I’ll never be as perfect as him, or as right for Dylan.”