"So
you've said." Peter pushes me back so I'm lying on my back on the swing and
he's leaning over me. He doesn't pin my wrists, so I don't freak out. Plus
there's egg yolk dripping down my forehead like I've been shot in the head by a
chicken. Peter dips his finger in the yellow goo and trails it down to my
cheeks and makes a heart.
I
squeal, kick, and laugh. I manage to push him off and Peter falls off the
swing. I roll and land on top of him. Grabbing the fallen food, I take some
scrambled eggs and try to shove them in his mouth—grass and all. "Eat it,
Ferro. Come on, open wide."
A
horribly wicked grin crosses his face, which makes me go still. "Sidney,
please, it's not coffee time yet." He starts laughing so hard that his whole
body shakes with me on top.
"Say
that again. I dare you."
"Talk
dirty to me—" Peter doesn't finish the sentence because I shove the eggs into
his mouth. He's grinning at me. Instead of spitting the fallen food out, he
chews it and says, "It's a little crunchy."
"Hey!"
Dad yells from the back porch. "You get off of him. Don't make me get the hose,
Sid!"
My
face turns beet red and I slip off of Peter and sit down hard next to him.
Peter can't stop grinning. He looks back at my dad and waves. My father shakes
his head. "You don't want to be on my list, boy. It ends with a shovel and a
long car ride, if you know what I mean. Get her knocked up and I'll ruin your
life, kid." Dad walks inside without waiting for an answer.
Peter
and I look at each other and we both start laughing like crazy. After a few
minutes Peter lies back on the lawn and says, "I didn't knock you up, did I?
Just for the record, I need to know that kind of thing so I can buy you and the
baby a house and run like hell when your father finds out."
"I'm
not pregnant, Peter. I'm on the pill. I've been on it since stuff happened with
the asshole." I pull my knees into my chest and wrap my arms around my ankles.
"So do you want the 2.5 kids, the little house, and the whole picket-fence
thing?"
"Maybe."
He grins so hard that I know he's teasing me and means
hell yeah
. "What
about you?"
"Maybe.
It probably depends on who's knocking me up and buying the house, you know.
Little things like that."
"Me."
Peter's voice is deadly serious. "What if I was the one who held you at night,
every night? What if I was the father of your children? And the surrogate
parent of your vulture? What would you think of that?"
I
tap my finger to my lip as if I'm pondering the thought. "Would there be
dancing?"
He
nods. "Always. Would there be bacon?"
I
laugh. "Of course. What's the American dream without bacon?"
"You'll
have to promise to love me with love handles, because your aunt's cooking and
the massive amount of bacon will result in plumpness." Peter tucks his hands
behind his head. There isn't anything plump about him, and he eats like the
vulture.
"Only
if you promise to love me forever and give me a lifetime supply of coffee. It
turns out that I really like the
coffee
." I wink at him and can no
longer contain my smile. It spreads across my face and seeps inside of me. "The
past few days have been so hard and so wonderful, too. I don't want you to go,
but I know you have to. Things can't stay this way forever."
"Who
says they can't?" Peter looks at the food all over the ground. Mr. Turkey has
returned and is pecking a piece of sausage over by the eggs and muffin remains.
Peter scrambles over to the spilled food, shooing the bird. He lifts the muffin
that I tried to eat several times and brushes it off. "I planned this whole
romantic thing, but let me ask you this—will you marry me?"
I
think he's kidding. I tuck my hair behind my ear and tease him. "You like the
coffee, too, admit it."
Peter
walks toward me on his knees and hands me the muffin. "I love the coffee. I
love you."
I
take the muffin and look at it. "What?"
"I
know we both can't eat food that fell on the ground, but how about you look for
the surprise inside?"
"What
are you talking about?" I laugh and look over at him. What did he do? I start
pulling the muffin apart until something hard hits my finger. After brushing
away the crumbs, I'm left holding a diamond ring between my fingers. I look at
the ring and then back up at Peter. "You're really asking me?"
"Yes,
I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Will you marry me,
Sidney?"
My
face scrunches into the worst expression I can imagine. Laughter and tears blur
together and I bleat like a sheep. Peter smiles uncertainly, waiting for my
answer, but I can't speak. I throw my arms around his neck, practically
knocking him over, and shake my head. "Yes, yes!"
Peter
picks me up and spins me around. We both shriek and laugh until he sets me
down. Then Peter hollers at the back door, "She said yes! You can come outside
now!"
I
glance at him, surprised, and then at the door. My aunt rushes toward us with a
weepy smile on her face and the spatula still in hand. She hugs both of us at
the same time and is a mess of incoherent babbling.
When
we pull away, Daddy is standing there looking stern. "I meant what I said. You
take care of her."
"I
will, sir." Peter shakes Dad's hand before he turns to me and hugs me so tight
that my head pops off.
Sam
is behind them, looking Samish. He's pouting today because Dean decided to move
on a whim. Like the guy packed up his stuff and fled. When Sam told me that, I
was so glad that I had trouble hiding it. There's no chance of seeing Dean
again at all. After Sean and Peter finished with him, Dean ran off with his
tail between his legs. Dean didn't tell Sam anything, just that he'd had it
with this hellhole and had to take off for someplace better.
Sam
tries to feign happiness. "Congratulations, Sid. I'm happy for you." He gives
me a quick hug and then walks over to Peter. "Don't make me kick your ass if
you mistreat her."
I
watch to see Peter's reaction and hope he doesn't knock Sam's head off his shoulders.
Sam always says the wrong thing and now is no exception. Peter gives my brother
a lopsided grin and pulls him into a bear hug like the one my dad just gave me.
"Wouldn't think of it, kid. And I'd always wanted a bouncing baby brother like
you!" Sam pulls away with a funny look on his face while the rest of us laugh.
Sam finally smiles and offers his hand to Peter. They shake and lean in, saying
more things that I can't hear.
"I
knew she was after your money, Pete. Why else would she say yes?" I turn
quickly on my heel. Sean is standing behind everyone, looking smug. He's got
that leather jacket and biker boots, and looks beyond scary with his helmet
under one arm. I'm sure my dad is glad that I picked Peter and not Sean.
"Jackass!"
Peter says proudly, "You came!" Peter's got his brother in his arms in two
seconds. They slap each other on the back and then on the face, like they've
done that since they were kids.
"Of
course I came. When you said you were giving her a ring, I wanted to make sure
she didn't eat it by accident. Who puts a ring in a muffin?" Sean shakes his
head in disapproval, like it was a stupid way to propose.
"Are
you ever polite?" I ask and fold my arms over my chest, glaring at him.
"Are
you seriously asking me that question?" Sean tries to hide a smile as he walks
toward me and hands me a little box. "Here."
I
glance around. "If Mr. Turkey's heart is in here on a pillow—"
"Just
open the box, wiseass." Sean turns away, but the hostile looks he's getting
from Dad and Aunt Beth make him turn back again.
I
pull away the paper to reveal a little black box. Honestly, I'm afraid to open
it. I glance at Peter. "Do you know what it is?" He shakes his head and steps
closer.
"People
typically find out the answer to that sort of question by removing the lid."
Sean's gaze catches mine. His expression is almost daring me to open the box,
which totally freaks me out. I look around for my turkey, seriously concerned
this time. "For God's sake." Sean reaches forward and lifts the lid. There is a
pillow inside the little box. Attached to the pillow is a little bow that's
holding a brass key in place.
I
untie the bow and lift the key. "What is this?"
"The
little house with the white picket fence, minus the two kids, because I'm not
doing that with you." Sean's snarky tone makes Peter reach out and smack his
brother on the back of the head.
I
stare at the key. "You bought us a house?"
"Yeah,
I thought you'd like it." I shake my head and try to hand him the key, but Sean
steps back, saying, "No returns, Sidney."
"Well."
I don't know what to say or what to ask. The gift is way too much and extremely
unexpected. I think of a hundred reasons why I can't accept it, but something
about the way Sean's standing lets me know how hard this is for him, that he's
really trying to patch things up, but he knows that he completely sucks at it.
The whole situation is awkward. Sean's been a prick since day one. I don't know
what to do with this version of Peter's brother.
I
swallow back down the discomfort and ask, "Where is it?"
"Far
from here, at least four of five blocks that way." Sean points and the corners
of his lips twitch like he wants to laugh. "I heard that second chances are
hard to come by and I wanted to make sure that you guys got yours."
"You
bought us a house?" Peter finally says, and sounds as shocked as I am.
"Why
is everyone looking at me like I'm crazy? Where were you going to live? You
needed a house, right?" Sean looks at Aunt Beth for confirmation, expecting her
to agree.
Her
eyebrows have crept up under her curled hair. She uses a tone that let's Sean
know he bought the wrong thing, but she's gentle with him, like he's five years
old. "Engagement gifts are usually cookie jars, dear. Something small. A house
isn't small."
That
makes everyone laugh. Sean smirks and lets the laughter roll off. "Fine, I'll
buy them a bigger house for the wedding."
"No,
no! One house is plenty." I'm standing in front of Sean, looking up into his
face. For a second I think I see what Avery sees when she looks at him, but
then the walls shoot up and it's gone. "I thought you didn't like me."
"I
never said that," Sean replies.
"Uh,
yeah, you did. You said something along the lines of 'I loathe you.'"
He
shrugs his shoulders like it doesn't matter. "Yes, well it turns out that I was
teasing. You have more backbone than most men, which is something to be
admired."
"You
admire me?"
"I
didn't say that." Sean grins and turns away from us. He speaks over his
shoulder as he walks off. "Take care of her, Peter. I'll be in the city for a few
more weeks trying to wrap things up and save Jonathan from himself. That kid is
going to get disowned at the rate he's going, and I don't want them trying to
throw the whole heir thing back my way. Anyway, come visit whenever you want
and bring your fiancée."
Sean
disappears around the side of the house. After a few moments we hear a
motorcycle engine rev as he takes off. Until that point, everyone was staring
at each other like Sean was some sort of demented Santa Claus.
I
let out a breath. "Well, that was unexpected and a little weird."
"Very.
Sean hates everyone, but you won him over." Peter pinches my cheek and laughs
as I swat him away. Making nice with Sean is too weird.
"He
probably bought us a shack with an outhouse."
Dad
speaks up for the first time during this conversation. "Last I checked, there
weren't any hobo-style houses over on Sycamore. I think the guy really bought
you a house."
Peter
takes my hand and presses it to his lips. "Do you want to go see your new
house, Future Mrs. Granz?"
"Totally.
I need to see it to believe it. If Sean likes me, my whole axis-of-evil theory
kind of got fried since Sean was the overlord." It makes me wonder why Sean
erected so many barbed walls around himself. It's like he doesn't want anyone
to give him a second glance, never mind get close.
The
entire family follows us as we drive over to the address on the inside of the
box. Sean had it written on the lid of the box in a fancy script. When I opened
it, I didn't realize what it was. I thought it was the store where he got the
key, not the address of our new house.
When
Peter and I stop outside the house, it's so cute that I can't contain my
excitement. It's a little Cape Cod, painted gray and white, with a big blue bow
on the door. The front yard has been manicured with flower gardens like my
mother had. Shasta daisies, impatiens, and big leafy hostas are everywhere. It
looks like Sean copied her gardens exactly and put them here. I press my lips
together as hard as I can, afraid that I'm going to start crying.
Peter
pulls me from the car and walks hand in hand with me up the slate sidewalk to
the front door. "The key, Mrs. Granz." I hand it to Peter, and he unlocks the
door.
I
glance back at the flowers and the fresh paint. "How did he do this so fast?"
Peter
shrugs. "It's Sean. How does he do anything?" Peter takes my hand and puts it
around his neck before sweeping me off my feet. I yelp as he picks me up.
"What
are you doing?"
"Well,
this is going to be our house. I have to carry you over the threshold. Or would
you prefer to carry me?" Peter grins at me.