Page 69 of Just Between Us

“Perfect.”

I set the oven timer for two minutes. We’ve already burned one pan because we were distracted.

“How much longer until people start arriving?” I ask.

And like an answer to my question, the door opens and Tyler strides in. He gives us all quick hugs and turns to Penny. “What time is she coming?”

Penny laughs. “There’s something you need to know about Josie. She’s never on time. I told her five thirty. She’ll be here at six.”

He nods just a jerk of his chin and heads back outside.

Curiosity has me dying to know what’s going on between Tyler and Josie. Penny has her lips sealed and Tyler has kept the rest of us in the dark. The group chat between Penny, Josie, and me has been silent too, which is highly unusual.

From the corner of my eye, I see Tyler on the driveway pacing back and forth.

“You guys, he’s a basket case.” All heads look up, and I point outside just as the timer goes off. Grabbing a potholder, I retrieve the rolls.

“He really is. I’ve never seen him like this,” my aunt observes.

I walk over to my phone charging on the kitchen table. It’s 5:25. Tyler still has thirty-five more minutes of purgatory. My eyes drop to the text icon, and my heart sinks when I see no new texts. Liam and I haven’t talked since Friendsgiving.

Maybe today he’s happy. Maybe he’s eating enough, smiling, giving Mutt plenty of belly rubs and table scraps. I wonder if he’s thought about me at all.

“Cassie, you good over there?” Penny’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.

I blink and realize how long I’ve been standing staring at the blackened screen. “I’m good. Just checking my messages.”

Penny gives me a knowing look, but she doesn’t push. Instead, she holds out a serving spoon. “Can you stir the gravy?”

By the time Josie arrives, Penny’s house is wonderfully chaotic. A football game plays on the television, and we’re gathered in the living room. I’m sitting with my aunt, telling her about the podcast episode I listened to yesterday about a bank heist in the ’80s. The case went unsolved for over a decade and it turned out the guy who did it had been working there the whole time. He was right under their noses.

I fall silent when Josie walks in, followed by her kids and Tyler a second later. Tyler takes a seat with Uncle Brad, drumming his thumb against his thigh, leg bouncing.

Grabbing Josie by the hand, I pull her down next to me and continue my podcast stories, but she can hardly pay attention, so distracted by Tyler’s presence.

The timer beeps from the kitchen, and Aunt Ashley stands, signaling it’s time to eat.

Dinner is exactly what most family gatherings tend to be. Loud and cheerful with a side of awkwardness. Penny orchestrated the seating, and I don’t miss how she made sure Tyler sat next to Josie. There’s so much conversation happening around me, it’s easy to forget for now that there’s still an aching silence between Liam and me.

The men are in the kitchen doing dishes, when out of nowhere, Tyler is back, a muscle in his jaw ticking. Those of us still at the table all watch in stunned silence when he leans down to Josie and in a low voice informs her they need to talk. My eyes connect with Penny’s, and she stands, ushering Josie’s kids to the living room.

Mom, Aunt Ashley, and I look at each other, and for a moment, no one speaks.

Then Austin steps into the room and breaks the silence. “What the hell just happened?”

Austin and I are at the front window before either of us can think better of it, ears pressed to the glass.

“We should give them privacy, right?” I whisper.

“Should we, though?” Austin whispers back, grinning.

We’re interrupted by the sound of Tyler’s voice. I can’t make out most of what he’s saying, but snippets carry through the glass.

“…my daughter…”

“…deserve to know…”

My heart leaps to my throat. “Did he just say daughter?” I hiss to Austin.