Page 35 of Terms and Traditions

The light clicked in my memory. Cousin Hailey. I cleared my throat and offered her my hand, slipping into business mode. “You must be Hailey. I’m Nash Prescott, Stephanie’s boyfriend. I was told to bring her luggage here—”

Hailey’s shriek shattered whatever hearing I had left after the initial Addams family mega blast. “Oh my goodness! Boyfriend! Stephie Lou!” she screamed, bolting from the room.

I inhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of my nose. One week. One week of noise. For Stephanie. For us. I can do this.

More shrieking erupted downstairs, and I’d wager a guess the energetic sprite of a woman had found Stephanie. The… complicated welcome of Stephanie’s family wasn’t lost on me. She was clearly beloved and despised at the same time. But the welcome of those who loved her… wow. I’d been alone most of my adult life, excepting Ryan and Emmett. My grandparents had passed in my teens, and my mom… I’d lost any version of her around the same time.

Once Genesis started up and grew rapidly successful, she started contacting me again, asking for money. I’d funded four stints of rehab, and it stuck for a while, until she found a new guy who drew her back into the drugs. I hated her choices, and my heart broke a little more every time I heard she wasn’t clean anymore.

Now I just dreaded her phone calls when she’d ask for rent money and promise to do better. But they were empty words. I’d heard them all my life. And I hated the fact I was only worth something to her when she needed the money.

So I was alone. Alexis, my college girlfriend, was my first and last serious relationship. And that had ended in a dumpster fire of a disaster. It’d just been me and the guys, and by extension, their families. This level of familial connections and community was as foreign as snow for Christmas on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Realizing I shouldn’t be caught standing in the middle of Stephanie’s room, I slipped back out into the hall. But I wasn’t ready to face the exuberance and tensions below after dwelling on the weighty chapter of my past. The way my thoughts turned back to my childhood Christmases, my grandparents, and how alone I felt made me uncomfortable.

A small nook tucked into the panelled wall sat nestled at the end of the hallway, overlooking the star-studded sky and the silhouetted shape of the Tetons. I stood there for a moment, lost in thought. Praying I wouldn’t mess this week up beyond repair.

I tried to imagine that the Addams actually wanted me here. Or that Stephanie and I were a real couple. Maybe I should be honest with her about my past. She was certainly giving me a window into her world this week. Maybe it was time I returned the favour. Not because of a bargain, but because I wanted to open up. Maybe.

You’ll never be enough for her. You weren’t for Alexis. I shoved the thoughts away and hurried back towards the stairs. I might have been ready to take on my familial past, but I wasn’t ready to battle the lies from a former girlfriend right now. The enemy camp was preferable to the war with a ghost inside my own head.

Chapter sixteen

Stephanie

“What is this, an intervention?” I sat cross-legged on the quilt-covered bed, opposite my cousin Hailey, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat, while Ivy perched next to her and Gabe stood blocking the closed door, arms folded and stern lines guarding his expression—like this was a military mission… More like I was the mission, and he would be taking no prisoners.

We had a brief pocket of time before dinner, and my closest relatives decided now was the ideal time to undertake a debriefing. No one asked if I thought it was a good time because, for the record, I did not. I was hungry, and whatever Austin was cooking smelled divine. Perks of having a brother who was a professional chef. He was the most decent of my siblings who worked for Hiram. Maybe because Austin didn’t technically work for Nova—he worked for the catering company Hiram owned.

And I was nervous leaving Nash alone with only Nana downstairs, since the rest of my main allies were all holed up here with me. Too bad Aunt Robin and Uncle Jim, Hailey’s parents, were on their anniversary cruise to the Caribbean. They’d have been a helpful buffer compared to the rest of the vipers downstairs. But Nash would be fine. Right?

Ivy pushed her tortoiseshell glasses up her nose and raised an eyebrow at me. Wow, she’d really mastered that mom look. “Boyfriend, girly pop? Spill it.”

“And leave out no details,” Hailey cut in, batting her lashes and clasping her hands under her chin dramatically. “Is he a good kisser?”

Gabe let out a strangled gurgle. I tossed a buffalo-plaid throw pillow at Hailey’s head, but she ducked with ease, cackling like a cartoon villain. Cousins. But it was impossible to be angry with her because Hailey was a lovable, vibrant soul without the Addams last name to weigh her down.

“Your boss?” Gabe prompted gruffly.

Ooh, that’s the unimpressed voice mixed with—am I a dad or a brother in this situation? I puffed out my cheeks, letting my head drop back against the wood-panelled wall. What should I tell them? I was still sorting through the idea of dating Nash for real, so for now this was part of a bargain. The fulfilment of a debt. I organized a Christmas party; he would pretend to date me. Suddenly I was wondering how he got the raw end of the deal.

But these were my people. The ones in my corner. They’d shown up again and again. Until the day they don’t. Everyone leaves, the dark voice in my head, that sounded exactly like Zoe, whispered. I doubt she ever thought those harsh words spoken from the heartache of her own teenaged self would have gripped me so deeply. I shoved the words—and the memory—away but still tasted their bitterness.

“We’re dating,” I said at last, opening my eyes and meeting their gazes. “He knows about all of you. I keep pictures on my desk, and he asks about the kids and Gabe’s deployments and Hailey’s music”—I pointed at her—“he loves your newest album by the way. Why is our relationship so hard to believe? Am I that out of his league?”

I tried not to sound defensive, but Samantha and Anika’s words from the office party did more damage than they’d ever imagined. My insecurities were coming out to play hardball, and I was still in the minor leagues.

“No!” Hailey practically shouted, bounding off her bed and onto mine. Her arms squeezed me tight in a Hailey-hug that never failed to make me feel better. Pulling back, she pinned me with a firm look. “You’re a total catch. And for the record, I’m Team Steph all the way. If he shares your values, makes you happy, and treats you right, you’ve got a keeper.”

I leaned my head against her shoulder and glanced expectantly at Gabe and Ivy. We had a unique relationship. There were twelve years between me and Gabe. Since my dad was absent for most—read: all—of my growing up years, I lived with Nana and Papa and then later with Gabe and Ivy for a while. Ivy was a year younger than Gabe, making it an awkward balance at times to straddle the brother and sister dynamic with the stand-in parents’ role they played in my teens.

“We’re glad you brought him home, Steph,” Ivy said at last, her voice gentle. Ever the diplomat and peacekeeper. This wasn’t her first time refereeing between us, and I doubted it’d be the last. “You just never told us you were dating. This is new, yeah?”

“It’s not like he’s a stranger,” Hailey added. “We’ve only been hearing about him every other week for the last two years.”

Okay, maybe I overestimated when I told Nash that Nana would be the hardest sell. Clearly, I talked about him more than I’d realized to my favourite relatives. But they were nosy, and I loved them for it. Except for maybe right now when they were standing between me and dinner.

“Yes. It is new,” I confessed. “I like him, and he feels the same about me. So I don’t want you scaring him off with your bad-guy routine.” I glared at Gabe with all the heat I could muster.