Page 12 of Pick Me This Time

6

DAPHNE

Isat around the dining-room table with my parents, my stomach so full of my mom’s famous lasagna that it was bulging, but I was still considering another helping.

Mom grinned at me from across the table. “Go for it, baby. You know you want to.”

I groaned, holding my stomach as I eyed the dish and glanced at the door. “We really should leave some for Eric.”

Dad chuckled, sliding an arm around Mom’s shoulders. “We don’t even know if he’s still coming. He must’ve gotten caught up somewhere. Help yourself, young lady. We can always make him a sandwich if he shows up.”

As he said it, my brother burst into the dining room, his face slightly flushed. He shook his head and raced to his seat. “No one is making me a sandwich on lasagna night. I’m sorry I’m late. I got caught up with Sterling and Jake at Maverick’s after I closed up shop.”

“Sterling’s in town?” Dad blinked rapidly in surprise before he grinned at my brother. “You must be happy to have him home. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that he showed up for the reunion.”

A fond, soft smile spread on Mom’s lips. “How is he doing? It’s been too long since I’ve seen that boy. You should’ve dragged him here for dinner with you.”

“I offered,” Eric said as he picked up his plate and scooped a huge helping of lasagna onto it. “He said he’d join us some other time. He’s pretty beat. Only got in this afternoon.”

“It would be so great to see him,” Mom said, her eyes getting misty as she leaned her head on Dad’s shoulder. “Andrea would be happy to know you two boys are back in touch. I know how worried she was when you stopped talking after he left.”

Eric waved her off. “It’s natural, Mom. We all started working and he was too busy to talk to us every day.”

“Sure, but still. She and I had more than a few conversations about it.” Mom fell silent then and Dad turned his head to press a kiss to her forehead.

My heart ached for our mother. Sterling’s Mom, Andrea, had been her best friend and I knew she still missed her. Five years ago, she’d died suddenly and unexpectedly in an accident and Mom had struggled for a long time to come to terms with it.

Eric gave her an understanding smile, letting the moment of silence linger for a beat before he finally answered her first question. “You’ll be happy to know that he seems good. A little less talkative than he used to be, but it might just have been because he was tired.”

“It’s the first time he’s been home since his mom’s funeral,” my mom reminded us all, wiping her eyes before she sat up straighter again. “That’s got to be incredibly hard.”

Instantly, I felt guilty about my brief burst of unkind thoughts toward him this afternoon. Sure, Jake and Rachel had their own reasons—very valid reasons—for being pissed at him, but my mom was right too.

I hadn’t thought about it from Sterling’s point of view at all until now. I’d just thought he’d come home tired, grumpy, and serious, but the last time any of us had seen him had been when he’d come to bury his mother.

Being back in Allisburg without her here to welcome him home after so long had to suck. I looked around our homely, warm dining room and shivered as I even tried to imagine this house without my mom here.

Eric wolfed down his food and dished up another helping, chatting to our parents between bites. “You’re probably right. It could be that too. It doesn’t sound like John is too excited about him being back, but Andrea was the best. It’s got to be tough in that house without her. Do you remember all those pastries she used to bring to our tee-ball practices?”

Mom chuckled wistfully. “I certainly remember you scarfing them all until one day, you decided as a team that you weren’t eating carbs anymore.”

“We were getting serious.” Eric laughed.

Dad grinned around a sip of his soda. “Serious about football at the time, sure. Certainly not serious about your schoolwork.”

Mom sighed. “A truer word has never been spoken. I practically had to glue their butts to the chairs in my classroom.”

“Yeah, well, you’re a math teacher. Nobody likes math⁠—”

“Hey,” I objected jokingly. “I liked math and Mom is an amazing teacher.”

“An amazing teacher who never cut us any breaks,” Eric said, winking at her. “Fat lot of good algebra is doing me right now, Momster.”

“Sterling got into Stanford Business, didn’t he?” Mom batted her lashes at my brother. “I’m sure he’s grateful for my dedication to his mathematical education.”

“Grades before games.” Dad thumped a fist against his chest and laughed. “That’s our family motto, remember?”

Eric groaned, swiping a palm over his face as he grimaced. “Of course, I remember. It’s still my motto for my team now. Everyone knows how important it is to keep your grades up, but you need to have a little fun too.”