Page 98 of Any Port in a Storm

He groans. “What have I told you about that?”

“Oops. Sorry.” I lean to whisper in his ear. “If you want, I can make it up to you later.”

Nick squeezes my thigh. “Yes, please.”

We’ve been extremely affectionate with each other ever since the other night, but there hasn’t been more sex, and we still haven’t circled back to our conversation about our future. I’m ready whenever he is, but I haven’t wanted to push him—he’s been extremely upset about his grandfather. I’ve found him crying alone at the dining room table on numerous occasions, and feeling heartbroken for him is taking up a lot of my mental bandwidth.

He’s still sleeping on the couch, but last night, he put his arm around me while we watched Tiger King, and this morning, he kissed me when I went to pour my coffee. After lunch, we walked hand in hand to the Esplanade—it’s so warm out, we decided we didn’t want to drive. We watched the boats for an hour, mostly in silence, but when he leaned over to kiss me, I heard every word he left unsaid.

After the truly insane run we’ve had, I’m not in a hurry—the butterflies in my stomach whenever we touch are all the proof I need that waiting for Nick is right for me.

Finally, Lucy’s face appears on screen. “Hey, guys! The others will be along momentarily.”

“Excellent,” Nick says.

Lucy grins. “So great to see you, Laurel.”

“Yeah.” My chest balloons with happiness. “It’s great to see you, too.”

I’ve always liked the idea of having sisters. Ivy and Grace are probably the closest I’ve got, thanks to my parents’ fervent commitment to their careers. Bea and Gregory Montgomery-Parker fit every stereotype imaginable—upper-crust feminist educator and environmental lawyer marry late, settle in a tree-lined neighborhood to focus on their work, and finally check a box by having exactly one child they can enroll in private school.

My parents love me, but they’re so heavily invested in a principled lifestyle that I never felt my emotions got much attention. The idea of having a sibling had always felt appealing—like seeing myself reflected in a true peer might lend clarity into who I really was.

Anyway, Nick’s sisters are amazing, and I’ve missed them over the last year. I hope nothing derails the reconciliation I think Nick and I are about to formalize. I don’t want to lose his family again.

At the very least, I’m not sure they’d forgive me a second time.

Fortunately, at least for tonight, the O’Connors are nothing but thrilled to see me.

“I wondered when you’d be back in the picture,” Nick’s mother says when she appears behind Lucy.

“Mom,” Nick warns. “Please don’t make things weird.”

“I’ve just never seen you so happy as when you were with Laurel,” she shrugs. “A mother notices these things.”

“Laurel!” Nick’s father booms, peeking over Lucy’s other shoulder. “Great to see you again.”

My smile is as genuine as they come. “It’s wonderful to see you all, too.”

“The twins are signing on from their room,” Lucy explains. “We didn’t think we’d all fit on one screen.”

It hits me, then, that having a family too large for one screen is a tremendous blessing indeed.

Charades is silly and raucous and charming, and the night flies by altogether too quickly. Lucy’s come up with prompts that are book-themed, which is a niche so appropriate to Nick and me that I almost wonder if she’s done it just for us.

We play on one team, and Lucy keeps score while her parents make another team, and the twins the third.

As it turns out, Aisling and Aoife are a formidable force when it comes to virtual charades. “It’s just because we’re twins,” Aisling explains after the sixth round they win.

“Yeah,” Aoife agrees. “We can basically read each other’s minds already.”

Ultimately, though, Nick and I end up winning the game. “Not sure what this says about you two,” Lucy jokes.

“It’s almost like you’re meant to be,” Aisling adds with a smirk.

“Okay, you’re 16,” Nick protests. “What do you know about true love?”

“She didn’t say anything about true love!” Aoife crows. “But now you have!”