Page 20 of Lavender Hill

“Yeah.” I step through the doorway and take off my coat while I look around. If I had come over at any point before finding out that she and Kolter were together, it would have been obvious that they were a couple unless she’d scrubbed the apartment of him.

There are framed pictures of them on the shelves in the living room, next to ones of her and me, her parents, and other friends. His boots and sneakers are in a pile with hers on the floor next to the door, his hats hanging on the coatrack. I even see some of the stuff I’ve given him as gifts over the years, branded with his favorite football team, lying around. Like the blanket I got him, along with the beer mugs I sent him that are sitting on the small bar she has between the kitchen and living room. The TV has also grown ten times in size since I was here last, and since I know she doesn’t watch much television, I know that purchase is all my brother because he loves watching football.

“Do you want a glass of wine?” She picks up her glass and takes a sip.

“Please.” I follow her to the kitchen, and she gets me down a glass, then fills it with the red wine from an open bottle on the counter. I take a sip after she hands it to me and lean my weight into the counter. “Okay, tell me how this happened.”

“You remember when I was dating Nate?”

“Yeah.” Nate works in town at the hardware store his parents own, and we knew him when we were growing up, but none of us were really friends. He has always been a little dorky, or he was, but he had a glow-up a few years ago and decided to shoot his shot with Anna. At first things between them were good. He was really sweet and saying all the right things. But about a month into their relationship, he started questioning who she was with and where she was going, which didn’t sit well with her, so she ended things. When that happened, she would tell me that she thought he was stalking her, or at least it felt that way to her, and that freaked her out. Then one day I never heard about Nate again.

“Well, when that was all going on, I told Kolter about Nate, and we started spending time together.” Her expression turns wistful. “He was so sweet and started staying ove—”

“Got it.” I cut her off and take a sip of wine. “And I think that we should lay down some ground rules going forward. Like I never want to know about your love life.”

“So you don’t want me to tell you that he’s the bes—”

“I swear to god if you finish that sentence or ever tell me anything about your sex life with him, I’m leaving, and you will never see me again.” She doubles over laughing, and I can’t help but smile.

“He told me he’s going to marry you,” I tell her, and her laughter dies off while she lifts her eyes to mine. The look on her face isn’t one I’ve ever seen there before. It’s pure happiness, contentment, and everything good. And seeing it, any annoyance I had with her dies a quick death. Since we were teenagers, we’ve talked about falling in love and getting married, but as we’ve gotten older, the reality of the quality of men out in the dating pool has been a harsh reality check. I’m glad that she’s found someone she can picture spending the rest of her life with, even if that person is my brother.

“He’s—” She shakes her head. “I really didn’t want to like him. I mean, he’s your brother, so we have always been in each other’s lives. I honestly didn’t want to like the man he is, the man that he’s become.” She shakes her head again. “I talked myself out of my feelings for him for weeks before I eventually couldn’t deny that we have something that is rare. That he’s rare.”

“I’m happy for you,” I tell her, meaning it. Sure, it’s weird because he’s my little brother, even if it is by just a couple of years, and she’s been my best friend forever, but I really am happy for her, for both of them. “Is there anything else I need to know, any other deep, dark secret you’re keeping from me, like a pregnancy?”

“No.” She laughs. “Well, actually, yes, one thing. Your mom is convinced that you and Wyatt are perfect for each other, and she has been plotting since the day you told us that you were moving home to find a way to get the two of you together.”

I should have known, or I guess I kinda did suspect that my mom was up to something when I saw that look on her face when I told her that I was going to meet Wyatt.

“That is never going to happen.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t need to complicate my life with a man. I just want to focus on work right now.”

“He’s hot.”

“He’s also a jerk.”