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Brooklyn
“I’m gonna marry that man,” I say to Mallory as we stand in the doorway of my parents’ family room.
“I have no doubt about that, sis.” She nudges me with her shoulder as we watch Tyler laugh hysterically at some photo my mom is showing of me when I was a kid.
From the moment he stepped foot into my childhood home two days ago, it’s like he was instantly part of my family. My dad has already shown him not only his fancy fishing lure collection, but also pulled out the photo album of all of his “best catches” starting back in 1968.
“I hope he’s ready to be constantly bombarded with texts of photos from Dad showcasing the fish he’s caught and the random tools he’s picked up at auctions. I think Silas will appreciate the break from it all.” We both chuckle at the thought of our dad sending Tyler all the weird texts we receive from him.
“And this one is from her debate team championship. She not only took them to state, but nationals too.”
“Okaaay,” I say, walking over to where my mom is pulling out another giant stack of family photos. “I think Tyler probably needs a little break from Memory Lane.”
He looks up at me from where he’s seated on the floor next to my mom, who is surrounded by boxes of old photos and albums.
“I don’t mind, sweetheart. Kind of nice getting to see this side of you.” He tugs gently on my hand and I take a seat on the floor next to him.
“Now why am I not surprised that you were captain of the debate team?”
I snatch the photo from his hand and notice the serious look on my teenage face. I remember thinking back then that I wanted to be taken so seriously. I had my life all figured out at that point.
“Yeah, this was back when I was convinced I was going to be a WNBA star turned motivational speaker.”
He laughs and look sideways at me. “All five foot three inches of you?”
“Hey, talk all you want, but if it wasn’t snowing outside, I’d take you on the basketball court down the street.”
He bumps my shoulder and we share a flirty little moment. I look up to see my parents looking at us with tears in their eyes.
“Okay, enough of that. Hey, isn’t Silas supposed to be here?”
I barely get the words out when the front door bursts open and the sounds of my two nieces, Kendal and Tara, fill the room.
My brother and sister-in-law were already here the last two days and met Tyler. They’re just staying at a hotel in town since there isn’t enough room in the house for all of us.
My brother already looks exhausted as he carts in armfuls of presents.
“Hey, let me help you with that.” Tyler hops up and grabs a few presents from Silas.
“Those two are already buddies, aren’t they?” my mom says as the two guys are already laughing about something.
“Seems that way,” I smile. “Hey, Jules, you ready for a cocktail?”
“Or three,” she laughs while Kendal and Tara are buried in their phones. We all three look at the girls, who are laughing and pointing at each other’s screens.
“I fought the phones hard, but Silas convinced me and he was right. Worth it,” she whispers to us dramatically.
“Hey, Dad, Tyler said he brought us some small batch reserve whiskey straight from the distillery,” Silas says. “How about the three of us go pour a glass and let the ladies catch up?”
My dad jumps and runs over to where Tyler is showing the bottle.
“Looks like Dad found a bestie too,” Mallory laughs.
“You girls okay in here?” Julie asks, and her daughters just wave her off. “They’ll be entertained for hours. Let’s go make a cocktail.”
We follow her into the kitchen as the guys go to the back porch that my parents have turned into a four-season room.
“What do you think they’re talking about out there?” Julie asks Mom, who doesn’t skip a beat.
