The Lake House Had One Bed Left for Our Parents' Wedding Week, So I Shared It With My Soon-to-Be Stepbrother novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: Welcome to the Family
My father's truck pulled out of the drive at nine o'clock with JUST MARRIED shoe-polished across the tailgate.
A string of tin cans clattered behind it.
Judy leaned out of the passenger window in her going-away cardigan, waving a dish towel.
"The back room is yours!" she called. "Everyone else has gone! Fourteen empty rooms, and the beds are all made, so pick whichever one you like!"
"Mackinac!" my father yelled, over the engine. "We'll call from the ferry!"
The taillights went down the gravel road and around the bend, and the cans faded into the frogs.
The yard was a wreck of chairs and ribbon.
The last cousin's car had left at eight.
The dog, who had eaten an entire corsage, lay on the porch with an air of great spiritual peace.
Jack stood beside me on the lawn in his shirtsleeves with his tie loose.
"Fourteen empty rooms," he said.
"I heard."
"Fourteen beds."
"The one with the little bedside lamp is nice," I said. "And the one with the view of the garage."
"I've always wanted to see the garage."
I took his hand.
We went into the house and up the steep stairs together, through the turn at the top.
Down the narrow hall to the room at the back.
The floor creaked.
The quilt was turned down.
Someone, and I knew exactly who, had left a bud vase of lemon balm on the pillow.
A small plate sat under a napkin on the dresser.
"Cake," said Jack, lifting the napkin. "Michigan Cherry Dream."
"Later."
"Later," he agreed, and shut the door.
There was no lock in it that mattered.
There was no one left to knock.
He turned the lamp up, instead of down.
"Light on," he said.
"Light on."
I stood in front of him in the yellow dress.
He pulled the pins from my hair, one at a time, and set each one on the dresser with a small click.
My hair fell down around my shoulders.
He combed it back with his fingers, gently, and looked at me for a long moment.
"I have my true thing," he said.
"For today."
"For today. It's not about your looks. It's the other kind." He took the scarf off my wrist and laid it over the bedpost. "In April, at that dinner, I went home and told my mother you were rude. I told her you were cold, and sarcastic, and you looked at me like I was a bill."
"I did."
"I was lying. I thought you had the saddest, funniest face in the room. I thought about it for four months."
I put my arms around his neck.
Keep reading free with an account. Start The Lake House Had One Bed Left for Our Parents' Wedding Week, So I Shared It With My Soon-to-Be Stepbrother from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend