Page 65 of The Fast Lane
“Me neither,” I mumbled against his chest.
After unfolding his arms, he took a step back and inspected me from toes to hair. “You’re so grown up.”
“It’s been a few years.” Sniffling, I smiled. “You’re looking pretty grown up, too.”
In the eleven years since I’d seen him in person, the handful of blurry selfies notwithstanding, he’d gotten a little taller, his shoulders had filled out, his jaw sharper, his eyes older. Still wet from his shower, his hair hung just past his shoulders, leaving damp spots on his t-shirt.
And then there were the tattoos. A lot of them. He’d gotten one the day he turned eighteen (which Dad hated). From what I could see of his arms and the one that peeked out from the collar of his t-shirt, he’d clearly gotten more. But there was also a silver hoop in one of his eyebrows and nickel-sized gauges in his ears.
If I talked him into coming to this wedding, I could already hear my father now.
Abe cupped my cheek. “I’ve missed you.”
The tears I’d been trying desperately to restrain lost the battle. “I missed you, too. So much.”
“Shhh.” He crushed me to his chest again. “It’s okay.”
“Let me get in there.” Mack wrapped his arms around both of us.
Hallie peeked around our tangle of people. “Is that a puppy, Daddy?”
That’s when it clicked. This little girl was talking to my brother, calling him…“Daddy?”
Abe wrapped an arm around the little girl’s shoulders and gave us all a small, nervous smile. “Meet my daughter, Hallie. Hallie, say hi to your Aunt Ali.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Note to self:
Get a life.
Me: I’m an aunt.
Mae: I’m sorry?
Me: Abe has a kid. A fully formed four-year-old daughter.
Mae: Wait? What? Where did he get her?
Me: Left on his doorstep.
Mae: Like by a stork?
Me: Something like that. I’ll tell you later. My parents are going to flip.
Mae: Yes, they are.
Mae: Has he agreed to go to the wedding?
Me: I haven’t even talked to him yet. HE HAS A KID.
Mae: Maybe we should throw him a baby shower?
Me: Too soon. Way, way too soon.
“So, she just left her on your doorstep,” I asked. “Is that even legal?”
Abe huffed a laugh and glanced over at Hallie. After her breakfast ice cream, she’d pulled on a princess dress over her shorts and t-shirt and was currently holding court on the couch. Theo and Mack sat on either side of her while she regaled them with stories about the many princes she’d loved and lost.