Page 37 of See It Through

My grandmother’s cry of happiness jerked everyone’s attention back to Remi. He’d given her one of the bouquets and had received a rosy kiss on his cheek in return. His gaze found mine, and the warmth in it had me looking away. Then, within two heartbeats, he was at the table, handing Phoebe a bouquet, which could have only meant—

“Han,” he gruffed, standing before me, “these are for you.”

The flowers were shoved toward me, and dammit, they were beautiful, but the gesture even more so. I couldn’t, in good conscience, bat them out of his hand and stomp on them, even though that was what he deserved for being so outrageously thoughtful.

So, I took them, even managed to politely thank him, but I did it all without looking at him once.

And that was exactly how I planned to spend the rest of dinner—avoiding Remington Town with every fiber of my being.

Chapter Seventeen

Remington

I didn’t know howit had happened, but somewhere in the shuffle of the ten of us crowding around the oversized farmhouse table, I ended up in the last empty seat, right beside Hannah. I knew she didn’t want me there. She’d done her best to stay away from me over the last week and had barely acknowledged my presence in her family’s home. But me getting up and asking someone to switch seats wasn’t an option.

First of all, she’d be mad if I caused a scene.

More importantly, I didn’t want to.

The truth of the matter was I didn’t like being ignored by Hannah. It pissed me off even though I knew I didn’t have any right to feel that way. After all, I’d been the one to draw the line between us. And I’d done a whole decade of ignoring.

Under the table, my knee hit Hannah’s. When I didn’t move away as quickly as I should’ve, she reached down and shoved my thigh.

“Stop manspreading,” she uttered through gritted teeth. “It’s rude.”

“Just sitting here eating my dinner,” I murmured back.

On Hannah’s other side, Jesse surveyed us both. “What are you two whispering about? Something boring?”

“We’re not whispering,” she blurted. “Remi is talking to himself.”

Jesse eyed us skeptically. Since our first conversation, we’d shared a few more, and I’d learned this kid was seriously smart. He read nonfiction from the adult section of the library for fun and knew a lot more than the average ten-year-old. He wasn’t buying the made-up story Hannah was trying to sell.

My shoulder bumped Hannah’s as I tipped my head toward Jesse. “Your aunt’s mad because I was taking up space, that’s all.”

“You were taking uptoo much space, Remington.” She elbowed my bicep, though it was more playful than anything. “You’re doing it again, by the way.”

Elena’s head swiveled our way from across the table. “Are you two fighting?”

“Nope.” Hannah sat up straight. “Just having a chat.”

Memories of sitting at this table as a kid rushed in. Two or three of the Kelly siblings bickering. Their mother asking if they were fighting, them immediately denying it. I’d never let myself be swept up in their troublemaking for fear I wouldn’t be invited back. But seeing how easily I’d been accepted into the fold tonight, those worries seemed far away.

Though, I wasn’t sure they’d like me too much if they found out I’d had my mouth on their beloved daughter’s. Or that I was thinking about doing it all over again while sitting here beside her.

“Remington’s taking up too much space,” Jesse chimed in. “That’s what Aunt Hannah says.”

Elena arched a brow. “Really, Han? You come from a family of giants. You should be used to it.”

Hannah huffed. “I’m sure you enjoy being crowded by Dad.”

“I sincerely doubt it's a real burden to have Remi close to you.” Hannah tensed at her mother’s comment, but Elena didn’t notice and continued. “By the way, Rem, Caleb told us you had an appointment with a doctor last week. How’d that go?”

“Well,” I started, “he said it’s hard to predict the long-term impact of my injury, but I’m doing the right things by taking it easy and avoiding possibly dangerous situations. I’ll go back in a few months for a follow-up.”

“You’ll still be here in a few months?” Hannah asked.

“I intend to be.”