Page 70 of Truck Up
Even now, she’s struggling with the fact that she’s unable to care for her own family. I don’t want her to replace my family for hers.
“Dinner was amazing, Lia.” Grams reaches across the table and squeezes her hand. “Thanks for cooking. I’m not used to anyone taking over for me.”
Mac snorts. “More like you won’t ever let anyone take over.”
Grams furrows her brow and if she could reach Mac, she’d probably smack his arm. “Not true. The lot of you are just spoiled and lazy.”
“I’m not spoiled,” Mac calls out at the same time Liam says, “I’m not lazy.”
“Call me whatever you want as long as I don’t have to cook,” Chase says with a huge grin on his face.
Grams turns her glare to my twin and points her finger at him like he’s about to get in trouble. “Watch it, boy. Or you’ll be cleaning up this kitchen by yourself.”
Chase tosses his hands in the air in surrender. He may like to pick and provoke, but he also knows when to keep his mouth shut.
This exchange makes Amelia laugh, and her laugh calms my tortured soul. I stare at her and have to fight back a smile at the way her eyes light up. Her honey brown eyes sparkle like spun gold when she laughs. The smile on her face makes her look likean angel of happiness and everything that’s pure and perfect in this world. She’s all the things I’ve never had or ever thought I deserved.
She pushes to her feet and stacks the empty plates from dinner. My brothers help her out by handing her their plates and flatware.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Grams frowns.
Amelia stops mid move and stares at my Grams. She’s clearly confused.
“Um, cleaning up?” She says it more like a question than a statement.
“The hell you are!” Gramstsks. “Sit your ass down. You cooked. These boys will clean.”
A low grumble fills the kitchen from my brothers. We’ve never liked cleaning up after dinner and often have made it a game to see who can sneak away first to get out of it.
“I don’t mind,” Amelia says. “I need to earn my keep somehow.”
“Pish posh.” Grams waves her off. “You’re family now. There’s no keep to earn. Boys.” Grams snaps her fingers, and every one of my brothers jumps to their feet and starts clearing the table.
I drop my head to hide my smile. It pleases me that Grams has already welcomed Amelia into the family. No matter what happens between the two of us, Amelia will always have a place in our home.
I gather the dishes closest to me and take them to the kitchen counter. Before I put the leftovers away, I walk over to Amelia and pull her into my arms.
“I know what you’re doing,” I whisper in her ear.
She looks up at me with a confused look on her face. “Huh?”
“You don’t have to take care of my family.”
“What are you talking about? I just made dinner.” She sighs. I can tell from the look in her eyes that she knows exactly what I mean.
“You waited on everyone like they were helpless. You fixed everyone’s plate. You dished out seconds for those you could reach, and now you tried to clean up. You don’t have to do any of that.”
She sags against my chest. “I didn’t do it because I thought they were helpless. I just wanted to do something nice. To feel useful.”
“You’re too good, you know that?” I study her face, hoping I’m not upsetting her. That’s not my intention. “You don’t need to wait on my family. We can take care of ourselves and will never expect others to do things for us.”
“I know.” She stares at the floor and her expression turns sad. It makes my chest tighten seeing her this way. I squeeze her closer, wanting nothing more than to drive that sadness away. “I guess I miss it. It frustrates me that I’ve had to take care of my parents for so long, but I also miss that feeling of being needed. Does that make sense?”
I nod and lean closer so I can whisper in her ear. “I need you. I’ll always need you. And my family? With them, it’s not about needing you. They want you here.”
She cups my cheeks and presses a light kiss to my lips. “I need you too.”
“Promise?” I drop my forehead to hers.