Page 19 of Change of Heart

“Oh, come on. Sit with us.” Holly said with a laugh. “You can watch ESPN with Dad anytime. We’re all in the mood to offer high quality advice. You want her back, don’t you?”

I stopped, hand on the banister as I considered their offer. “Maybe.” That was all I was willing to admit at this point.

Violet’s chuckle made me turn around. “We know you do. Let us help.”

“We’re not going to get all pushy and intrusive, I promise. I came on too strong before.” Lily was sheepish. “We just want to talk to you. We all love Charlotte. You used to make each other so happy.”

“I’m totally going to be pushy and intrusive,” Rose scoffed. “You need her back in your life. You haven’t been the same since she left. And I have an ace in the hole too. Trevor is your partner—”

“Yeah, and that’s a sacred bond, Rose.” I argued. “He’s not going to turn into your matchmaking minion. Where is he anyway?”

“Downstairs somewhere. And of course, it’s sacred. I only meant that he wants you to be happy just as much as I do.”

“Okay, but now we’re dropping this topic.”

“Also, Trevor is smart. He’ll give you good advice. When the time comes, you should listen to it.”

“Who says I’ll need advice? Is it time for dinner yet?”

“Cade! You haven’t dated anyone seriously since Charlotte—”

“I’ve had girlfriends, Rose—"

“But—"

“Ten minutes,” Holly answered. “Until dinner.”

“Thank you, Holly.”

“You’re welcome. Mom said to leave you alone and I’m not in the mood to badger you with questions. I just got back to town and I’m staying for good. I want to settle into Sunday dinners and family time. It’s time for me to take it easy, you know?” Holly had just shut down her travel blog and moved back to town permanently. But I wasn’t sure if she was messing with me or not. She used to tell everybody she wanted to be a private detective like Nancy Drew. She’d follow me and my older brother, Asher, everywhere when we were kids and wrote down everything we did in a little flip notebook, like we were a case she was working on. Holly had been an interesting kid.

“All right...” I studied her earnest face with suspicion. My sisters always wanted to know my business, except Violet. But I usually ended up confiding everything to her on my own. And to her credit she had kept everything I’d ever told her about my relationship with Charlotte to herself.

“You have your cop face on, Cade.” Violet laughed and patted the cushion next to her for me to sit down.

“Can you blame me?” It felt like a trap; her smile was innocent, but I knew her intentions were not. If I sat down, I’d end up spilling my guts and I didn’t want anyone else to know how I was feeling about Charlotte. If things didn’t work out again it would be humiliating.

“I don’t blame you,” Rose answered. “I’d be scared of all of us put together too.”

“Well. Um...” I stalled, waiting, and hoped my mother would yell that dinner was ready so I could go downstairs and not hurt anyone’s feelings. I sipped my Coke and lingered at the head of the staircase.

“Five minutes,” Holly announced, her green eyes gleaming with faux innocence. Maybe now that she wasn’t out and about and traveling anymore, she wanted to start that detective crap up again. Or maybe now I was getting paranoid we were actual adults, for fuck’s sake.

“Dinner is almost on the table!” Our mother’s shout interrupted all the awkwardness that was about to mortify me. “Come on down!”

“Thank god.” I all but ran down the stairs, soda sloshing around in my glass and laughter trailing behind me as I descended.

I stopped in the living room and sat on the couch. Sipping my Coke, I contemplated choosing one of them to talk to. I was leaning toward Violet when Rose joined me on the couch.

“Sorry about that. I get carried away sometimes.”

“It’s okay, I know you can’t help yourself,” I teased.

“Yeah, yeah, make your fun. But I feel like I owe you, Cade. You have no idea how much you helped me back when Trevor and I were messing everything up with each other.”

“Really? I did?”

“Yeah, remember after Trevor got shot? You said I should just sit with my feelings and let them sink in so I could work through them. I think that’s what you should do now. You’ve been trying to forget about Charlotte for years and you two avoided each other every time she came to town to see her family. Things are different this time. It has to be a big adjustment. It must still hurt.”