Sadie (18 page)

“I was worried my brother would die alone.”

Ethan sighed. “You need a filter.”

She held my hands in her own then released them. She looked at Jared. “You must be Sadie’s brother?”

He nodded awkwardly. He placed his hands in his pocket
s and stared at her with wide eyes. In fact, Jared couldn’t stop staring at her. I could tell that he was immediately smitten with her. Hell, if I was gay I would be into her too.

“Uh
, yeah. Sadie and I are related.”

I shook my head, embarrassed for my brother.

Elisa grabbed him and hugged him tightly. “Any friend of Ethan and Sadie is a friend of mine.”

His hands hung limply at his side
s then he returned her embrace, patting her on the back awkwardly. “Yeah, thanks.”

Ethan leaned near me. “Is he always like this around pretty girls?”

“No. Well, at least I hope not. He sounds stupid.”

“Yeah
, he does,” he said with a laugh.

Elisa pulled away. “You work with Ethan?”

“Yeah,” he said quietly.

She clapped her hands together. “That’s wonderful. I’m so glad.”

Jared nodded.

“Well, please come in and take seat,” she said. “Try to ignore my children. They can be attention seekers.”

We moved into the living room and sat on the couches. It was a petite apartment but was decorated beautifully. It was obvious that Elisa had designed the whole place. The dressers and table were white and the couches were a light blue. It looked like a page in the
Pottery Barn
catalog.

“Your home is beautiful,” I said.

“Thank you,” she said happily. “Ethan and I worked very hard.”

Ethan placed Tommy on the
ground then sat beside me. “We’re going to start making dinner. How does spaghetti sound?”

Becky jumpe
d in the air. “I love spaghetti!”

“Well, that’s one vote,” Ethan said. “Now what does my beautiful girlfriend want?”

I blushed.

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. I knew what he was thinking.

“That sounds delicious. And thank you for the compliment.”

“That’s what I thought.” He kissed me on the cheek. “It’ll be ready soon.”

He left the living room and walked into the kitchen with Elisa.

Becky climbed on the couch with her doll. She sat on my lap and started to comb the doll’s hair. I didn’t mind.

Jared took the seat next to me. He said nothing for a long time. “His sister is nice.”

I smiled. “Yeah. She’s gorgeous.”

He nodded. “Um, yeah.”

“I like her.”

“Me too. I like her kids also.”

“Her husband passed away three years ago.” I don’t know why I volunteered this information. I guess I wanted him to know that she had been single for a long time.

He nodded.

Jared stared at the pictures around the apartment. Most of them were Ethan and the kids, and a few were Elisa with the children. Some of the pictures had a man holding the kids as small infants. I assumed this was her husband.

Tommy came to Jared and grabbed his hand. “Play with me.”

He smiled. “What do you want to play?”

“Cars,” he said.

Jared moved to the floor and started playing with the cars with him. They didn’t say anything, just moved the cars across the floor. I stared at the little girl on my lap. Her brown hair reminded me of Ethan’s. She was beautiful like her mother. Tommy reminded me of his father, or at least what I had seen in his pictures.

When I smelled the sauce and garlic bread from the kitchen, my mouth started to water.

Elisa came in. “Dinner’s ready.” When she saw Jared playing on the ground with Tommy, she stared at them for a moment, a smile on her lips.

I rose from the couch and carried Becky with me. “I’m starving.”

Elisa snapped out of her reverie. “Good
, because Ethan always cooks too much. We always have leftovers for days. He’s determined to make me and the children fat.”

I smiled. “That sounds like him.”

Jared grabbed Tommy from the ground and carried him into the kitchen. He and I put the kids in their booster seats then pushed their chairs closer to the table.

Ethan stared at me with a smile on his face but didn’t say anything. He placed the food on the table then grabbed my face, kissing me hard. “Thank you for coming.”

I smiled. “I’m touched that you invited me.”

He pulled my chair out and helped me sit down. He kissed my head before he took the seat next to me.

Jared sat on the other side of me, directly across from Elisa. Her two children sat next to her, across from me and Ethan. We started to eat and I was surprised how good it was.

“This is great, Ethan,” I said.

“Why do you sound surprised?” he asked.

I smiled. “You just don’t seem like a cooker.”

Elisa shook her head. “I taught him everything he knows.”

He rolled his eyes. “She’s just jealous that I’m better in the kitchen than she is.”

She glared at him for a moment before she continued to eat. She looked at Jared. “So, did you go to school with Ethan as well?”

“
No. I went to Harvard for my bachelors and my masters.”

I rolled my eyes. I knew he was trying to impress her with his credentials. Elisa didn’t strike me as a person who cared about stuff like that. I wished Jared would shut up.

“That’s impressive,” she said with a smile. “You must be a genius.”

He shrugged. “Well—uh—I don’t know about that.”

“You don’t sound like one right now,” I said.

My brother glared at me then returned his look to Elisa. “Did you go to college?”

“No,” she said. “It wasn’t for me. My brother got all the brains.”

Ethan wiped his mouth. “I hate hearing you say that. You’re smarter than me, Elisa. You just aren’t interested in academics. There’s a difference.”

She looked at me. “My brother is bipolar. He can be such a jerk to me then be the sweetest guy a second later. I hope you don’t understand what I’m talking about.”

I shook my head. “Fortunately, no
, I don’t. He’s always sweet to me.”

“Well, that’s because he’s in love with you.”

I stiffened at the table. Did she just say that? Ethan flinched at her words but didn’t say anything. I couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed or mad.

Elisa looked
at Jared again, ignoring her brother’s startled reaction. “So, what do you do for fun?”

“Uh
, volunteering at the homeless shelter, reading to the blind, and running in charity marathons.”

I shook my head.
My brother was being a pretentious douche right now. Obviously, none of that was true. He was acting like a total idiot. Ethan stared at him incredulously. I wanted to call my brother out, but since he had never acted this way around anyone before, I decided not to embarrass him. But he would hear about it later.

“Wow,” Elisa said. “So you’re really busy
, then?”

“Well, no,” he said. “I still have a lot of free time to do things.”

Elisa turned to me. “Do you do those activities too?”

I laughed. “No. I barely have time to take care of myself.”

She smiled. “Well, at least you’re honest about it.” She looked at Jared. “You sound pretty amazing. I thought my brother and husband were the greatest men I’ve ever met, but now they have a rival.”

My brother blushed—actually blushed. I’ve never seen him do that. He’s usually a cocky asshole that thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread. I wondered if he was just trying to sleep with Elisa but then I realized that my brother would never do that to me—even if he still didn’t like Ethan.

She looked at me. “What do you do for a living?”

Ethan shook his head. “I’ve already told you everything about her.”

“Don’t be rude,” she snapped. “I still want to know.”

I smiled. “I’ve been
working at my dad’s bookstore. I’m trying to get a job writing for a magazine or a freelance company.”

“Any luck?” she asked.

“No,” I said sadly.

Ethan rubbed my back. “You’ll find something eventually.”

“Thanks.”

Ethan pushed his plate away. He ate all of his food at lightning speed.

“You eat fast,” I said.

“Well, I’m a man. I need the sustenance.”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, caveman.”

I looked at the kids across the table. Becky’s face was covered in sauce and Tommy had a noodle hanging from his mouth. The sauce was everywhere.

Elisa caught my look. “I don’t even bother anymore.”

Ethan shook his head. “Looks like these two will be getting a bath tonight.”

Becky grimaced. “No.”

“Yes,” Ethan said. “Don’t argue with me.”

She pouted her lips but said nothing. It was obvious that both children respected Ethan as the man of the house. They listened to him. I could tell that he was a great guardian and a loving uncle. It was the sweetest thing I had ever seen.

When everyone was finished, I grabbed the plates and Jared helped me. He never offered to help me clean at home even though I had cooked him dinner too many times to count. I stared at him for a moment before I continued.

Elisa grabbed Jared’s arm. “Don’t worry about it, honey. I can clean up.”

He smiled. “I insist.”

We both walked into the kitchen and started cleaning the dishes. When we were done, we put them in the dishwasher.

I leaned close to him. “Stop making an idiot of yourself.”

He growled. “I know.”

“Then stop.”

“I don’t know what the hell I was doing.”

“Be yourself.”

“I’m trying.”

“Then what was that bogus story about
you being perfect at everything? And stop telling people you went to Harvard. You sound like an ass.”

“It just came out.”

“She’s a regular person so be normal.”

“Easier said than done,” he said with a sigh.

We washed our hands then returned to the dining room. Before I could sit down, Ethan pulled me onto his lap.

“You didn’t have to do that, baby.”

“I wanted to. You cook so I clean.”

“You still didn’t have to.”

“I know.”

“Thank you anyway.”

I kissed him on the lips then pulled away. I wanted to kiss him longer but I knew the kids were around. I didn’t want to make them uncomfortable.

We moved into the living room and sat in front of the television.  Ethan and I sat on one couch and Jared and Elisa sat on the other. Jared kept his distance from her but I could tell
he was nervous.

“Your house—is—nice,” he stuttered.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “You’re great with Tommy. He’s normally terrified of strangers. He must like you, Jared.”

He blushed. “He’s a good kid.”

“I would like to think so.”

“You’re a wonderful mom.”

Now she blushed. “Thank you. But I can’t take all the credit. Without Ethan, I don’t know what I would have done.” Her voice contained the depression that Ethan mentioned before. “It’s been hard without my husband.” She stared at her hands then moved further away on the couch. I think that simple move told Jared everything he needed to know. She still wasn’t ready to move on. I felt bad for my brother.

Jared nodded but didn’t say anything.

Ethan held me close to him then pressed his lips against my ear. “Your brother has a thing for my sister?”

“He makes it obvious, doesn’t he?”

“A little.”

“Please don’t be mad at him.”

“I’m not. Every friend I’ve ever had has wanted to get with my sister. It doesn’t surprise me.”

“Well, he would
n’t make her uncomfortable on purpose.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry he’s acting like such an idiot.”

He laughed. “It’s fine. My sister can see right through it. She hasn’t met a single guy that hasn’t fallen in love with her as
soon as they saw her. She could have whoever she wanted.”

“She’s beautiful.”

“Too beautiful for her own good.”

“I can see the resemblance.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You think I look like a girl?”

I laughed. “No. But you both are very attractive. Are your brothers the same way?”

His eyes narrowed in anger. I knew I said the wrong thing. “What does it matter?”

“I—I was just wondering.”

He looked away. “I’m the ugly one in the family.”