Page 108 of By All Accounts
“That was probably a lot to unpack,” I said.
“It was. Still is. They’re a tight unit, and it’s hard to break through.”
“I think these things just take time, yeah?”
Andrew frowned but nodded.
“Here,” I said, sliding my chair back. I moved around Finn and settled my hands on Sophie’s shoulders, kissing the top of her head before pulling her chair back. “I don’t mean to be rude.”
She crinkled her eyes and stood, taking her drink with her as I walked her to Finn’s other side and ushered Andrew into the spot she’d vacated. Sophie was nearer the middle of the table, within conversation range of each Covington, and I had a feeling that was exactly where Andrew needed to be. I put her in my seatand took the one on the far edge of the table, ready to sit back and watch the conversation flow.
But Marshall was across from me now, his expression wary, but curious.
“I think I owe you an apology,” I told him, which earned a shocked raise of his eyebrows.
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Why would you owe me anything?”
Marshall looked at Finn quickly, a flash of some emotion on his face I didn’t have time to make sense of. As fast as it appeared, it was gone, and his attention was back on me.
“I passed some unfair judgments on you and your future wife,” he said.
“Well, you walked in on us in a very compromising position.”
“I meant before then.”
“Sounds like those were judgments you passed on your brother more than us,” I countered.
Marshall bobbed his head from side to side, almost a disagreement but not quite.
“I’m an adult. I can handle a stranger’s wrong opinion,” I told him.
“But we’re…not going to be strangers forever, right?” Marshall reached over and took Silas’s hand in his beneath the table. The younger man smiled immediately, looking up at the eldest Covington with hearts in his eyes. “You’re invested in him, yes?”
Silas gave a small nod and returned to his conversation, and Marshall’s heavy stare was back on me. He had a quiet sort of confidence about him that made me immediately understand how he’d seen so much success in the professional field, but also in life. There was never a world where Marshall wouldn’t be the patriarch of a family, even if he hadn’t known it the whole time.
“I like that word. Invested. And yes, I am.” My cheeks flushed for no reason at all. “We are.”
“I’m glad. He deserves that.”
“So does she.”
Marshall’s eyes softened around the corners. “Do you?” he asked.
“I hope so. I try.”
He nodded, some unspoken stamp of approval.
“I think yes, then.” Marshall took a deep breath and grabbed his knife, tapping it against the rim of his wine glass. The sound echoed over the conversation until the chatter died down into a lull, and then silence.
Finn tapped his fingers against the outside of my thigh and I pinched his fingertips, sliding my chair closer so he had easier access to touch me. Marshall and Silas exchanged another wordless conversation and then Marshall was on his feet, a nervous expression on his face for the first time all night.
“I’m so glad you’re all here,” he said. “So glad we’re together.”
Hunter raised his glass to signal a toast, but Marshall waved him down.
“Not yet. Soon, but—” He paused, taking stock of every person at the table before he spoke again. I didn’t know much about Marshall beyond what Finn had told me and my own brief conversation with him, but I knew it was out of character for him to be unsure of anything.
