Page 20 of Wish For Me

The guests should all be here within the hour. My cousins, aunts, and uncles have been arriving to the farm over the last few days, and several members of Bodhi’s family, as well as the rest of the couple’s friends, are all currently on a shuttle bus from the airport. This is probably the last moment of calm Alex is going to get before things get crazy.

“I know you can carry a box,” I say, taking it from her. “But this gives me the chance to show off my very enticing muscles.”

“Good point.” She unabashedly gives me a once over and it’s impossible not to feel like a superhero when this drop-dead-gorgeous woman gets that appreciative glint in her eye. “That one goes over by the hot cocoa stand,” she says, and we start to walk across the snow-covered lawn.

“Jesus, this is heavy. What’s in here, anyhow?”

“Booze. Lots and lots of booze.”

I grin. “Nice.”

“Did you say there’s booze in there?” a familiar voice calls. “I’ll take that off your hand, man.”

We turn to see my younger brother, Will, approaching us, his wife Eva at his side, their little boy squirming in his arms.

“You don’t get booze,” Eva says, sounding uncharacteristically grumpy as I set the box down to give my brother a one-armed hug. “If I don’t get booze, you don’t get booze.”

“Just kidding, babe,” Will says, one of his big hands dropping to her rounded belly to give it a rub.

She makes a face at us. “I can’t tell you how much I wish we could both get trashed. Flying cross-country with a one-year-old is not for the faint of heart.” She points at her stomach. “And this one has been using my bladder as a trampoline.”

“Theo cried the entire flight,” Will says, sounding as harried as his wife looks. “The babysitter cannot get here fast enough.”

“I don’t believe you,” I say, reaching out to take the baby from Will. Theo comes to me eagerly, wrapping his arms tight around my neck and nuzzling into my chest. “My nephew is a perfect little angel.”

I fell head-over-heels for Will’s baby the second we met him in the hospital, and the affection seemed reciprocated even back then. One of my all-time favorite pictures is a shot of me holding a one-day old Theo, the baby staring up into my face with surprisingly focused eyes. Since then, I can’t seem to get enough of the little guy. I’m constantly offering to babysit and planning sleepovers and outings for my nephew.

Usually, watching me with Theo gives Alex the heart-eyes. But tonight, she looks far from swoony. She hides it well—I don’t think there’s another person on this mountain who has any idea of how she’s really feeling. But I know there’s pain in those eyes when she watches me with the baby.

It’s the exact same way I feel when I see her with him. Or with one of River’s kids.

God, Alex would be such a good mom.

As if reading my mind, she catches my eye over the toddler’s head of bright red hair. There’s a knowing look in her gaze and it fills me with a potent mix of guilt and sadness.

“Well, you’ll both get a decent break tonight,” she says to Will and Eva. And if her voice is just a touch too bright, neither of them seem to notice. “The babysitter is actually already here and all set up in the playroom at the big house.”

“Seriously?” Will asks, his expression brightening.

She manages to keep a wide smile on her face, but I can see the strain below the surface. “Jas and River already dropped Harrison and Poppy off.”

Theo lifts his little head. “Pop?” he asks in a sleepy voice, and god, it’s so cute it makes my chest ache. Theo hero-worships his older cousin Poppy. Eva and Will don’t need to worry that the kid will have a hard time getting dropped off with the sitter in his tired state, not with Poppy there.

Will holds out his arms to his son. “Poppy and Harrison are up at the house. You want to go play with them?”

Theo practically throws himself into his dad’s arms, all signs of being tired gone now, and I shake my head. “I see where I rank in the hierarchy of this kid’s affection.”

“Don’t take it personally,” Eva says, laughing. “I’m pretty sure Poppy beats out me and Will, too.”

“We’ll go drop him off and then come back to help you guys finish getting set up,” Will says.

“Don’t you dare,” Alex tells him. “Drop him off and take a couple minutes to rest.”

“I wouldn’t mind putting my feet up,” Eva admits. She grins at my wife. “I can’t guarantee I won’t fall asleep, though.”

“Disco nap it up, girl. You’re in for a late night.”

The three of them head off toward the ridiculously large glass and log house and I slip an arm around Alex’s waist as we watch them walk away. “You doing okay?”