Page 39 of A Hard Habit to Break
“Told ya,” her husband said. “He’s Prince Petty.”
“Mama, Eli’s name-calling at the table.” Noah grinned.
“Snitches get stitches,” Eli shot back.
“And end up in ditches.” Their mother laughed, without looking up from the stovetop. The kitchen was Leah Calvary’s trophy case. First place Service County Cook-Off prize ribbons hung in a custom-crafted cabinet he and his brothers had constructed as a Mother’s Day gift.
Tobias grinned and pulled out the milk, then nudged the refrigerator door shut with his hip. “You ain’t never lied.”
Noah washed his hands at the sink and then dropped into a chair at the old pine table, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Don’t start.”
“Too late,” called Eli, shoveling a piece of toast into his mouth. “I saw your face last night when Rachel walked out of the house in a white dress. You looked like you heard wedding bells.”
“Keep it up. We’ll see whose bell gets rung.”
“It’s okay, lil’ bro,” Tobias teased, “if you forgot how to breathe.”
Noah dropped his head to the table. “Can I have coffee before we ruin my life?”
A mug thunked down beside him. Strong. Black. Merciful.
“Don’t be dramatic,” his mother said, nudging the sugar bowl toward him. “We’re just observing. Like wildlife experts.”
Noah raised his mug and took a long sip, sighing as the dark roast exploded on his taste buds. Breakfast together was a Calvary family tradition. Every important decision that impacted his life had occurred over a home-cooked meal around this table. “I must have done alright last night. Tobias didn’t pull out his Linus blanket medical kit.”
“Hey, I don’t take it everywhere.”
“You do,” his mama said flatly, flipping a pancake. “And Noah, you looked just like your father the first time he saw me walking across the college yard. Stammering. Slack-jawed. Helpless.”
Tobias slid into the seat across from him, eyeing him with that older brother mix of affection and provocation. “So? Whatcha talk about in the barn last night?”
“Goodness. Did all of you spy on me?
“A little,” they said in unison.
“This family is too close.” And he loved them for it. But appreciation for how they’d always come through for him didn’t curb his next comment. “Y’all might want to consider group therapy.”
“Can Rachel come?” Amarie giggled. “That way you only have to tell her how you really feel once… and under supervision… in case it goes sideways.”
Noah smirked. “Are you done?”
She angled her head, and her purple dangling earrings twisted, flashing Noah with the wordYEAH. “Yes, if you tell us what happened when you disappeared with my sister.”
“Not that it’s your business, but we looked at sketches.”
Silence.
“Is that a euphemism?” Eli wiggled his brows.
His big brother, though still a grumpy-pants to most, had experienced a romantic awakening since remarrying. Noah was thankful for Eli’s happiness with the bubbly registered nurse who’d escaped to Service after a bad breakup with a cheating ex. He envied what they had.
“No, stupid. Six sketched the wedding arch. So, all we did was talk and some hand-holding,” Noah muttered.Which was nice.The connection felt more significant than the physical action, at least for him. He could tell Rachel had doubts. He had no intention of pushing. For now, it was enough to be in her presence. “Sort of.”
His mother paused, with one hand on her hip. “You touched her hand?”
Tobias nodded slowly. “Like E.T., with your fingertip, or interlocking fingers, palm-to-palm?”
Noah leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “I swear you carry that medical kit out of personal necessity. Of course not like some extraterrestrial with a pillowcase hat popping wheelies on a dirt bike at four a.m.”
