Jeremy, the brother closest to me in age at only sixteen months older, laughed and held his palm up to high-five our mother. He was standing across from her at the kitchen island with a cutting board in front of him and his three-year-old zooming around with an old sheet tied around his neck as his cape.
“Tell him, Momster,” Jeremy cheered before turning to me. “You know mine can’t have any more candy though, right? He already thinks he’s Superman. Another bite of sugar and he might jump off the roof.”
“Like he’s not going to try that sometime anyway,” Tucker shot back, grinning as he rolled his eyes. “All of you numbnuts tried it.”
“Excuse me?” Mom gave Jeremy his high-five before arching a brow at Tucker. “They weren’t the only ones who tried it. You were first, if memory serves.”
“I’m pretty sure I was first at everything.” He smirked but the smug expression melted from his face when Parker walked in. He was only a year younger than Tuck and had been his closest competition for firsts in everything.
He winked when he met our eldest brother’s eyes. “You’re getting forgetful in your old age. I can remember quite a few things I did first. Getting married, having s—”
“That’s enough.” Mom narrowed her eyes at him, but I saw the smile she was trying to hide. “Yours might be outside with the only other woman who can tolerate you, but there are other little ears in here.”
“You mean the only woman who can tolerate me except for you, right?” He wrapped our mother in a hug and lifted her clear off her feet.
While she squealed and banged on his back in an attempt to get him to put her down, she yelled at him about manhandling one’s mother. Tucker’s six-year-old daughter eyed the package of candy bars I was holding.
“Uncle Carter?” she whispered, poking me to get my attention. “I gave my chocolate to Andy. Will you keep one for me after lunch?”
Andy, also known as Superman, skidded to a halt when he heard his name. His big brown eyes—our family trademark—rounded as he shook his head. “I didn’t get chocolate. I want chocolate too.”
I ruffled his hair and gave Sabrina a small nod. “I’ll hang onto all of these, okay? I promise there’s enough to go around.”
Half my damn suitcase ended up being filled with snacks and treats whenever I came home. Chaos reigned supreme around here, and being armed with bribes made me a favorite of my nieces and nephews, as well as a miracle worker in the eyes of their parents. I liked to think of it as a win-win.
“Carter.” Mom’s voice made my gaze snap back to hers. She gave the candy a pointed look until I retreated and put it back in the cabinet. Then she smiled and dusted off her hands on her apron. “Would you go get Dad for me, please, honey?”
“Sure,” I said. “He’s still out back with Justin?” Our middle brother had been engaged in lawn activities with my dad and most of the kids all morning.
Mom nodded. “I think so. Unless they’ve decided to skip town with all the little munchkins, they should be there.”
“Why would they skip town with all them?” Jeremy asked. “Did I miss the conversation where Justin said he wanted to open a circus?”
“He’d have enough acts with all of them,” I said as I backed away from Tucker and toward the door.
Jeremy and Parker roared with laughter, nodding their agreement. Tucker, who seemed to think that because he was the oldest he also had to pretend to be the most serious, rolled his eyes. “Please. No one would pay money to see the Demming Troupe in action. They’d just have to show up at church on Sunday morning.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, guess who still has a sense of humor?” I pointed at Tucker after winding up my arm for a second and then ducked out to get our dad while the other two took over the banter.
Chuckling as I headed outside, I remembered why I liked coming home for the holidays so much. I was a family man at heart. Having to put in for vacation time and face the prospect of coming out was always daunting and seemed like way more effort than it was worth, but when I finally got here, it ended up being one of the highlights of my year.
I joined Dad and Justin outside, not surprised to see them sitting in lawn chairs with a beer in hand while watching the kids play tag. “You got another one of those?”
They looked up when they saw me, and Dad reached into the cooler next to him and tossed a can over. “We’ve always got spares. I’m assuming you’ve got to rally the troops for lunch?”
I nodded. “I got sent by the Chief Commanding Officer herself. We better drink fast and get inside before she sends reinforcements.”
Dad chuckled. “It’s always good to see you boys haven’t forgotten who’s boss just because you’re all out of the house now.”
“Never.” Justin pointed toward the kitchen, taking and swallowing a sip of his beer. “Mom raised us better than that.”
“Just Mom, huh?” Dad punched him playfully on the shoulder. “Thanks a lot. You’re lucky I know how much you love me.”
I laughed and took a seat in the open chair next to them. We chatted for a while about Justin’s job as an architect and some of the projects he was working on before we moved onto how stupid my job could be at times. Miranda Mackey a week ago being the case in point.
A few hours later after lunch and a lively boardgame, Mom realized we were out of bread. I grabbed my jacket and got up. “I’ll get it. It’s easier for me to sneak out than it is for anyone else.”
When I got to the local Kroger’s a couple of blocks away, I spotted a familiar head of black hair in the frozen-food section. Billy used to be my best friend at school, and I grinned as I turned to go say hi.
Before I reached him, another familiar face popped out from behind a freezer. My heart skipped about twenty beats when I saw her. Rylee Naples, Billy’s sister and my childhood crush.
She was three years younger than us, and though I’d caught her staring at me time and time again back in the day, nothing had ever happened between us. Nothing real anyway. I’d had plenty of dreams about her—plenty of very inappropriate dreams that Billy would’ve kicked my ass for—but neither of us had ever made a move.
Rylee laughed and shoved Billy’s shoulder before shaking her head and walking away. The sound of her laughter drifted over to me, and my heart skipped some more beats. She’d always had a great smile, but whenever I heard her laughing, I swore I would go to fucking war for her.
Her long auburn hair was loose, framing her gorgeous face and making those ice-blue eyes of hers seem even bigger and brighter than ever. Rylee always had seemed larger than life to me, and not just because she was tall for a girl at five-seven.
She had a presence about her I couldn’t explain. She didn’t see me before she disappeared back around the freezer, but I still felt affected by her. Some things never change.
Giving my head a firm shake, I pushed the shock of having seen her out of my head and went to greet Billy. He turned around, spotting me before I reached him, and a wide grin broke out across his face.
“Carter Demming, as I live and breathe. How are you doing, man?” He extended his hand to shake mine, then pulled me into a hug. “It’s been forever.”