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He turned to her, swept her up in his arms and murmured, “Hey, Li’l Sis,” close to her ear.
Li’l Sis. It had been so long since she’d heard him say that. Like ice cream under hot fudge, she melted and hugged his neck, just like a little sister would do.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, his mouth so close she could feel his breath. Goose bumps rose on her arms.
He lifted her up and spun her around. It was only a bear hug, just a brotherly bear hug like the one he’d given Beth, though Beth surely didn’t have to deal with tingles like this.
“Welcome back,” she said, barely able to say anything at all, busy as she was with the butterfly troop in her stomach, flitting as if this were their one chance to dance.
“It’s good to be back.”
He sounded so happy that she hugged him tighter, thrilled deep inside that he was home.
Releasing her, appreciation dawned on his face. “Look who’s become a babe! Li’l Sis, you’re all grown up.”
Well, of course. All three of them had grown up. For such a stupid statement, how could she take it as a compliment and let her heart race as if it were?
“Stay away another ten years,” Beth said dryly, “and you’ll notice that she’s middle-aged.”
Ignoring his sister, Ry kissed Meg’s forehead and said, “You never call. You never write. It’s been too long.”
Shoving out of his arms, she wagged a scolding finger at him. “You sneak out of here in the middle of the night, go to college on the other side of the country, come home just once when I happened to be away and have the nerve to say that I never get in touch?”
He flashed that killer smile. “You missed me, right?”
She’d missed that smile. “Well…I am glad to see you.” Her heart was pounding so hard, Ry and Beth, both medically trained, might notice.
She glanced at Beth and wished she hadn’t. Beth flicked her eyes from Ry to Meg like a fan watching a tennis match. Catching Meg’s eyes, Beth had the nerve to fold her hands prayerfully and look heavenward.
Okay, a joke was a joke, but if Beth kept this up, there would be no Happy New Year for her.
“Beth, did you know that Ry was coming home?” Meg asked, prodding Beth to snap out of it.
“No, and why didn’t I?” Beth demanded of her brother. “I could have met your plane.”
“I didn’t even know,” he said, his voice deeper now than Meg remembered. His buttery baritone was totally appealing. “I only decided this afternoon.”
“And you just hopped on a plane?” Meg asked. Wasn’t that just like him? Ry always did exactly what he wanted, when he wanted.
“I had forty-eight hours off. I thought I’d see if there was a party hat for me.”
“I think there’s another one like mine,” Beth said.
“We can be twins,” he said, grinning.
“Since your hair is finally as short as mine, I guess we could,” Beth said, touching his bare neck and her own. “This is quite a change from your long-haired pool boy days. You were always prettier than me.”
“I was never prettier than you,” Ry said, hugging his sister again. Meg loved seeing them together like that.
“Have you seen Mom and Dad?” Beth asked.
Ry shifted uncomfortably.
“You haven’t.” Beth answered her own question. “Ry, you haven’t come all this way not to see them.”
“No, I’m going to see them, but when I turned my rental car over to the valet parking guy, I caught a glimpse of Trey at the door…”
“And you decided to slip in from back here,” Beth finished, knowingly. “Good idea. Trey’s still the same. He lives to prove he’s the only worthy Brennan off-spring.”
Ry’s mouth lifted in a wicked half smile. “So that would make Trey the only one of us who hasn’t grown up?”
Meg smiled. Good for Ry, taking Trey’s arrogance in stride.
Beth raised her hands toward each of them, initiating their old three-way high five.
Allies, that’s what they were. Buddies. Partners. Nothing to get all tingly about.
“Nice feathers, Meggy,” Ry said, eyeing her headgear.
“Meg,” she said, correcting him automatically. “I’m not ‘Meggy’ anymore.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, his eyes dancing with laughter as he looked her over approvingly. “I think you’ll always be Meggy to me.”
She swallowed hard, her heart racing though it shouldn’t have. Ry could save that charm for someone who knew how little it meant.
“Those feathers are a perfect match to your blue eyes, Meggy.”
“Meg,” she corrected again, though she might as well save her breath. Ry hadn’t changed. He always had to win, though he had this amazing talent for making a person not really care that he had.
He had remembered that her eyes were blue. The deck lights were bright enough for him to tell the color of her tall plumes, but not the color of her eyes. That had to have come from his memory. She shivered, unbelievably pleased at such a small thing.
Beth must have noticed the shiver, for she said, “Meg’s freezing. Let’s go inside. We’ll get you a party hat, Ry.”
Ry slid out of his jacket. “Why don’t I give Meggy—”
“Meg,” she corrected firmly, giving him a look that said he’d better conform or forget about a peaceful evening.
Fitting his jacket around her shoulders, he repeated, “Why don’t I give Meg my jacket, and you get the hat, Beth?”
Meg’s happy smile rewarded his effort.
“Not ready to face the music yet?” Beth asked, teasing, yet understanding, too.
“Not just yet.” Ry hated to admit it, but being here was harder than he thought it would be. On the plane, he’d been prepared. He’d even had his opening speech memorized.
One look at Trey at the front door, like a lion at the gates, had changed that. The old anger flooded his mind, and he’d thought about getting back in the rental car and going back to New York for good. If he had avoided dealing with the family this long, he could do it forever.
But seeing the girls had settled him down. He still wasn’t sure he could manage to be the good son he’d flown out here to be, but he would give it his best shot. It was still minutes to midnight. There was no hurry.
“Stay put,” his sister said, patting his arm. “I’ll get you a hat, and you’ll be just like the rest of us.”
Was that what he wanted to be?
“Oh, and before I forget,” she said, “you’re staying at my place while you’re here.”
Beth made it more of an order than a request, but that was fine with him. He wanted time with his parents, but not the whole time. “How comfortable is your sofa?” He didn’t really care. He could sleep on the floor.
“I thought I got the sofa tonight,” Meg complained.
The three of them would be together tonight? Ry smiled at the fun they would have.
“Toss a coin or duke it out,” Beth said, heading for the house. “It won’t matter. We’ll stay up all night.”
“Say hello to the marine,” Meg called after his sister.
Beth tossed a snappy military salute. “Aye, aye, sir.”
Meg saluted back. “Be all you can be.”
Ry laughed softly, watching his sister march inside. The girls had their military branches mixed up, but who cared? They still knew how to have fun. No matter what else happened, he’d be glad he made the trip.
“You two haven’t changed,” he said, bringing the lapels of his jacket closer together, the better to keep Meg warm. His Li’l Sis had become one good-looking woman. She looked fantastic in that shimmery dress.
“It feels like Beth and I have changed.”
Her beautiful dark hair was still long. It was amazing how happy he was about that. Li’l Sis was adorable. She still stood all of five feet three, but she had definitely grown up.
“This is the first time Beth and I have spent together in ages,” she said a bit unevenly, as if she were nervous.
He felt a little nervous himself. But it had been a long time since they’d been alone. Even old friends had to get back in their groove.
“I’ll be glad when she’s through with her residency.”
He drew Meg under his arm. In that little dress, she could probably use the extra warmth from his body. “I only hope Beth has done this for herself. You have to want it, being a doctor and putting up with the life.”
“Did you ever want to be a doctor, Ry? Just for yourself, not for the family?”
Had anyone ever asked him that? Everyone seemed to assume he’d chosen to become a paramedic instead of a doctor just to spite the family. He hadn’t minded, and it was true that he didn’t want to be like them.
“I like helping people,” he replied, not really answering the question.
“Which you do as a paramedic.”
Darling Meggy, still backing him. “Sometimes I wish I could do more.” He could be honest with her. “Much more.”
“As a paramedic, you must see some terrible things.”
He was here because of one of those terrible things, so terrible that it finally got through to him. Pretty soon, he’d have to go inside and do what he’d come to do.
“This isn’t exactly party talk, is it?” he said, not wanting to burden her with his troubles.
“I always loved our serious talks,” she said softly, looking up at him so sweetly his heart skipped a beat. If she were just another pretty woman, he’d be thinking about stealing a kiss.
“If I recall, those serious talks mainly focused on your love life,” he teased, getting back into their groove.
“It was never all about me!” she protested.
“Li’l Sis, life was always all about you,” he said, laughing. It wasn’t, but he loved to tease.
“How can you say that?” She stepped away, a move that set the feathery plumes of her crown waving madly.
“I take it back,” he said, pulling her back.
She let him, but she shook a finger at him. “Ry Brennan, I spent half of my life listening to you talk about your girls. It was endless.”
He feigned innocence. “You didn’t want to listen?”
“Well, sure I did. I was a kid who knew nothing about dating. You taught me everything I know about boys.”
“It was an awesome responsibility,” he said gravely, laughing inside.
“You didn’t do that great a job. What I learned was that boys can be real jerks. You’d say one girl was cute, but too sensitive. Another had great eyes, but was too flighty. Another one, you liked her big…chest, but she wasn’t—”
“Enough!” He stopped her with a finger to her pretty lips. “Thanks for the trip down memory lane.”
That would be Jani, Joanie and Sue, in that order. He never forgot a pretty face, but it would be best not to mention that at the moment. It was sufficiently embarrassing that he’d ever talked about girls that way.
“Okay, then, let’s talk about the present,” she said, as if she were throwing down the gauntlet. “Are you alone on this trip or do you have a babe stashed away in your car? I heard that you brought a girl to your grandmother’s funeral—a girl you barely knew.”
Ouch. Meg still knew how to target a weak spot. “I just brought her along for Trey’s benefit.”
A wicked smile of approval slid across her pretty face. “Good idea. Tattletale Trey, judge and jury for all indiscretions. He must have loved that.”
He grinned back. “No more than Mom.”
Meg’s laugh surrounded his heart. Their old camaraderie and special connection was still there.
“I’m ba-ck,” Beth sang out, carrying a red satin beret like her own, complete with the springy toy on top.
“Did you check on the marine?” Meg asked, stepping away, leaving his arm empty. That was okay. He needed both hands to position his beret so the toy on top wouldn’t fall off.
Beth waved a hand, dismissing the marine. “He was talking to the cute little nurse. I can wait to find true love. I’d rather be with you two.”
“Beth! He was perfect for you,” Meg insisted.
His sister shrugged and said directly to him, “She’s usually right. Meg has a real gift for matchmaking. The marine and I could have been a match made in heaven.”
“Will you get off of that?” Meg gave Beth a warning glare.
