Page 88 of Sing For Me

Eva

Will might have had a bit of a point about his family. They’re definitely…a lot.

They’re loud and easily excitable and full of way too much energy for what’s supposed to be a relaxing vacation. But they’re also incredibly kind. And funny. And once they get past the novelty of a pop star in their midst, they start to calm down with the questions and the staring.

What doesn’t seem to lessen in the slightest as the days pass is how much every person on the property clearly cares about Will. His aunts dote on him, always patting his arm or shoulder when they pass, asking if he needs a fresh drink or a second helping at dinner. His grandparents light up every time they see him.

The cousins clearly all look up to Will as their leader. The younger group—or the Littles, as everyone else seems to call them—are all constantly hanging off him, begging him to come play whatever game they’ve got going or join them in a hike/trip to the swimming hole/kayaking adventure.

The middle kids obviously look to him for approval. At the barbecue that first day, Will laughs at something his brother Silas says and the kid’s face lights up like he just won the lottery. It’s adorable.

Then there’s the older group, the cousins that I met at the gala. The six of them are incredibly close, closer than many people are with their siblings. They have about a hundred inside jokes and they all seem to know just about everything that’s going on in each other’s lives.

Except for me. The five older cousins seem every bit as fascinated by me as the rest of them. But while the Littles are clearly excited by my celebrity, the older group appears to be more fascinated by my interactions with Will. Pretty much every time we touch or talk in view of the others, one of them is watching us with undisguised interest.

The aunts and uncles do the same. From the way they’re all acting, I wonder if Will has ever brought a girlfriend home before—not that I’m technically his girlfriend, of course. A fact that I’m reminded of when I’m approached by Presely, Silas, Lyric, and CeCe after breakfast the day after we arrive.

I’m enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck of the lodge, watching Will and his Uncle Levi on the grass down the hill where they’re tinkering with one of the ATVs. Apparently, it hasn’t been working and Will knows a thing or two about engines. Though I never remember having a single mechanic fantasy in my life, there’s something about watching Will with his sleeved rolled up, fixing things with his bare hands and getting greasy, that does it for me.

I’m so engrossed that I barely notice when the four kids join me.

“Hey, Eva,” Presley says, sitting in the Adirondack chair next to mine. Silas takes the chair next to her while CeCe and Lyric stand behind them, their arms crossed. Every one of them is unabashedly staring at me.

“Oh, hey,” I say, shifting in my seat and wondering why I feel so intimidated by a group of teenagers. CeCe is a tiny little thing, barely coming up to my shoulder, but the way her eyes are narrowed on me has me fidgeting, uncomfortable. “How are you guys?”

“Fine,” Silas says, his voice clipped.

I look from stony face to stony face. “Can I do something for you?”

“We just wanted to talk to you,” Lyric says, smoothing her hands over a pair of cut-off jean shorts.

“About your intentions,” CeCe adds in an ominous tone.

Oh.Oh. My eyes flick from their faces down to Will on the lawn. He hasn’t noticed us yet.

“My intentions,” I repeat, and the kids all nod. “With…?”

“With my brother,” CeCe says, in a voice I’m sure she means to be tough. The effect is kind of ruined by the way her pig tails bob when she says it.

I swallow, unsure of how to respond. “Will has been a very good friend to me,” I finally say.

Lyric snorts. “Of course he has. That’s Will.”

I can’t help but smile at the fervor in her voice. “I’m sure you guys all love him very much.”

Silas leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and meets my gaze. His eyes are so much like Will’s, so much like their dad’s. “My brother is thebest,” he says, voice low and full of conviction. “He takes care of everyone.”

“I can see that.”

“But he’s more sensitive than he lets on,” Presley cuts in.

“And it would be easy for someone he cares about to hurt him,” Silas adds in a soft voice.

I glance back down the hill to where Will and Levi are working. His uncle says something that has Will laughing, his head tilted back, morning sunlight glinting off that thick head of hair.

“I have no intention of hurting him,” I tell them.

“Are you his girlfriend?” CeCe demands.