Chapter 22
743 Words
Brielle’s POV
“Oh,” Wren said slowly. “This should be fun.”
Brielle already didn’t like that tone.
“Wren,” she warned quietly.
But it was too late.
Her cousin was already looking between Thaddeus and their grandfather with the kind of interest people usually reserved for public disasters and reality television.
Their grandfather stepped down from the doorway slowly, rain tapping lightly against the stone steps around him while his sharp gaze settled fully on Thaddeus now.
For a second, nobody spoke.
Then—
“You drove them here.”
Not a question.
Thaddeus nodded once. “The weather was bad.”
“Hm.”
That was all Grandpa said.
Just:
> “Hm.”
But somehow it carried enough suspicion to make Brielle immediately tired.
Wren looked delighted.
Their grandmother, meanwhile, seemed entirely unbothered as she looped an arm through Brielle’s and started guiding her toward the front steps.
“You’re both soaked,” she fussed. “And too thin.”
“We ate like an hour ago,” Wren argued while grabbing her suitcase.
“That clearly wasn’t enough.”
“Grandma, I physically watched you put extra butter in mashed potatoes because you said the recipe ‘looked emotionally dry.’”
“It did.”
Brielle laughed softly before she could stop herself, the warmth of the familiar argument easing some of the lingering nervousness still twisting through her chest.
The townhouse smelled exactly the same the second she stepped inside.
Coffee.
Old books.
Vanilla.
Rain drifted faintly through the open front hallway from outside while warm light glowed across dark wooden floors and crowded bookshelves lining the walls.
Home.
Or at least the closest thing she’d had to one in a long time.
Wren immediately disappeared deeper into the house dragging her suitcase behind her dramatically. “If my old room became a gym or something while I was gone, I’m leaving.”
“It’s still your room,” Grandma called after her.
“Good. I’m emotionally attached to that mattress.”
Grandpa stepped inside last while Thaddeus followed more quietly behind him carrying the remaining bags.
And somehow, the second the door shut behind them, the atmosphere shifted again.
Not bad exactly.
Just… aware.
Brielle noticed the look her grandfather gave Thaddeus.
Then the look Thaddeus gave right back.
Neither hostile nor friendly.
Just measuring.
“Oh, this is definitely becoming a thing,” Wren muttered from halfway up the staircase.
“Wren,” Brielle warned again.
“What? I’m observing.”
Grandma waved a hand dismissively toward all of them. “Nobody is becoming anything. The poor boy just drove six hours in the rain.”
“It was closer to seven,” Thaddeus said.
Grandpa’s eyes narrowed slightly. “And yet you still stayed.”
Okay.
Now even Brielle felt that one.
Thaddeus didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he set the last suitcase beside the stairs before finally looking back toward Grandpa again.
“I wanted to make sure they got here safely.”
The room went quiet for exactly one second too long.
Then Wren whispered dramatically:
“Oh, he’s in love-love.”
“Wren!” Brielle hissed, horrified.
“I’m just saying—”
“You are saying too much.”
Grandma looked suspiciously amused now while Grandpa folded his arms across his chest, still studying Thaddeus carefully.
And somehow the situation became even worse when Brielle realized Thaddeus didn’t immediately deny it.
At all.
Instead his gaze flicked toward her briefly before looking away again.
Which honestly felt more dangerous.
“Oh my God,” Wren breathed. “He didn’t even argue.”
“Please stop talking,” Brielle muttered.
“I physically can’t.”
Grandpa finally exhaled through his nose before speaking again. “Well. Since you drove all this way, you might as well stay for dinner before heading back.”
Brielle blinked.
Wren blinked.
Even Thaddeus looked slightly caught off guard by the invitation.
Grandpa noticed immediately. “Don’t make it weird.”
“You’re the one making it weird,” Wren informed him.
“I raised your mother. I survived worse.”
“That’s fair.”
Grandma clapped her hands together softly before the conversation could spiral further. “Good. Then everyone can stop standing in the hallway looking emotionally confused.”
Wren pointed immediately toward Brielle and Thaddeus. “That’s mostly them.”
Brielle closed her eyes briefly.
This trip was already becoming a disaster.
- Writer
