Neat (Becker Brothers, #2)(84)

“Hey!”

“I’d like to take a moment to say something,” she said. She clasped her hands gently in front of her, and with the evening light pouring into the house, the silver of her hair shone a brassy gold. “Michael, this is one of the most important days of your life. It is a day you will never forget, a closing of one door and opening of the next. And no matter where this life takes you, I want you to always know that you have a home to come back to, and a family that loves you, very, very much.”

“Hear, hear,” Jordan said, lifting his glass. The rest of us lifted ours in unison.

“To Michael,” Mom said, tears in her eyes now. “Our baby boy, a baby no longer.”

We all cheered and whistled, taking a drink before digging into our cake. Mikey stood and wrapped Mom in a big hug, and as soon as they had both sat down, Noah stood. He seemed nervous, and when I realized he hadn’t touched his cake, I narrowed my eyes, looking between him and the offending slice.

“Uh, while we’re all gathered here,” he said, clearing his throat. “I wanted to let you all know we have another cause for celebration.”

The whole table went quiet, and we all knew before he even said his next words.

He reached for Ruby Grace’s hand, and when she stood with him, it was the first time we’d all taken our heads out of the sand and noticed the rock on her finger.

“Yesterday, I asked Ruby Grace to marry me,” he said, beaming at the red-haired beauty beside him. “And she said yes.”

Betty was the first to jump up, wrapping Ruby Grace in a fierce hug as she went on and on about Richard Gere, for some odd reason. Mom was really crying now as she stood to hug Noah, and we all took turns embracing each of them and offering our congratulations.

“What an exciting day,” Mom said when we were sitting again, dabbing at her eyes with her napkin. She laughed when Jordan offered his, too. “I’m just a mess.”

“You had to know this was what you were getting yourself into with four boys,” Kylie said.

Mom chuckled. “Yes, I suppose I did.”

Kylie was a tiny little thing — maybe five-foot-two wearing heels. She had long, dark, chestnut hair and the classic girl-next-door face. She’d always kind of felt like one of the guys when we were younger. I remembered her playing man hunt with all of us out in the backyard, and had a distinct memory of her knocking one of Mikey’s teeth out when he said something she apparently didn’t like. Now, though, she and Mikey both looked like they were caught in some strange in-between — not yet a man and woman, but far from a boy and a girl.

It made my chest hurt a little to see them growing up like that.

She’d been around more that spring, trying to help Mikey break into our dad’s hard drive. It apparently was more encrypted than we knew, though, and she said she could do it, but it would take time.

Michael took a sip of his water when we were all settled again, clearing his throat with his eyes on his glass. “While we’re making announcements, I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you guys…”

“Tell us what, sweetie?” Mom asked.

Mikey looked around the table, and then he sniffed, eyes back on his glass. “I’m going to spend the next few months here in Stratford, enjoy one last summer in my hometown. But, after that, I’m moving.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing — forks suspended in mid-bite, hands paused around glasses, all eyes on my baby brother.

“To New York.”

There was a very, very small stretch of silence — and then all hell broke loose.

Mom started crying — this time, they weren’t happy tears. Jordan immediately launched into not making hasty decisions while Noah argued that he couldn’t leave the distillery. I opened my mouth to chime in, but Mallory squeezed my knee in warning under the table, and when I looked at her, she just shook her head.

“You guys can yell and holler all you want, but my mind’s made up,” he said over the chaos, standing and tossing his napkin down on the table. “I’m eighteen now and this isn’t a choice that any of you get to make for me. So, you can either support me, or not, but either way, I’m going.”

With that, he stormed across the house and out the front door, footsteps thumping down the porch steps.

Kylie grimaced, folding her own napkin and setting it on the table beside him before she stood. “I’ll go talk to him.”

When they were both gone, Mom’s whimpers were the only sound at the table. Jordan reached over to hug her, and Betty smiled, turning the attention back to the good news of Noah and Ruby Grace’s engagement.

“So, tell us how he proposed,” she urged.

And, at least for the moment, Mikey’s news was put aside.

I was still reeling from it all when Mallory and I pulled into our driveway later that evening, and I felt like a zombie opening the car door for her, carrying the leftovers Mom sent with us inside, and plopping down on the couch. Mallory sat next to me, running her fingers through my hair and watching me with worried eyes.

“You okay?”

I nodded, though I wasn’t entirely sure. “I just… I can’t believe he wants to move. To New York, of all places.” I shook my head. “This has always been our home. I guess I never considered the possibility that one of us could leave it.”