Chasing Abby(29)

“Abigail,” Chris begins. “We know you—you and Caleb don’t owe us a single second of your time. But we’ve been waiting for this day for so, so very long. And we’re beyond ecstatic that you’re here now. Please just give us a chance to explain… everything.”
I don’t know who Chris is referring to when he says Caleb, but I think it might be the young man holding Abby. He loosens his grip on her and she wipes at her face.
“Are you okay?” he whispers to her. “Do you want to go?”
Please don’t go.
Abby sniffs loudly then turns back to us. “I don’t know what I expected. I—”
The sound of footsteps descending the stairs gets our attention and all four of us turn toward the staircase. Junior comes bounding down the steps first, wearing a soft smile that fades when he sees the serious looks on all our faces. Following close behind him, I’m not at all surprised to see Ryder coming down in a white T-shirt and blue pajama pants, his blonde hair sticking out in all directions and carrying his guitar in one hand. He always uses that guitar to get himself out of trouble. He must have done something wrong.
“He was still sleeping,” Junior says when he reaches the foyer.
“No, I wasn’t!” Ryder protests, descending the last few steps. “I was just lying down.”
“With your eyes closed and drooling all over yourself?”
Abby and Caleb chuckle and my heart jumps at the sound of her laughter. Junior smiles at her and Caleb, pleased to see he’s provided them with some amusement. But Abby’s not laughing anymore. Her eyes are fixated on Ryder as he heads straight for Chris to hand him the guitar.
“Can you tune it for me, Dad?”
“Sure. Just hang it up in the studio. I’ll do it later.” Chris musses up Ryder’s hair as he heads for the kitchen with a smile on his face. Chris turns to me, unable to hide his smile. “He was up late playing video games again. That’s why he was still asleep. I’ll talk to him later.”
I shake my head. “Ryder, come back here!”
He groans as he spins around and walks toward me. “What?”
“Don’t take that tone with your mom,” Chris warns him.
His gaze falls toward the floor. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, sweetie,” I say, grabbing his guitar and handing it to Chris. Then I grab Ryder by his shoulders to position him in front of me. “Abby—Abigail, this is your other brother, Ryder. I think you met Chris Jr.”
She stares at him for a while before she speaks. “It’s nice to meet you, Ryder. Do you know who I am?”
Ryder looks up at me with a question in his eyes. He wants to know if it’s okay to tell Abby what he knows. I nod and he turns back to her.
He nods vigorously. “I know you. My mom and dad talk about you all the time.” He starts counting off on his fingers, the way he always does when he’s going to say things in a list. “They showed us a bunch of pictures. They showed us videos. They told us to be nice to you. And they said you look like me.”
Chris shakes his head and grabs Ryder by the back of the neck. “Stop being a smart-ass and go give your sister a hug.”
Abby smiles as he steps forward and wraps one arm around her waist.
“There. Can I go now?” he asks, looking over his shoulder at us with his arm still hooked around his big sister. And now it’s so obvious how much they look alike. It’s almost frightening.
Abby laughs at Ryder, but Chris shakes his head. “You’re treading on thin ice, boy. I know you were up late again.”
His shoulders slump. “Sorry.”
“You’re lucky we have guests here,” Chris replies. “Otherwise, you’d be grounded for a week.”