“Come on,” I said, pulling him toward the house. “How was your flight? We have so much to catch up on—”
“Wait a sec, Charlie,” Danny said, laughing. “There’s actually—I should—”
“Oh, right,” I said, remembering. “So, what’s your surprise?” I looked around. “Did you bring me a Double-Double after all?”
Before he could answer, the passenger-side door opened and a girl got out. She looked around Linnie’s age. She was tall and blond, wearing what had to be four-inch heels, and she was smiling at me.
“Charlie, I’d like you to meet Brooke Abernathy,” Danny said, then took a breath. “My girlfriend.”
CHAPTER 8
Or, Double-Double, Toil and Trouble
* * *
THE SECOND WE STEPPED INSIDE the kitchen, the alarm went off again.
“What’s the code?” Rodney yelled, running over to the panel, which was flashing with red and orange lights.
“Twelve thirty-four,” I yelled, and Rodney nodded. He punched in the numbers, but nothing happened for a few seconds—and then the alarm shut off suddenly.
“Seriously?” J.J. yelled, then seemed to realize a second later than he no longer needed to yell. “That’s really the alarm code?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Why?”
“There’s the bride,” Danny said with a smile as he crossed to Linnie and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You’re radiant. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to say to brides? Glowing?”
“Only if it’s true,” she said, whacking him on his arm.
“Jameison,” Danny said, continuing across the kitchen.
“Sheridan,” J.J. said, as he smiled at Danny and gestured to his outfit—button-down, dark pants, blazer. “So I take it you took one of those airplanes with a dress code?”
“What?” Danny straightened his cuffs. “People used to get dressed up all the time to fly. It’s a lost art.” He hugged J.J., then Rodney, and as Danny made his way around the room, I glanced quickly over at Brooke, who was still standing in the doorway.
By the car, I’d only gotten a cursory impression of her, so I used this opportunity to take a closer look. She was strikingly pretty—all Danny’s girlfriends were—and thin, with hair that fell over her shoulders in soft curls. She was wearing a sleeveless tight-fitting floral-print dress that ended at her knees, with a cardigan over it. But for some reason, she hadn’t put her arms through her sweater—instead, it was placed over her shoulders, like she was combating some weird temperature affliction, where her shoulders were cold but her arms were hot. She was tall even without the four-inch stilettos, so she looked like she was almost close to Danny’s height with them. I could see, as she looked around the kitchen, a smile on her face, that she had sharp cheekbones and bright-blue eyes with black eyeliner that winged out from each eye in a tiny, precise point. As she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, I noticed she had on diamond studs, each one looking bigger than the stone in my sister’s engagement ring.
Linnie looked from Danny to Brooke and back again, widening her eyes at him. I saw that J.J. and Rodney were also staring at Brooke, like they were waiting for some explanation as to who, exactly, this person was. “Are you going to introduce us?”
“Whoops,” Danny said with a quick, crooked smile. “Sorry—we’ve been on an airplane for too long. This is—”
“Oh, let me do it,” Brooke said, stepping forward and clapping her hands together as she smiled brightly. “I’ve heard so much about everyone, I bet I can. Linnie, Rodney,” she said, pointing as she went around clockwise, “J.J. and Charlie.”
“Nicely done,” Danny said, giving her a smile as he walked over to the fridge.
“And you are . . . ?” Linnie asked, after a pause.
“I’m Brooke,” she said with a laugh, like this should have been obvious.
“Are you Danny’s assistant?” J.J. asked, going to join Danny by the fridge. “He promised he wasn’t going to do that anymore.”
“You did promise,” Rodney agreed.
Two years ago, during Mike’s graduation, Danny had been in the middle of some huge deal with one of the start-ups his venture capital firm had funded. Mike had told him he didn’t have to come for it, but Danny had insisted—and had showed up with his assistant, a really nice guy named Vikram. My mother had put Vikram up in one of the guest rooms, but had not been happy about the fact that Danny had basically spent the whole weekend working, and had dragged his assistant across the country to do it, and before he’d left, she’d made Danny promise not to do it again.
“What?” Brooke asked. Her smile faltered as she blinked at J.J. “No—I’m Danny’s girlfriend.” All my siblings just stared at her, and I took a little bit of comfort in the fact that they were having the same reaction I’d had—that it wasn’t like everyone had known about her except me.
It wasn’t that it was unusual for Danny to have a girlfriend. Both in the world of GCS, and from the stories I’d heard, there had been girls interested in Danny from middle school onward. But he’d never been serious about anyone. He was usually dating someone, and he was always really excited about whoever it was—these Madisons and Katies and Jessicas and Ashleys. They were always super awesome, super smart, and he couldn’t wait for us to meet them. And then the next time it would come up, he would be dating someone new, and would be equally enthusiastic about her. But he’d never once brought anyone home—which, frankly, I hadn’t minded. I didn’t get to see Danny as much since he moved to California, and I was happy not to have to share his time with anyone.
“Danny,” Brooke said, turning to him. It looked like she was blinking a little faster than most people did. “Did you—did you not tell your family . . . ?”
The sentence just hung in the air for a moment until Linnie jumped in. “Oh, Brooke,” she said, snapping her fingers. “Right, of course. Of course Danny mentioned you.”
“Totally,” Rodney agreed, a little too quickly.
“Many times,” J.J. said, nodding. “Many, many times.” Then after a pause, he added, “Not like a weird amount of times. Just the normal amount.”
Brooke nodded, but I noticed her smile now looked a little forced. “Well—it’s so nice to meet you all.”
“So, I was thinking we would take the blue guest room,” Danny said, pulling a veggie tray out of the fridge, along with a can of Coke. “I didn’t think Brooke would appreciate sharing a room with J.J.”
I blinked at my brother for a second. Why had I not put this together the second Brooke had shown up? Danny wouldn’t have brought his girlfriend all the way from California to say hi and then leave again. But it was like I was watching what I’d hoped this weekend would be—me, my siblings, hanging-out time in between wedding stuff—get farther and farther away, like a mirage in the desert.
“So you’re staying the weekend,” Linnie said, giving Brooke a very fixed smile, in between staring daggers at Danny. “You’re . . . coming to the wedding?”
Brooke’s head whipped over to Danny. “You didn’t—”
“I told you I was bringing a date,” Danny said, as Linnie and Rodney both shook their heads.
“Wait, this is perfect,” J.J. said. “She can take the spot my date was going to have. I hope you like steak, Brooke.”
“What date?” Danny asked.
“Exactly,” I said.
“So now that your guest count isn’t going to be off,” J.J. said, “maybe we, um, just end the bet?”
“Great idea,” I said quickly, really not wanting my brother to invite a felon to the wedding. “Forfeit?”
“Forfeit agreed,” J.J. said. He pointed to me and Rodney. “Forfeit accepted?”
“Accepted,” we said in unison.
“Not that I couldn’t have gotten a date,” J.J. said, and I noticed that under his usual bravado, he looked very relieved. “But this way, I can concentrate on enjoying your wedding.”