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“How’s my favorite brother? I haven’t seen you since the last family day. Every time I come to the house you’re at work!”
    “I know . It’s been crazy lately, but I think things are slowing down a little. How are you? Did you have fun at the Rock Festival?” He was such a sweetheart. I loved him like a brother, and if anything ever happened between him and Lill, it would break my heart. He was quite the looker, too. In fact, if Lill hadn’t snatched him up, I probably would’ve tried.
    “It was great! C’mon, there’s s omeone I want you to meet.” I grabbed his hand.
    “Hey! Where are you going with my husband?” Lill teased.
    “Don’t be greedy, sisters are supposed to share, remember?” I teased right back.
    We went out the back screen door and Ethan and Dad looked up from the grill. Dad smiled and grabbed Pete. “Hey Pete, good to see ya, son.”
    “Ethan, this is Lill’s husband , Pete. Pete, this is Ethan,” I said.
    Pete looked at me . “And who is Ethan, Gia?” He was such a shit. He wanted to embarrass me by making me say Ethan was my boyfriend, but I wasn’t going to give in that easily.
    “Oh, I’m sorry,” I started, “Etha n is the owner and operator of The Lock and Wood Campground—you know, Pete, where we go to all the great concerts.” I raised my eyebrow to him as if to say, “Are you sure you wanna mess with me?”
    “Nice!” Pete said as he shook Ethan’s hand. “But I guess what I meant was, why is he here on famil y day?” I saw him wink at Ethan. He wasn’t very good at this.
    “ He rode with me,” I said nonchalantly.
    “Gia, what have we told you about picking up strangers?” he said, like I had a history of doing that.
    “You’re such a butt!” I told him, laughing. “Okay , Pete, Ethan is my boyfriend , is that what you were after?” I winked at Ethan, he was grinning from ear to ear. I just shook my head and gave Pete, who had a smug smirk on his face, a punch in the arm and went back inside.
    “Your husband loves to try to embarrass me ,” I told Lill.
    “That’s because he loves you ,” she said, giving me a hug. “I’m gonna miss you! I wish I could go with you.”
    “Me too ,” I said. “Where are my favorite niece and nephew?”
    “Mom’s pushing them in the tire swing,” she said. “We’re supposed to be shucking the corn for her.”
    “Oh, oka y, let’s take it outside.” We went out back with the guys and shucked the corn while we joked around and laughed. Ethan was a welcome addition to our clan. He seemed to be enjoying himself. Everyone obviously thought he was great. As I watched him talking with my dad, I remembered when he’d brought up his own family to me and how I’d gotten the feeling he wasn’t very close to them, especially his dad. It was hard to imagine him not getting along with someone. What happened between them?
    Mom came out to get the corn ready for the grill. “Need some help?” I asked.
    “Nope, everything else is ready,” she sang, so I grabbed a beer and relaxed.
    The kids came out , so I turned my chair around and watched them play in the back yard. I wished I’d been able to have my own, but it just wasn’t in the plan for me and I’d accepted that. I didn’t dwell on it anymore, and having Carly and Joey around helped a lot.
    “How’s my girlfriend doing?” Ethan whispered in my ear. It made me smile.
    “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?” I asked.
    He knelt beside me. “I wasn’t sure how it was gonna play out, but yes, I enjoyed the end. Pete’s a riot. Your whole family is really great—thanks for bringing me.”
    “Thanks for coming. You fit in nicely.”
    “Let’s eat!” Dad yelled and we all gathered around the table. We had one of the best family dinners ever. Everyone was in a great mood, we had new blood to tell old stories to, and it was just really rich. After dinner we all pitched in with the clean-up and then Ethan wanted to look at the pictures Mom had all over