No, she didn’t. She was just searching for things to dislike about the woman. She didn’t know why. Her parents had divorced years ago. Yeah, it had been just her and her dad for a long time, but it wasn’t like Lacey was jealous. She might have had her dad to herself, but he’d never really been there for her.
He’d never noticed she was alive. No matter how much she’d tried to get him to pay attention.
“She has an awful laugh.”
“That she does,” he agreed around a mouthful of food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” If he could scold her for not eating, then she intended to give as good as she got.
He rolled his eyes.
Her other cousins joined them. Clay sat opposite her, sending her a wink. Tyler sat on her other side then reached across her to grab the ketchup. She slapped his hand with her fork, and he gave her a hurt look. Rusty sat next to Clay and grunted at her. On the other side of Clay, her biggest cousin, Jace sat. The bench seat creaked under him. He took a drink of beer then burped.
She sighed. “You guys have appalling manners, you know that, right? It’s no wonder you’re all single.”
Rusty just grunted again, and Clay grinned. Beside her, Tyler tightened up, and she found herself wishing the words back. She knew how much his divorce hurt him.
“I don’t think it’s our manners keeping us single, sweetheart,” Travis told her.
No, probably not. They each had their issues. Things none of them wanted to bring up. She knew Travis and Rusty had seen things in the Marines they wouldn’t discuss. Tyler’s divorce was a taboo subject, and Jace hadn’t been the same since he’d quit working for the police force. Clay, well, she didn’t know what demons Clay had. Maybe he didn’t have any. Or maybe he just hid them better.
Brandi laughed again, and Lacey tightened up. Her father kissed the top of her head before leading her over to the huge mountain of food they’d put together for this celebration.
Some celebration.
She glanced around the large garden. There were less than twenty people here to celebrate the happy couple. But then, her father had managed to alienate a lot of people over the years.
At least the guys had come. Without them, it would have seemed more like a funeral.
“Thanks for coming,” she told them, keeping her gaze down and moving her food around on the plate. “I didn’t know if you would be here today, but I’m glad you are.”
There was silence, and she looked up, meeting their serious gazes.
“We’re always here if you need us, Lacey,” Clay told her.
“Family first,” Travis said.
“Hell yeah,” Tyler added. “They’re the only ones you can count on.”
Rusty raised his beer, and they all grabbed their own drinks, clinking them. Only Lacey and Travis weren’t drinking. She didn’t drink because she hated being out of control and she was pretty sure Travis felt the same way.
She looked over at her father. She had first-hand experience of what could happen when someone turned to drinking to drown their problems.
“I was just asking Lacey what she thought of Brandi,” Travis told them.
She shot him a look. Couldn’t he leave it alone?
“And?” Clay asked.
She sighed. “She spells her name like a fifteen-year-old cheerleader, her laugh would make monkeys wince, and she dresses like a color-blind hippy.” She paused, realizing she wasn’t being fair. “And she seems to really love him. I’ve never seen him this happy.” Not since before her brother, Brax died anyway.
Even then, she couldn’t remember her parents acting like Brandi and her father were. She winced as she watched them kiss. Her father reached down and cupped his new wife’s ass. Oh, God, there were just some things a child shouldn’t have to see.
“So do we like her or hate her?” Tyler asked her.
Tears suddenly filled her eyes. God, she’d missed these guys. She needed to make more of an effort to see them. Maybe her parents hadn’t been there for her since Brax’s death, but these five had. They’d been everything to her. Protectors, friends, big brothers. It wasn’t until she left home that she realized how special they were.
Family first.