“About your great-grandparents falling in love,” Mikey answered for him since Sebastian was busy glaring at his brother.
“Then I should probably take over from here,” Jonathan said with a sad shake of his head and a heartfelt sigh as though the prospect of screwing Sebastian over somehow pained him.
“Not necessary,” Sebastian bit out only to be ignored.
“Did he tell you that Bradfords don’t propose?” Jonathan asked, shifting so that he was facing Mikey.
“No, he didn’t get to that part yet,” Mikey said as she helped herself to a potato chip off Jonathan’s plate.
“Then I got here just in time,” Jonathan said, taking his time finishing off his hot dog as Sebastian sat there, contemplating killing the little bastard.
“Why don’t they propose?” Mikey asked Jonathan as he stuffed the last bite of hot dog in his mouth.
“Because if they’re thinking clearly enough to propose then they’re not really in love,” Sebastian answered, hoping that it would be enough to appease the little brat.
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It wasn’t.
“So, no Bradford has ever proposed?” Mikey asked, frowning in confusion.
“There have been a few…” Jonathan let his words trail off as he shot Sebastian a look that was going to get him killed.
“What happened?” Mikey asked, glancing between the two of them as she waited for an answer.
“It didn’t end well,” Sebastian said, gesturing for her to start reading.
Frowning, she glanced at Jonathan expectantly. With a shrug, he said, “They ended in disaster before they even made it to the altar. Uncle Eric tried, but ended up dumping his fiancée at the dinner rehearsal.”
“Wait. Uncle Eric dumped Aunt Morgan at the wedding rehearsal?” Mikey asked, looking adorably confused.
“No, Uncle Eric was engaged before he married Aunt Morgan, which brings us to rule number two,” Jonathan said as he held up two fingers. “Bradfords elope.”
When Mikey opened her mouth to ask a question, Jonathan cut her off with, “Or it ends in divorce. They also don’t go on honeymoons until after the first year.”
“But my mom and Reese went on a honeymoon right after they got married,” Mikey pointed out.
“And how did that end?” Jonathan asked even though they all knew how it ended.
Badly.
Uncle Reese ended up trying to surprise Aunt Kasey with a trip to the Bahamas, which ended with them both being detained by customs, losing all their luggage, losing their original resort reservations and ended up getting kicked out in the middle of the night from the only motel they’d been able to find a room, and somehow ended up spending the night in jail.
Blinking, Mikey whispered, “We do not speak of it.”
Nodding, Jonathan said, “Exactly.”
“Okay, so Bradfords don’t propose, they don’t have traditional weddings, and they can’t go on honeymoons until a year after they get married, is that it?” Mikey asked, pursing her lips up as she thought it over while Sebastian sent Jonathan a look that told him that he’d better keep his mouth shut.
With a mouthed, “I won’t tell,” and a wink in Sebastian’s direction, Jonathan climbed off the chaise lounge with a nod and an absently mumbled, “Pretty much,” that had Mikey frowning as she glanced back at Cole, who was sitting off to the side, glaring at the house next door.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Mikey said, gesturing to Cole as she looked back at Jonathan. “What does this so-called curse have to do with Jessica calling that girl Cole’s future wife?”
“Does she live next door?” Jonathan asked, making a show of studying his nails as Sebastian shook his head, vowing to kill the little bastard if he said another word.
“Yes, why?” Mikey said slowly, clearly wondering what that had to do with anything.
“Just a lucky guess,” Jonathan said, shrugging it off as he turned around and headed toward the backyard where Mathew and their cousin Joshua were tossing a football.