Healed by Rebecca Brooke Page A

more on it than mine, setting it in front of the seat next to me. Andrew’s eyes snapped back and forth between his Mom and the plate.
    “Mom, I think your eyes are bigger than my stomach.”
    “I gave you a little bit of everything. There’s some quiche, a cinnamon bun, a piece of muffin, and a small sandwich,” said Sarah, pointing at each thing on the plate.
    “Oh, is that it?” he said, sarcastically. He turned to me. “Do you want something to drink to wash down that little bit of food?”
    “Drinks. I knew I’d forgotten something.” His mom looked like she was ready to hit herself in the head, yet she still managed to give Andrew a quick swat on his arm.
    “Ow!”
    “Behave,” she said, turning toward the cupboard with the glasses in it.
    “Always, Mom.” He pressed a brief kiss to her cheek before taking his seat next to me.
    “What would you like to drink, Emily? We have orange juice, ice tea, lemonade—”
    “A glass of ice tea sounds perfect, thank you.”
    “Hey, Mom, aren’t you forgetting someone in this whole ‘let’s make plates and serve people food’ thing you’ve got going on here?”
    She peeked her head around the door of the fridge. Taking a step away, she grabbed another plate filled with as much food as mine, brought it over and set it in front of Jess. Jess looked it and laughed. “Mom, you’re out of control.”
    Sarah placed her hands on her hips. “I am not. I just want my babies to be well fed.”
    “We’re definitely that.” Andrew laughed, earning himself another swat to the back of his head. “Mom,” he groaned. He was still staring at the enormous plates in front of him and me.
    Jess wasted no time digging into her food. “Back to you,” she said between mouthfuls, pointing her fork at Andrew.
    “Jess, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Sarah scolded from the other side of the room.
    While all of this was going on around me, I remained quiet, deciding to stay out of it and simply eat. The growling of my stomach was getting louder and louder with each minute that passed. Taking a bite of the cinnamon bun I almost groaned out loud. The first bite melted in my mouth. It was warm and sweet and so good.
    “Sarah, this is delicious.”
    Jess swallowed what was in her mouth and returned her focus to the wedding.
    “Have you decided on your groomsman for the wedding?”
    There was a devious glint in Andrew’s eye. He was up to something. Then he smirked at her, and I knew this was only going to end badly. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
    “Yes. Yes, I would. Hence the whole reason I’m asking.”
    In a move out of my own playbook—reserved for when my sister demanded something from me—Andrew stared back at Jess, but said nothing, lifting his fork to his mouth.
    “Tell me before I kill you,” she snapped.
    He shrugged and pointed to his now full mouth as he chewed. He shook his head, eyes bright with restrained laughter. Jess’s eyes flashed, and I thought she was going to kill him.
    Taking pity on her—mainly because if he’d done shit like that to me, I probably would have killed him—I elbowed him the side to prove my point.
    “Stop being a jerk and tell her what she wants to know.”
    “Fine,” he pouted. “You’re ruining all my fun. I can’t believe you took her side.” He looked over at Jess. “Nick is going to be my best man, and then Caleb and Josh will be the groomsmen.”
    “Oh,” Jess squealed. “You both have three.” She was clapping her hands like a little kid who’d just won a game of Chutes and Ladders.
    “Jess, what are you screaming for?” Michael, Andrew’s father came into the room. “Ah, this is where everyone is hiding—with the food!” He looked around the room. “Can’t say I blame you. We really need someone to help us eat all of this,” he muttered under his breath.
    “I heard that,” came Sarah’s voice from somewhere in the pantry.
    “Hi, Emily. Merry Christmas,” Mike said, walking over to