Shaking my head at her, I pocketed my phone. Crossing to the fridge, I extracted a bottle of water and was about to take a drink when the door swung open. Dressed in a suit, long coat, and scarf, with his hair slicked back from his face, Garret looked like he was going out for his own New Year’s Eve celebration.

“Holy shit,” Nova exclaimed as she walked out behind her brother. “When did you learn to dress like a GQ model?”

The older Hannigan sibling straightened the collar of his coat, pulling it up to protect his neck before tying his scarf. Ignoring her question, he quickly took in her own outfit. The long-sleeved black dress had a shimmer to it from the diamonds threaded into it, making her look like a glittering star in the middle of the darkest night. She’d curled her hair and pulled the long tresses over one shoulder. Her makeup was a little more than I was used to seeing on her, but she looked gorgeous. The heels she was wearing to complete the look gave her six inches of added height, but her brother and I both still towered over her.

“You look beautiful,” he said as he took his gloves from the coat pocket and started pulling them on. “Ryan, man, you’re going to have your hands full trying to keep all those bastards off my sister tonight. Call me if you need help.”

“Where are you going?” she asked when he turned for the door. “Do you have a hot date or something?”

“Or something,” he said, his lips tilting up in a ghost of a smile. “It was good to see you, Nova. I figure we won’t see each other again before you head home, so give Mom a kiss for me.” He paused beside her then tapped her gently on the nose. “I’m sorry I’ve been a dick, sis. By now, you probably know I was just blowing smoke with what I said on your birthday. I have no excuse other than I was being an asshole, and I hope you can forgive me.”

Nova blinked up at him before touching her palm to his forehead. “Are you sick?” She gasped and dropped her voice dramatically. “Are you dying, Garret?”

Instead of laughing as I was sure she was going for, he grimaced and shook his head. “I guess I understand why you would think it would take something life-changing like a death sentence to make me be nice to you.” He gave her a tight hug. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

She stood there with her mouth still gaping open for a long moment after he left. “Did that just happen?” she finally asked me. “I mean, I didn’t dream that, did I? You saw it too, right?”

I shrugged. “He’s been different lately. After we got back from your birthday party, Pop and Zio had a conversation with him. I don’t know what they talked about or what went down, but he’s been acting more…” I hesitated, trying to find the right word to describe the change in my future brother-in-law. “…human ever since.”