I’m not intimidated or jealous of my brothers. The threat to talk to Lark is made in jest at best. If he noticed the attention I’m giving her, he knows not to make a move on her. As for the drinking, it’s a ballsy move, especially at a party of my parents’ peers. “You’re going to get your ass kicked if Dad sees you.”

“I’m not worried.” He empties the glass, gulping it down, and then turns to me. “You headed back to town shortly?”

“Probably, why?” He gives me the look, the one that says he has some girl waiting on him. I laugh. “Did you get her name this time?”

That makes him laugh. “It was one time, and the only thing that matters is that she knows mine. Very well, I might add.”

We stop by the edge of the party before we reach the buffet. I turn to face him. “Look, Noah, you know I don’t usually say anything, but be careful. Okay?”

“Don’t worry. I will.” He starts walking away backward. “You’ve done your duty as my big brother. Are we good here?”

Bursting out laughing, I say, “You’re such a fucker.”

He plucks his shirt from his chest and then throws his arms out wide. “That’s why the ladies love me.”

I recognize his arrogance since I still struggle with it some days as well. You would have thought almost dying would have tempered it, but alas, the Westcott brothers are in their full glory here.

With my mood lifted, I head toward the table where Lark is working. Her eyes lift, and the smile she tries to restrain breaks free. “Hungry?” she asks when I approach.

“I’m heading out, but it was good spending time with you. If you ever scrape a knee or bust a lip, I’m your guy.”

“You’re my guy, huh?” She comes around the table. Touching her chin, she says, “Thank you for helping me.”

“You’re welcome.” I could linger a little longer, but I’ll let her work without me interrupting. “Maybe destiny will bring us together again.”

She tilts her head, looking me in the eyes, and almost knocks me on my ass from her beauty—string lights reflect in the green lagoons of her eyes, a gloss shining on her lips, and the sweetest dimple in the apple of her left cheek. “Maybe we’ll be lucky that way.”

After surviving on the side of that cliff, I start to think that maybe everyone is right. Maybe I am lucky to be here. If that’s the case, luck is something I have in spades.

5

Lark

“Dad?” I call, letting the screen door slam behind me. Bad habit.

“Don’t slam the door, Lark.” I peer through the living room to the door that leads to the kitchen, following the sound of his voice. “In here.”

I see his denim-wrapped legs sprawled across the yellow-and-white-floral linoleum. His body is revealed between open cabinets while his head is tucked under the sink. “Broken pipe again?”