Read Online The Summer Cottage by Lily Everett - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lily Everett
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nodded in that know-it-all-way common to teenagers. “I
told him you’d show. I’m Matt Little. Come on in, my mom already sliced the pie but
she said we had to wait for you.”
At the word pie, Logan shot Jessica a glance and saw her biting her lip against a smile. They followed
Matt through the open, airy kitchen, past a round table that showed the obvious marks
of frequent use and into a formal dining room.
Dylan sat at the head of a large oval table, his elbows resting comfortably on the
polished mahogany surface, one hand extended across the table to clasp the hand of
a smallish brunette with a beaming smile. Penny Little, Logan remembered through the
haze of exhaustion and confusion that had dimmed his vision when he met her.
The moment before they became aware of the presence of guests, Logan caught a glimpse
of something he dimly recognized, an invisible spark that flew between them and tied
Dylan and Penny together as they smiled into each other’s eyes. Dylan lifted their
entwined fingers to his mouth and kissed Penny’s knuckles so tenderly, Logan felt
his own cheeks heat uncomfortably. Feeling as if he was intruding on an unbearably
intimate moment, he froze in the dining room doorway, unable to make his feet move
forward.
Clearly unburdened by any feelings of being an intruder, Matt breezed past him. “I
told you they’d come,” he said confidently, grabbing a dessert plate and a fork before
retreating in a rush of big feet and lanky limbs. “No one can resist Mom’s famous
buttermilk pie. I’m taking this up to my room so y’all can have boring grown-up time.”
Dylan jerked, clearly startled, and as he started to get up to greet them, Logan’s
gaze caught on something sparkly in his brother’s grasp.
It was a ring. A diamond ring, on Penny Little’s left hand, and its facets winked
in the light when Dylan pulled her to her feet beside him.
“Logan. You’re looking much better than the last time I saw you. I was worried you’d
starved to death down in the cottage.”
“Jessica would never let that happen,” Logan retorted automatically.
“No, sure,” Dylan said, darting a quick glance at Penny. “Of course not.”
Logan swallowed. He’d been right, this was awful. Stilted and weird, too formal and
polite. Nothing like the conversation they’d had a week ago, when Logan had told his
brother to believe in himself, that he was more than the Bad Boy Billionaire the tabloids
made him out to be, that he deserved to find love.
He stared at the ring on Penny Little’s left hand. Looked like Dylan had taken that
advice and run with it.
“So you’re engaged,” Logan said abruptly, aware that his tone was brusque, almost
cold, but not sure how to fix it.
“Logan!” Jessica hissed, poking him in the side, but he twitched away irritably and
kept his gaze on his brother’s face.
Instead of looking sheepish or caught out, the way he had when he was six years old
and dragged every pot and pan out of the lower cabinets and piled them up to try and
climb the counter to get to the cookie jar, Dylan seemed perfectly at ease. When he
smiled and rolled his eyes, contentment radiated from every pore.
“I should have known you’d notice it the minute you walked in.” Lifting Penny’s hand
for another one of those fairy-tale kisses, Dylan said, “I asked Penny to marry me.
And she said yes!”
“Congratulations,” Jessica said into the brief silence that followed Dylan’s jubilant
announcement. “What a wonderful surprise!”
Some of the light in Penny’s pretty face had dimmed, and Logan noted the way her eyes
flicked worriedly from him to her fiancé. But she smiled and held out her hand when
Jessica asked to see the ring.
“My boss and coworkers at the Firefly Café want to throw us an engagement breakfast
at the restaurant tomorrow morning,” Penny said. “I hope you can both be there.”
“Of course!
told him you’d show. I’m Matt Little. Come on in, my mom already sliced the pie but
she said we had to wait for you.”
At the word pie, Logan shot Jessica a glance and saw her biting her lip against a smile. They followed
Matt through the open, airy kitchen, past a round table that showed the obvious marks
of frequent use and into a formal dining room.
Dylan sat at the head of a large oval table, his elbows resting comfortably on the
polished mahogany surface, one hand extended across the table to clasp the hand of
a smallish brunette with a beaming smile. Penny Little, Logan remembered through the
haze of exhaustion and confusion that had dimmed his vision when he met her.
The moment before they became aware of the presence of guests, Logan caught a glimpse
of something he dimly recognized, an invisible spark that flew between them and tied
Dylan and Penny together as they smiled into each other’s eyes. Dylan lifted their
entwined fingers to his mouth and kissed Penny’s knuckles so tenderly, Logan felt
his own cheeks heat uncomfortably. Feeling as if he was intruding on an unbearably
intimate moment, he froze in the dining room doorway, unable to make his feet move
forward.
Clearly unburdened by any feelings of being an intruder, Matt breezed past him. “I
told you they’d come,” he said confidently, grabbing a dessert plate and a fork before
retreating in a rush of big feet and lanky limbs. “No one can resist Mom’s famous
buttermilk pie. I’m taking this up to my room so y’all can have boring grown-up time.”
Dylan jerked, clearly startled, and as he started to get up to greet them, Logan’s
gaze caught on something sparkly in his brother’s grasp.
It was a ring. A diamond ring, on Penny Little’s left hand, and its facets winked
in the light when Dylan pulled her to her feet beside him.
“Logan. You’re looking much better than the last time I saw you. I was worried you’d
starved to death down in the cottage.”
“Jessica would never let that happen,” Logan retorted automatically.
“No, sure,” Dylan said, darting a quick glance at Penny. “Of course not.”
Logan swallowed. He’d been right, this was awful. Stilted and weird, too formal and
polite. Nothing like the conversation they’d had a week ago, when Logan had told his
brother to believe in himself, that he was more than the Bad Boy Billionaire the tabloids
made him out to be, that he deserved to find love.
He stared at the ring on Penny Little’s left hand. Looked like Dylan had taken that
advice and run with it.
“So you’re engaged,” Logan said abruptly, aware that his tone was brusque, almost
cold, but not sure how to fix it.
“Logan!” Jessica hissed, poking him in the side, but he twitched away irritably and
kept his gaze on his brother’s face.
Instead of looking sheepish or caught out, the way he had when he was six years old
and dragged every pot and pan out of the lower cabinets and piled them up to try and
climb the counter to get to the cookie jar, Dylan seemed perfectly at ease. When he
smiled and rolled his eyes, contentment radiated from every pore.
“I should have known you’d notice it the minute you walked in.” Lifting Penny’s hand
for another one of those fairy-tale kisses, Dylan said, “I asked Penny to marry me.
And she said yes!”
“Congratulations,” Jessica said into the brief silence that followed Dylan’s jubilant
announcement. “What a wonderful surprise!”
Some of the light in Penny’s pretty face had dimmed, and Logan noted the way her eyes
flicked worriedly from him to her fiancé. But she smiled and held out her hand when
Jessica asked to see the ring.
“My boss and coworkers at the Firefly Café want to throw us an engagement breakfast
at the restaurant tomorrow morning,” Penny said. “I hope you can both be there.”
“Of course!
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