Dakota Homecoming by Lisa Mondello

loving.
    Georgie’s heart squeezed as the realization of what she had lacked in her life hit her. She’d definitely had the love from her mother and her cousin. But this… She’d never experienced the kind of open heartedness the entire McKinnon clan had for each other. And what shocked Georgie more, was how open they were to having her among them. As if she really belonged there.
    There’d be a day of reckoning. A day when Julian would have to tell them the truth about why she was really there celebrating with their family. About how her presence could have potentially put them all in danger if Eduardo knew she was there and wanted to hunt her down as he had others.
    But that day was not today. Grace smiled at her and touched her arm as she and Julian walked by. Two little giggling boys ran past her leg on their way to a booth by the window where Julian’s dad and uncle were seated. Both of them were engrossed in conversation about something. Julian’s brother Gray was holding little Jonathan, one of the young twins that Ian and Abby had adopted after their mutual friends’ had passed away. Abby held the youngest of the siblings they adopted; little Lola who was just eighteen months old.
    “Do you want to eat something?” Julian asked. “There’s plenty of food.”
    “I’ll say. But no, I’ll wait. I’m still full from the lunch your mom made earlier.”
    He led her to a table where his brother Luke was sitting with the love of his life, Tessa. Tessa’s six-year-old daughter, Haley, was sitting between them in a booth eating a bowl of ice cream.
    “Hey, where’d you get that ice cream?” Julian said to Haley as they reached the table.
    Haley held a spoonful of chocolate ice cream in her hand and giggled. “From Auntie Kate!”
    “Auntie Kate has ice cream?” The animated way he talked to the little girl made her laugh harder. “Did you eat it all?”
    “No, silly!” she said.
    “Did Luke eat it all?”
    “No!” Haley said with a roll of her eyes.
    “Well, that’s a good thing because chocolate is my favorite.”
    Julian motioned for Georgie to sit down in the empty booth seat. “I’m going to get a drink. Want something?” he asked.
    “Sure. Anything,” Georgie said.
    Julian spun around and addressed his family. “Anyone want a drink while I’m behind the bar?”
    “No going behind the bar. I’ll get you what you want,” Kate said. She placed a loving hand on the back of a man a few years older than Julian. Georgie guessed that it was Julian’s cousin Sam since he was the only other McKinnon who wasn’t at the house the other night and Julian had told her he and his girlfriend Summer would be here tonight.
    “I’m not going to blow anything up, Ma,” the man said.
    “It wouldn’t be the first time if you did.”
    The room erupted in laughter. Luke yelled out, “She’s never going to let you live that down, Sam.”
    “It wasn’t me. Well, it wasn’t just me,” Sam said laughing.
    This jovial banter continued for most of the night. Georgie laughed along with the tales of mischief and fun from the boys, and protests from Grace, the only McKinnon born female among them until little Emma had been born to Logan and Poppy a few months ago.
    It wasn’t until the evening was winding down and everyone was helping to clean up that questions started coming Georgie’s way.
    “So you’re the reason that my brother has been AWOL these last months,” Sam said.
    “AWOL?”
    Grace scraped the bottom of the chafing dish of the leftover food and put it the remaining food in a smaller plastic bowl. “No one has seen Julian’s face in nearly nine months.”
    “I knew it had to be a pretty girl,” Sam chimed in. “It’s always a pretty girl.”
    “Oh, really?” Summer said. “Is that all I am?”
    He hooked Summer around her neck and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “It’s not all you are, but I do love your pretty face, sweetheart. Among other things.”
    Summer’s cheeks