From Me to You [Complete]

53

Our Frisbee game is interrupted by Andy arriving sweaty and out of breath on the back deck. He stops to catch his breath, while we wait a little impatiently to know what is going on. Once Andy can breathe, he grins at me, and not for the first time I wonder at my brother's easy temperament.

"Guess who just showed up at the cottage?" he asks excitedly.

"Who?" asks Mick, who seems to have the quickest response time in the group.

"Joe!" Andy says, grinning widely. My eyes widen, as I recognize the name, and I stare incredulously at Andy. What brought him out here? Robert, Mick and Michael, however, still aren't sure how to react, and Andy has to supply them with more information. "As in, Ann's fiancé Joe?" he presses.

"Oh man," Michael says, exchanging a look with me that references our conversation from last night about Ann's situation.

"Yea," Andy agrees, looking even happier now that more people are clear about what's going on.

"Why is he here?" I ask, wondering what is happening back at the cottage.

"He drove up to surprise her, and he sure did." Andy's grin widens. "I bet she's in for a bit of trouble now." Andy giggles, and I almost giggle too, thinking about how Joe will react to Jean.

"I'm definitely missing something," Mick says, watching us.

"Amanda's older sister's fiancé," Michael supplies, making it sound complicated.

"And he doesn't know what she's been up to with Michael's brother this week!" Andy says excitedly.

"Jean," Michael says quickly, as Mick looks at him for confirmation. Out of three brothers, it would be hard to figure out which one Andy is referring to on the fly.

"Want to come see what happens?" Andy asks excitedly.

"Okay!" I say, although I wonder if this will be as fun as it has been in the past. Joe has always been very jealous and protective of Ann around other men.

"What will happen?" Mick asks, a little unsure if this is still funny.

"They'll fight a bit probably. But I mean, I don't know that her friendship with a guy has ever been this close before." I exchange a look with Andy.

"Definitely not. Although I think that soccer game debacle with Ryan comes close." Andy notes. The final year that Ann played on the soccer league back home was also the year Joe asked her out. Ryan asked her out too.

"Oh, I forgot about that!" I remark. Andy laughs in memory. I hope Joe has changed at least a bit since then. Mick still looks a bit unsure. "It'll probably all be alright," I say sincerely. "Joe gets jealous really easily, which is usually funny to watch, especially since he's usually wrong. I doubt that Ann actually did anything bad, so he'll probably get over this quick too."

"Ah, okay," Mick says warily.

"I think I hear a car pulling into the driveway," Michael says pointedly to Mick. Mick gives him a thankful look, as Michael walks over to pat his friend on the back.

"Better go help unpack the groceries!" Mick says quickly, and I toss him the Frisbee. "I'll see you all around. Nice meeting you," he says to Andy and me as he quickly heads inside. I hope he doesn't think Andy and I are the worst siblings ever for how we acted about this whole Ann/Jean/Joe situation.

"Okay, we better get going," Andy says. "Joe was only just arriving when I left."

"Okay, okay," I agree, "You and Robert lead the way."

Michael grabs my hand to follow the boys, as they take off up the beach to a path on my left. Before we follow suit I turn to Michael. "Hey."

He lifts an eyebrow in my direction. "Yes?"

"I'm glad so many people care about you," I say. He turns fully toward me, eyebrows coming down to crinkle in confusion. "I've had a number of conversations with people who want to make sure you're okay."

"You have?" he asks, and I think he's unsure if he should be happy or upset about this information.

"Yes," I say with a smile, teasing him a little.

"Well, uh, I am okay?" he says slowly.

"Okay,good, I'm glad." I say, still smiling. He smiles back at me, still not quitesure. I squeeze his hand. "Now we better catch up or we'll miss everything." Ipull him into a jog behind me as I follow in Andy and Robert's footsteps.