Dakota Homecoming by Lisa Mondello Read Free Book Online

office. He’s coming to dinner.” She turned to Georgie. “I’m Grace, my inconsiderate brother’s older sister.”
    “Inconsiderate?” Julian hooked his sister with the arm that didn’t have the half eaten muffin. “You haven’t seen me in nine months and that’s what I get from you?”
    She kissed him on the cheek. “You made me introduce myself to your girlfriend.”
    Julian glanced at Georgie and winked. “Because I know you can’t help yourself. You beat me to it.”
    Grace made a face and glanced at Georgie. “You really want to put up with this guy?”
    Georgie shrugged and said, “He didn’t exactly give me a choice.”
    Grace’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. Don’t let him get away with that.”
    “It’s not even sixty seconds and you’re already at each other. Save it for later,” Joan said.
    “I need to get to work anyway,” Grace said. She hugged Liam and the kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll see you tonight. Listen to Grandma. Don’t listen to anything Uncle Julian says,” she whispered loudly.
    “Hey!” Julian said.
    “Don’t worry, Uncle Julian. Mom says that about all the uncles.”
    Georgie chuckled as another stab of envy pierced her heart. This house and the people in it were so unlike what she’d known growing up. And she hadn’t even met the entire McKinnon family yet. Suddenly the simple dinner that was planned for tonight seemed terrifying. She was going to stick out like a sore thumb.
    “I’ll stop by Aunt Kate’s on the way home from the office and pick up some pastries from the diner,” Grace said.
    “Don’t bother,” Joan said. “Kate and Don are coming and I think Wade and Skylar. Ethan has a shift at the police station, but he might stop by with Maddie at some point. Sam and Summer are still in Colorado but they're coming back in a few days so they won’t be here tonight yet.”
    “What about Logan and Poppy?” Julian asked.
    “I’m not sure. The baby had a cold and Poppy doesn’t want her to be sick for the wedding.”
    Georgie listened to them rattle on about family members that would be at dinner tonight wondering how she was going to be able to keep them all straight.
    Julian leaned towards her. “Don’t worry, they won’t eat you alive.”
    The warmth of his body enveloped her even though they weren’t touching. He’d showered already and the scent of soap tickled her nose and filled her head.
    “Are you sure about that?” she whispered.
    As he flashed her a quick grin, that fight or flight feeling she’d had so many times during her life filled her. How the hell was she going to keep up this charade with Julian for a whole week?
     
    * * *
     
    It was always good to catch up with his family. Sitting down around the dining room table and sharing stories of their childhood was something Julian had missed these last nine months since he’d been home. Some of his cousins had decided to come for dinner after hearing Julian had finally come home. His cousin Wade, who had been missing for five years and presumed dead, knew how important a McKinnon homecoming was to the family. He made sure to come by with his new wife, Skylar, and their six-year-old son, Alex.
    Julian had known Skylar for years because she worked with his aunt Kate at the diner in the center of Rudolph. She’d been a fixture at many McKinnon family outings long before any of them knew that she and Wade had been lovers in Samoa before Wade disappeared. To see the two of them now, you’d never know they’d ever been apart. Skylar sat at the table talking to Grace about how her morning sickness had finally passed but she was already uncomfortable sleeping.
    Grace and Skylar traded pregnancy stories. His older brother Ian and cousin Wade traded military stories. Julian glanced at Georgie, who was sitting at the table taking it all in.
    His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling the cell phone out, he glanced at the caller ID. He let the phone ring as he made his way through the