“If I recall, those serious talks mainly focused on your love life,” he teased, getting back into their groove.

“It was never all about me!” she protested.

“Li’l Sis, life was always all about you,” he said, laughing. It wasn’t, but he loved to tease.

“How can you say that?” She stepped away, a move that set the feathery plumes of her crown waving madly.

“I take it back,” he said, pulling her back.

She let him, but she shook a finger at him. “Ry Brennan, I spent half of my life listening to you talk about your girls. It was endless.”

He feigned innocence. “You didn’t want to listen?”

“Well, sure I did. I was a kid who knew nothing about dating. You taught me everything I know about boys.”

“It was an awesome responsibility,” he said gravely, laughing inside.

“You didn’t do that great a job. What I learned was that boys can be real jerks. You’d say one girl was cute, but too sensitive. Another had great eyes, but was too flighty. Another one, you liked her big…chest, but she wasn’t—”

“Enough!” He stopped her with a finger to her pretty lips. “Thanks for the trip down memory lane.”

That would be Jani, Joanie and Sue, in that order. He never forgot a pretty face, but it would be best not to mention that at the moment. It was sufficiently embarrassing that he’d ever talked about girls that way.

“Okay, then, let’s talk about the present,” she said, as if she were throwing down the gauntlet. “Are you alone on this trip or do you have a babe stashed away in your car? I heard that you brought a girl to your grandmother’s funeral—a girl you barely knew.”

Ouch. Meg still knew how to target a weak spot. “I just brought her along for Trey’s benefit.”

A wicked smile of approval slid across her pretty face. “Good idea. Tattletale Trey, judge and jury for all indiscretions. He must have loved that.”

He grinned back. “No more than Mom.”

Meg’s laugh surrounded his heart. Their old camaraderie and special connection was still there.

“I’m ba-ck,” Beth sang out, carrying a red satin beret like her own, complete with the springy toy on top.

“Did you check on the marine?” Meg asked, stepping away, leaving his arm empty. That was okay. He needed both hands to position his beret so the toy on top wouldn’t fall off.

Beth waved a hand, dismissing the marine. “He was talking to the cute little nurse. I can wait to find true love. I’d rather be with you two.”

“Beth! He was perfect for you,” Meg insisted.

His sister shrugged and said directly to him, “She’s usually right. Meg has a real gift for matchmaking. The marine and I could have been a match made in heaven.”

“Will you get off of that?” Meg gave Beth a warning glare.

Ry chuckled to himself. He had no idea what they were talking about, but with those two, it was always something.

“Meg’s in denial,” his sister said, ignoring Meg’s glare. “She’s mad because I know her guy is perfect for her even if she won’t admit it.”

Meg had a boyfriend? Well, good for her. And sympathy for the guy. That dude’s hope of peace and tranquillity were behind him. “Who’s the lucky guy?” he said, vaguely aware that he didn’t really want to know.

Meg jutted one hip to the side and planted a defiant fist on it. “There is no ‘guy’! And your sister would be wise to stick to pediatrics, which we hope she knows something about.”

“No guy? Or nobody inside?” He nodded toward the house, setting the toy on his hat bobbing, which made Beth smile even if Meg still had fire in her eyes. Her very pretty eyes. Gorgeous, really.

“I mean nobody anywhere,” she said emphatically, her feathers bouncing.

He didn’t know what she was so upset about, but egging her on was his idea of fun. “No date for New Year’s Eve? Aw, that’s too bad,” he drawled, playing the pity card as a payback for the trip she’d taken him on down memory lane. He cocked his head sympathetically, feeling the springy toy slide.

Beth mimicked the move, setting her hat in action.

Meg caught their act and laughed. “So, where’s your date, Big Talker?” she sassed.

“Who needs a date?” he said, enjoying himself more than he would have imagined. “I’m out here talking to my two favorite girls and playing with my hat.”

“Ry, don’t let her change the subject,” Beth said, laughing. “Make her tell you about her guy.”

Meg glared at Beth, her lips sealed.

“Meg, are you holding out on me?” he challenged. “We’ve never had secrets. Tell me about your fella.”

“There is no ‘guy’!” She threw up her hands. “What part of that do you not understand?”

“Oh, no,” he said in mock worry. “Please tell me you’re not in some secret relationship?” He knew better. Meg couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it. “He’s probably married. Never agree to a secret relationship with a man, Meggy.”

“Meg! And it’s nothing like that!”

He didn’t believe it was. “Let me meet the guy. I’ll get the truth.”

She headed for the house, her feathers bouncing. “I’m leaving. Happy New Year to you both.”

Beth caught up with her, took her arm and said, “That was a fast half hour, wasn’t it? At thirty minutes to midnight, we thought we’d spend the rest of the year alone.”

Meggy made a little choking sound.

“Are you okay?” he asked, catching up to them. It was second nature for him to check out anything that didn’t sound healthy.

“I’m fine,” she said, practically spitting her answer as she rushed to the house, leaving them behind.

“Ready to face the music?” his sister asked, suddenly serious.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Don’t expect too much from Mom, Ry.”

“Don’t worry, sis. She can throw me out, but I’ll still be glad I came.”

“I’ll be close by,” she promised.

It was good, having her here to shore up his courage.

Inside the house, the sight of his uptight family decked out in their headgear made him laugh out loud. Most of the guests were his parents’ colleagues, people who held lives in their hands every day. No one would know it to see them choosing noisemakers and trying their blow-out horns. He’d come inside at just the right moment. Amid this pandemonium, he went unnoticed.

He spotted his brother, Trey, with his arm around a woman who was probably his new wife. The two of them looked as if they could barely tolerate the bedlam. If Ry knew Trey, his brother would rather be in surgery—or having it.

There was a drumroll going, and the trumpet guy tooted a fancy fanfare. Everyone started yelling the countdown to midnight. “Five-four-three-two-one,” and the band struck up “Auld Lang Syne.”

And then, as if a neon sign blinked “Hug now,” everyone was embracing. Why his undemonstrative family needed the license of this one moment a year to express feelings, Ry would never understand. It was enough to enjoy it.

He headed first for his mother. The way they’d left it, her greeting would gauge whether he was welcome here.

“Happy New Year, Mom,” he said, taking her in his arms. She felt too thin, but that wasn’t new. What was new was the startled look of love in her eyes. Whatever he’d done to merit that, he’d like to know so he could do it again.

“Ry,” she said, patting his face delightedly. “You’ve come home! I’m so happy.”

All the love he’d felt as a little boy for his mother filled his heart. “I’m happy to see you, too, Mom,” he said, wishing this moment could last.

She pulled his head down for a kiss on his forehead, and his knees almost buckled. When had she ever done that?

“Thank you, Mom,” he managed to say. And then she was opening her arms to a guest he didn’t know.

He went through the motions, hugging people he knew and people he didn’t, more aware of the intense emotion he still felt than anything else. He hugged Aunt Jackie who didn’t seem to recognize him, but gave him a juicy kiss on the cheek. Uncle Al shouted, “Happy New Year!” in his ear as if he were deaf, and a flamboyant blonde kissed him as if they were lovers.