Chapter Six
“I’M THIRTY-FIVEyears old, and this is the first time I’ve ever been invited to meet anyone’s parents,” Asher said as Zach pulled up in front of his parents’ house.
Asher tried to keep his voice light to cover how nervous he was about meeting Zach’s family. What if they didn’t like him? He was worried if Zach’s family disliked him or disapproved of him, it might mean the end of their relationship—and Asher surprised himself by how much he didn’t want that to happen.
Zach reached over to take one of Asher’s hands in his and give it a squeeze. “You’ll be fine. They’re going to adore you,” he said. He released Asher’s hand and unfastened his seat belt. “Come on. The sooner you meet them, the sooner you can relax.”
The house was a big Victorian sided in yellow, with neat white shutters and a wide front porch. It was set well back from the road, and his parents owned several acres of land around it. Zach led him down a pretty brick pathway, and Asher could see carefully laid out flower beds, covered now with snow.
A large welcome mat—red with “Ho Ho Home” written on it—sat in front of the door, which was all but obscured by a huge evergreen wreath bedecked with ribbons and pinecones. Zach opened the door, smiled supportively at Asher again, and then ushered him inside.
As he followed Zach into the house, Asher looked around with interest. This house was far different from what he was accustomed to. It was clean and well-kept, but it didn’t have the staged, showroom look that most of Asher’s friends’ houses had. Or hell, that his own home had. His decor had been chosen by Mrs. Ted Caldwell Number Two, and Asher hadn’t bothered to redecorate since his father retired. His grandparents had bought the place and left it to his parents, and now it was his, but it still didn’t feel much like a home.
Thishouse looked lived-in. The hardwood floors were swept clean, but they showed the wear of family feet, and the furniture looked welcoming and comfortable. Asher could even smell something baking. Cookies, maybe. He expected to see drawings on the fridge and pencil marks on a doorframe somewhere in the house to mark the kids’ growth. For the first time, Asher understood what a home was supposed to feel like.
“Zach! You’re here!”
A small meteor came sprinting from the back of the house and slammed into Zach. Laughing, Zach stooped and picked up a little boy and gave him a hug.
“Hey, bro!” Zach said, turning to face Asher. “I’m here, and I brought someone with me. Asher, this is Michael Anthony Richardson, my bratty little brother. Mikey, this is my friend Asher. He’s a lawyer, too, and a really, really good one.”
Mikey had the same brown hair and soft brown eyes Zach did. “Hello, Mr. Asher,” he said, holding out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Asher didn’t have much experience—well,anyexperience, really—with kids, but he followed Mikey’s lead and shook hands like he would with any other new acquaintance. “Hello, Mikey. It’s nice to meet you too.”
“Do you like cookies?” Mikey asked. “Mom made snickerdoodles and oatmeal raisin.”
“I do like cookies,” Asher said. “Especially homemade ones. Did you help?”
“I eat the broken ones,” Mikey replied with a grin. He squirmed, and Zach put him down, then Mikey reached out and took Asher’s hand, tugging him toward a doorway. “Come on! Everyone else is in the kitchen with all the boxes of ornaments. There’s like a billion of them!”
Zach chuckled. “Sorry.”
“For what?” Asher looked back at Zach as he let himself be dragged away, presumably to the kitchen.
“For you getting co-opted,” Zach replied. “He likes you.”
“I’m okay with being co-opted.” Asher offered Zach a reassuring smile, relieved to know at least one of Zach’s relatives liked him. With any luck, the rest would be won over as quickly and easily as Mikey had.
Mikey pulled him into an eat-in kitchen even bigger than the one in Asher’s apartment. The front portion was dominated by a huge rectangular table piled with boxes and tissue paper, and more boxes were piled on the floor. The table was occupied by three young women, who looked up as he came in, and it was easy to see the resemblance between them and Zach.
Mikey let go of Asher’s hand and dashed off to the kitchen area. “Mom! Mom, Zach’s here with his friend! He likes cookies, so you need to make sure he gets some before dinner!”
Zach slid his arm around Asher’s waist. “Asher, these are my sisters, Ellie, Maggie, and Jen,” he said, pointing to each of the young women in turn, and they smiled and greeted him in a friendly way. “And this is my mom, Katherine. Mom, this is Asher Caldwell.”
The woman who approached was an older version of her daughters, with the same dark hair and eyes. She was dressed in jeans and a bright red sweater decorated with the head of a reindeer, with black button eyes and a red pom-pom for a nose.
“Hello, Asher, it’s so nice to meet you,” Mrs. Richardson said, holding out a fine-boned hand to him with a smile. “Welcome to our little madhouse.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Richardson.” Asher shook her hand. “Thanks for inviting me. Zach says you do Christmas right around here.”
“We try. I must tell you Zach has spoken very highly of you,” Katherine continued, giving his hand a slight squeeze before releasing it. “He said watching you in the Winters case is what inspired him to move from prosecution to defense. I remember watching the case on television, and you were brilliant.”
Asher found himself unduly pleased. His father had never praised his efforts, only exhorted him to do better, and his colleagues expected him to succeed, so they never seemed surprised when he did. Acknowledgment of his abilities, he realized, had been thin on the ground for most of his life.
“Thanks, I do my best.” He slid his arm around Zach and gave him a little squeeze. “Zach is pretty brilliant himself. He’s got the mix of intelligence and compassion we need with our clients, and he’s building a strong future for himself at the firm. He might even unseat me one of these days,” he added with a playful wink at Zach.
“I doubt that,” Zach replied, then pressed a swift, unselfconscious kiss to Asher’s cheek. “But it won’t hurt to keep you wondering, now will it?”
