Natalie was fitting in just fine. She was in the kitchen right now with Ma, Pop, and Gray.
“I want more great-grandchildren before I meet the Lord,” Nana finished.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I chuckled.
Darius glanced at her over his shoulder. “You got any more missiles to launch in your walker? Say the word, and I’ll get Ryan on the phone.”
Nana jutted her chin. “I am already corresponding with him. San Francisco,” she huffed. “He has no business there.”
He literally did. He had his bar and his immediate family there. Not that I pointed it out, because I wanted him to move back home too. Hell, he could open a bar here in town.
“I’m gonna head back in before we circle back to me,” I said, handing over the lighter fluid to Darius.
He shot me a look. “Traitor,” he said under his breath.
I shrugged. “Throw Lias under the bus. Nothing I do has worked on him.”
He considered that, then nodded with a dip of his chin.
On my way in, I bent down and kissed Nana’s cheek. “Give him hell, Nana. Did you see he’s limping a bit?”
“What the fuck,” Darius snapped.
“Darius!” Nana balked. “Are you still working for that agency in DC?”
“No, I’m fucking not,” he grated out. “I hurt myself hunting. Ethan’s full of shit.”
I laughed and left them to it.
Warmth and chuckles greeted me in the kitchen. Ma was busy at the stove, Pop sat at the table folding napkins, and Gray had his arm draped around Nat’s shoulders on the other side of the kitchen island. Whatever he’d just said had made the rest crack up.
“And there’s one of the headaches,” Ma joked and winked at me. “Gray was just sharing some warnings with Natalie.”
“In the name of love,” Gray interjected hurriedly. “Everyone who joins the family needs a crash course in how to handle Quinns.”
That was…fair.
“As long as we all agree that Ryan’s the most difficult one,” I replied. “I don’t need any warm-up, by the way. Nana gave us plenty of shit out there, so lay it on me.”
“I’d actually call your mother the most difficult one,” Nat said. “She won’t let me help her.”
Yeah, that was her thing. She’d become more stubborn since she’d developed arthritis, and she didn’t want anybody’s assistance until she no longer had a choice. Nat was more than welcome to argue. We’d all tried.
“Get used to it, sweetie,” Ma answered. “My kitchen, my cookin’.”
I smiled and kidnapped my girl from Gray, and I kissed her temple. “Gray hasn’t given up fighting her. You can join in too.”
“The trick is to help out when she’s not looking,” Gray supplied.
“Oh, you are a rascal, boy.” Ma narrowed her eyes at him. “First, you won’t bring my grandbabies to see me, and now you’re being sneaky behind my back.”
“Whoa, Iwantedto bring the boys,” Gray argued. “Blame Elise and Avery. They picked them up for a board-game sleepover.”
He definitely fit right in with us Quinns.
Ma scoffed and turned back to the potato dish she was preparing for the oven. “There’s only one solution for this, Ethan. I don’t have enough grandchildren.”
Jesus Christ, she turned that on me real quick, didn’t she?
