Maisie blushed again, and my thoughts rapidly flew right back into the gutter, but I forced myself to remain present in the conversation when she smiled. “Well, so far,I’msurviving.”
“Oh, no, darling. You’re thriving,” CC corrected. “It feels like you’ve been with us every week for years.”
Sterling added dryly, “You’re doing better than most of us did at our first dinner back here, facing the interrogations about what we’re doing with our lives.”
“Speak for yourself,” Jameson said. “I charmed everyone instantly when I got back from college. I had my shit together.”
Mom rolled her eyes, but Maisie laughed, and the sound was soft and genuine this time, her nerves obviously slipping away. I leaned back, just watching her fit in, answering Harrison’s rapid-fire questions, fielding CC’s curiosity, taking Sterling’s gentle prompts without shrinking, and laughing at Jameson’s jokes like she’d been sitting at this table for years.
Possibly for the first time ever, I really felt a strange sense that having her here with us wasright. I’d heard Sterling and Jameson talk about it, but I hadn’t really understood what they meant until right this minute. We’d all brought women home before, but usually, it was a disaster.
Now, however, it felt like the ground beneath me had steadied.
When we were finally done eating, Sadie and Laney immediately turned to Brody, luring him outside with CC tagging along. All three women fussed over him like he’d been part of the family forever.
Maisie went too, a little hesitant at first but already laughing at something Laney had said as they went out to the patio. I stood to follow, but I barely got two steps before Sterling, Jameson, and Harrison closed ranks around me like wolves who had scented blood.
“So,” Jameson drawled. “This is really happening? You’re actually marrying her?”
I gave him a narrow-eyed look. “Yeah, that the plan. Thanks for telling everyone, by the way. Way to steal my thunder.”
Harrison shook his head in disbelief. “She’s awesome, Cal. I love her. She even laughed at my jokes.”
“She didn’t laugh atyourjokes,” Jameson cut in. “She was laughing at mine.”
“She answered all my questions thoroughly and patiently,” Sterling remarked. “She’s definitely better than I expected from a woman you found in thenewspaper.”
I snorted. “Wow. High praise, and I didn’t find her in a newspaper. I met her at college, remember? That ad I put in the paper just brought her back to me.”
Jameson smirked. “Seriously, though. How’d you manage to get her to say yes? Blackmail? Bribery? Did you promise her a house if she stuck it out for six months?”
“Maybe he offered her free season tickets,” Harrison suggested. “That would get me to consider it.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to push through them. “You’re all hilarious.”
“No, but really,” Jameson said, grinning like the devil himself. “I mean, she knows you, right? Like,reallyknows you? The snoring, the fact that you leave your socks all over, that you?—”
“Goodnight,” I cut him off, shoving past them all and fighting my way through. “Go bug someone else.”
Their laughter followed me as I slipped out the side door toward the garden. I was halfway to the patio when I nearly collided with my father. Harlan had a glass of bourbon in hand, watching me with that unreadable expression he wore so well.
For a second, I braced for impact, but instead, he simply nodded. “She’s a fine woman. Educated. Well spoken. Driven. You did well bringing her here tonight.”
Something in my chest tightened. “Does that mean you approve?”
“Of course,” he said as if it had been a given. “Maisie will be a credit to this family. The boy is a breath of fresh air, too. It’s been too long since we’ve had a child running through this house.”
I didn’t know what to say. Approval from my father wasn’t something I ever expected to get or even to care about again, but hearing it now, about Maisie, hit differently. Nodding as relief swept through my insides, I finally excused myself to go find them.
By the time I made it outside, laughter was echoing across the back garden. Brody was darting across the lawn, hot on the heels of Jameson’s dog, Hooch, and some of the puppies he and Sadie were forever fostering.
His sneakers kicked up divots of grass as Sadie cheered him on from the steps. Maisie stood nearby with Laney and CC, her hair catching the glow of the porch lights as she smiled at something one of them said.
I’d just started toward her when Sterling appeared at my side. As quiet as ever, his hands were tucked into his pockets. His eyes followed Brody’s chase across the yard. “You know, no one’s ever going to realize he’s your stepson. The two of you look so much alike.”
I let out a laugh, though the thought caught strangely in my brain. “Do we? I actually thought he looked more like you.”
“Nah.” Sterling shrugged, watching Brody a little more closely. “You’ve got the same eye shape and the same grin. It’s uncanny, really.” He gave my shoulder a quick pat. “I need to get Laney home before she collapses. She’s finally not feeling so darn sick all the time, but now, she’s got all this energy until suddenly it runs out. Have a good one, Cal.”
