“Connor adopted Poppy when he and Maisie got married,” Gio said. “Poppy calls him Sid. He’s her Stand-In-Dad.”
I bit back tears. “Well, that’s just like, the sweetest thing ever.”
“It really is.” Maisie smiled. “And now we have two other boys, one of which is married. Poppy is aswell, so we have grandkids running around all over the place and I couldn’t be happier.”
“That’s amazing.”
“I agree.” Maisie met my eyes. “But if I’d stopped the falling in love part of it, I would have missed it all. So, try not to shut your heart off too much, darling. You might miss some of the hurt, but you’ll missallof the happy.”
I smiled. “I’ll think about it, Maisie. Thanks.”
* * *
Razor
I glanced at Hatch. So, he’d told Maisie about our conversation. Made sense. They shared everything. But I wasn’t sure how far she was going to go with this, so I felt like I needed to steer this conversation elsewhere. I just wasn’t sure where.
“This pot roast’s great, Maisie,” I said.
“Thanks, love. Much like the pie Waverly made, it’s my grandmother’s recipe.”
“Did you do something different with the gravy?” I asked.
“Uh, no.” Maisie smirked. “I think there’d be mutiny if I changed anything with the gravy.”
“You bet your goddammed gravy boat we would,” Hatch retorted.
“Do you cook as well, Connor?” Waverly asked.
“Yeah. I love to cook. Try and do it a couple times a week, but Maisie tends to get territorial, so I’m relegated to grillin’ more often than not.”
Maisie laughed. “This is sadly true. I love, love,love to cook. But I should probably let you cook more, eh?”
Connor grinned, leaning over to squeeze her thigh. “Yeah, baby, you should let me cook more.”
The way Hatch was lookin’ at her, I wasn’t sure if he was going to shove everything off the table and fuck her right in front of us.
Maisie blushed before taking a deep breath. “Right, who’s ready for dessert?”
Hatch laughed, standing and grabbing his plate. “I’ll grab it.”
“Is it better warm?” Maisie asked.
“Actually, it is,” Waverly said. “I can help.”
“I’ll just pop it in the oven for a few minutes while Connor clears the table.” Maisie smiled. “You enjoy your wine.”
Hatch helped me back over to what I now considered ‘my’ chair, while Waverly followed.
“How’s your pain,” she asked once we were settled.
“It’s fine,” I lied.
“You’re a bad liar, Gio.” She frowned. “Can I get you an ice pack or ibuprofen? Or maybe both?”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, actually, that’d be great.”
She set her wine glass on the coffee table and stepped into the kitchen, getting everything she needed from Maisie, then joining me again. After helping me take the pills, she settled the ice pack on my shoulder, and I felt instant relief.
