“Why?” I asked before Harley’s warning glare clicked in my brain. Shoot, I should have kept my mouth shut.
“Because someone has to keep Risk and his brothers out of the alcohol, and no one else seems to care about doing it. The last thing we need is any of those kids drinking. As their mother, I guess it’s my job.” She drummed her fingernails on her knees.
I could practically feel Harley fighting off an eye roll.
“Valiant duty you have, madame. Agree one hundred percent. More beer for us. The little bastards have to buy their own.” I winked at her, and she pursed her lips. Harley’s dire mood melted toward a smile.
Angie raised an eyebrow at me and then shifted her attention toward Harley. “Haven’t seen you around here in a while.” Her words were so frosty I half expected her breath to fog the air. Harley didn’t seem surprised.
“I’ve been busy,” he drawled, and there was some satisfaction in the way he spat the words at her.
“Who isn’t? And yet, I have to spend three out of every four weekends a month here, or somewhere else your family insists on going.”
Harley flinched.
“There’s this little-known thing called free will.” I decided to take my life into my hands and insert myself into the conversation for Harley’s sake. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Jane doesn’t seem like she bites.”
Angie snorted. “Ingénue in a man. Delightful. Wait. They’ll have you here for every birthday, every holiday.”
“My mother is in Georgia, so that sounds nice, actually.”
She glared across the lawn at where Jane was helping Great Grandma rearrange her blankets and then turned the same bland stare on her husband. “You wait. You’re lucky you’re gay, so you can’t have kids. The second the kids hit the scene, the hooks sink in. Their mother is a clingy nightmare, and you heard it here first.” She smoothed her skirt and didn’t even look embarrassed to be talking the way she was, though she did keep her voice down.
Harley took a step closer to me. “She cares.” I slid an arm around his shoulders and he rested his weight on me.
“Keep telling yourself that. There’s a reason you haven’t been around, right, Harley?”
Harley ducked his head and his breath sped up. I wasn’t sure if he was getting ready to hide or yell.
“Excuse me. We’re going to go get some food and give you the opportunity to be a bitch to someone else.”
Her mouth dropped open, and Harley snickered as we casually strolled away toward the table. Behind us were a couple of snickers and snorts, and when we turned around together next to a particularly delicious-looking strawberry shortcake, there was Brian and a teeny blonde woman, and they both looked like Christmas had come early.
“Did you hear how rude he was to me?” Angie half yelled in our direction.
“Yeah, we did,” Brian called back. “Brad’s a keeper, Harley.”
He leaned his head on my chest. “I think so.”
The rest of the afternoon was nice. We ate food, avoided Dylan’s wife, and at one point his mom cornered me to tell stories about baby Harley that had him covering his face in horror, but it was all good.
“Here, take some food!” his mom said much later, stopping us to hand off a picnic basket that weighed a ton when we were nearly to my car. The crickets were singing, and frogs were chirping somewhere nearby. Some of the other vehicles had cleared out, but most of the family was still there, even though the sun was sinking.
She gave me one last hug and got one from Harley too, and then stood there and waved as we pulled away onto the quiet street. All in all, it was as near a perfect afternoon as I felt could be expected from a family gathering.
Harley didn’t talk on the way home, but he kept his hand in mine as I drove, and occasionally he would look at me and we would trade grins. The driveway was empty when we got back, and the stars were starting to pop out, bright, beautiful diamonds overhead. There were no lights on in the windows of the farmhouse.
“Do you think Nicky talked Kwan into going out?”
Harley spun toward me in his seat. “Can we have sex in the den if he did?” He bit his lip and I had to laugh.
“In the big box?” He shivered as I mentioned one of his favorite places to hang out in as a cat. “Actually, I can do you one better. Let’s put the food away, and then I’ll show you something.”
“Thanks, Brad.” He stared at me, his eyes shiny with adoration in the dim glow from the dash lights, and the real smile that broke across his face had me sucking in a deep breath.
“Anything for you, Harley cat.”
We got out and I stopped to take the heavy basket from the back seat. He was staring up at the stars and hummed as the silver sliver of the moon peeked out from behind a fast-moving cloud. I came around his side but only had eyes for him.
