“Don’t. We’re not trying that hard for one dinner with the family.”
He was in a T-shirt and jeans, and I still felt underdressed. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Should we take anything?”
“Nah.”
I went over and sat on the bed, my knees shifting like they were made of water instead of flesh and bone. He sat beside me and curled an arm around my waist. “You know Nev and Raven.”
“But…. What if your parents don’t like me?”
He glanced down and grinned. “Then, I’ll eat my left shoe.”
“You seem confident.”
“I am.”
Nodding, I stood up and let out a long breath. “Let’s do this thing.”
On the drive my confidence fluctuated wildly, and when we were finally standing on the wide porch of a dignified home in a nice suburb of New Gothenburg—Greek pillars and black shutters beside every window—I felt like I was getting ready to plunge into a boxing match. There were a bunch of cars in the driveway, and Casey had pulled his in at the very end.
“You’re okay,” he said, and then he grabbed my hand and opened the front door.
“Shouldn’t we knock?”
He shook his head. “I grew up here.” We entered into a short hallway scattered with shoes, and he helped me take mine off, a habit he hadn’t quite kicked from all my time in the cast. I thought it was sweet, so I let him do it. Deeper in the house was laughter and shrieks that sounded like a couple of kids playing. The air hung with the delicious smells of chicken and spices and something that definitely made my mouth water for apple pie.
“Oh my God, what is that?” I took a deep sniff, and Casey tossed my shoes next to his as he stood up laughing. He dragged my coat from my arms and hung it on a peg on the wall and then draped his over it. I liked that, his things hiding mine, and I reached out to touch the back of his hand. It occurred to me that I didn’t pretend I was invisible much anymore, but with Casey around, I didn’t need to because he’d keep me safe. He smiled at me and flutters danced in my chest.
I glanced down the wallpapered hallway and waited for the rush of anxiety that always hit me in new places, but… while I was concerned and a little afraid, I knew it would be okay. Casey held out his hand for me and I took it.
In the cozy living room littered with doilies on every flat surface, we ran across four kids that I thought weren’t teenagers yet crowded around a board game I was unfamiliar with. They stopped to chorus “Hi, Uncle Casey,” but went right back to arguing about the rules. He urged me forward through a doorway to a dining room. Nev and Raven were sitting together at a wide table with two other women who seemed like a matched set. One had her hair up in a twist and the other had a ponytail, but they all wore fussy dresses and jewelry, like maybe they’d been trying to outdo each other with their fanciness. I loved it.
“You remind me of a painting,” I said to them. There was dead silence and then they all turned toward me. Squeals from the sisters jabbed at my brain, and I backed up against Casey as Nev and the women I didn’t know came over to us with their heels clacking on the floorboards.
“One at a time, no pinching, he had a cast recently so watch the left arm, and no, you can’t keep him he’s mine,” Casey said sternly before anyone could speak. Nev I knew, so I gave her a hug back when she swooped in on me, and the other two girls were gentle as they hugged me, but they didn’tgo away. “Tabi and Tori,” they said together, crowded way too close. “We’re twins,” Tabi said, or at least I thought she was Tabi anyway. “Not identical.”
Casey wrapped his arm around me and gave me a hug while walking us a big step back.
“What’s going on?” another woman asked, but she was way too loud. No one around me seemed to notice her volume could crack boulders. I caught Raven’s gaze where she was still sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and she gave me a thumbs-up.
An older woman came up behind the twins, and they moved out of the way. This lady was gorgeous. She had high cheekbones and her curly hair was wild. She wore a flowery dress like the other girls did, and I wondered if they’d been to church together. She did the same thing Nev had done when she’d first met me and cupped my cheeks. I felt like I was being inspected for sale.
“Mom….” Casey growled warningly, but she only leaned in and crushed me to her in a hug.
“You’re all very tall,” I said when I could get a breath and that had everyone laughing. It was strange to be fussed over, but his mom took my hand and glared at Casey, and he finally huffed out a sigh.
“Fine, you can show him around, but don’t ask him a thousand questions.”
“Casey Michael Uhlig, I will do what I need to do.” She scowled at him, and I could see the family resemblance. I ended up snickering as she tugged me along into the kitchen.
“It’s so nice to meet you, what happened to your arm, sweetie?”
My heart skipped a beat. “Uh…. Accident.”
“Too bad, that!”
