“Wait, that’s been you alltryingto impress me?” she teased, and Lisa and Terry dissolved into fits of laughter.
Mary’s mouth curved in a reluctant grin. “I knew you’d hold your own.”
“Now I know where Steph gets her sense of humor from.” All the personal drama aside, this time getting to know this side of her friend and her family was a blast. “If it’s a tournament, do they play multiple games? Are there rounds?”
Mary shook her head. “They just play until they can’tplay anymore. Lisa’s boys named it when they were really little and didn’t know what all those words actually meant, but liked the way they sounded together.”
Hannah, Ellie and Nora showed up then, and the little girl immediately planted herself on the blanket while the other women added their chairs to the line. It looked less like she was excited to join Oliver and Stella, though, and more like a sulky flop because she couldn’t play.
With a groan, Terry pushed herself to her feet and retrieved her chair. “Sitting on a blanket on the ground is fun in theory, but not so much in practice.”
“None of you are playing?” Siobhan asked, thankful it wouldn’t only be her, the little ones and the family matriarch on the sidelines.
“It’s a grown-up game and I’m too little,” Nora said, definitely pouting.
“Ellie’s out because this game is definitely not on the recommended activities list for expectant mothers and I’m not in the mood,” Lisa said. “Fair warning, Siobhan, we’ll be expected to act as line judges and referees at times.”
“I don’t really know the rules of volleyball.”
“Nobody does,” Mary said. “Feel free to annoy or reward family members at will. The 2019 tournament absolutely was decided by the fact that the previous Thanksgiving, Evan suggested I try changing up my gravy recipe, just to keep things fresh.”
Mary said it with a straight face, but a smile lurked in the corners of her mouth, so Siobhan wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. She probably was and Siobhan laughed, watching as players emerged from different parts of the campground to converge at the net. When Kyle and his family showed up, she was surprised. She hadn’tthought they’d join in what was sure to be a melee, especially his grandfather. “Ron is playing?”
“If Leo’s out there, Ron’s gonna be out there,” Mary said, and the other women made a sound that Siobhan translated asmen. “They’ll probably divide the teams under the two grandfathers, which would also be the bride’s team versus the groom’s team, I guess.”
And that seemed to be the case as Leo and Ron took positions on opposing sides of the net that had appeared while Siobhan and Oliver were at the restaurant.
“So now it’s a schoolyard pick?”
“It’s more like everybody roaming and crossing back and forth under the net until both teams are satisfied,” Terry said. “They try to pit siblings against each other, of course. To keep things interesting.”
Siobhan watched Leo yell at Cat to get on his side of the net, and the girl taunted her teenage brother as she went. “That’s sweet of Leo to choose her over her much taller brother.”
Lisa scoffed. “Johnny’s tall and fit, but he’s very chill and might sneak off with a book at any moment without warning. Cat’s not big and she’s the sweetest thing, but when it comes to competition, she’s practically feral and there’s not much she won’t do to win.”
Siobhan chuckled, and then watched in silence as the family sorted itself into two teams, complete with a lot of yelling, taunting and movement. The women on the sidelines with her kept up a running commentary, occasionally heckling or shouting out suggestions.
Having never experienced a large family—especially such a close-knit and dynamic one—she was fascinated by their interactions with each other. They were loud and didn’t pull many punches when it came to hurling insultsabout athletic ability, but it was all taken with good humor because the family foundation was so strong.
And the laughter. There was so much laughter. Growing up, she and Kelly might laugh at a funny show or an amusing story, but it wasn’t baked into everyday life the way it was with the Kowalski family. Janelle Rowe was bitter and resented that she didn’t have the things she felt she deserved in life, and if Siobhan heard her laugh, there was a good chance she was trying to charm somebody she thought she could get something out of.
The charm worked, as a rule, because there were very few men able to resist Janelle’s manipulation. She’d run off for a night or a weekend, or even weeks at a time once her daughters were teens. Kelly didn’t seem to care, but Siobhan would be a ball of stress, trying to keep her sister in line so nobody found out they were alone. Then Janelle would return, angry her latest dream didn’t come true and resenting her life. It was no wonder Siobhan envied the bond and the humor the Kowalski family shared.
There was a good chance this was her son’s family, she thought, and that reminder sent a shiver through her entire body. If the test confirmed Brian was his father, Oliver would grow up a part of this family. On one side, he’d have a mother who loved and provided for him, and with whom he shared a love of books and puzzles. On the other side, all of this.
She pressed her hand over the ache in her heart and told herself in no uncertain terms to stop. Oliver loved her. She was his mother and nothing would change that bond between them. And if it turned out he was a Kowalski by birth, his time with them might be more fun than his time with her, but that was okay.
And the more people who loved and supported Oliver through life, the better.
“It’s going to start getting intense soon,” Lisa said, and Siobhan refocused her attention on the game.
“That wasn’t intense?” Hannah asked incredulously, reminding Siobhan it was alsoherfirst time watching them play volleyball.
Just as her gaze landed on Brian—which seemed to be an involuntary habit she couldn’t break—he peeled off his T-shirt and used it to wipe sweat from his face before flinging it away. Then he ran both hands over his hair, giving her a lovely view of his arm muscles flexing, as well as an unobstructed view of his taut stomach. No rippling abs, which she didn’t care for anyway, but it was clear he spent a lot of time working outdoors.
Thankfully something happened elsewhere in the game that made everybody start yelling, even from the sidelines. That was good, because Siobhan was pretty sure the noise she made low in her throat when Brian took off his shirt might not have been silent.
At least everybody on the sideline was watching the players, so nobody would notice she couldn’t take her eyes off of Brian. They probably couldn’t even tell it was him she was looking at—she hoped.
