“I’m the one what?” Kenna could be intimidating. Kieran, his parents, the whole family, they were used to her unique brand of bluntness, her matter-of-fact, seemingly emotionless way of approaching every conversation.
“Ivy mentioned having a… confrontation with a player. That’s all,” Sammie said, her words coming out just a bit too fast, enough that Kieran noticed. He’d have to ask her whatexactlyIvy had said about his cousin. Later, when she wasn’t facing down a large portion of his family.
Kenna frowned, but Kieran knew not to read into it. Best to let her process the information in her own way.
“Damn, Kenna,” Kellan continued, pushing his strawberry blonde curls, lighter than Kieran’s own, back from his forehead, a conniving smile that only a younger sibling could pull off shining bright as he faced his sister. “Making enemies even in the men’s league. That’s a new level for you.”
Kenna frowned harder. Kieran felt like he needed to step in, just like he’d always tried to when they were younger, to find a way to pull the spotlight away from her.
“Ivy isn’t an enemy,” she finally responded, the lines smoothing out on her brow, some inner turmoil dissipating before their eyes. “We just disagreed about some stretching techniques.”
Kieran’s gaze snapped to Sammie, and he watched as a smile crinkled the corners of her eyes.
“Oh,” Sammie said, and Kieran nodded along. “Stretching is kind of a big deal to Ivy.”
“Ivy says stretch, the team says, ‘Yes ma’am,’” Kieran agreed.
“She sounds lovely,” Meredith said with a soft hum and a smile. Kieran’s gaze was still on Sammie, though, and he saw something flicker there, an emotion he couldn’t quite place that was gone before he could study it too hard.
“How’s Colorado?” Grant asked around a mouthful of pepperoni, turning the attention of the room to Kellan. Kieran’s younger cousin shrugged, leaning back in his chair.
“Expensive,” he grumbled, sighing. “Have to hike for ages just to find any worthwhile snow right now.”
“You find a roommate yet?” Kieran asked. That perked Kellan up.
“Two, actually,” he said. “Morgan snowboards too, they’re really good. Met them through work at the resort this past winter, they ended up needing a new place after their rent was raised. Just happened to be around the time I decided to make the move permanent. Had their roommate, Emery, in tow. He’s cool too. Spent a couple years on the professional skateboarding circuit, but he does commercial graphic design now.”
“I’m glad you’re finding your place,” Kieran said. The whole family had been worried after the youngest of the grandchildren had roadtripped out to Colorado for a season of snowboarding, only to announce that he’d decided to stay and have a go at making a life for himself there.
Kellan smiled brightly. “Me too. Even ifsomeonelikes to act like it’s too hard to come visit me all the time.” He punctuated the sentence by poking Kenna’s arm. Hard. Her response was to shove him almost completely out of his chair while expending minimal energy.
“We should all go this winter!” Meredith exclaimed. “As soon as the slopes open up! Sammie, do you snowboard?”
“Um,” Sammie began, her cheeks flaring pink. “Yeah, Granny used to take us to a place a couple hours away. I’ve still got my gear.”
She sounded so timid to Kieran’s ears, and it hit him that this wasn’t normal for her. Sammie’s family had always been small. Her, her brother, and their grandmother. No aunts and uncles, no cousins to grow up with. Just the three of them.
And yet, here was Kieran’s family, making vacation plans, including her like it was the most obvious thing to do. His parents, namely his mother, hadn’t prodded any more about the status of his relationship with Sammie. He was sure there would be questions later, an endless supply of them, but none of it really mattered because if Sammie meant something to Kieran, then that meant she was a part of their group, full stop.
Was that too much? Maybe Kieran should ask them to tone it down. Sammie had already seemed spooked after Kenna’s barrage in the hallway. The last thing Kieran wanted was for his well-meaning yet mildly overbearing family to scare her away.
Sammie’s cheeks were still pink, and Kieran’s mind was still spinning out over the idea of her being grouped in with his family, when Kenna brought them all back to reality, as she tended to do best.
“Our parents are flying out there.” Her words were blunt. Kenna was never one to beat around the bush. “They’ll be there for a month after the holidays. I’m going out for a week then.”
Any cheer that the idea of a family vacation had brought to their meal vanished in a moment. Even the ever-chipper Kellan sobered at the mention of his parents. Poor Sammie was watching them all, eyes flicking from person to person, finally landing on Kieran with a confused question held in her gaze.
“Garrett can take that much time away from the farm?” Grant took a too-large bite of his pizza.
Kenna shrugged. “He’s got plenty of help. Been stepping back from the day-to-day stuff, spends most of his time making sure everything runs efficiently.”
She didn’t mean it as a jab, but Kieran watched the blow land on his father. Grant wasn’t ignorant; he knew just as well as the rest of his family that his brother’s business had grown substantially over the last several years. Garrett McCullough had always had a knack for the numbers and people sides of things, and when the brothers’ falling out had led to a split in the family business, Grant had managed to barely keep his side afloat. Garrett, on the other hand, had made a name for himself in crops, had ended up buying up more land and turning a significant profit year after year.
“You could come at the same time,” Kenna said, expression serious as she raised a brow at her uncle. “Come out to the resort with me, stay for a week.”
A line in the sand, one that had Kieran holding his breath as he waited for his father’s response.
Grant chewed his food slowly, deliberately, and Kieran found himself annoyed by the stalling tactic.
