She studied each one, but she couldn’t stop staring at the lionfish. “He actually looks lacy. I don’t know how you did it.”
“Carefully. The first two tries were losses.”
By the time she handed Nathan’s phone back to him, her chest had relaxed. She couldn’t hold back the smile. “If you meant that to be a distraction, it worked.”
“Well, that and I knew you’d like to see my fish.”
He and Ezra exchanged claps on the back, and then Nathan ambled back to the darts game. Ezra said, “Food will be on the tables soon. How’re you doing?”
“I want to meet everyone,” she said.
Only as the words burst from her did she realize how deeply she desired not to be the stranger among them. No doubt she’d crash later. But today she was here with the people who mattered most to Ezra. With a wolf pack. She wanted to know them all.
“They’ll take you up on it. They’re as curious about you as you are about them.”
“You can smell curiosity?”
He grinned. Then he looked toward the darts game. “Might as well be your coffee guys next. Hey, Cassius, Aaron.”
Eventually she’d no longer be startled by the keenness of wolf hearing. Aaron and Cassius approached her and Ezra immediately, and again Willow’s nervous system reacted to their nearness as if these two chill guys—one of whom liked strong coffee and one of whom liked chocolate coffee—were about to hunt her down. But the panic didn’t last long this time, even with two of them.
Then it was time to eat. After everyone lined up buffet style and loaded their plates, Ezra led Willow to the Sterlings’ table. Cassius sat here with a tall dark-haired woman who introduced herself as Sydney. Trevor and Kelsey’s seats were empty at first as they set about covering the leftovers. Aaron and a petite brunette woman pitched in to help.
Ezra noticed the direction of Willow’s gaze and pointed to the woman. “That’s Aaron’s mate, Ember. She’s great.”
The remaining seats were soon occupied by Robert and Ann, who welcomed her to this picnic table as warmly as they’d welcomed her to their home. Then everyone dove into the food, easy chatter sprinkling between quiet spaces.
“Thank you for—for including me like this,” Willow said to the whole table. “It’s really sweet.”
“Our pleasure,” Robert said, the first words she’d heard from him all day.
Thanks to all the childhood stories exchanged, she’d known even before she met them that Ezra was more like his dad than his mom, few words and fewer open feelings. Her image of dads in general—that they exploded and then forgot—was turned upside-down by Robert’s dignity and reserve. She studied him, this quiet man who had taught Ezra by example. She studied all the family as they kidded and loved on each other and dug into standard cookout fair. There was an impressive variety of meats, with which the wolves filled most of their plates; there were grilled vegetables, grilled corn, cole slaw and numerous salads.
Halfway through the meal, without looking up from his food, Robert said, “Would you pass the mustard, Bob?”
“Got it,” Ezra said and passed the squeeze bottle to his left.
“Wait, what?” Willow blurted. “Bob?”
Trevor made a barking noise she’d never heard from Ezra. Then his face became mock-serious, and his voice deepened. “Robert Ezra Sterling, the Third.”
Robert’s smile erased Willow’s mortification. “Called him Bob since he was born. I’ll never break the habit at this point.”
“Don’t want you to,” Ezra said.
“I told Robert he could give this pup any nickname he wanted,” Ann said with a nod at her son, “but I was calling him Ezra, regardless.”
“I love it,” Willow said.
Half a minute of quiet followed. It was comfortable, but then Ann met her eyes, and a bit of tension settled in. “We don’t want to pry, Willow, but we’re all wondering what you’ve heard from your family since Thursday night.”
“Nothing. I hoped my sister wouldn’t block me, but she did.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ann said. “And nothing from your mama either, or your daddy?”
“No, ma’am. But I didn’t expect anything from them.”
“Well, I’m sorriest about that.”
