“I guess word has spread we’re sharing a bedroom.”
His cheeks heated, and he laughed, the sound coming out a little loud and nervous. “Oh, God, is this how my siblings felt when they did this?”
“I would bet so, yeah.” Mitch shrugged one shoulder, which was fab, because even a week ago, that had been too hard. “It’s a hard thing for some folks to accept, and for others, it’s an aww moment. You’ll get the gamut of reactions.”
He guessed Mitch ought to know. He’d had to deal with this with Allison, and then they’d ended up married and having kids. So people had probably done nothing but talk about them for years.
He could handle it.
Mitch was worth it. He was learning that too.
He looked around, because the candy kids were at a trickle. Most families were now sitting and eating, every so often someone chatting at them as they went by. Bekka was with the Girl Scout girls in a herd of unicorns, all of them on a blanket with their poufy skirts, all of them munching burgers and dogs, which had appeared at the grill station.
And they were damn good too.
“You want half the dog?” he asked.
“You mind if I just eat these? The green chile is perfect.”
“You go for it, man.” He was way more willing to ditch the hot dog bun if he got too carby than he would be to get rid of the masa on the tamales.
“Cool. I want some candy, too. I admit it. Reeses.”
“I saved out a full-size Snickers and an Almond Joy.” He loved those silly coconut candies with the chocolate. So yum.
Bekka burst into giggles across the way, and Mitch smiled, his expression tender.
“You having a good night, babe?” Cam needed to hear it.
“This is the best Halloween we’ve had since they were babies, hands down,” Mitch told him. “Thanks. It means a lot.”
“Hey, I just work here in support.” He gave Mitch a broad wink, though, because he was tickled as a pig in shit. He loved being able to help.
And seeing Mitch smile like that? That was worth all the weird hoops they’d jumped through.
Chapter Fifteen
Mitch hummed, working on the estimate he had to send out this evening.
He’d gotten a skeleton crew together, and while his old boss wasn’t loving the competition thing entirely, hewasgiving Mitch some of the smaller jobs he didn’t have time to do.
Combining that with working with Laurie’s contractor husband on some jobs, and he was already paying Mark.
Cam was on his last event before the National Finals Rodeo in early December, and then they would have Thanksgiving before Cam left for a week.
He missed the man, though, dammit. He’d gotten used to Cam being around. And fast.
But then he liked being part of a couple. He liked working together toward a common goal and having help and helping around the place.
Cam was the one who was still adjusting to that groove, but Mitch felt as if it was happening. Little by little.
Hell, Cam had seemed reluctant to leave this time.
Mitch hadneverseen that before.
“Daddy, are we going to eat Thanksgiving dinner this year?”
He looked at Rachel, who danced in on her toes, arms over her head. She was wearing a sweater with a fuzzy llama on it and a pink tutu that had once been Sarah’s. And muck boots.
