“I see,” he says.
I shrug slightly. “Yeah.”
Harleigh buries her face against my side.
Dad nods once. “Well,” he says calmly, “I guess we’ll see you later, then.”
Matty watches the exchange with a grin she’s trying not to show, and Caison looks downright entertained.
Dad shakes Caison’s hand again and thanks Matty for the hospitality.
“Our pleasure,” Matty replies.
Mom steps forward and hugs Matty carefully around the baby.
“Yes, you guys did such a wonderful job today,” she tells her. “Everything was beautiful.”
Matty smiles warmly. “Thank you.”
Then Mom turns to me.
She pulls me into a hug.
“Drive safe,” I murmur. “Tell Granddad I’ll be by tomorrow.”
She presses a kiss to my cheek.
And then, quietly, she whispers in my ear, “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to him.”
I blink.
But before I can respond, she’s already pulling back and following Dad toward the Escalade, waving to everyone as she goes.
Harleigh finally lifts her face from my side.
“You could have warned me you were gonna do that,” she murmurs.
We both watch as Dad starts slowly down the drive until the headlights disappear into the dark and everything grows quiet again.
Then Royce hollers from the firepit, “Who wants a beer?”
We walk over toward the fire. The flames crackle and pop as fresh wood settles.
Harleigh and I take seats beside each other.
The warmth from the fire feels good against the cool night air.
Cabe leans back in his chair, boots propped on a cooler.
His eyes slide over me slowly.
Then he bursts out laughing.
“What the hell happened to your shirt?”
I glance down.
“Looks like you lost a fight with a Smurf.”
