The truck slows around a sharp turn without skidding as if he’s done this a thousand times—which of course, he has. Silence, which has filled the air, for the last fifteen minutes, is broken when he asks, “Are you ready?”
My knee jiggles up and down. I glance down to the flash cards sitting in my lap. When I realized this was it—the big introduction—I spent days recalling all the names and stories he’s shared over the last year. Each of his family members has their own card which is then cross referenced by different cards for the subfamilies within the village trial I’m about to willingly subject myself to.
Scrubbing my thumb back and forth across the ink I think,If this isn’t love, I don’t know what is.Outwardly, I expel my breath before I murmur, “No sweat.”
He reaches over and covers my ice cold hands with his enormous one. His voice is mild when he remarks, “You’re going to rub the ink off those cards.”
I don’t bother to look at them. “Not possible. I wrote them in Sharpie.”
He hums, and just the sound relaxes something that’s been coiled tight inside of me. “Right. Your favorite.”
“They’re in purple; not blue. So they’re not quite my favorite,” I blurt out.
He takes his eyes off the road for just a moment to catch my gaze. “Since when did blue become your favorite color?”
My lips curve into a helpless smile. “Since I met you. Your eyes are so shocking against the color of the sky.”
He returns his eyes to the road, but lifts one my hands to his lips. Pressing a kiss to the back of it, he asks, “Is there anything I can do to help you relax? We’re almost there.”
Horrified, I realize we’re even with the white fencing—fencing I know lines a massive farm that was restored by this truly remarkable family that accepted the man I love. I blurt out, “Quiz me. One last time.”
I hear the fond exasperation in his voice, “Rhoswen.”
“Please.” Even I can hear the panic in my voice.
Still, he slows a little. “All right, but after this, you have to relax. They’re going to love you.”
“You’re being optimistic.”
“No, I just know them.” He pauses. “Okay. Who is related to who?”
Immediately, I recite, “The main six siblings are your Freemans. In age order, they descend from Phil to Cassidy to Emily. Then there’s a small gap before Alison, Corinna, and Holly who are all the same age but a few months apart.” I take a deep breath. “The siblings all own and work at Amaryllis Events.”
He encourages me. “Go on.”
“Phil is married to Jason, a doctor. Cassidy met her husband, Caleb, when he came in to plan his brother, Ryan’s, wedding. Alison is married to Cassidy’s biological brother—one she didn’t know she had until she was an adult. His name is Keene.”
Something is grumbled about Keene. Ignoring him, I go on, “Corinna is married to Colby Hunt. Emily to Jacob Madison, who is a school teacher here in Fairfield County.”
“You’ll get along with him great.”
Now it’s my turn to mutter, “I hope so.” I round out the main siblings by concluding, “Holly is married to Joseph Bianco, assistant chief of the Collyer Fire Department.”
He slows down even further. “See? You’ll do just fine.”
“I turned the fundamentals of their lives into a final exam in seven days.”
“Because you want to make a good first impression.”
I hold up my pack of cards and demand, “Less sucking up and more quizzing.”
“I’d like to suck…”
I shove at his shoulder. “Quiz me!”
“Okay.” He thinks. “Who is most likely to offer unsolicited life advice before you take your coat off?”
“Phil,” I answer immediately.
