Denver’s humming was not helping me in my attempts to clear my mind and relax. We were driving in my truck to my parents’ house for lunch, and he was the coolest cucumber in the fridge. Meanwhile, I was wondering if I could find a way to spill something on myself when we got there so I could borrow one of my mom’s shirts. The one I was wearing already had nervous sweat on it. The kind they talk about when they say you can smell fear.
Don’t get me wrong; I loved my family. But they were a rough-around-the-edges band of misfits, and they didn’t take the idea of adding someone lightly. My sister-in-law included. I’d thwarted her every attempt to set me up with guys in the past, knowing she wouldn’t be able to keep herself from getting involved. Which meant there was a good chance she wouldn’t like Denver simply because she didn’t get to pick him out.
This stunk. I didn’t even care if they liked Denver. I just didn’t want them to scare him away. Denver was exactly what I needed right now, someone content to just hang out with me on the weekends without trying to take things further than I wanted, physically or emotionally. Where would I find that anywhere else?
“Lauren, you look like you’re ready to drive us straight out of town and keep going.”
“What?” I turned to look at Denver, who was grinning at his joke, the one I’d apparently missed.
“What’s the matter? Are you afraid your family is going to embarrass you? Or not approve of me or something?”
I fiddled with the air conditioning vents, trying to get them to blow inside my sleeves without being super obvious about it.
Echoing Jenny’s words, I finally said, “How could anyone not approve of you?”
Denver shrugged. “I am amazing.”
“And humble.”
“I’m pretty much the perfect package.”
I swear he was only half-joking, which made me laugh. “My family is weird. I’ll just put that out there, and if they act fine, then I’ll retract it and say I’m the one who’s weird, and we’ll never talk about this again.”
Denver shrugged. “It’s a meal. What can go wrong at a barbeque?”
“You’re so chill about everything. I wish I could bottle it up and sell it.”
“I’m so chill, Frosty the Snowman hangs out in my yard just to live longer.”
“Dork.”
We turned the corner where Clay’s grandparents lived in a small white stucco house with a red tile roof. Their yard looked perfectly trimmed, just the way it always had. I wondered if Clay was responsible for it now. He’d worked in that yard every Saturday growing up. I could still picture him making rows with the lawnmower, occasionally lifting his shirt and wiping his forehead. On the really hot days, he’d been shirtless. He’d always tanned well. Aaand cut. Those memories would not be tap dancing through my thoughts anymore today.
I pulled up to the curb behind my brother’s minivan. Melissa, my sister-in-law, was attempting to heft Jax’s car seat out; no small feat. Jax had rolls for days, the kind grandmothers liked to pinch. I’d be loving up on my favorite six-month-old A.S.A.P.
Little Raelyn ran over to my truck and opened my door.
“How’s my Cinderella birthday girl?” I asked.
“Good.” She spotted Denver and immediately turned shy.
“Raelyn, this is Denver.”
“Okay, bye.” She ran off, ignoring her parents’ calls for help bringing things in. I got out and Denver followed me over to the minivan, where I took bags of chips and rolls from my brother, and Denver got handed a crockpot.
“Welcome to the family, dude.” Connor clapped him on the back, probably meaning to be intimidating. Like me, he’d gotten the height in the family, plus a build that made you think he still worked on cars and not in a dental office. “We’ll put you to work first thing here. Do you know anything about motors?”
“Um, I—”
“Connor, knock it off. Be a gentleman and go take your ginormous baby from your wife before her arms fall off.”
It was the perfect distraction. Connor ran to catch Melissa and took Jax from her. But that, unfortunately, freed Melissa to take her turn embarrassing me. I could see it in her eyes. She just couldn’t help herself, which was why she fit into our family perfectly.
She waited for us to reach her at the porch steps before leaning in and inspecting my left hand. “Where’s the ring?”
“Melissa, seriously?”
“What? Too soon?” She winked at Denver. “Lauren swore up and down she wouldn’t bring home a man without a ring on her finger. You must be something special because she’s as picky as they come. Congrats on meeting her ridiculously high standards.”
