An excited “Yay!” was followed by the thud of little footsteps as the triplets raced into the kitchen.
Stone watched in amused disbelief as the three kids did their duty of setting the table—plates, silverware, napkins—before he found himself being herded by three little kids eager to get their dinner on.
The meal reminded him of dinners when he was a kid. He’d done his share of chores alongside Donovan, CJ, and Chelsea. Reilly hadn’t been forced to do as much of the work since she’d come along much later.
“The daddies need to talk to Stone,” Ethan told the kids when they were finished. “Why don’t y’all work on your puzzle for a little while.”
“Yay!”
With that, they were off and running again.
“How do y’all keep up?” Stone asked, watching as the triplets raced out of the room, slipping and sliding in their socks.
“I’m younger than you,” Beau said straight-faced.
“By a year,” Ethan said.
“But he’s not.” Stone pointed at Ethan.
“By a year,” Ethan countered again, reaching for his beer.
Beau winked at Ethan, then looked at Stone. “We’ve got a routine. Trust me, it takes work to keep them entertained, but we manage.”
“One day, you’ll know what it’s like,” Ethan noted.
“I hope so,” Stone admitted.
“Yeah?” Beau shifted, giving him his full attention. “Things serious with you and Stevie?”
“And Nico,” Stone added.
“Ah. Wow. I didnotknow that.” Beau looked at Ethan. “How did I not know that?’
“Cause you spend your days watchin’SpongeBob SquarePants.”
“Hey, it’s a good time for all ages,” Beau said, straight-faced before looking at Ethan. “You knew?”
Ethan nodded.
Stone interrupted their back and forth. “My question is, how didanyoneknow?”
“Small town,” they said in unison.
“Touché.”
“So they’re gonna go into business with you?” Ethan asked. “Farmers’ market, right?”
“I take it y’all don’t need me to give you my spiel?” he joked.
“We got the rundown from Sawyer. He’s got a big mouth,” Ethan stated as though that explained it all.
“I heard it from Braydon,” Beau noted. “He’s got a big mouth, too.”
Stone laughed. “To answer your question, yeah, the plan is for them to go into business with me.”
“I must admit, I like the idea,” Ethan said. “I told Mom I thought it was brilliant.”
He was surprised to hear that his aunt already knew about the plan. He probably shouldn’t have been because, as they said, it was a small town, and he’d been talking about it with enough people that he knew the rumor had spread.
