Craig squeezed my hand where he still held it.
“Hi,” I murmured.
Jessie was the first to break the fake nonchalance. “Hey, Craig.”
“Good to see you,” he replied. Then he looked around. “Where are the kids?”
Yazmín turned from the stove. “Mi Mamá y Papi return to Mexico tomorrow. Mis hijos are with them.”
“Oh,” Craig replied. “Well, I hope they’re enjoying their time with Grandmama and Grandpa.”
“They are.” She grinned, then stuck out a hand. “Me llamo Yazmín, but everybody calls me Yazzy.”
Craig accepted the handshake. “Nice to meet you, Yazzy.”
My brain caught up to expected pleasantries. “Yazzy… this is Craig.”
She burst into laughter. “Gracias, Randy.”
“Mom,” I said, turning to her. “This is Craig. Craig, this is my mom, Eleanor.”
They shook hands, then Papa came over from the stove. “Papa, Craig. Craig, Bruce.”
Craig stuck out his hand, but Papa pulled him into a hug instead. “So you’re the man who was finally able to get through our Randy’s walls. That’s something special.”
Craig shook his head. “No, sir. Randy is the special one. I’m just stubborn. I saw the most incredible man, and had to keep trying. Respectfully… of course.”
One of Mom’s eyebrows went up.
“He saved me the good scraps,” I said softly, wringing my hands again. “At the mill.”
There was a moment of silence before both Mom and Papa burst into laughter.
“That’ll get his attention, all right,” Mom said. She turned to Craig. “So you work at the mill?”
He nodded. “I started several months ago.”
“What did you do before that?”
“I worked as a faller.”
She studied him, then nodded. The half smile on her face told me she approved.
She flung an arm across Craig’s shoulders. “Come on, I’ll show you where Randy got his love of woodworking from.”
He glanced at me, and I chuckled, then nodded.
Craig allowed Mom to lead him to her workshop. While it was smaller than mine, I’d spent countless hours there as a kid, and she had plenty of stories that I was sure she was dying to tell.
Papa strode over and hugged me. “Your Mom likes him. I think you got yourself a good one.”
I smiled, and the nerves started to settle in my middle.
“Come on,” he said, guiding me to the stove. “Dinner is almost done. Let’s finish it up, then we can all get to know your new alpha.”
“Ok,” I murmured as I took a spot next to Yazmín to help finish dinner.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
