She was a pretty, petite woman with shoulder length dark brown hair streaked with golden highlights and warm honey-brown eyes that glinted like they were always happy. Thecomplete opposite of her husband, who shared Hux’s tall, strong build, hooded gaze, and a stern look on his face.
Like father like son, I guess.
But that wasn’t exactly true. Hux was almost a perfect blend of the two of them.
“Oh, no need for the formalities, sweetheart. Call me, Dotty. Everyone does.”
She surprised me, reaching out to wrap her arms around me in a tight embrace. I choked on a surprised gasp as I hugged her back. “Thank you for having me.”
She released me, waving a flippant hand in the air, a soft smirk on her lips. “The pleasure's mine. I couldn’t miss the chance to meet Huxson’s girlfriend.” Gesturing at her husband, she added, “This is my husband, Paul.”
Mister Lane's amber gaze met mine, and he removed his hat as he stepped forward, holding out a hand. “Hi, miss.”
I offered him a soft smile. “Hello, sir. It’s nice to meet you.”
He nodded once more and replaced his hat on his head.
“I’m Walker. And you’re even prettier in person,” the brunette standing next to her father said. She wrapped me in a hug before I could even utter a reply.
She was young and beautiful, and reminded me so much of Hux it was crazy. They were like carbon copies of each other, but, like, not in a weird “they looked like the same person" way, it was more so that the features they shared were perfectly suited to their genders. They had the same dark, warm-toned hair, but Walker’s long, wild waves were tipped in blonde like they’d been dipped in sunlight. They had the same complexion, the same eyes even. But while Hux’s whiskey-colored gaze always seemed more pensive, Walker’s swam with amusement and a hint of mischief.
“I’m Quinn,” I replied as I pulled out of the embrace. “And you’re the pretty one.”
She flashed me a smile before launching at Hux. “Hi, Huxie,” she giggled into his chest.
I didn’t miss the way his body tensed for a minute, but just as quickly as the tension appeared, it disintegrated, withering away like dust on the wind when he hugged her back. “Hi, sissy.”
“Well, come on in, y’all. Dinner’s almost ready. Quinn, sweetie, would you like a tour?” Mrs. Lane said, ushering us toward the front door when Hux and Walker finally broke apart.
“Oh, I’d love to Mrs. L—I mean, Dotty,” I replied with a smile.
Hux huffed as he settled beside me once more, slipping his hand into mine. He leaned into me, the scruff of his shadow beard tickling against my neck as he whispered, “I hope you’re ready for this, darlin’. She’s gonna take you into every single room in this house and have a story to go with each.”
I bit back a chuckle as I looked up at him and whispered, “Really?”
“Oh, I guarantee it,” he replied.
I followed Walker and Mrs. Lane into the house, making sure to thank Mr. Lane, who held the door for us. Surely, Hux was being just a tad bit dramatic. A story for every room?
He hadn’t lied.
His mom did have a story for each room. And turns out the house wasa lotbigger than it looked. But it was fine, all of the stories made me laugh, sometimes hard enough to bring tears to my eyes. Though, it was probably only so funny because Hux and Walker teased each other relentlessly. And when they weren’t teasing each other, they were ganging up on Mrs. Lane for being so fussy or remembering things wrong.
Being around them made me long for the days when Mom was still here, when we’d been a family. But the memories were so old, it was hard to remember a time when Mom wasn’t sick.
My face hurt from laughing so hard by the time we finally made it back to the kitchen.
It was a pretty kitchen, with warm-hued granite countertops, rich cherrywood cabinets, and chicken and rooster decorations everywhere. Chicken valances, rooster salt and pepper shakers, oven mitts, hand towels, soap dispensers…you name it, it had a chicken on it.
“Oh, perfect. Cobblers are done.” Hux’s mom bustled around the kitchen, grabbing the over mitts before pulling the pies out of the oven.
“Cobblers…?” Hux asked, “As in plural?”
“Well, I didn’t know if she’d like peach or mixed berry more, so I made both,” Dotty said matter-of-factly as she sat them on the long, rectangular island directly in the middle of the kitchen.
“You could've just called and asked,” he huffed.
“Speak for yourself, Huxie,” Walker said, leaning toward the delicious-looking peach cobbler with eyes full of excitement. “There’s always room for more cobbler.” She reached out a finger, like she was going to swipe some of the filling that had bubbled over, but Mrs. Lane swatted her hand away.
