Shane put down the grill fork he used to flip the steaks and pieces of chicken and wiped his hand on a kitchen towel draped over his shoulder. “Pleasure to meet you, Shylo.”
Both men held out their hands, and after a moment’s hesitation, she shook them. “Um, hi. It’s nice to meet you too. Thank you for... um... letting me come today.”
Shane gave her a nonchalant wave. “Everyone’s welcome here.” He smirked. “Well, almost everyone’s welcome here. A few people in town would rather meet Satan himself than step foot on our land.”
“Because of your ménage marriage?” Her eyes widened with a flicker of panic, suggesting a fear that she’d offended them. Seth knew her remark didn’t bother them. They all knew what bigoted insults sounded like, having heard them often enough from a few people in town. “I’m so sorry. That was extremely rude. Seth explained your unconventional marriage to me the other night, and I don’t have a problem with it—I swear. I’ve never met anyone in this kind of relationship before, but I read a lot of romance books, and that includes some with ménages.”
“Really?” Tuck said. “You should talk to our wife, Paige, and one of our employees, Nicole Mathers. They’re part of a romance book club that meets once a month. If you’re interested.”
“Oh, uh... I’ve never been to one before.”
“From what I understand, it’s a low-key reason to have a girls’ night out. They drink some wine, gossip a little, and talk about the latest book they’ve all read.”
“The smutty books that we benefit from.” Shane winked at Tuck.
“I won’t deny it. I love it when she gets home from those meetings.”
Seth noticed the blush that heated Shylo’s cheeks. “Uh, guys. I don’t think the lady wants to hear about your sex life, no matter how interesting you think it is.”
Both men chuckled, but at least they had the good sense to look suitably contrite and apologize. “Sorry,” they said in unison.
“Sometimes, we forget not to act like cavemen in public,” Tuck added.
Shane pointed to a table under the tent, occupied by several women. “Why don’t you take Shylo over and let her meet Paige and the others? The food will be ready in about ten minutes.”
As they made their way toward the table, they stopped several times for Seth to introduce her to some of his coworkers and their families. Sensing that Shylo was a bit overwhelmed, he made a point of not lingering too long with each group.
Shane and Tuck’s wife noticed them approaching, got to her feet, and held out a hand to Shylo. “Hi, I’m Paige. Seth said he had a guest coming today. Welcome.”
Shylo shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Shylo. Thanks for having me.”
“No thanks necessary.” Paige tilted her head as she stared at the other woman for a moment. “Have we met before? You look so familiar.”
“Uh... no. Well, we sort of met the other night, but we weren’t introduced.”
“Lou hired her,” Seth supplied. “She served up the chili at Shane’s party.”
Paige nodded. “Aaah. That must be it. It was so crazy that night, I could’ve met the pope and not remembered it.”
“It was crazy but fun,” Shylo said. “Everyone was so nice. You all looked like you had a great time. Oh, and congratulations on your pregnancy. Your daughter seemed thrilled to be getting a baby brother.”
Cradling her small belly bump, Paige smiled. “Thank you. And yes, Arianna is more than thrilled. My husbands are too. They were worried they’d be waaay outnumbered if this was another girl. They’re already cringing at the thought of Ari hitting puberty in a few years. I’m not looking forward to the mood swings either, but I keep trying to tell them boys are worse at that age, and they don’t believe me.”
Seth and Shylo laughed, and he had every reason to believe Paige was right. Some men forgot what assholes they were between the ages of eleven and fifteen.
“Mom! Mya needs you in the kitchen for a second.” Arianna ran up and skidded to a stop next to Seth. She glanced up at Shylo and waved. “Hi, I’m Arianna, but you can call me Ari!”
As Paige excused herself, Shylo held out her hand for the girl to shake. “Hi, Ari, I’m Shylo. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too. I like your hair. It’s pretty. It’s the same color as my sister’s and my dad’s.”
She brushed her hand over her head, back toward the ponytail. “Oh, really?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Um... popular color, I guess.”
Seth smiled and tweaked Ari’s nose. “Hey, kiddo. Why don’t you go find Joey and play until dinner’s ready?”
