“Aye, sis. Will, hang with us and let them do their thing in here.” Liam and Jacob grabbed the dessert and plates and Will followed them into thediningroom.
“I should go check on the children. They’ve been quiet for too long.” Alice set the dirty plates down on thecounter.
Jennie laughed. “Good call. Good luck upthere.”
“Thanks I am going to need it.” With that Alice exited thekitchen.
It didn’t take long for Jennie and me to do the dishes. It frustrated me to no end that Janet just stood idly by while the two of us did all the work, but it didn’t surprise me one bit. By the time I got back into the dining room, it seemed I must have left Will alone for too long. His face was drained of color and he was fidgeting with the tab on the top of hisbeercan.
“How’s it going in here?” I asked, handing Crosby a cup ofespresso.
“We were just telling Crosby here about the time we had you convinced that the tooth fairy ripped your teeth out of your month instead of taking them out from under yourpillow.”
“Oh fantastic.” I rolled my eyes and took a seat next to him. “I didn’t sleep for almost a week straight. My teacher had to call my father to ask him why I kept dozing off duringclass.”
“We really had you fooled.” Jacoblaughed.
“Do you have any siblings, Crosby?” Alice asked sweetly, taking a seat across the tablefromus.
“I am actually an only child, and my folks died a few years back, so it’s just me now.” My heart sank. I knew that about Will, but I had never given it too much thoughtuntilnow.
“I’m sure your team makes up for it a lot though. The way Jordan talks about all of you, it seems like you guys are really close.” Jennie smiled at me, sipping on hercoffee.
“You are definitely right with that one. I’m lucky to have a great group of men that are practically like brotherstome.”
I stifled a yawn, glancing down at my watch. “Dang, it’s getting late. What do you say we call it a night?” I grabbed Will’s hand and henodded.
“Oh crap! Look at the time—we need to get the kids home andinbed.”
We all started to say our goodbyes, slowly making our way into the living room where my father was practically asleep in hisrecliner.
“Night Pop. We’reheadingout.”
He stretched before getting up. Taking Will’s hand, he pulled him in close. “It was nice tomeetyou.”
“It was definitely a pleasure. Thank you for having me inyourhome.”
“If you hurt her, my sons will break your legs,” my old man whispered, and I wanted to crawl under the coffee table and die fromembarrassment.
“Sir, if I hurt her, I think Gavin will hogtie me and deliver me to your front step with a giant red bow onmyass.”
“You’re going to fit in just finehere,kid.”
“Thankyou,sir.”
“Cut thissircrap out. My name is Wes, plain andsimple.”
I kissed my father’s scruffy cheek. “Good night Dad.Loveyou.”
“Love you too, sweetheart. Let me know when yougethome.”
“Ialwaysdo.”
Climbing into the front seat of Crosby’s car, I couldn’t help but be relieved. “So, not as bad as you thought it was goingtobe?”
“I actually had a great time. I was a little nervous there when your brothers had me alone, but it all turned out verynicely.”
“Really? They didn’t threaten youatall?”