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The afternoon found them sprawled on Sawyer’s bed with the curtains drawn in denial of the encroaching hours, yet again. Carmen stretched, and her belly chose that moment to let out a rumble so loud it startled them both with its ferocity.
“Soooo, what was it your dad said about a barbecue?” she asked with feigned nonchalance.
Sawyer rolled over. “Shit, shit,” he growled as he shoved the blankets off and sat up.
The movement dislodged Carmen from his shoulder, and she scowled. “Obviously, he reminded you out of experience with your tardiness.”
“Hmmm, I hate it when parents are right.” He stretched his arms above his head with a groan that developed into a sort of roar. “It’s Sasha’s birthday today.”
“Your sister?”
“Yeah. And that means the entire family will be at my parents’.” He poked a finger into Carmen’s naked ribs. “Like . . . the entire family. Are you ready for that? You’re welcome to stay here if you’re scared.” He looked far from prepared for the occasion himself. “I won’t blame you, if it scares you, Carmen.” Worry lines dug at his brow as he stared at her. Not to mention the fact he was naked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Carmen grinned and poked him back. It was akin to jabbing her fingertip against a brick wall if brick walls squealed out loud and flailed in a fit of ticklishness. She’d never met a full-grown man as ticklish as Sawyer. It was adorable.
In truth, she did not know how prepared she was for the dinner. Meeting the family was one of those momentous firsts in a relationship. Was that what they were doing here? A relationship? That seemed insane; it had only been a few days since they first met.
One thing Carmen knew, it felt as though a lifetime had passed since Billy and their home had faded away in her rear-view mirror. Since the skyline had cleared of buildings, Carmen had not found she missed the city even once. The last few days with Sawyer were as blissful as a dream. But, like a dream, she knew their bubble could not last. It was a thought she had been going to great lengths to hold at bay, willfully not allowing it to surface. What happened once he fixed her car? She would have no excuse to stay here. Reality awaited her. Life awaited her—a predator gliding beneath the tides, ready to take an unpleasant bite out of her ass.
It seemed impossible for someone to wiggle their way into a heart as fast as Sawyer Stevenson had with hers. She didn’t want to leave here. Carmen realized the thought of meeting his mother scared her for more than the obvious reasons. She adored Dan. What if Mrs. Stevenson was equally delightful? Sawyer had told her enough about his mother for Carmen to form a picture of a loving and generous human. The two primary categories her own mother excelled at failing in.
“You’ve gone silent. Did I scare you with my family talk?” Sawyer rolled her up in a cocoon of limbs and blankets in one swift motion, holding her fast. “They don’t bite. But I do.” He gave her shoulder a series of nibbling bites to prove his point. “But I promise they don’t. They can be quite pleasant. Sometimes.”
Carmen laughed and struggled to pop her head free from her fluffy prison. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
A tawny brow arched at her. “What’s that mean?”
She shook her head, which only ensnared her further. “Nothing. I should shower.”
He gave a humph of an agreement but made no move to release her. “Yes, you smell horrible.” Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he huffed and snuffled at her until she giggled.
“Enough!” she shrieked. “I know I’m disgusting.”
Sawyer grinned and kissed her. A lingering caress said she was anything but disgusting and threatened to melt into something that would make them both much later than they already were.
“What time are we supposed to be there?” Carmen turned her head away and stretched out her legs, testing for resistance.
“Three o’clock, I think,” Sawyer muttered against her shoulder, trying to move his body over hers.
“Sawyer.” Carmen glanced over at the clock. “It’s two-fifteen.”
This time he moved. Exploded out of bed in a burst of blankets and hair that nearly sent Carmen flying. “Shit!”
“Gah!” Carmen caught herself on the night table and watched as Sawyer did three full turns in the middle of the room, stark naked until he located his phone.
He punched in a number and proceeded to hop around on one foot as he tugged on a pair of boxers. “Hey, Ma.” His butt disappeared into the black undies, and Carmen pretended to pout. Sawyer was too flustered to notice. Phone held between his ear and shoulder; he dug through his dresser. “What did you get Sash?”
Pulling out a plaid button-down, Sawyer eyed it a moment, then held it up to her with one brow raised. Carmen gave him a thumbs up.
“No, Ma, I didn’t forget. I got . . . busy.” He caught her eye and winced. Carmen could hear a distant response come through the phone that made colour wash over Sawyer’s cheeks, and she giggled, then clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Can you write on the card I’ll babysit when they go? It will be like a coupon, and we’ll grab some flowers on the way over.” Sawyer’s eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, Ma, I said we. Dad invited her. Didn’t he tell you?”
He manoeuvred himself into his shirt and stilled for a moment. Carmen didn’t try to hide her ogling—shirt open, hair down his chest with the black boxer briefs hugging his sculpted thighs. She did not know if such a thing as Mechanics Weekly existed, but if so, he could have stepped right off the cover pages. Hell, he could have been the sole content.
“I know, Ma.” His face darkened. “Ma, I told you I would be careful. I would never let that happen again.”
His jaw bunched, and a spark of hurt flared in his expressive eyes. “I’m aware. Yes. I love you, too. See you soon.” He hung up and buttoned his shirt.
“Are you sure I should come?” Carmen’s gut twisted in anxiety. “That didn’t make it sound like I was particularly welcome.”
Sawyer shook his head and stooped to brush a kiss over her cheek. “No, that had to do with me. Not you. My mom is the most welcoming person in the world; she is always happy to meet new people.”
“You should hurry though, if you want to shower.” He did not look up from searching through his drawer when Carmen stood up and left the room.
Sawyer remained quiet after they left the apartment. They stopped at a little shop with a hand-painted sign emblazoned with the name Petal Pushers, and he hopped down from the truck and went inside.
While Carmen waited, she gazed down the main street. A quiet, lazy Saturday air blanketed the entire place. She could not deny the quaint and lovely charm of the town. She craned her neck to follow the progress of a couple walking two small dogs with their hands joined and their heads tipped together. Three women riding on brightly coloured cruiser bikes rolled by the open window, their laughter filling the cab of the truck.
The fact no one appeared to be in a rush struck her most. People who passed on the street stopped to talk and raised their hands at honking vehicles. No one moved faster than an amble, except for Sawyer. He popped out of the shop and jogged down the stairs to open the passenger door.
“Hold these, please?” He passed Carmen a glass vase filled with a rainbow of wildflowers. A sheepish look crossed his face, and he gave her a ribbon-bound bundle of gerbera daisies. “These are for you.”
“Oh!” Carmen plunged her nose into the cluster of blooms as much to hide her emotions as to inhale their scent. “Thank you,” she said.
Sawyer grinned, and for the first time since he had spoken to his mother, the smile touched his eyes.
****
FIVE MINUTES LATER, Sawyer pulled up in front of his parents’ sunny yellow house. The second story boasted twin gables, the likes of which Carmen always pictured in fairy tale cottages, wrapped around the entire building with the comfort of a hug. Flowers spilled from an assortment of pots and planters all the way up the cobbled walk leading to the front step.
“Oh, my.” She resisted the urge to press her nose against the window glass. “This place is adorable!”
“Yeah, whenever I made a new friend, I told them I live in the cute one at the end of the road.” He wrinkled his nose at her as he came around and opened the passenger door, helping her manoeuvre out with the armload of flowers. He kept a hand on her elbow, guiding her down the walkway and around the side of the house.
Sawyer’s mother spotted them the moment they walked through the wrought-iron gate. There was no mistaking her. She flitted about in her own crackling sphere of energy, the flair of love in her eyes when they landed on Sawyer tangible from across the grass. She reminded Carmen of a hummingbird, vibrant, touching on the guests she passed on her way through the crowd to them, as though each person were a bloom too nourishing to ignore.
“Hey, Ma.” Sawyer bent to brush a kiss on her cheek once she came to land in front of them. The tip of her upturned nose landed somewhere near the centre of Sawyer’s broad chest. Alice gave his cheek a cursory pat with the palm of her hand. She brushed past her son with a grin and drew Carmen into a sideways hug, careful not to overturn the flowers.
“Carmen, this is my mom, Alice.” Sawyer squeezed Carmen’s shoulder after his mother had relinquished her.
Alice remained beside her, ignoring her son’s attempts to draw her attention away with enquiries of other family members. While Sawyer talked, Alice openly studied Carmen. Her face burned under the scrutiny.
“You’re beautiful,” Alice pronounced with a nod.
“Tha . . . thank you,” Carmen stammered. There was something in the way Alice spoke, the words that broached no argument. As though she was telling them the grass was green.
“Ma!” Sawyer hissed.
“What? She is,” Alice insisted, studying Carmen with her own deep brown ones. “Look at her eyes. Full of kindness.”
“I know she is, but you can’t go making judgments on people like that.”
“Sawyer—” Carmen tried to protest, but at the moment, her voice was insignificant.
“My judgments are sound, though. So, it’s all right,” Alice interrupted. “You should be glad, honey.” She caught Carmen’s eye and winked.
Sawyer threw up his hands. “It doesn’t matter. It’s the principle.”
Carmen caught his arm with a laugh. His mom knew what buttons to push to get a rise out of him and wasted no time gleefully doing so.
“It was a compliment, Sawyer,” Carmen assured him. “I’m all right.”
A pack of children chose that moment to appear, bombarding Sawyer in a drove, moving as one, their squeals of excitement drowning out the rest of the conversation. The kids locked onto his legs and did their best to climb his body, like Lilliputians sieging Gulliver.
“Uncle Sawyer! Uncle Sawyer!” Their voices trilled high above Sawyer’s rich laugh. Nearly tumbling under the assault, Sawyer cried out in mock outrage. Scooping up the two smallest under his arms, he trundled away with the other pair still attached to his ankles, leaving a wake of giggles behind them. Carmen turned to Alice with a laugh. Her face was bright; eyes lit from within by love.
“The two he’s holding”—she leaned into Carmen to speak, without taking her eyes from her family—“are my grandkids. Sasha’s two. On the right leg is his cousin, Noah’s daughter, Sunny, and on the left leg is her best friend, Grace. The little guy trying to keep up is Jack, Grace’s little brother. They spend as much time here as they do in their own homes. I watch them about four days a week while their parents are at work.”
Carmen smiled, watching the kids launch their attack on Sawyer, finally bringing him to his knees on the lawn. “They really love him.”
Her smile told Carmen she would not want it any other way. “They’ve known him their whole lives. He’s uncle to all of them.”
“They are lucky kids to have so many people who love them.” The scene filled Carmen with the sort of melancholy sometimes suffered by women whose ovaries had not yet exercised their right to procreate.
“Hey, Al! You miss me?” A voice boomed across the lawn. Alice rolled her eyes in Carmen’s direction but allowed herself to be swept up from behind in a hug by the bear of a man. Her feet skimmed the ground, pointed as a fairy’s as he spun her around.
“It was awfully quiet around here; I’ll say that much.” Alice straightened her shirt and patted her blonde hair into place once she stood on solid ground.
“Well, if you hadn’t married the wrong brother, you could be off having adventures instead of working your cute butt off around here all the time.”
“Oh, Clifford.” She gave him a backhand slap across his broad chest and rolled her eyes. “Then I’d be trapped aboard that foul boat of yours. I think we both know how that would end.” With slow precision, she drew a straightened finger across her throat. Carmen let out a surprised bark of laughter.
“Cliff.” A growl sounded from behind them, and Carmen turned to see Dan crossing the lawn in long strides. “Hey, Cliff, how many times do I have to tell you to get your hands off my woman?”
Cliff grinned at his brother, and the resemblance between the two men, despite the scowl on Dan’s face, made Carmen giggle. A smile was hiding under Dan’s goatee as he gave his brother a playful shove across the chest with his forearm. Cliff stumbled back, still grinning.
“I probably got a thousand more attempts in me before I’m under the earth.”
“Like we aren’t burying you at sea,” Alice quipped. Dan did smile this time, and he looked so much like Sawyer when it reached his eyes that Carmen caught her breath. Dan tucked his tiny wife under his arm and bent to press a kiss on the top of her head.
“I keep you around for that sassy mouth,” Dan murmured close to Alice’s ear. In dismay, Carmen took a few steps away from them, looking around desperately for someone she could make conversation with.
The entire ordeal was like watching a family sitcom. Carmen stood apart from the players, a forced smile on her face as they made their timed entrances. On cue, another male came over to them, followed by a woman Carmen recognized from the mosaic on Sawyer’s fridge.
After another round of greetings and hugs with Alice, they turned the weight of their stares on Carmen. Alice was first to shatter the awkward silence.
“Carmen, come here, love.” She tugged Carmen closer. “Everyone, this is Sawyer’s girlfriend, Carmen. This is Dan’s brother, Cliff, his son, Noah, and this is the birthday girl, my daughter, Sasha.”
“Oh, I’m not . . .” Carmen, shook her head slightly and smiled. It didn’t matter. “It is so nice to meet you all.” She shook Noah’s extended hand. As large as the other Stevenson’s, he exuded a gentle quality in the place of the confidence given off by his cousin and father. The type of vibe that instantly brings a sense of comfort. Carmen screamed out loud when Clifford ignored the hand she extended and scooped her up in the same bear hug he had captured Alice in.
A few drops of water escaped the bouquet and made their way down the front of her shirt. When Clifford placed her back on her feet, Carmen turned to Sasha, who stood back, shaking her head, with a forced laugh. More nervous about meeting her than anyone else, Carmen held out her free hand once more. “I’m so happy to meet you. Happy birthday. These are for you.” She extended the case of flowers out to Sasha, wincing when she saw two stems now hung at an angle.
Sasha assessed Carmen for a moment, her eyes sharp as ice. Carmen returned the look, instinct warning her to stand her ground. Petite in stature like her mother but possessing Dan’s dark colouring, Sasha was stunning. The dark sheen of her hair and winged brows made the blue of her eyes even more vivid in her fine-boned face. Besides her eyes, she looked almost nothing like her big, brawny brother. She took the flowers from Carmen, her cool fingers brushing against Carmen’s clammy ones.
“Nice to meet you,” Sasha said finally. “And thank you. Another year older.” Her bow lips quirked into a smile, and a cord of tension released inside Carmen’s stomach. “So, where is my little brother?” Sasha glanced around.
“Carried off by some adorable kidnappers. Or should I say uncle-nappers?” Carmen tried to keep her eyes from wandering in search of him. Sasha laughed obligingly, then they all fell into charged silence. Carmen had yet to master the fine art of small talk and never had the failure been so apparent.
Noah, released from an intense inquisition with his aunt and a bored-looking Dan, came over and slung an arm over Sasha’s shoulders. He gave her a smile that made his eyes crinkle in the corners and two dimples stand out on his cheeks. “I’m glad you came, Carmen. I have to say, you’re much more . . . wholesome than the others.”
Sasha’s head whipped around in shock, her jaw dropping. “Noah!” she hissed. “What the fuck?”
Noah’s handsome, friendly face flushed a deep crimson. “I didn’t . . . I mean, I meant—” His shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. That sounded a lot better in my head.”
“No, it is really all right.” Carmen flapped a hand, attempting to pretend she was not frantically trying to decide what “the others” meant. How many others?
Poor Noah was desperate to amend his faux pas and escape his cousin’s dark look. “Can I grab you, ladies, a drink? Wine? Beer? I think Uncle Dan still stashes a secret bottle of Vodka in the back of the freezer.”
His face resembled a well-sunned tomato. When he began to wring his hands, Carmen patted his arm and tried to push everything else from her mind. It was none of her business who the others were. She and Sawyer were having a good time while she was in town. She could allow happiness in her life when the opportunity presented itself.
“A glass of wine would be great. Thank you, Noah,” she said.
Sasha voiced her agreement, and her cousin left in search of vino and redemption.
“Happy birthday, sis!” Sawyer appeared from around the house in yet another well-timed entrance and grabbed his sister around the waist. After squeezing her long enough for her face to turn as red as Noah’s had been, he released her.
In his struggles with the children, his hair had escaped its elastic. There was dirt smeared across his cheek and brow to the white-gold hair at his temple. “Love you.” He kissed Sasha’s cheek and ignored it when she scrubbed at the spot with her fingers.
Laughter sparked in Sasha Stevenson’s eyes, matching the merriment in her brother’s.
“I am fond of you, as well. What are you doing leaving your poor girlfriend alone at the mercy of Mother and Uncle Cliff?”
“Uncle Cliff is here? Girlfriend?” He looked down at Carmen. She held both hands up in an “I dunno” gesture. He gave her a crooked grin, then reached out, seized her wrist, then pulled her to his side. “Sounds like you’ve fared the worst just fine on your own.”
Sasha cocked a delicate brow. “Noah said she looked wholesome. Then he almost died of embarrassment.” Carmen noticed Sasha left out the rest of Noah’s comment. She recognized sibling diplomacy when she saw it.
“Wholesome? Ha!” Sawyer threw back his head and laughed. “I’m afraid I have to agree.” Tipping his head, he planted a firm, overly loud kiss on Carmen’s cheek. “All the freckles help, I think.”
“Oh, is that right?” Carmen scrunched her nose at him. Even as socially awkward as she was, the intoxicating energy of their merriment was hard to withstand.
Whatever had been weighing on Sawyer’s mind since the afternoon had loosened its grip. His eyes danced, and the laugh lines at the corners had grown more profound in the time since they had arrived.
“Are you hungry?” He tipped his head, so the words brushed warm against her ear. The tiny hairs on her arm rose to attention, and she slipped her fingers through his, nodding.
“Good, wait until you see the spread my mom put on.” Squeezing Carmen’s hand in his, Sawyer pulled her toward the house. The patio doors, thrown wide in welcome, released a plethora of mouth-watering smells. Carmen shook off her nerves and followed Sawyer up the steps.