Chapter 14
Fourteen
It feels fitting that, since her name was the last thing we uttered before falling asleep on the couch, Olivia is the first thing I see when I wake up the next morning.
At least, I think it’s Olivia. Based on Noah’s very groggy, “Olivia?” just seconds after we’re both jostled awake, it feels like a reasonable assumption.
The woman looming over us has stunning red hair and wide green eyes and a smile bright enough for a toothpaste commercial. Her eyes keep darting back from me, to Noah, then back to me again.
I can’t be sure, because I have only been awake for a matter of moments, but she appears very happy to have found us asleep on the couch together.
“What are you doing here?” Noah says as we both shift and sit up.
“We came home,” Olivia says.
And that’s when I realize she isn’t the only new person in the room.
An older couple is hovering just behind her, looking at us with curious and slightly bemused expressions.
Beyond them, the rest of the house is alive with activity, people walking in, carrying things up the stairs and down the hall into the kitchen.
A man who looks remarkably similar to Noah passes through the living room carrying a box of wrapped presents.
Same jawline. Same hair color. He must be a brother.
Finally, all the pieces click into place in my brain. The couple right in front of us must be Noah’s parents. Everyone else—that’s the rest of his family.
All the Hawthornes are home.
“What happened to Italy?” Noah asks, and I allow myself the momentary distraction of how raspy and sleepy his voice sounds first thing in the morning. I tuck it away as yet another thing I love about him.
“Italy was great,” a second man says from the entrance to the dining room.
I spin around to see him and suck in a little gasp.
Because it’s Flint Hawthorne. Flint. Hawthorne.
Oscar winner. Sexiest man alive. The Flint Hawthorne.
“But someone started talking about how Christmas didn’t feel like Christmas if we weren’t all together,” he continues.
“So here we are.” He looks over at Noah.
“Hey, Noah. Good to see you, man.” Then he looks over at me.
“Megan, right? Nice to finally meet you.”
The fact that I do not freak out over the very casual way he greets me is something I will always be proud of. “Yeah. Nice to meet you too.”
“You guys did not have to come home for me,” Noah says.
“Don’t believe Flint,” Olivia says, her voice low and conspiratorial. “You were an easy excuse, but the villa he rented for us was not a villa. It was honestly awful. Giant castle. Stone walls. Absolutely freezing. We mostly came home because we were all so tired of being cold all the time.”
“So…you’re complaining about staying in a castle in Italy?” Noah asks
“See? Thank you,” Flint says. “It was a nice place.”
“Fine. It was nice,” Olivia concedes. “It was also frigid.”
The older woman standing behind Olivia steps around her and sits down on the chair perpendicular to the couch. “Can we talk about what’s really important?” she says, her gaze shifting to me. “Noah? Can you introduce us?”
I find myself sitting up a little taller, hoping against hope that my makeup isn’t smudged down my face and my hair isn’t a complete mess.
Noah clears his throat, then reaches over and takes my hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze.
“This is Megan Sheridan. Olivia hired her to stay here and look after the farmhouse while everyone was gone. Megan, this is my mom, Caroline, and that’s my dad, Graham.
You saw Spencer walk through a minute ago, and I assume my other brothers are around here somewhere.
” Something loud clatters in the kitchen. “Along with everyone else.”
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I say to Noah’s parents. “I look forward to getting to know you both.”
Caroline’s expression is warm and kind. She and Noah have the same blue eyes, and her short gray hair is cut into a sleek bob. She reaches over and takes my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s lovely to meet you too.”
“Have you guys had a nice week together?” Olivia asks, her expression beyond obvious.
Noah shoots me a knowing grin, then he rolls his eyes and points at his cousin. “You’re lucky this worked out as well as it did.”
She grins. “So it did work out?”
Noah looks at me, blue eyes sparkling. “Yeah. I really think it did.”
An hour later, I’m showered and dressed in clean clothes and feeling much more human.
I don’t see Noah anywhere yet, and I still haven’t officially met the rest of his extended family, so I hover awkwardly at the entrance to the living room, unsure what to do with myself. But then Caroline sees me and immediately stands and hurries over.
She pulls me into a hug. “You must be so overwhelmed,” she says, her tone warm and gentle.
“A little,” I say, “but I love it too. All of this is wonderful.”
“Do you have a big family?” she asks.
“Just one brother, so it’s nothing like this.”
“Oh dear,” she says. “You’ll need some time to get used to us then. But trust me. It’ll get easier. Are you hungry? You look like you need to eat.”
After all the cheesecake last night, I’m not sure I should eat before next Tuesday. But then the smell of bacon hits my nose, and my stomach lets out a low grumble.
Caroline laughs. “Definitely hungry then. Come on. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
The dining room is full of people, but still no Noah, so I stick with Caroline, smiling and nodding and saying hello as she runs down the list of Noah’s siblings and cousins.
There’s Olivia, of course, whom I already met.
Then her husband, Tyler, and their kids, Asher and Maggie.
Lennox and Tatum—the chefs of the group—are the ones making breakfast. I meet Flint’s son, Milo, and his wife, Audrey, who is expecting another baby.
Then there’s Perry and his wife, Lila. Their son Jack is the oldest of the grandkids.
Brody and Kate are sitting together in the dining room with their daughter, River, and then, of course, there are Noah’s brothers, Mason, Spencer, and Will.
Graham’s brother and sister-in-law, Ray and Hannah Hawthorne, are in the kitchen serving up plates, which means the only two missing from the group are Noah and his father, Graham.
“He’s outside,” Caroline says, clearly reading my expression. “Talking to his father, believe it or not.”
“Oh, that’s good,” I quickly say. “I’m so glad.”
She narrows her gaze, studying me, like she’s trying to discern how much I know.
I lift my shoulders in a shrug. “We’ve done a lot of talking this week.”
This makes her eyebrows lift. “Noah has?” She lets out a chuckle, then loops her arm through mine. “Oh, we need to keep you around. You might just be a miracle worker.”
Five minutes later, I’m seated at a table next to Olivia with a plate of pancakes and bacon and fresh fruit. The breakfast looks pretty typical, but when I take my first bite, it’s all I can do not to moan out loud. These are not your average pancakes. “Oh my gosh,” I say. “These are amazing.”
“I know, right?” Olivia says. “I swear, Lennox puts crack in his food.”
“Seriously. These are the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten. Why are they so different?”
“It’s malted milk powder,” Tatum says as she sits down across from me with her own plate. “Plus, he separates the egg whites and whips them before he puts them into the batter.”
“Like I said,” Olivia says. “Basically crack.”
“Claimed by someone who has exactly zero experience with crack,” Will says from the table beside us. I think it’s Will? He’s the youngest of Noah’s brothers, but this one might be Spencer, who is one brother up.
“Stop nitpicking,” Olivia says. “I’m just saying the food is good. Lennox?” she calls into the kitchen. “Your food is great!”
“Thanks, Liv,” he calls back. “Stop telling people I cook with drugs.”
Everyone laughs, but my heart is only halfway in it. The other half is outside with Noah, hoping against hope that the conversation with his father goes well.
“So, do you completely hate me?” Olivia asks. “I swear I really did need someone to be at the farm. But when Summer told me she knew of someone who might want the job, she gave me your name, I looked you up, and I just had this feeling.”
“You looked me up?”
“Totally creepy Instagram stalking,” Olivia says. “I don’t even know what it was. Just something about your vibe that made me think Noah would totally fall for you.”
“Wait, are you and Noah like…a thing?” I look up to see a different brother staring at me. This one is definitely Mason—the one right next to Noah in age.
“Um, I mean, it’s only been a week, but…”
“You don’t owe him any explanation,” Caroline says, glaring at her son. “Mason can mind his own business until his brother is ready to talk about it. That goes for the rest of us too.”
I smile into my plate as I fork up another bite of pancakes.
It’s more than a little overwhelming to have all of these people interested in my personal life, but it’s also kind of amazing.
No one is judging or being critical even when they’re teasing each other.
It’s very clear they are only interested because they love each other.
I’ve spent the past few days imagining a life with Noah, but right now, my thoughts shift to a life with all the Hawthornes. With nieces and nephews and more cousins than I can count. Aunts and uncles all rooting for us—for me.
Just then, I hear the sound of the back door opening, then closing again.
I put down my fork, waiting and watching as footsteps move through the kitchen.
It takes a minute; there are muffled men’s voices—maybe he’s greeting Lennox?
But then, finally, Noah appears in the dining room.
I watch as he quickly scans the crowd. As soon as his eyes land on me, he smiles, a full, glorious smile that makes my heart climb into my throat.