Chapter 12 #2
“If I don’t eat the whole thing, you can have a taste,” I settled for.
“That’s fuckin’ mean.”
I shrugged and shoveled more crumble into my mouth. “If you one day decided to take your retirement from military work seriously, maybe I’d reward you. Maybe.”
But as it was, he still occasionally did shit that put him in harm’s way, and I was fucking over it. Ryan wasn’t any different. I understood that money was great in the private sector, but we’d lost enough in our family.
“I’m retired!” he exclaimed. “I haven’t done shit.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. When he lied about his gigs, it just meant he didn’t want anyone to know he was taking another break from “retirement.” But his new limp wasn’t unnoticeable, and I wasn’t born yesterday.
His recent trip to Las Vegas to “attend some agriculture thing” was pure horseshit. I watched the news, dammit.
“Who runs a national agriculture convention in Vegas anyway?” I blurted out. “Shouldn’t they be in Texas or one of the flyover states?”
He shot me an annoyed look. “Every fuckin’ state has those fairs. And for the record, I’mma buy feeder pigs.”
Whatever.
“I’ll tell Gray to remind you to make an appointment with me,” I said. “You need a recovery routine for that shit leg of yours.”
He clenched his jaw and stacked another empty rack on the others. “I thought being in love would mellow you out.”
Whoa. I stared at him, fork in midair. “How do you know I’m in love?”
I hadn’t told anyone. Not even Natalie. I was waiting for the right moment.
To be honest, it’d hit me at a weird moment—after she’d opened up about the nature of her engagement to her best friend.
I’d felt mildly threatened by a dead guy, so when the relief had struck me at discovering he hadn’t been her true love or anything, I’d cursed my chauvinism and realized I was so fucking screwed that it could only be love.
Not only did I wanna be her present and future, I was evidently a big enough of a dick not to want any shoes from the past to fill.
Darius looked at me dryly. “If anybody else stopped shaving, stopped putting shit in their hair, pulled on flannel shirts, and ate their body weight in pie—crumble—I woulda assumed divorce or grief. With you, it’s clearly the opposite. Natalie removed the stick from your ass.”
Kinda impossible to stay pissy with him now. I laughed instead, because he was spot-on.
I’d put on a couple of pounds too.
No fucks given.
I’d never been happier.
My brother’s expression changed, and it was like he was seeing an alien eating perfect crumble.
“Yeah, see, a couple of months ago, that comment would’ve pissed you off.”
Probably. But here we were. That woman had changed everything for me.
“You haven’t asked how I know about you two,” he noted next.
Oh, I could guess. “Natalie had coffee with Chloe the other day. Chloe presumably told Gray or Ma, who told you.”
Darius’s face had “not too shabby” written across it. “She actually told Elise, who already knew somehow, who called me.”
Close enough. The family grapevine worked faster than an delivery.
“All bullshit aside, I’m happy for you, Ethan. I’ve missed my little brother.”
I smiled around a mouthful of crumble.
He pointed to the dish. “Can I have some now?”
“Do I look like I’m done?”
His scowl came right back. “I’ll fucking remember this next time Gray makes his cinnamon roll bites.”
That was fine with me. Crumble was my exception, and it wasn’t just any crumble. It couldn’t be too sweet. I needed the taste of the butter in the mix and a pinch of salt to go with the filling. The rum helped too. Fucking incredible.
Two weeks before Thanksgiving, Elise and Avery announced on social that they were expecting again.
My brothers and I were quick to meet up in our group chat to place bets that they’d have another girl, with Ryan and Lias positive this one would be a boy.
Darius and I were on the same side, ’cause no fucking way.
They had two girls already—a third was on her way. Avery would be surrounded.
“That’s amazing.” Nat beamed, grabbing her purse off the kitchen island. “I’ll head down to Cedar Point and get them a gift.”
I furrowed my brow. “Won’t there be a baby shower for that?” We’d just gotten home, dammit. I wanted to make dinner and have her as my dessert on the couch.
“That’s obviously when I design something silvery and unique for the mother and child,” she replied, as if that was a common thing. “If you come with me, we could go to that salad bar afterward.”
That wasn’t as appealing as it once had been. She was spoiling me with Southern cooking and chicken that wasn’t overcooked. Maybe I’d discovered my chicken was too dry in comparison to hers.
“It’s been a long day.” I threw that out there. “We bought those steaks…”
She shouldered her purse and came over to me, snaking her arms around my middle. “They have steak salads, honey.”
I narrowed my eyes. That wasn’t the same. I wanted her smashed broccoli and roasted baby potatoes.
“Why can’t I say no to you?” I asked, ready to accuse her of witchcraft.
She smiled innocently and batted her eyelashes. “Because you like me a whole lot and I can be persuasive?”
She was right about both things, but liking her hadn’t cut it for a long time. And this was kind of a great moment to point that out.
Hell. That made me a little nervous, I couldn’t lie.
But we had a great thing going here, didn’t we?
If she didn’t feel the same way, she had to be close, right?
I mean, she’d joked about babysitting Gray and Darius’s youngest being “good practice,” as if testing to see my reaction.
We were using nicknames and terms of endearment for each other.
I didn’t do that willy-nilly. We spent most nights together.
My folks already liked her, and they hadn’t even met her for that official bring-home-the-girlfriend dinner, but it was coming right up this weekend.
We’d be joined by Darius and Gray—and Nana, if she felt up to it.
I dipped down and pressed my lips to Nat’s forehead. “I think it’s safe to say I more than like you, baby,” I murmured. She peered up at me, and the uncertainty and hope in her eyes had an instant calming effect on me. I smiled and got her lips instead. “I love you.”
Her relief was evident, as was her happiness, and she locked her arms around my neck instead. “I love you too, Ethan. So, so much.”
Fuck me, that felt… I had no words.
I kissed her hard and cupped her face in my hands, and I just rolled around in the pleasure. And the fuck-ton of relief too. Goddamn.
Darius and I weren’t surprised when Pop said he wanted to throw the steaks on the grill. So my brother and I aimed for the backyard to haul the grill out from the garage.
“I don’t know why he’s so insistent on clearin’ the deck for winter when he’s using everything well into December.” Darius grunted as he dragged the grill back to where it stood most of the year, the corner of the patio. “Next week, he’ll wanna use the smoker for some random reason too.”
Next week was Thanksgiving, so I wouldn’t mind that one bit. One day of Ma’s cooking before I hit the road with Nat. She’d asked me if I wanted to tag along to visit her stores before the holidays, and I hadn’t hesitated for a second.
“It’s worth it if we get Ma’s smoked turkey casserole,” I replied, opening a bag of briquettes.
“Fair.” Darius nodded once, then glanced back to the kitchen door as it opened.
It was Nana.
“It’s cold out here, Nana,” Darius pointed out. “You might wanna get back inside.”
“Thank you for the weather report, my dear boy,” Nana said. “I think I can manage five minutes.”
Darius and I exchanged a grin. She may be short, all frail-looking, and nearing one hundred years old—seriously—but there was nothing wrong with her wit.
Ma’s gardening jacket hung off her shoulders, about three sizes too large, and she shuffled over to us with her walker.
She’d been doing better lately. Her doctor had put her on a new medication that got her out of her wheelchair more often. But I suspected the water exercises she did in the community pool at the home helped a lot too. I’d personally designed the program for their merry squad of residents.
“You still goin’ to water aerobics, Nana?” I asked. “You look more spry than ever.”
She flashed a wrinkly smile. “I go every darn day, sweetheart. Otherwise, I won’t allow myself my after-dinner cigarette.”
Hmpf. “You could skip it.” I threw that out there.
She legit rolled her eyes. “You know what I don’t worry about at my age, Ethan? Lung cancer.” She nodded at Darius next, and she sat down on her walker. “You should quit, however. Gray is half your age.”
I laughed.
Darius furrowed his brow. “Like I don’t know that? I’m workin’ on it. I’m down to two smokes a day now.”
Nana looked at him over the rim of her glasses. “What’s there to work on, sugar? Last time Gray came up to see me, he said you’re always up and about. You need to take it easy more. Your brother would agree.”
Whoa. She threw the Jake card at him. That was worse than using our full names.
Darius turned away to prepare the grill—and to grumble to himself about being attacked.
“That’s one down,” Nana said, turning to me. Shit. “You, Ethan, better treat that nice girl right. Ask her to marry you before she wises up.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, even if she’d just insulted me to my face. She wanted us happy.
Natalie was fitting in just fine. She was in the kitchen right now with Ma, Pop, and Gray.
“I want more great-grandchildren before I meet the Lord,” Nana finished.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I chuckled.
Darius glanced at her over his shoulder. “You got any more missiles to launch in your walker? Say the word, and I’ll get Ryan on the phone.”
Nana jutted her chin. “I am already corresponding with him. San Francisco,” she huffed. “He has no business there.”
He literally did. He had his bar and his immediate family there. Not that I pointed it out, because I wanted him to move back home too. Hell, he could open a bar here in town.
“I’m gonna head back in before we circle back to me,” I said, handing over the lighter fluid to Darius.
He shot me a look. “Traitor,” he said under his breath.
I shrugged. “Throw Lias under the bus. Nothing I do has worked on him.”
He considered that, then nodded with a dip of his chin.
On my way in, I bent down and kissed Nana’s cheek. “Give him hell, Nana. Did you see he’s limping a bit?”
“What the fuck,” Darius snapped.
“Darius!” Nana balked. “Are you still working for that agency in DC?”
“No, I’m fucking not,” he grated out. “I hurt myself hunting. Ethan’s full of shit.”
I laughed and left them to it.
Warmth and chuckles greeted me in the kitchen. Ma was busy at the stove, Pop sat at the table folding napkins, and Gray had his arm draped around Nat’s shoulders on the other side of the kitchen island. Whatever he’d just said had made the rest crack up.
“And there’s one of the headaches,” Ma joked and winked at me. “Gray was just sharing some warnings with Natalie.”
“In the name of love,” Gray interjected hurriedly. “Everyone who joins the family needs a crash course in how to handle Quinns.”
That was…fair.
“As long as we all agree that Ryan’s the most difficult one,” I replied. “I don’t need any warm-up, by the way. Nana gave us plenty of shit out there, so lay it on me.”
“I’d actually call your mother the most difficult one,” Nat said. “She won’t let me help her.”
Yeah, that was her thing. She’d become more stubborn since she’d developed arthritis, and she didn’t want anybody’s assistance until she no longer had a choice. Nat was more than welcome to argue. We’d all tried.
“Get used to it, sweetie,” Ma answered. “My kitchen, my cookin’.”
I smiled and kidnapped my girl from Gray, and I kissed her temple. “Gray hasn’t given up fighting her. You can join in too.”
“The trick is to help out when she’s not looking,” Gray supplied.
“Oh, you are a rascal, boy.” Ma narrowed her eyes at him. “First, you won’t bring my grandbabies to see me, and now you’re being sneaky behind my back.”
“Whoa, I wanted to bring the boys,” Gray argued. “Blame Elise and Avery. They picked them up for a board-game sleepover.”
He definitely fit right in with us Quinns.
Ma scoffed and turned back to the potato dish she was preparing for the oven. “There’s only one solution for this, Ethan. I don’t have enough grandchildren.”
Jesus Christ, she turned that on me real quick, didn’t she?
Natalie laughed behind her hand.
She thought it was funny?
“I’ll tell you what I told Nana,” I said to Ma. “I’ll see what I can do.”
At that, Nat looked up at me. “You will?”
“You bet.” I dipped down and kissed the smile off her face.
“Yeah, that’s still gonna take some getting used to,” Gray said. “That’s my aunt, man.”
“Wow, really? I had no idea,” I responded. “It’s not like you’ve pointed it out a dozen times.”
“This is why we don’t need Netflix, Mary,” Pop said. “We have these crazy yahoos to entertain us.”
I chuckled.
“I’m not a yahoo, sir,” Gray insisted. “Your sons are the yahoos.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Pop shook his head and finished the last napkin. “It takes a special brand of yahoo to put up with Darius.”
Gray had no argument.
Nobody did.