24. Maisie
Chapter 24
Maisie
H arlan’s SUV bumps along a particularly hard rut on the road just outside of Everette.
I pick at a loose thread in my pants, worrying the string between my thumb and forefinger as nerves dance a jig in my stomach. I spin the thread one way, before letting it twist back and then turn it the other way.
After an idyllic afternoon with Harlan before shopping for new hair care supplies and some work, the anxiety pinching my chest is irritating.
“You okay?” Harlan asks from the driver’s seat. He’s all confidence sitting next to me. One hand propped on the steering wheel, the other cocked back to lean on the arm rest, thick tree trunk thighs testing the limits of his own jeans, his eyes focused on the road in front of us.
“It’s just my brothers, Jem and my dad. You already know everyone but my dad,” Harlan says, drawing my attention back to him. Like that makes the tightness in my chest ease.
Meeting the parents, or in Harlan’s case, parent — I’ve never done that. Not even with the few boyfriends I had outside of Sean. I am so far out of my element it’s not even funny.
“Sunshine.” The strength of my nickname on his lips gets my attention away from the string in my fingers, and my eyes lock with his hazel ones before his flick back to the road. “I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”
“I’m just nervous. I’ve — uh — never met the parents of the person I’m dating.”
“Okay. How about I tell you about my dad, think that’ll help?”
I nod. “Sure.”
“Dad’s the senior ranger for our county’s forestry service. He’s been at the station longer than I’ve been alive. Boone works with him. I think I’ve told you that?”
I nod, remembering the conversation.
“He’s pretty chill. He’ll probably crack at least one inappropriate joke tonight, and once he gets his hands on Audra, he’s not going to let her go, and my baby albums might make an appearance.”
I laugh, some of the unease in my stomach dissipating. “I think I’d like to see those.”
He grunts like he’ll suffer through it for my amusement, and affection for him makes my cheeks warm.
“Also, don’t believe a damn word they say when they start telling tall tales about me in my youth, I was the picture of obedience and good behavior growing up.” The impish smile he tosses my way loosens more of the stress from my shoulders and I laugh.
“Mmhmm. I’m sure,” I say with a smile of my own.
“Dad said that we’re grilling chicken and doing a backyard barbecue, if you get uncomfortable at any time you can come find me or grab Jem — though I imagine that she’ll stay pretty close.”
Harlan turns down a gravel lane, with trees flanking the sides of it, just outside of town. The ranch-style house at the end of the lane already has six vehicles parked out front, Harlan’s brothers’ and dad’s, I assume.
“What was it like growing up with five brothers?” I ask.
“Crazy. Chaos. Fun. Loving. My mom was the best. She had her hand on just about everything in town, as well as our family. I couldn’t fart three streets over without her knowing about it. But she wasn’t controlling with it, she gave us room to do stupid shit so that we could learn from it growing up.”
“She sounds wonderful.”
He nods. “Yeah. She passed away when Boone was in college, and I had already been a deputy for a few years — stroke. One minute she was there, bugging us about coming home for dinner, and then next she was gone.”
I rub my thumb against his hand. “I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t help, but I’m sorry that you lost her.”
“Thank you.”
Harlan parks the SUV behind Boone’s truck and climbs out. He unbuckles Audra from her seat and tosses the strap of her diaper bag over his shoulder before heading up the porch and opening the front door while I trail behind him.
I’m about a foot into the living room when arms swoop around me and I’m dipped dramatically backward. Rhett’s laughing face is above mine before he gives me a smacking kiss on the cheek. He shoots a smug smirk at his brother, and that’s when I get it.
They’re fucking with Harlan. They grabbed me to make him jealous or mess with him, and I have to bite back my laugh as the initial surge of panic drains out of me.
They’re teasing him, like siblings do, and including me in the fun .
I wink at Rhett, who smiles back before making eye contact with Finch and nods his head toward me.
“Rhett Bentley! If you don’t get your lips off my woman in the next two seconds…” Harlan growls from where he’s trying to set the diaper bag down and hang on to my squirming daughter at the same time.
“Don’t worry bro, I got you.” I’m plucked from Rhett’s arms to Finch’s who twists me around before my feet leave the ground and I’m tugged up into a rib-crushing hug.
“Jesus, you two. Let the poor woman go.” I hear a new voice call from farther in the house and a giggle escapes.
“Finch, Rhett, unhand Maisie,” Jem shouts with a horrified look on her face as they both pass me back and forth playing the human version of keep away from their brother.
“Wait. Did he just say his woman?” Boone asks from somewhere I can’t see him, and I laugh again, but the voices clamoring in the room make the sound disappear.
Harlan gets his hand on Finch’s elbow and digs his fingers in. “Let. Her. Go.”
“Harlan, wait,” I say. Reaching out to lay my hand on his arm.
Harlan’s attention turns to me. “It’s fine. I’m fine. They were teasing you,” I say in a rush to explain that I got the joke and I’m not freaking out.
“They can’t just grab women. That’s not okay.”
I know how that looked. It looked like his brothers were grabbing me and kissing me — even on the cheek — without my consent.
Beyond touched that Harlan’s worried about me and how I’d handle the more-than-warm welcome from his brothers enough to read them the riot act, I go to my tiptoes and press a small kiss to his lips. I’m just thrilled that I didn’t panic and that they were including me in on their fun.
I laugh. I don’t know where it comes from, but it bubbles from my gut until I can’t hold it in any longer and I laugh and laugh at these men.
This is all so normal. Their teasing, the way they pick on their brother. Was it a shock to be plucked from Harlan the second I walked through the door? Sure, but somehow it doesn’t freak me out like it would have a couple of weeks ago. And the mystery of that makes me happy. This family is magic.
“It’s okay. I’m fine.” I look at Rhett. “Though your delivery could use some work.”
“On the kiss or the apology?” he deadpans, and I laugh harder.
“Both,” I snicker.
“Sunshine,” Harlan asks when my hilarity dies down enough to hear him.
“Harlan.” I try to straighten my features out to match the seriousness of his tone, but my smile tugs at my lips.
“You sure you’re okay?” He stands in front of me, his hands resting on my shoulders. His forehead falls to mine.
“I didn’t panic. Before, I would have. But I didn’t.” I let the awe of that saturate my words.
I have no idea who has my daughter, I’ve officially made it to almost first base with my — boyfriend’s? — brother and we’re all about to eat dinner together.
And to think. I was worried about meeting his dad.
A man who looks eerily like Harlan pushes to the front of the crowd. “Nice to meet you, Maisie. I’m Hal — these hooligans’ dad.” He cuts a glare at Rhett and Finch. “Sorry about that, they’re apparently still learning their manners. You okay? ”
I wave a hand as I lose it to giggles again. “Right as rain over here, nice to meet you,” I say between laughs.
He smiles at me, warm and friendly. “Good. Come on, let’s feed you.”
Dinner is a much more subdued affair. As predicted, I haven’t held Audra since we got here, and we’re all gathered around a big ass table on the back deck. Chatter flies over the table, at least four conversations going strong as I eat chicken, potato salad, and corn on the cob.
Harlan’s brothers entertained me with the exploits of his youth for a solid hour before he started threatening them with not fixing their traffic tickets — which I highly doubt he actually does — and I’ve laughed way more than I thought I would.
“You get enough to eat, darlin?” Hal asks as he stabs at the potato salad on his fork with Audra balanced on his lap.
“Yes. Everything was delicious. Thank you for having me.”
“My pleasure.”
“Maisie,” Harlan says my name quietly, and I look over at him.
“Yeah?”
“What do you think. You want to go?”
“What?” I ask, having lost the thread of the numerous conversations that have gone on as we’ve eaten.
Jem laughs. “Boone and I have a couple of tickets to tomorrow’s lineup at the Country Crossroads festival. It’s the last day. I asked Harlan if you two would be interested in going?”
I can’t remember the last time I went to a concert .
“You could bring Audra, the daytime concerts are tamer, and they sell those baby headphones at the concession stand so her ears would be safe,” Harlan interjects.
“Sure. That’d be fun.” New hair. Dinner with the parents, and now a concert.
Who is this new and improved Maisie, and how do I keep her?
“Yay! We’ll keep it super low key, and we’re going as a group, so there will be lots of familiar faces.”
“Yeah and I’m not on duty, unless they need me for something,” Harlan adds.
“Okay. Sounds good.” I’m mentally tallying my bank account to figure out what I can reasonably spend at the event when Harlan’s elbow nudges me.
“You can say no if it makes you uncomfortable.”
I nod. “I know.” And that’s something else I’m rediscovering. The ability to say no. Harlan helped me find that ability — that strength again. “But I do think that it would be fun — even if the music isn’t what I normally listen to.”
Harlan’s head pulls back a little bit. “You don’t like country?” he asks and I shake my head.
“Not particularly. It’s depressing.”
Duke gasps theatrically from the other side of me. “She didn’t. Harlan, please tell me that she didn’t just say what I think she said.”
Harlan smirks at me. “You’re in for it now.”
“Maisie….” Duke trails off. “I don’t know your middle name,” he says.
“Rae,” I offer before snagging another potato.
“Maisie Rae? Are you serious? You even have a country name.”
I shrug. “Doesn’t mean that I like the genre of music. ”
“Oh, well then what do you like?” Rhett asks from the other side of the table.
“Rock and roll — duh.” I roll my eyes for emphasis.
“Rock and roll she says. Like that explains it all.”
“It does. It’s the only genre of music with the largest number of subgenres. You get metal, classic, thrash, emo, glam, alternative, and so on. Tell me how many subgenres country has? Depression and anxiety maybe?” I take a bite of food. “You know what you get when you play a country song backward? Your wife and house back, your truck unreposessed and your dog is still alive.”
Harlan guffaws out a laugh, and Jem cracks a smile at me. Duke pins her with a glare until she holds her hands up saying. “I’m staying out of this. Team boy bands all the way.”
“AC/DC is a boy band. The Beatles are a boy band. KISS, Alice in Chains, Aerosmith… all boy bands.” Though I’m sure she means the boy bands that we grew up with like Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.
“Harlan. Fix your woman.”
Harlan shoots a cheeky grin at his brother. “Nothing to fix. Just because she doesn’t like our music, doesn’t mean she’s wrong.”
“Wait. Can we go back to the ‘your woman’ part? When did that happen?” Boone asks from next to Jem.
“Yeah, I want to know too,” Finch says through a mouthful of chicken.
Harlan balls up his napkin and throws it at Finch. “Finish chewing first for god’s sakes. And it’s none of your business. Just keep your lips to yourself, and you’ll live to annoy another day.”
Harlan’s hand traces my thigh under the table, and I fall a little harder for the sheriff of Everette.