30. Nora
30
NORA
O ne of us should really set a rule about not kissing while we’re trying to work on recipes. We managed to keep our hands and lips to ourselves during the actual filming of the tres leches cake Alex promised Olivia for her birthday, but all bets are off before and after the camera is rolling.
“Alex,” I say, a little breathless as I pull back from another exquisite kiss that somehow interrupted our cleanup. “We’re going to be late.”
“Who cares?” He pecks my lips gently once, then twice, before trailing up my jawline to my ear.
“I care,” I say, even as I sigh blissfully. I lean back and look at him. “I want them to like me.”
He looks confused. “They already do, hence the invitation.”
“Yeah, but we’re going to tell them about us today, and that could change things. What if they think I’m not good enough for you?”
Alex snorts. “I’d bet on it being the other way around.”
“Armadillo. You’re not taking me seriously.”
He straightens, his expression sobering. “I’m sorry. You’re right, we shouldn’t be late. But you really don’t have anything to worry about. You are a very lovable person, Rose, and I think my family will be happy for us.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Plus, you’ve known Maddy and Annie longer than you’ve known me. You know how cool they are.”
“I can’t argue with that,” I concede. “But it just feels different knowing that they’re related to the guy I’m dating.”
“Would it be bad form to parry your armadillo with a sleepy kitty?”
I puff out a breath and shake my head with a smile. It’s hard to take him seriously when he sounds like a Pokémon trainer, but I know he’s right. “I guess I am overthinking this, aren’t I?”
“It’s okay, my darling. Just give me one little kiss, and I’ll forgive you.”
I dash out the door with a laugh before he can make us any later, Alex on my heels making ridiculous smoochy sounds that shouldn’t be as cute and amusing as they are. I climb into his car and send him back inside for the cake he forgot in his ardor.
We ride the short distance to Maddy and Chris’s house hand-in-hand, the cake balanced in my lap. When we get there, Alex pops open the back of his SUV and pulls out an enormous package wrapped in birthday balloon paper with a card taped to the side.
“What in the world is in there?” I watch as he carries it up the front walk, praying he doesn’t trip and fall. It doesn’t seem to be heavy, but it’s so large he can barely see around it.
“You’ll just have to wait and see with everyone else. I promise this is a good surprise.” He winks at me over his shoulder.
“Watch out,” I warn as he approaches the front steps, not that it will do any good. The present is too large and the man too incorrigible for any amount of carefulness.
Maddy meets us at the door, backing up in the face of Alex’s burden, a perturbed expression on her face. “Good grief. Do I want to know what’s in that box?”
She shuts the door behind us and pulls me into a hug, careful not to upset the cake I’m balancing on one arm, as Alex settles the gift next to the pile. All the other boxes and bags combined are about equal in size to his one box, and he looks pleased with himself as he surveys the collection.
“I don’t know, but I’ll just go ahead and apologize for whatever it is.” Anything that big is sure to be an inconvenience if not a full-on nuisance. “I just hope for your sake that it doesn’t move or make sounds.”
“Or require some assembly and thirty-seven AAA batteries,” she says with a shudder.
“You guys know I can hear you, right?” Alex interjects.
I smile sweetly at him. “We know.”
He smiles back, and Maddy looks between us, her eyes going wide. I can tell the instant she figures it out.
“Oh my gosh, are you two…?”
“Yes.” Alex reaches for my hand. “But there’s no reason for you to make a big deal about it. Nora and I are seeing each other. Keep your socks on.”
Maddy presses her lips together with a little squeal and loops her arm through mine, tugging me away from Alex. “Let’s go find Annie and tell her the good news.”
I glance over my shoulder at Alex who is trailing casually behind with his eyebrow cocked in an I-told-you-so position. And it does seem as though my worries were for naught if Maddy’s enthusiasm is as genuine as it seems.
Annie sees us coming and leans forward with narrowed eyes, though she doesn’t try to rise from the kitchen chair she’s settled in. “What’s going on?”
“Alex and Nora are together!” Maddy tells her, bouncing on her toes.
Annie looks past us to Alex. “Is this true?”
He confirms with a grin, and Annie hauls herself to her feet, one hand supporting her huge belly. The other hand goes around my neck, and she pulls me in for a hug against her side. “This is great news! We’ve had our fingers crossed for months now.”
I pull back and look at her. “Wait a second. You set us up?” I feel Alex’s hand on the small of my back as he joins our little circle. I set the cake on the table so I have both hands free to prop on my hips.
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that,” Annie says, looking a little sheepish. “I only suggested you two work together because it made sense at the time, but I have to admit that after the fact, I did hope that y’all would hit it off.”
Alex turns to Maddy. “And you were okay with that?”
“Um, yeah.” She says this like he’s being intentionally obtuse. “We wanted you to find a nice girl, and now it looks like you have!”
I attempt a glare at the two women, but it melts almost immediately. It’s hard for me to be upset with their meddling when it brought me and Alex together, both personally and professionally. I have a lot to be thankful for right now, and most of it is wrapped up in our arrangement.
I glance up at Alex with a smirk. “I guess it turned out alright.”
He wraps an arm around my waist and tugs me into his side with an answering grin. “I suppose so.”
Annie and Maddy are both staring with expressions that remind me of heart-eye emojis.
“Do you need help with anything?” I ask, changing the subject before things get awkward.
“No, I think I have everything under control,” Maddy says, snapping back into mom mode. “I just need to put the candles on the cake and carry a few things outside. Olivia asked for a ‘pink outside fiesta’, which means we’re having tacos on pink plates in the backyard.”
“Sounds like a good time,” Alex says.
Just then, Olivia pokes her head in the back door and spots him. Her eyes light up. “Uncle Alex! Come play with us! Dad and Uncle Grant set up a badminton net for us, and we need one more person.”
Alex glances down at me, an unspoken question in the tilt of his brows.
“Go on. I’ll be out in a minute,” I tell him. “Go play with your niece.”
He grins and presses a quick kiss to the top of my head. “Try not to miss me too much.”
“I’ll do my best,” I say with an amused smile.
“Okay, we probably only have a few minutes before he comes back,” Maddy says as soon as the door closes. “Annie, let’s tell her the plan.”
“The plan?” I ask, confused and maybe a little nervous.
“Right,” Annie says. “Alex’s birthday is next week, and we want to throw him a surprise party.”
“It’s next week? I didn’t even know.” My cheeks flush at how that must sound, seeing as how I’m his girlfriend now. “I mean, we haven’t talked about birthdays. I’m sure he doesn’t know when mine is either.”
“Well, make sure you tell him so he can pamper you appropriately,” Maddy says. “But in the meantime, let’s get our ducks in a row for Friday. We figured the best way to really surprise him would be to do it at his house. If we ask him to go somewhere else, he’ll figure it out. But if he comes home from work to a houseful of people, he’ll be totally surprised.”
I’m following her so far. “What do you need from me?”
“I’m so glad you asked. He’s going to want to go out on his birthday, do something fun or special, and we need you to talk him out of it and get him to go home after work like usual.”
“Okay…” My mind is working hard, trying to figure out how to accomplish it. “I think I can do that.”
“Great!” Maddy says. “We can take care of the rest. I have a key to his house, so we’ll all sneak in before he gets home to set everything up. I already asked one of Alex’s neighbors if we could park at his house so he won’t realize anyone is there.”
“Smart,” I say. “He’s going to love it. Are you sure you don’t need me to do anything else?”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll text you this week if I think of anything.”
“Sounds good.”
Annie and I help Maddy carry out the last of the food and arrange it on an umbrella-covered picnic table on her back porch. The early August day is sunny and hot, though a light breeze makes the temperature manageable. Grant and Chris are leaning against the porch rail, watching the badminton game in the yard. I join them once my hands are empty.
“Hi Nora,” Chris greets me. “I’m so glad you were able to join us.”
“Thanks for the invitation.” I catch a glimpse of Alex lunging forward with a racket, sending the birdie rocketing into the sky and over the net. Olivia cheers as Seth and Rowan run into each other in a mutual attempt to hit it back over.
Alex looks up and sees me. He lifts his hand and blows me a kiss, only to whirl back around at Olivia’s shout for help as she clumsily tries to keep the birdie in the air.
“Looks like they’re having fun,” I comment. “He’s a good uncle.”
Grant shoots me a look, and I remember that the men probably don’t know yet that Alex and I are together, unless he happened to mention it on his way out.
“He is,” Chris agrees. “The kids love him.”
So do I . The thought zips through my mind like a shooting star ,and I stifle a gasp. It’s too early for love, but what do I call this feeling of warmth swelling in my chest? It’s more than just attraction to him, though there is plenty of that. No, it’s a genuine affection that I feel for him, a desire to know him and be around him and make sure that he is happy and cared for.
My heart hitches as I watch him play, a carefree grin on his face.
He really is a good man.
“Earth to Nora,” Maddy says, bumping my shoulder with hers. “If you can stop ogling my brother for a minute, it’s time to eat.”
“Sorry, I guess I was lost in my own thoughts. You want me to go down and get them?”
“Nah, I’ve got it.” She cups her hands around her mouth, leaning over the railing. “Guys, it’s time to wash your hands and come eat.”