Chapter 12
ELLIE
“Give the poor girl some room to breathe!”
A woman’s voice, while not loud, was certainly one that everyone obeyed.
A blond-haired brother–there were a lot of them–had me in his arms in a bear hug.
Trig’s sister–I assumed it was her based on her age and the fact that she looked like a couple of the men–was practically patting my dark hair.
The rest stood around in a tight circle as if I were an alien that had just arrived on my UFO.
I’d put on my leggings and top–and underwear–and kept Trig’s thick socks on my feet.
I’d wanted to stay upstairs until everyone left, but that would have been rude.
I wasn’t that. They had to be nice, right?
So I’d sucked it up and went downstairs. Then I was ambushed.
“Get your own,” Trig growled, pushing his brothers out of the way. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close.
His little boy-like possessiveness had me smiling.
“I’m Ann Wilder,” the woman said. She had a kind smile. “This is my husband Charlie. You can call us Ma and Pops. These hoodlums, all nine of them, are our children. You’d think they’ve never seen a woman before.”
“Hi,” I murmured, nodding toward the couple. They weren’t old. Perhaps late fifties. Where Charlie’s hair was salt and pepper, Ann’s was a deep brown, the same color as Trig’s. There was no way I could call them Ma and Pops. They weren’t my parents.
Trig made the introductions. “That’s Lainey.” He started on his right and went around the circle. “Bray, Colt, Cam, Buck, Hayes, Shep. Zeb’s the only one not here. He goes to college in Missoula.”
Wow, there were a lot of them and they were all ridiculously handsome, although nothing like Trig.
Besides Lainey, who favored her mother in size, the men were a big bunch. Like they could have their own football defensive line if they wanted. Their coloring varied from dark like Trig’s to fair. All but one of them had beards and I wondered if it was a winter thing.
Ann reached out and took my hand, pulled me from Trig’s hold. “We brought a ton of food. You can help me get it all out on the counters while you tell me all about yourself.”
I could only give Trig a quick glance as I was led across the main room and to the kitchen. He offered me a wink of reassurance as I went.
I stood beside Ann at the counter, unsure of what to do.
Everyone had removed their boots so her feet were covered in blue and white polka dot fleece socks.
She had on black pants that looked warm and cozy.
A pretty red sweater fell to below her hips.
While her hair was a little wild from what I assumed was a hat, she looked pulled together and was really pretty.
While her children were all grown, I might’ve assumed she’d be haggard from the hard work of raising such a brood.
I would keep that very wrong assumption to myself.
Covered dishes, plastic storage containers, a jug of something dark, perhaps iced tea, were spread across the granite.
“We have beef stew leftovers,” she said, reaching for one container. “Cam said he brought potato salad. Hayes always makes some kind of jello. The other containers, I’m not sure what’s in them.”
“I don’t know where to start,” I admitted, my eyes flitting over all the offerings. Like all the people, the sheer quantity of food was overwhelming. I could cook. A little. It didn’t seem like that was expected, but I didn’t want to mess up.
She eyed me with blue eyes that held softness. Kindness. I had to assume it was because she had raised nine humans that she could look at someone and learn a lot.
“You can tackle napkins.”
I bit my lip trying to stifle my smile because Trig had a napkin holder in the center of the island beside a set of ceramic cowboy boot shaped salt and pepper shakers. “I think I can handle that.”
“Good. Now, I can see why Trig’s fallen for you, but tell me about yourself.”
I swallowed. Fallen for me? “Um, Trig and I just met, so I don’t think he’s fallen for me.”
She looked my way and just smiled. “I met Charlie at a mutual friend’s wedding and we were married ourselves a month later.” She leaned in close and whispered, “Don’t tell the kids, but I got pregnant with Trig that night.”
My eyes widened. “That night?”
She nodded, not the least bit ashamed or embarrassed. “Charlie saw me and that was it. I became his then and there.”
His. Just like that. He saw her, he wanted her. He got her pregnant. All in the same night.
Just like what Trig had been saying. That he felt something different between the two of us. Something special. Something that made him all growly and bossy and call me his.
“Well, I’m not pregnant,” I blurted out.
When I realized what I said, I slapped my hand over my mouth. I could feel my cheeks were on fire.
Ann laughed as she took a lid off a container and peered inside, but I didn’t feel like it was at me. “You can give it a few days.”
I dropped my hand and my mouth fell open. A few days?
“Is it a family thing then? This… pace?”
“Trig’s the first to fall, and it’s not a surprise he did it just like his father. I’m so pleased, honey.”
I needed to set her straight because I couldn’t let anything happen to Trig. “I can’t stay, Ann.”
“Ma,” she corrected.
I cleared my throat. I didn’t want to call her Ma. It was too dangerous. She seemed like the perfect mother. Stern but loving. Calm and sweet. Sober. Not interested in sleeping with random men to live in their house. I wondered if she even drank.
If I let her in, I was going to be in really big trouble. Because I always wanted a real mother. I didn’t want her or her huge family to get hurt because of me.
She waved her hand. “Trig won’t bull ride anymore now that you’re here. He hurt his knee last season and no doubt you helped him decide he was done.”
I gasped. “I don’t want to be the reason he quits.”
“Quits? Honey, he’s retiring. And to a better life. With you.”
“That’s… a lot.”
“You have to come over and see all his trophies and belts. He won’t have them here, but I like to show them off. That’s what we’ve got from his time competing. Memories.”
She preened, so proud of Trig.
“I… I don’t belong here.”
She patted my arm, gave it a gentle squeeze. “Honey, you belong where you’re loved.”
That hurt. A lot. I wanted it to be true, but it meant I didn’t belong anywhere. Because my mother cared for her liquor and random men more than me. Father had never cared for me. Mr. Trout only wanted a youthful, submissive bride.
I shook my head knowing a huge, loud family like the Wilders didn’t need a family reject.
“Stop hogging her!” Lainey said as she stomped into the kitchen, preventing Ann from saying anything else. “I’ve been waiting all my life for the moment when I get a sister.”
Ann let me go and stepped back so that Lainey could wrap her arms around me and give me a big squeeze. It was awkward since she came at it from the side, but very thorough.
“We’re going to have so much fun,” Lainey added. “If Trig ever shares you.”
“I’m sharing her now,” Trig grumbled at her. “She hasn’t even been here a day. If I wasn’t so generous, I’d keep her to myself for at least a week.”
Oh my. “Um–”
“Can we eat now? I’m hungry,” Bray–or I thought it was Bray–called, coming in behind his sister.
“You’re always hungry,” Charlie said, whacking him gently on the side of the head.
Bray fake winced and rubbed the spot.
“So Sis, question for you,” Hayes–maybe?–stated. He reached into one of the open containers and pulled out a cube of cheese and tossed it in his mouth. It took me a second to realize he meant me, not Lainey. He called me Sis? “Mashed potatoes. Smooth or lumpy?” he wondered.
Everyone had come into Trig’s big kitchen and stood around the island. Colt or Cam had the fridge open but was waiting for my answer.
I looked to Trig, who gave me a small smile. It was clear he loved his family and his family loved him.
“This is important,” Hayes added. “She can’t be in the family if she answers wrong.”
Everyone started shouting at once. “You’ll be out of this family if you keep that up,” Charlie warned. “We’ll trade her for you.”
Hayes winked at me, which made Trig whack him on the head. “Get your own girl to wink at.”
“I… um, I–” I was afraid to say. This group was big and definitely crazy, but they were fun and poked fun. They were including me. Making me one of them and it surprised me. I was unsure of what to say or do to not mess it up.
So I said finally, “I’m not much of a cook, so I love mashed potatoes any way someone else makes them.”
Everyone was quiet for a second, then pandemonium erupted.
Trig came over, wrapped an arm around me and pulled me back into his chest. He murmured in my ear. “Good girl.”
I looked up at Trig and he smiled. Then kissed me.
We’d done some pretty naughty things, like jumping right to third base and then whatever Trig did to me over the kitchen table–where Charlie was placing a stack of plates right now.
Then there’d been waking up on the couch with Trig’s head between my thighs. He’d kissed my pussy.
But never, not yet, had we kiss kissed.
But he put his lips to mine for the first time right in the middle of the chaos of his huge family. And I liked it. I liked all of it a lot.
I felt wanted. Not only by Trig, but his entire family. They’d known me for ten minutes and I was one of them.