Chapter 33 #2
It didn’t take four guys to answer the door, but they did anyway.
AJ tipped the delivery driver after passing the stacks of pizza boxes back to John, Jack, and Nathan.
“How many pizzas did he order?” I asked.
Blake giggled as she answered, “A dozen. He was worried we wouldn’t have enough.”
Blake and AJ were complete opposites, but they worked.
Her tiny, curvy frame fit his tall, muscular one perfectly when she stepped into his arms. Her quiet demeanor balanced his loud one.
The only thing they seemed to stress over was money.
Not that they didn’t have enough. They had more than enough, but AJ didn’t want the world thinking he was a gold-digger.
It’s weird how much I overhear at Grannie’s.
According to a news article I’d read, because I’d never had the nerve to ask them, Blake was worth almost a billion dollars.
She could easily support them both, but AJ kept his job at SSI and Blake was an attorney for the Wyatt Foundation.
A charity started by John and Mary, after the death of Beth’s husband.
Like everything the Sheppards did, the Wyatt Foundation was a family affair.
Emily and Ashley did the marketing and social media; Blake was on the board of directors and served as the foundation’s attorney.
Beth also sat on the BOD. Each year, Mary and John hosted a huge Halloween fundraiser party.
Last year was the first time I’d worked the event, and the first time they didn’t hold it at Grannie’s. It’d grown too big with the addition of the multiple scholarships and expanding the donation recipient pool from Parker County to all of Texas.
The funds and scholarships went to the families of fallen first responders. The foundation helped a lot of families over the years by providing financial support during some of the most difficult days of their lives.
“Do you think you ordered enough?” Meg asked.
“Did you order my Hawaiian?” Ashley asked.
“Pineapple on pizza is gross,” AJ said. “But yes, I ordered it.”
“Thank you. Now gimme.”
“You gonna let her talk to me like that?” AJ asked Nathan.
“Yup. Now feed my wife.”
I felt like the odd man out as the banter continued. They’d known each other forever, at least it seemed like they had, and I didn’t understand the dynamic.
Blake came over and sat next to me. “It’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
I nodded and finished chewing my bite of pepperoni pizza. Did she feel awkward too?
“Sometimes, I still feel like I don’t fit in,” she confessed.
“But you’re engaged to AJ and you work with them.”
“You work with them too.”
I did, but being a barista in the family coffee shop wasn’t nearly as impressive as being the family charity attorney. And I’m not part of the family.
“You’re engaged to AJ, so you’re part of the family.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, so are you.”
“No, I’m not. They’re just helping me because I'm part of Austin's case.”
“Are you sure about that?” Blake asked, a soft smile on her pretty face.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve seen how Austin looks at you, like he can't keep his eyes off of you.”
My head whipped around so fast my eyes needed a second to catch up. When they did, I saw Austin staring at me with concern in his eyes.
“He’s just doing his job,” I said. Only I didn’t sound nearly as convincing as I wanted to.
The man I’d been dreaming about being attracted to me was impossible to believe. Not in that way. Not when my life is a mess.
“Even if that’s true, John and Mary love you. And once Mary adopts you into the fold, the best thing to do is accept it,” Blake said.
“Are you speaking from experience?”
Blake’s only relative was her father, and he was in prison for a laundry list of white-collar crimes.
“I am, and not just mine. It took AJ forever to accept it.”
Love filled Blake’s eyes as she looked at her fiancé.
“Thank you, Blake, I needed that.”
“We all need a reminder sometimes.”
After we stuffed ourselves with pizza, Meg’s bacon mac and cheese, a casserole I could eat every day if I didn’t care about my weight, and Emily’s salad, the only healthy thing on the menu, the guys cleaned up.
While the guys all kissed their women goodnight, Austin approached me. “We’re just down the hall if you need anything.”
Remembering what Blake had said, my cheeks warmed. Was Austin making a special effort to talk to me? To make sure I felt comfortable?
“Okay.”
“If you want to leave, or you think of something, or a question comes up, call me.” His steel-blue eyes stared into mine. I tried to see what Blake saw, thought she saw, but I couldn’t. She’d insinuated Austin had feelings for me, but all I could see was professional concern.
A feeling he’d have for any client whose life was in danger.
At least, I believed he was the type of man who’d be concerned.
“Okay.” I sound like a broken record.
“Okay,” he said with a soft smile. “Give me your phone.”
I didn’t hesitate—just handed my phone over like I didn’t have a mind of my own.
“I added myself to your contacts.”
I opened my mouth to say okay, but he cut me off. “Don’t say okay, okay?”
Of course my instinct was to reply, okay, but I caught myself and laughed.
He laughed with me.
Damn, if his deep laugh didn’t go straight through me and spark a flame that was entirely inappropriate.
He’s too old for you. Not to mention, a worldly guy like Austin would never be interested in a boring, small town, college girl like me.
He’s gorgeous. I’m plain.
He had money. I had debt.
He had a huge family tree. I’d known my birth parents’ names for less than a week.
We didn’t fit.
He lifted my chin so I had to look at him and asked, “Hey, what’re you thinking?”
No way would I tell him. “Nothing.”
“Nothing,” he made air quotes, “doesn’t make you look sad,” he said, but didn’t push.
“Winchester, are you coming?”
“On my way.” He smiled at me. “Remember what I said.”
With the menfolk, as Mary called them, gone, we gathered at the large kitchen table with wine and Ashley’s virgin sangria.
“With everything going on, I didn’t prep a craft for tonight,” Mary said. “I figured we could talk instead.”
We talked about everything and nothing.
The new moms shared their crazy stories. The not-yet moms cringed in horror. The experienced moms gave sage advice.
“Is it too late to change my mind?” Ashley asked, making us all laugh.
Beth looked down at Ashley’s belly. “Based on my experience, yes, it’s too late.”
Everyone laughed harder, while I pretended to enjoy the joke.
“It’s not so bad, you’ll see,” Beth said.
“If you don’t mind sleepless nights,” Meg said.
“And endless dirty diapers,” Emily added.
“She’s only having one, so she won’t have an endless supply of dirty diapers.”
“One dirty diaper is too many,” Ashley said.
I had to agree with her there. Just because I wanted kids someday didn’t mean I enjoyed changing dirty diapers.
Does Austin have kids? He was certainly old enough.
It wasn’t long before everyone was yawning.
“I say we call it a night,” Mary said.
“I’ll go tell the guys,” Meg said.
The guys filtered in as we cleaned the small mess we’d made. Jack carried a sleeping Natalie, Jamie carried Richard while John held Rose. Thankfully, they dressed the twins in blue or green and pink or purple, so it was easy to tell them apart.
“Nina, Austin volunteered to give you a ride home. Is that okay?”
I searched for Austin in the crowded kitchen. He looked serious while he talked to Nathan and AJ. When he looked at me, his expression softened into a smile.
“It’s okay,” I said. Then I laughed.
And so did Austin.
My heart did a little baby leap at the knowledge that I had an inside joke with Austin.
Well, not a joke so much as a shared moment.
It wasn’t really a shared moment either.
It was Austin making fun of me for saying okay too often.
But he’d laughed with me, so I figured I could call it whatever I wanted.
Maybe I could belong here.