Chapter 40 #2
“Call me Rush, please. Here,” he added, handing her the wine and flowers. “These are for you.”
“Lovely. Thank you,” Annette’s voice was polite, although cool.
Lily’s stomach tightened. He was holding his own, but the tension still buzzed around him. She wanted him to feel what she felt here—to see how warm and welcoming her family was—but the distance between them didn’t give her much hope.
Two little blond heads pushed through the room, heading straight for Rush.
“He’s my Ken,” Savvie shouted, skidding to a stop and making a grab for Rush’s hand. She glared at Tessa, who was hot on her heels.
“You got to play with him last time.” Tessa stomped her foot then made a grab for Rush’s other hand. “It’s my turn.”
They tugged back and forth, glaring at each other, with Rush caught between them.
To Lily’s astonishment, a grin—the first one she’d seen all day—broke across his face. He let the girls pull him into the living room, where Annette’s old dollhouse stood waiting. Within seconds, he was planted on the rug, patiently listening as the girls explained his duties as Ken.
In the kitchen, Lily poured herself a glass of red and sat down on a stool at the island. The aunts were already back to bickering about the right amount of sugar in the sauce.
“Ya did good, Lily,” Aunt Sophia said, tilting her glass to drain it. “This one looks like he knows what to do with a woman, unlike that other pansy ass you almost married.”
Lily groaned. “Aunt Sophia, you can’t say things like that.”
“What?” The woman sniffed. “If we’d spoken up earlier, maybe you wouldn’t have wasted your time with that pig.
” She peered into the living room at Rush, who seemed to have enlisted the help of Claire, Sammy, and Ben, Allie and Davis’s older kids, to play with them.
“He’s good with kids too? He might be the one. ”
“He has younger sisters,” Lily murmured, ignoring the pang in her chest. No, he wasn’t sticking around, but if he was…
“Subtle as ever,” Amber’s bone-dry voice cut in. She lowered herself heavily into a chair with her hand pressed to her belly and winced. “What fresh hell is it that you can have pre-contractions before the main event?”
Theo was there instantly, tucking a pillow behind her back and murmuring something in her ear that made her smile reluctantly.
“Sit,” he ordered gently, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I’ll get you a plate.”
That Theo. Lily sighed again. Both of her brothers-in-law made it hard to settle for anything less than the very best.
Evie slid in quietly then, setting down a plate of Christmas cookies. “Don’t mind them,” she said under her breath as she leaned toward Lily. “They’re vultures, but I think they like him.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Lily murmured. As far as she was concerned, Rush was the very best… Too bad he wasn’t sticking around.
She relaxed after that. If Rush could meet her mother’s cool gaze without flinching, and the aunts’ teasing, he’d survive the rest of her family.
Rugged good looks, those broad shoulders and that quiet, contained authority—no wonder they couldn’t stop staring.
He was striking and probably used to women staring, especially while he was in uniform.
But it wasn’t their approval she wanted most. It was her mother’s.
By the time dessert was brought out—gelato, biscotti, and cake soaked in rum Lily had her eye on—everyone was relaxed and even merrier, if there was such a thing.
Rush was patiently letting them all fire off questions.
The aunts wanted to know how work was going.
Sophia wanted the juicy bits, which he sidestepped.
Did he like Northfield (of course), and Sammy wanted to know if he carried his gun and cuffs everywhere (yes—he raised a brow at Lily before answering).
At any rate, Lily wasn’t expecting the curveball.
“It’s a good thing our Lily’s got you now,” Aunt Giulia said, leaning over Lily to beam at Rush. “She’s always been fragile. First her asthma, and then that horrible Tucker cheating on her after all those years. We worry about her, you know,” she added with a nod. “She needs looking after.”
Lily’s fork clattered against her plate. “I—” She forced a small, tight smile. “I’m fine, Aunt Giulia, really.”
Her cheeks warmed as the table went awkwardly silent. She wanted to insist she wasn’t fragile, that she didn’t need looking after—but the words caught in her throat at the worried looks on her family’s faces.
Fragile.
Maybe once she had been. The girl who’d bent herself into whatever shape made other people comfortable. The girl who stayed because she wanted a future more than she wanted the truth.
But that wasn’t who she wanted to be anymore.
From across the table, Rush caught her eye with a silent question, but she looked away quickly.
“She’s tougher than she looks,” Annette said in the silence, her cool gaze sweeping the table before settling on her. “I raised her, after all.” She held her glass up in a silent toast, which Lily returned, surprised and touched.
The conversation picked back up, and Lily relaxed back into the warm hum of her family. They weren’t perfect—who was?—but she knew they loved each other. Really, what more could you ask for?
A little later, Theo leaned around Amber’s belly. “Grant says he’s waiting to hear back from you on your start date for the new job.”
Aunt Sophia perked up. “Job? Are you moving?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rush answered. “I’ll be taking a job in Boston the second week of February.”
Lily forced herself to keep smiling. That damn job hanging over their heads would not ruin her Christmas.
Still, for the rest of the evening, the thought pressed like a bruise.
A few weeks. That was what they had left.