Chapter Thirty The Caldwells
ZANDER
My parents’ house looks almost exactly the same as when I was a kid.
They replaced the wood siding several years ago with vinyl, so it’s a sharper, cleaner gray and they also had new windows installed with white frames instead of the old brown ones, but besides those changes, it’s the same.
Parking the rental car I got at the airport, Rylee and I make our way up the cement walk to the front step, my heart racing with nervous energy.
I glance at Rylee as we approach the front door. “Are you ready for this?”
She doesn’t look at me but nods, “I think so.”
We haven’t spoken much since leaving Denver.
She slept for most of the flight, her body still gravitating towards mine in sleep, head on my shoulder, but there’s definitely still a lot of iciness between us.
I’m not surprised. I know she’s still mad at me, but I hope my family doesn’t pick up on it.
I want them to have a good first impression of her - of us. I want them to like her, because I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I just have to get her to forgive me first.
Why did I wait so long to tell her the truth? I was always going to, but time just flew by and I got lost in the whirlwind of being with her. It just kind of slipped my mind, which is no excuse. I fucked up, big time, and I’m lucky she’s here with me now.
“Thank you for doing this,” I murmur. “It means so much to me.”
She lets out a long breath and looks up at me fully. “I’m going to try, Zander, but if I think for even a moment that you’re bullshitting me again, I’m gone.”
“I understand.” She’s not going to have to worry about that. I’m not going to risk losing her again.
I open the front door and we walk inside.
The entryway is small, with a linoleum floor, arched ceiling, and beige walls.
There’s a colorful woven rug just inside the door to wipe our feet on, and a small table with a decorative vase of fake fall foliage that my mom loves to change with every season and holiday.
“Hello?” I call out. “We’re here!”
I hear them rushing through the house before they appear.
Lauren, Paige, and Rosie come hurrying around the corner from the living room into the entryway, swarming us like busy bees.
They’re all here without their families so we can have a quieter dinner together before getting hit with the full-blown chaos of Thanksgiving tomorrow.
Of course, “quiet” is a relative term when you have this many siblings in the same house, to say the least.
My sisters all look so alike, people sometimes mistake them for triplets.
They have the same dark brown hair and share my emerald eyes, which we got from Mom.
Lauren is the tallest of the three and slimmer with long, straight hair.
Paige is the shortest with a bob cut and curvy figure, and then petite, pregnant Rosie has short, curly hair.
“Oh, my gosh! You must be Rylee!” Lauren shoves past me to reach Rylee and immediately wraps her in a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you!”
Paige and Rosie each grab me and kiss my cheeks before moving past me to Rylee and surround her like excited hens flocking around a new chick. Rylee gazes around at them with wide eyes and I quickly step in to save her.
“Hey, now,” I growl, wrapping an arm around Rylee’s shoulders and pulling her into my side. “Don’t overwhelm her!”
Paige chuckles and waves her hand dismissively. “Oh, come on now, Zander. We’re just curious about the girl you’ve gone gaga over. We have to make sure you’re treating her like a gentleman.”
Rosie giggles and elbows me in the arm. “Look at you, being so protective and chivalrous. What a good guy. I’m so proud!”
God, this is embarrassing. My sisters are all adult women who are married with careers and children (Rosie’s is still on the way), but when they get together like this, they can be overbearing, bossy, and noisy.
It’s fucking annoying.
“Will you just give her a second to breathe,” I grumble, irritated. I want this weekend to be perfect. Convincing Rylee to come with me in the first place was a goddamn miracle and I’m not about to let my crazy sisters blow this chance for me to make things right with her.
Lauren waves her hand dismissively at me. I tower over these women, but none of them give a shit. They still treat me like their little baby brother.
“Stop hogging her, Zander,” Lauren replies sharply. “We just want to talk to… oh, my God! Is that a cat!”
The three squeal with excitement when they notice the carrier that Rylee’s clutching in her hand.
“Uh, yeah,” Rylee chuckles, slipping out from under my arm so she can get the cat out. “This is Gizmo.”
“Oh, he’s so cute,” Rosie gushes, reaching out to pet him, but he hisses and ducks to avoid her hand. My sister just giggles.
“How is he with dogs?” Paige asks.
Rylee’s brows shoot up. “Uhhh… not sure. He’s never really been around any.”
Paige and Lauren exchange a look.
As if they can sense we’re talking about them, I suddenly hear the heavy footfalls of my parents' two yellow labs as they run through the house to get to us. When they come running around a corner, Gizmo lets out a screech and jumps from Rylee’s arms and zooms off into the house to hide.
Rylee watches him go and chuckles. “I guess he’s not a fan.”
“Sorry about that,” I grumble, kneeling down to pet the dogs. “We can put these two in their kennels… ”
“It’s okay,” Rylee assures me. “Gizmo will be fine. Once he gets used to things, he’ll come back out and likely stalk the dogs to assert his dominance.”
I can’t help my grin as I look up at her. “Yeah, I can totally see him doing that. This is Duke and Duchess, by the way.”
“Hi, cuties,” Rylee coos, kneeling next to me to scratch the dogs behind their ears.
“I didn’t think you were a dog person.”
She shoots me a grin. “I’m definitely a cat person, but I can appreciate good boys when I see them.”
I smile, but then remember that we’re not alone and look up to find my sisters watching us with mischievous grins on their faces.
Oh, fuck me.
“Duke! Duchess! Come back here!” My mom’s voice rings out and the next moment, she rounds the same corner the dogs appeared from and stops when she sees us all gathered in front of the door.
“I’m so sorry,” she gasps. “I was trying to put them in the backyard, but they got excited and got away from me.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” I assure her, moving in to give her a hug. Her petite frame is so similar to Rosie’s that I have to bend way down to engulf her in my arms.
“Oh, my boy!” she exclaims. “It’s so good to see you!”
“Hey, Mom,” I reply, happiness washing through me at seeing her again. Pulling back from our hug I smile down into my mom’s bright green eyes before turning to Rylee, who’s stood up as well. “This is Rylee.”
There’s a moment of silence as the two regard each other and I feel like my heart stops. I want Mom to like her… need them to get along. More than my sisters, I need my Mom to accept Rylee and be willing to welcome her into the fold.
A moment later, Mom’s eyes light up and she brings Rylee into a tight hug.
“Oh, my goodness! You’re gorgeous.” She pulls back and looks Rylee up and down, beaming from ear-to-ear. “When Zander told us he was bringing a girl home, I could hardly believe it. We’re so glad to have you here!”
I release a long breath of relief. Oh, thank God…
“I’m glad to be here, Mrs. Caldwell,” Rylee replies.
“Please, call me Michelle,” Mom insists. “Come on inside, my dear. I’ve got dinner on the table. You must be famished.”
Rylee nods, grinning. “I’m starving.”
Mom hooks her arm through Rylee’s and leads her further into the house. My sisters and I move to follow, but Rosie pokes me in the side with another giggle.
“Zander’s got a girlfriend,” she whispers in a sing-song voice. “Zander’s got a girlfriend.”
“Shut up,” I hiss. “You’re being so awkward.”
Rosie laughs and Paige softly says, “We’re just teasing, Zander. Rylee seems really great. Of course, it’s only been 5 minutes, lots of time for some terrible surprises—”
“Shh!” I whisper.
Paige laughs. Lauren elbows her.
“She’s wooed the dogs and is now busy charming Mom,” Lauren nods. “She’s a keeper.”
“As long as you guys don’t scare her off,” I snap under my breath, shaking them off and hurrying to catch up with Mom and Rylee as they enter the dining room.
The long maple wood table is set with seven places and illuminated by the lights of a ceiling fan above.
Family portraits decorate the walls and an antique buffet sits on the opposite side of the room against the wall, Mom’s good China tea set on display on top of it.
Dad is just bringing a casserole dish out of the kitchen to put on the table and grins up at Rylee when he spots her.
“Hello, there!” He hurries around the table to reach her and offers his hand to shake.
Dad’s not as much of a hugger as the rest of the family.
He’s tall, with broad shoulders and silver-white hair.
He used to play football when he was younger, and is still a big guy and a bit intimidating at first sight, but he’s got deep laugh lines around his brown eyes.
“You must be Rylee. I’m David. It’s a pleasure to meet you. ”
“Nice to meet you too,” she replies with a smile.
Dad shoots me a grin. “How’d you manage to get a lovely girl like this, Zander?”
Okay, he’s already gotten his first goofy dad joke out of the way. I chuckle and shrug. “I got really, really lucky.”
“Well, Rylee, you are very welcome here,” Dad exclaims, and I can’t help but smile at how quickly everyone is accepting her and making the effort to be warm and inviting. “Come, sit, sit.” Dad ushers her to a seat at the table, even pulling her chair out for her. “I hope you like lasagna.”
“Love it,” she assures him.
I move to sit beside her, and once my parents and sisters are also settled, we pass around the food and everyone starts chatting rapidly.