“Have you guys had a nice week together?” Olivia asks, her expression beyond obvious.
Noah shoots me a knowing grin, then he rolls his eyes and points at his cousin. “You’re lucky this worked out as well as it did.”
She grins. “So it did work out?”
Noah looks at me, blue eyes sparkling. “Yeah. I really think it did.”
An hour later,I’m showered and dressed in clean clothes and feeling much more human.
I don’t see Noah anywhere yet, and I still haven’t officially met the rest of his extended family, so I hover awkwardly at the entrance to the living room, unsure what to do with myself. But then Caroline sees me and immediately stands and hurries over.
She pulls me into a hug. “You must be so overwhelmed,” she says, her tone warm and gentle.
“A little,” I say, “but I love it too. All of this is wonderful.”
“Do you have a big family?” she asks.
“Just one brother, so it’s nothing like this.”
“Oh dear,” she says. “You’ll need some time to get used to us then. But trust me. It’ll get easier. Are you hungry? You look like you need to eat.”
After all the cheesecake last night, I’m not sure I should eat before next Tuesday. But then the smell of bacon hits my nose, and my stomach lets out a low grumble.
Caroline laughs. “Definitely hungry then. Come on. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
The dining room is full of people, but still no Noah, so I stick with Caroline, smiling and nodding and saying hello as she runs down the list of Noah’s siblings and cousins.
There’s Olivia, of course, whom I already met. Then her husband, Tyler, and their kids, Asher and Maggie. Lennox and Tatum—the chefs of the group—are the ones making breakfast. I meet Flint’s son, Milo, and his wife, Audrey, who is expecting another baby. Then there’s Perry and his wife, Lila. Their son Jack is the oldest of the grandkids. Brody and Kate are sitting together in the dining room with their daughter, River, andthen, of course, there are Noah’s brothers, Mason, Spencer, and Will. Graham’s brother and sister-in-law, Ray and Hannah Hawthorne, are in the kitchen serving up plates, which means the only two missing from the group are Noah and his father, Graham.
“He’s outside,” Caroline says, clearly reading my expression. “Talking to his father, believe it or not.”
“Oh, that’s good,” I quickly say. “I’m so glad.”
She narrows her gaze, studying me, like she’s trying to discern how much I know.
I lift my shoulders in a shrug. “We’ve done a lot of talking this week.”
This makes her eyebrows lift. “Noah has?” She lets out a chuckle, then loops her arm through mine. “Oh, we need to keep you around. You might just be a miracle worker.”
Five minutes later, I’m seated at a table next to Olivia with a plate of pancakes and bacon and fresh fruit. The breakfast looks pretty typical, but when I take my first bite, it’s all I can do not to moan out loud. These are not your average pancakes. “Oh my gosh,” I say. “These are amazing.”
“I know, right?” Olivia says. “I swear, Lennox puts crack in his food.”
“Seriously. These are the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten. Why are they so different?”
“It’s malted milk powder,” Tatum says as she sits down across from me with her own plate. “Plus, he separates the egg whites and whips them before he puts them into the batter.”
“Like I said,” Olivia says. “Basically crack.”
“Claimed by someone who has exactly zero experience with crack,” Will says from the table beside us. I think it’s Will? He’s the youngest of Noah’s brothers, but this one might be Spencer, who is one brother up.
“Stop nitpicking,” Olivia says. “I’m just saying the food is good. Lennox?” she calls into the kitchen. “Your food is great!”
“Thanks, Liv,” he calls back. “Stop telling people I cook with drugs.”
Everyone laughs, but my heart is only halfway in it. The other half is outside with Noah, hoping against hope that the conversation with his father goes well.
“So, do you completely hate me?” Olivia asks. “I swear I really did need someone to be at the farm. But when Summer told me she knew of someone who might want the job, she gave me your name, I looked you up, and I just had this feeling.”
