“This park is even more beautiful at night,” Rowan said, looking around at the neat pathways and wooden benches amongst the greenery. “Or maybe I haven’t taken enough time to enjoy it yet.”
“Do you touch grass often when you’re in Chicago?”
“The city has parks, but apart from my sisters dragging me to the odd open-air concert, I’m mostly focused on work.” His voice was tinged with something. Not regret. Maybe longing?
“So your family lives in Chicago too?”
“Some of them, yeah. But my siblings are scattered all over, so when they visit, I make sure I have time for them.”
“Do you have a big family?” My curiosity hadn’t put him off yet, so I wasn’t backing away.
Rowan smiled fondly. “Quite. My parents had four siblings each, so I have more cousins than I could recite the names of in under a minute. Big events are usually fun chaos.”
“Sounds amazing.” I recalled a birthday party at a friend’s house when I was about ten, and so many members of his family were there, I remember thinking he must have felt so loved. “Tell me all about them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, unless you don’t want to.”
“Oh, I do. Just… no one ever really cared before.” He looked away, then shook his head. “If you saw us all together, you’d never assume that I’m the youngest of all my siblings.”
I clapped my hands in delight. “You’re the baby of the family? Is it like everyone says—they all look after you and pave the way with their own antics for you to do what you want?”
“Actually, yeah. But I turned out the least chaotic of all of them. Maybe out of spite.” He chuckled, a fond expression on his face. “Riley, second eldest of our bunch, plays basketball in the WNBA and is an all-around badass. She’s the only one of us almost as tall as me. Loves dogs. Not fond of humans, although her new girlfriend might beg to differ.”
“Ruben is the second youngest. He’s a fantastic piano player and, his words not mine, an out and proud slut. There’s not a single person in the orchestra that he hadn’t fooled around with. I’m not telling you secrets, by the way, he won’t deny any of this.” Rowan said it as if I’d meet his siblings soon. Which of course, wouldn’t be happening.
“My eldest sister, Raina, is an artist. She loves to paint the most, but she’s talented in so many media it goes over my head. Raina is the most free-spirited of us all, but is doing what none of us are even planning to do—getting married. She will be walking down the aisle with my best friend, Troy, next week. They’ve been together forever. Troy is stuck here at work, so she’s been running around and finalizing the wedding bits. Several things have gone wrong, but she’s calling Troy to consult all the time. I only know about the bride’s mates’ outfits and the rest soundsvery complicated. She’s handling it so well considering the whole thing is like a big-ass stressful operation.” Rowan took a deep breath, then gave me a sheepish look. “They can be a lot, but I adore them.”
Hearing Rowan share so much with me warmed my heart. We’d never had a chance to talk, and I assumed he was a man of few words. Clearly he only needed someone to listen.
“I can see that. They sound amazing.”
“How about your family?”
I looked away. “I have Ethel, my great aunt. She lives nearby. That’s it.”
“Tell me about her.”
“She’s a total menace at the nursing home she’s at. She was married to my great-aunt Anabelle. They both raised me. Not like mothers, but like unhinged, witchy aunts. Never a dull day with those two.”
“And your parents?” He asked tentatively.
I swallowed hard. “Dead.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s been years since they passed.” I shook my head so as not to let the melancholy in. Now was not the time. I pulled on Rowan’s hand. “Look, the nighttime ice-cream is still open!”
The small wooden booth with a red and white striped canopy was snuggled between two firs.
“Good evening, Mr. Sonberg.” I grinned at the owner, a Jersey Devil, who visited my cafe at least once a week. He was in his fifties and had a big family that often helped him during the hot days in the summer to deliver as many cool snacks as possible.
“Hi Milo, mint chocolate chip for you?”
“Yes, please!”
“And for your date?” He flicked his fingers over his curved horn, sizing up Rowan as if he had to jump out of his boothto protect me. He was half the size of Rowan, so that was admirable.
