Page 43 of Restored By You

Rhett’s hand finds the small of my back as he steers me in another direction. “Fuck off, the both of you,” he grits, then softly, “You good? I know my family can be…a lot.”

I shake my head, laughing lightly. “No, no, they’re fine,” I tell him truthfully. “They’re perfect, actually.”

His hand presses a little firmer against me as he leans in, his mouth near my temple. “Good. ‘Cause you’re not gettin’ rid of ‘em now.”

“Rhett,” Julie calls from down the hall, and we turn to peer back through the archway. She doesn’t even turn from the stove as she says, “Stop hogging the girl and go help your father before he burns my ribeyes. Shea, sweetheart, come sit. Wine or something stronger?”

And just like that, I’m deposited on a stool at the big island while Rhett gets shooed out the back door with a platter, throwing me a look over his shoulder that has me squirming on the spot.

Cassidy slides onto the stool beside me, the bulky toddler now gumming a cracker against her shoulder. “This is Gage,” she says. “He’s teething, so if he screams, it’s not you. And ignore Butch. He’s suspicious of anyone who didn’t grow up inside a fifty-mile radius.”

“Certainly took him a while to warm up to me,” a beautiful redhead comments as she sashays into the kitchen with Duke, who was introduced to me earlier, now holding the little girl he was chasing earlier.

“Mm, very true,” Cassidy sighs, giving me a pitiful look. “I swear, he really is a great guy once you get to know him.”

Duke snorts as Callie walks in, adding, “Butch has always been nice to me.”

“See!” Cassidy hoots. “That’s two votes right here.”

Julie smiles, offering me a glass of white. “So, deary, how did you meet my boy?”

At that question, all eyes in the room turn on me. “Well, I bought a house, then promptly flooded said house.”

Callie beams, “It was almost midnight when she called me, and I was going to send Beau over to help, but he said Rhett was right around the corner, and well… The rest is history.”

I glare at her choice of words. She’s making it sound like a romantic comedy or worse…a Hallmark movie.

Julie slides a bowl of something toward me. “Try that, it’s my mother’s corn casserole recipe. It’s one of Rhett’s favorites. Tell me it’s not the best thing you’ve ever put in your mouth.”

It is, in fact, the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. It’s warm and buttery, melting on my tongue. I tell her so and she looks so genuinely thrilled that I have to blink hard at the cheese board for a second.

Across the kitchen, through the window over the sink, I can see Rhett out on the deck with his father and brothers, all of them backlit by the grill and the last of the sunset, laughing and chatting. He’s holding a beer and looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. Something about the sight of him surrounded by all these people who love him makes my chest go tight.

Meanwhile, I only hear from my father once a week.

“He’s a good one, that boy,” Julie says quietly, and I realize she’s followed my gaze. “I’ve been waiting a long time for somebody to see his true worth.”

Oh. I don’t know what to say to that.

“Ma,” Lily groans. “You’re gonna scare her off.”

“I’m not doing a thing.” Julie tosses the rag in the sink. “I’m making conversation with my son’s lady friend.”

“That’s exactly what scaring her off will do,” Lily teases.

Before Julie can defend herself, a stampede rounds the corner from the living room—Parker in the lead, cape streaming behind him, and hot on his heels, is Tyler. No headphones. No hood. Just a red-faced fifteen-year-old chasing a shrieking six-year-old around the kitchen island with a foam sword raised over his head.

“You’ll never take me alive, Spiderman!” Tyler bellows in a villain voice I have never heard him use.

“I’m not Spiderman. I’m a ninja now!” Parker screams joyfully, ducking behind Julie’s legs.

“Ninjas don’t stand a chance against—” Tyler skids to a halt, suddenly aware of the roomful of adults watching him be a child. The villain voice dies. His ears go pink. “Uh…”

I open my mouth to rescue him.

But Julie beats me to it. “Oh, thank goodness,” she says, dropping a hand to his shoulder like she’s known him for years. “Somebody with the energy to keep up with that boy. Parker’s been running the grown-ups ragged all afternoon. You hungry, Tyler? You look like you’re hungry. Growing boys are always hungry.” She steers him toward the counter, pressing a warm roll into his hand before he can protest. “You like steak, right? Or are you one of the ‘salad eaters’ Clayton’s been fussing about?”

“I, uh, yeah, steak is good,” Tyler manages, blinking down at the roll in his hand.