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Ryker turned around so he could watch Amy smack dab in the middle between his mom, Carmen, and Julie. All three of the McQueen women were trying to get Amy to give advice on how to serve the food, but Amy was too smart to give it to them. She knew that she was in McQueen Land, and their ways were the right ways. Nope, he wasn’t marrying no dummy.
He continued to watch, then his mom, Carmen, and Julie all started talking at once. Amy leaned over the sink and looked over at him where he was standing in the den. It was definitely a cry for help.
“I think Amy needs saving,” Ryker said as he started to make his way out of the den.
Jerrod nodded. As Ryker headed out, he was blocked by his father and his brother Derek.
“What’s kept you two holed up in here for so long?” Ryan McQueen wanted to know.
“Baby Brother was trying to hand me a line of bullshit of epic proportions,” Jerrod answered. “I swear to God, the people he works with must be swimming in BS, the way he slings it around. Those were some good stories, Baby Brother, I can’t wait to read the book.”
“You always were the smart one, Jerrod,” Ryker laughed. “I’m going to go see if there is anything that Amy needs.”
His father put his hand on Ryker’s shoulder before he could make his escape. “I want you to know, I am tickled to death with that girl, and so is your mother. But be careful—you know your mom and sisters are going to be horning in like nobody’s business trying to help with your wedding. You just let me know if it gets to be too much for Amy, and I’ll have a word with your mother.”
“I’ll take her pulse. But I’m betting it will be just fine.”
“Mrs. McQueen, your Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. I have never seen someone put on such a big spread, and still be so fresh and excited afterward. You amaze me.”
“Well, part of it was you, Amy. I was thrilled to see Ryker introducing you to all of our clan. You fit right in.”
Amy smiled. She couldn’t believe it, but she had. She loved Ryker’s family. But now she was curious as to why Debra McQueen had brought her into this back bedroom. Her curiosity must have shown because Debra started talking.
“I’ve saved something from my husband’s great-grandmother’s hope chest for each of my children. Now, since I had mostly boys, I knew that they weren’t going to appreciate my gift. So, I wanted to give each of their wives what I saved from Nellie McQueen’s hope chest.”
Amy couldn’t believe this woman. Debra McQueen was amazing. She had never felt more welcomed or cherished by someone within hours of meeting them. And here she was getting some kind of heirloom?!
“I’m kind of pinching myself that this is what I saved all this time for Ryker’s girl, and then she turned out to be you. Nellie was kind of eclectic. She came to America rather well-traveled for a Scottish lass. Her father had worked in the foreign service, and her mother had died young, so it was Nellie’s job to act as hostess on behalf of her father. She went to India, China the Philippines, Italy, and well, so many more places. You’ll need to talk to my daughter Julie to find out where else. She has Nellie’s diaries.”
Debra went to the sideboard cabinet and pulled out an oversized wooden box. “The box is new, I bought this to keep Nellie’s book safe.”
She came back over to the bed and sat back down next to Amy. She opened up the box and inside was a bound book, with hand-drawn pictures of woodland animals and the leaves of different herbs and spices. In beautiful script on the front, it said, Cookbook of Eleanor Dubois McQueen.
“Is this for real?” Amy gasped.
Debra nodded.
“Can I hold it?”
“Honey, it’s yours. Maybe one day you’ll make some of these recipes for us.”
“Debra, I’m not that great of a cook. I mean, yeah, I can put a meal together, but I don’t have the gift, you know?”
“From what my son tells me, you have the gift of a true restaurateur. I think this couldn’t go to anyone more perfect.”
Amy carefully put the cookbook back in the box, then stood up, and so did Debra. She gave her future mother-in-law a heartfelt hug.
“Thank you for this, I love it.” Amy pulled back so she could look Debra in the eye. “But more than anything, thank you for your son.”
Ryker spread one of the two blankets down over the top of the picnic table, then helped Amy up so she could sit down on it with her feet on the bench seats. Then he handed her a thermal mug of hot chocolate.
“It’s kind of weird being at an ocean at dawn and not seeing the sun come up.”
“Yeah, but a Pacific Ocean sunset will knock your socks off,” Ryker said as he sat down beside her and wrapped them both up in the other blanket and took a sip of his own mug of hot chocolate.
“Is this where it happened?”
“No. That’s about twenty miles north of here. I like this beach because it’s not so crowded, and I figured we could just spend some quiet time together before another day with the McQueen menagerie.”
