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Ethan laughed. “Daisy May is the truck I own and use when I’m in Door County. Before he met Tami, I always teased Tim about getting married and told him I’d have a getaway vehicle ready if he ever did. So as a joke, I gave him the spare keys to my truck, which I’ll have parked out back tomorrow in case he wants to run for it.”
I shook my head and laughed. “You can’t be serious. Tim and Tami are head over heels in love! No way he’s running.”
“I know,” Ethan laughed. “But it’s just something I promised him I’d do years ago before he met her, and I had to honor my brotherly vow. Daisy May will be gassed up and ready to blow out of here if he changes his mind.”
“That’s actually pretty funny,” I laughed. “But I hope like hell for Tami’s sake he doesn’t use it.”
“He won’t,” Ethan said with confidence. “But it’s my job as his brother to help him getaway if he changes his mind.”
“Yeah. That would be Iris if I ever get married. Hell, she’d probably club me over the head and drag me out of there against my will. Iris is like you. She abhors commitment and relationships. To Iris, commitment is death.”
Instead of zipping out a one-liner about his war against commitment like I expected, Ethan went silent, his gaze flicking out to the blue waters out the window.
“Have you, uh, have you talked to Iris today?” he asked.
I furrowed my brow at his strange reaction to my comment. “Uh, no, not yet. We texted a bunch this morning, though. I told her I’d call her later. She was pretty proud of me. I finally did what she suggested and had a one-night stand.” I grinned and bumped him with my hip. “Or, I guess in our case, a three-night stand.”
Once again, his face seemed to drop for a moment before he smiled. “Yeah. Glad you took her advice too.”
I was about to ask him what was wrong when his mother came over, champagne glasses in each hand.
“And how is the happy couple?” she crooned.
“We’re great, Mom.” Ethan slipped his arm around me. “Wow. Double fisting?”
She glanced at the glasses in her hand. “Well, there was just one left on the tray, and I couldn’t let it go to waste. It looked lonely.”
He laughed and leaned his head against mine. The movement felt so natural that I almost forgot it was all for her benefit.
“That was so thoughtful of you not to leave it lonely, Lana,” I said, tightening my grip around Ethan’s waist to sell our fake relationship.
“You two make the most beautiful couple.” She sighed, tipping her head as she looked between us. “I’m just so happy my Ethan finally found a woman to make him settle down. I always told him when the right woman came along, he would know it in an instant, and all his grumbling about relationships being the death of him would be long gone. That’s how it happened for his father and me. One kiss, and we knew.” She sighed and glanced over at his father, who was sipping brandy at the bar. “And then it happened to Tim and Tami, and now you. Our family seems to recognize their special person right away. And see? Mother is always right, isn’t she? It just took finding the right one to convince you that relationships can be the greatest adventure in the world.”
Ethan cleared his throat. “Yeah, Mom. You were right.”
She pursed her lips and squeezed her eyes tight. “Oh, that makes me so happy, sweetheart. I’m just so glad you found someone special like Tim found Tami. Now we just have to find the right girl for Ian.”
We all looked over to see Ian laughing with Jake, Matt, and Hayden. He made a crazy face and then started dancing in a circle in what looked like an impersonation of an ape.
Lana furrowed her brow. “Well, there’s someone out there for him. Somewhere.”
We burst into laughter, then Ethan kissed my forehead. “Well, Ivy and I are going to get going. Need to get some shuteye before the wedding tomorrow. I want to be well-rested.”
“Oh, look at you so mature now! Here I thought you’d be up all night with the boys! You really worked some magic on him, Ivy. Good for you.”
“Thanks, Lana,” I said, sliding my hand secretly into his back pocket and giving his ass a squeeze. “It’s straight to bed for us tonight.”
“Okay, you two. I’ll see you in the morning.” She gave us a wave and walked off.
Ethan leaned over. “Just so you know, I may not be staying up all night with the boys, but I am staying up all night. Number eight, here we come.”
Desire coursed through my body, and a shiver traveled straight to the tips of my toes. “Then let’s get out of here,” I said, excited to free myself with Ethan once again.
He grabbed my hand, and we waved goodbye to everyone as we hurried out the door. As we made our way back to the car, I pulled Ethan to a stop.
“Look!” I pointed. “Do you see what I see?”
He followed my finger to the giant pile of leaves that had been meticulously raked into a pile much taller than my head and started to laugh. “Oh, I see that.”
