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“We did,” Ava replies, brightening.“He actually shows a lot of promise as a baker.”
“You made thistogether,” Freya repeats, this time as a statement rather than as a question.Then she gives her husband a conspiratorial look.
Odd.I feel my eyes narrow instinctively.
“Baking together is always fun.And festive,” she adds quickly when she sees the questioning look on my face.“Did you guys do anything else to celebrate the holidays?”
“Mostly relaxed by her fire,” I offer vaguely.
“She has afireplace?”Freya’s grin expands, and again, her eyes divert briefly to Mason.“Well, now… that’s always nice.Romantic.”
“And we went Christmas caroling,” Ava offers.
Mason’s jaw gapes.“You actually wentcaroling?Dude, has she fully emasculated you?”
“Hey!”Natasha jumps in defensively.“Caroling is fun.Stein and I go caroling with a group of people every year.”
“She makes me go,” her husband grumbles.
“You know what you should do next?”Freya pipes in, enthusiasm crinkling the sides of her eyes.“Go ice skating.They’ve got it at Quiet Waters Park not too far from you.You know—same place Graydon got married.”
“Which, for the record, was probably less intimidating tohimthan ice skating is tome,” I tell her.“I’m not exactly graceful.”
“Oh, come on,” Graydon chides.“You were a SEAL.You can handle it.”
“Yeah, you can handle it,” Freya echoes in an almost child-like tone that sounds a lot like my youngest sister still does when she wants something from me.
“Stop pestering them, Freya,” Max warns.
Leave it to Max to blurt out all the things that everyone else is thinking but would never say.I give her a grateful look.
“I’m not pestering.I’m just suggesting.”
Max eyes Ava.“You have to watch it with Freya.It’s like we’re all just research for her next book.I’d bet my next paycheck that she’s right now writing up an ice-skating scene in her head.”
Tapping her belly, Freya sends Max a glare.“Inspiring a few romantic scenes isn’t much for you to complain about, seeing asI’mthe one going through this pregnancy thing first.Imagine allyou’relearning atmyexpense.”
“You can’t say that with Ava here.She’s been going through the motherhood thing for eight years.She could teachyoua thing or two,” I remind her.“And she juggles it all while still working.”
“What do you do?”Colt asks.
“I’m a technical writer,” Ava answers off-handedly.“I write manuals about boats and related supplies.”
“Oh,cool,” Graydon stretches the word out for a couple beats.
Surprise in her eyes, she gives him an awkward smile.“I’m not sure I’ve ever had someone respond to my job with the word ‘cool’ before.”
“It is,” Mason insists next.“What kind of boats do you write about?”
“All of them, really.Power, sail, catamarans, houseboats, trawlers.Just about anything that floats.”
Graydon and Mason, both avid sailors, pepper her with boating questions for the next half hour.
I lean back in my chair, watching them with amusement as they hang on every word that Ava says.Why do I feel like at least one of them will be buying a boat in the next year?
I smile, noticing how much more relaxed Ava looks compared to when we first arrived.Just as quickly as I learned it years ago, she’s come to discover that it’s impossible to hang out with this family without feeling a part of it.
Something about the Adlers always makes me feel like I’ve landed in the middle of one of those TV sitcoms that my sisters used to watch when we were kids.The kind where the jokes are plentiful and the connection between the characters is strong.
