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“Cripes, no. I loveeee my house.”
“I love her house, too,” Tate adds as he slides his arm around my lower back. “I’ll love it even more when I officially move in.”
He has to use the word “officially” because he practically already lives there. More and more of his clothes keep appearing to the point I gave him another drawer and closet space. He’s got a toothbrush – necessary for how many times he sleeps over –, but I’ve also been buying him bodywash he likes, shampoo, deodorant, and even his preferred blend of coffee for the morning, which he tends to take Irish.
Yeah.
That’s really a thing.
She shoots him an intrigued smirk before smiling cordially at me. “If you’re happy with him and his services, he’s definitely my son. If you’re not, he’s Carl’s.” Her pointed finger flicks to the other set of doors where a man in a Sheriff’s uniform is scrutinizing the scene. “I only take credit for the good parts of him.”
“Like a mother should,” Tate lightly laughs, encouraging us both to do the same. “Speaking of mothers, any idea where mine may have gotten off to?”
“Last I heard, she was ready to go for a caddy ride.”
“We’ll go and check there then.”
She offers a small wave that’s followed by her storming off towards the stage area. “No, Macy! It isn’t time for the dance off, yet!”
My date hits me with another wide mouth grin as our eyes connect. “The Wagners are basically Applecourt royalty. Everyone knows, loves, adores, and/or fears them.”
“Is that why you moved to Ann Arbor?”
“Not necessarily because of them,” he begins to explain at the same time he strolls back the way we came. “The beauty of a smalltown is the same shite that sucks about it. Everyone knows everyone’s shite, and I wanted to live a life where I could have a chick sleepover without worrying about the deputy knocking on my door the next morning because her Pastor father didn’t approve of his little angel singing in my bed instead of singing in the choir.”
The cringe that’s presented is instant.
“Plus, I like the opportunities in A2 better. Meeting new people.”
His head tips my direction receives a bashful beam.
“Going new places. Trying new things. Plus, it’s still close enough for fun shite like this or to pop home for random visits.”
I nod at the easy train of thought to follow.
“I like being close to my family. It’s literally everything to me.”
“I’ve never really had that.”
Our eyes connect once more.
“I mean, yeah, I was close with my grandparents. I loved spending time with them. Cooking. Fishing. Playing backgammon – or poker with Oreos if grandma wasn’t home.” Fondness over the memories is briefly flashed. “But that’s where it all ended. I’ve never been welcomed into anyone else’s family. Nat…tries…,but there’s a whole not a fan of outsiders’ thing to her Native side that she has to respect. Hell, they don’t even really welcome her father who has been married to her mother for like forty years. And when I was married to Daniel, well, family was just an afterthought. An afterthought that he didn’t think much about, might I add.”
“You’ll be welcomed with us, álainn.” He tightens his grip. “I swear it.”
Leaning into his hold as much as his words is effortlessly done.
I want that.
Maybe because I haven’t had that level of consanguinity in years?
Or maybe because I work in a field that reminds me daily of how important it is to have loved ones there for you. Some sort of support system for the hardest, scariest, most uncertain time in your life.
Oddly enough, I never pictured Daniel being that person for me despite being married.
That was probably a big red flag that our romantic relationship wasn’t going to last.
I’m glad it didn’t because this relationship is everything to me.
