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The Walsh smile had surely brought a great many to their knees, Hope mused, as she held out the plant.
“Yes. Thank you so much for inviting me. It was really kind of you to include me.”
“Please,” Lori replied, waving away Hope’s gratitude. “It’s our pleasure to get to know Ruby’s … babysitter.” Lori sent Gabe a savvy side eye, then took Hope by the elbow and led her down a hallway to a living room.
On the floor in the center of the room, Ruby and a girl and a boy—who she guessed to be around eight and twelve, respectively—crowded around a cage. An older man, who Hope recognized instantly as Gabe’s father, sat on a love seat, watching her closely, his expression giving nothing away.
He had the Walsh look through and through. His head was full of the same dark hair, although his was generously infused with gray, giving him a striking silver fox look. His eyes were an identical mossy green, and though they looked older, crinkling endearingly around the edges, they were just as mesmerizing as they observed her.
Across from him, sitting on an easy chair with a beer in one hand, was a man Hope gauged to be in his mid-forties. His smile was warm and friendly, and he stood as Lori all but dragged Hope into the room.
“Eva! George! Get that rat out of here. I told you not to bring that thing into the living room,” she said in a very remarkable mother-knows-best voice.
The boy rolled his eyes defiantly. “But Mom, he’s in his cage. Plus, he’s a hamster, not a rat.”
“I don’t care if it’s the King of England’s royal rodent. I said not in the living room, and I meant it, George.”
And that was clearly that, because despite another cheeky eyeroll, the boy muttered, “Fine” under his breath before scrambling up, holding the cage precariously in one hand.
“Not so fast. We have a guest,” Lori said briskly, before the children could race from the room. “This is Ruby’s new babysitter, Miss Morgan. Mind your manners and say a proper hello.”
Hope couldn’t help but cringe at the way Lori saidbabysitter, letting the word drawl off her tongue with loaded ambiguity. Hope shot an uncomfortable look at Gabe, but he only grimaced and shrugged.
Oblivious, Ruby raced up to her and threw her arms around her waist.
“She’s my favorite,” she announced to her cousins. “The best.”
And Hope’s heart melted as she ran her hand down the little girl’s riot of wavy hair.
After a polite hello and introductions, the three children disappeared up a set of stairs, hamster cage in tow.
She officially met Lori’s husband when he pressed a glass of wine into her hand. “Here, you look like you could use this,” he said in a friendly tone that matched his smile. “I’m Craig. I love Lori, and she’s the mother of my children, but I’ll be the first to say she can be a bit intense.”
“Thanks,” Hope said and took a grateful sip of the crisp chardonnay he’d given her.
“It comes from a good place.” He explained. “She just loves so hard, it can be intimidating. I always call her the ultimate mama bear.” Hope smiled, because from what she’d learned about Lori so far, that description suited her perfectly.
They fell into companionable conversation and, for the first time since she arrived that evening, she relaxed. When his sister asked him to, Gabe left Hope’s side for the first time all night and wandered upstairs to get the children for dinner.
“CRAIG!” Lori bellowed from the kitchen a few minutes later, and Craig lifted his brows at Hope in a “see what I mean”gesture before obediently moving toward where he’d been beckoned.
“She has him well trained,” said a gravelly, amused-sounding voice from behind her.
Hope startled, turning to come face to face with Connor, whom she’d been briefly introduced to earlier. He’d been quiet most of the evening, sitting in an easy chair sipping a drink and watching his family. But he came up to her now, his eyes warm and friendly. It was like looking at Gabe if he’d gone through a twenty-year time warp into the future.
“I’m pretty sure she gets it from her Irish grandmother, who was bossy and tenacious as hell. You couldn’t say no to that woman. When she saidwalk, youran. When she saidrun,youflew.” His laugh was a low rumble that sounded identical to his son’s. “Lori is the same. Can’t get mad at her for it though, my girl could lead an army,” he said proudly before his smile turned wistful. “She’s different from her mother. Beth was as quiet and calm as they came. Subtle, but no less assertive. She had her own way of getting you to do what she wanted. Gabriel is more like her in that way.”
Hope only nodded, afraid that if she interrupted, she might stop this stream of privileged insight into the Walsh family. Gabe had never mentioned his mother, although Hope knew she had passed when Gabe was still a young boy.
“There aren’t many like my Beth.” He went on. “She was all love and softness. It was a miracle she took on the likes of a rebel like me, but once I had her, I never let go. I held on until she took her last breath, and every day since, I guess. Not many are lucky enough to find love like that twice in a lifetime. Sure as hell not an old grump like me.” He eyed Gabe who now stood in the living room doorway, shoulder against the frame, arms crossed, eyes hooded as he watched them from across the room.
Connor turned back to Hope with a twinkle in his green eyes. “Doesn’t mean you should write off that possibility for both of us grumpy Walsh men. Sometimes that kind of love does strike twice in one lifetime.” With a mischievous wink, he patted her shoulder and moved toward the kitchen, leaving Hope standing there dumbstruck in the wake of his words, her heart fluttering chaotically in her chest.
Dinner was a noisy, chaotic affair. The kids were loud, Lori even louder, and everyone seemed comfortable in the chaos, a conversational banter flowing easily throughout it all.
Craig worked beside his wife as they served the meal in tandem. Connor sat quietly at the head of the table, a content smile on his face as he sliced the chicken on his plate. Gabe watched Hope over the rim of his glass, with a gleam in his eye that had her wondering what he was thinking, and if he overheard what his father has said to her.
“Dad!” Lori scolded. “You can’t start eating before everyone’s been served.” She scowled as she dished up another plate and handed it to Gabe.
