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“You’ll have to explain the rules to me,” Tyler said to Delaney as he pointed a thumb in my direction. “You have to be careful of this one. He cheats.”
“Like you don’t,” I said.
“You didn’t let him shuffle, did you?” Tyler asked Delaney in a conspiratorial tone.
Delaney shrugged. “I had to go to the bathroom.”
Tyler sighed. “That was your first mistake. You can’t take your eyes off this one for a second.”
Delaney looked from Tyler to me.
I slapped Tyler’s arm. “Give her a break. She doesn’t have brothers.”
“You’re not missing anything,” Tyler said. “This guy’s an as—”
I punched him in the arm again to stop him from swearing.
“Sorry,” Tyler said to Natalie.
“Don’t worry about it,” Natalie said.
“You’re the one who’s renovating the B&B in town?”
“That’s right.”
“Everyone in town is excited about the opening. They keep giving me sh—a hard time about when it will be finished. But Mac’s working overtime to get it done in time.”
I was glad that Tyler had been so positive about the B&B. I knew Natalie was worried about it.
“Is that why you’re working nights and weekends?” Natalie asked me.
“I enjoy working when it’s quiet,” I said, not sure why I was so uncomfortable with Natalie thinking I was a good guy.
“Sure you do,” Tyler said, and I shot him a look. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to do. Why did he care if Natalie saw me in a different light?
I cleared my throat. “Delaney, you want to teach him how to play?”
I tuned out her explanation as I snuck glances at Natalie. Had she read anything into what Tyler said? I ignored the voice in my head saying I didn’t work nights and weekends on other projects. I’d never gotten so invested in something like this before.
Delays and issues were inevitable. That’s why we worked extra time into the schedule and budget. I was acting differently with Natalie, and the worst part was, my brothers knew it.
I had a bad feeling about it because Natalie and Delaney stirred up my desire for a family and a home filled with people I loved. I enjoyed going to Sunday dinners at my parents’, but I wanted more.
I’d just pushed those desires down deep because they hadn’t worked out in the past. But what if I just hadn’t met the right person yet? What if that person was Natalie? Goose bumps danced over my skin at the thought.
When I was younger, my brothers teased me that I was a romantic, always looking for a love match. The problem with that was most younger adults weren’t looking for commitment. Maybe it was bad timing, and I was premature to cut things off with all women. To assume it could never work out.
But the realistic side of me, the one that had been hurt time and time again, reminded me what the pain felt like when it inevitably didn’t work out. It wasn’t worth the trouble.
“Do you normally invite guests to family dinner?” Natalie asked.
“Occasionally, we do,” I said, to make her feel more comfortable. But the truth was, we didn’t. It was our time to hang out as a family, and other than the recent addition of Alice, it was just us.
Tyler gave me a weird look but asked, “Who goes first?”
“The youngest.” That’s how we always played with Maggie.
Delaney used one of her cards to pick one from Tyler’s pile and then picked one for herself.
