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“I like my rough edges, thank you very much, and the women do too.” Tyler smirked and then sobered when his gaze landed on Delaney. But she wasn’t listening to us. She was sitting next to Dad as he told her a story about finding a snake in the yard.
Mom smacked his hand. “Don’t be crass.”
“Yeah, no one wants to hear about your conquests,” I said.
“We have a child present. Behave,” Mom hissed before heading back to the counter.
“Yeah, behave,” I repeated to Tyler.
Tyler gave me a look. “She was talking to you.”
“She was not.”
“You guys act like kids when you’re here,” Natalie said, her tone amused.
“It’s adorable, isn’t it?” Tyler said, breaking off a piece of bread and tossing it into his mouth.
“It’s something, all right,” Natalie said.
I guffawed. “You’re going to fit in around here.” She gave as good as she got. I loved it.
“Where did your parents move?” Mom asked as she sat at the opposite end of the table as my dad.
“They moved to Arizona. My father has bad arthritis, and the doctor said dry heat would be good for him.”
“That must be tough to not have them here.”
Natalie’s expression softened. “I felt a little weird moving back here without them. It didn’t feel like my hometown anymore.”
“I hope you know you’re welcome here, and everyone is tickled pink to have a new B&B in town.”
When Dad went into another story about sighting a bear, I leaned in to tell Natalie, “You’re something else, you know that?”
“Why do you say that?” Natalie asked.
“You hold your own with my family. You moved to a town where you didn’t know many people anymore and opened a business. That’s pretty badass.”
Natalie stilled; her gaze flitted up to meet mine. “It is, isn’t it?”
She hadn’t thought of herself that way, but I had, from the moment I heard she was a single mom, moving to the area and opening the B&B. At first, I thought it was a little crazy. But you didn’t do crazy without balls, and she had them in spades.
I leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Anytime you feel insecure, just remind yourself that you’re Natalie Fucking Anderson, and you’re a badass.”
Natalie smiled widely, despite my cursing. “I like that.”
“Sorry for cussing. I’m not usually so bad about it, but Tyler brings it out in me.”
“Blaming me for your bad manners again, brother?” Tyler asked with his mouth full.
I raised a brow and said, “You know it.”
“I don’t know if I want brothers. You argue a lot,” Delaney observed, and the whole table burst into laughter.
The rest of dinner went on like that, good-natured teasing and ribbing, jokes and laughter. I loved my family, and I didn’t mind sharing them with Natalie and Delaney.
CHAPTER7
NATALIE
