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He’s still regaining his balance.
And going so far as to welcome them into his private sanctuary is a vulnerability I don’t think he could’ve exposed a few weeks ago.
But now? Here he is, showing them his soul. And I’m standing at his side like the sunshiniest, loudest cheerleader to have ever existed.
“Dude, your decorator phoned it in. Looks like a page out of Architectural Digest,” Kyle declares as he launches himself at the couch and puts his boots up on the coffee table. “You’re boring as hell, but you’ve got more pizazz than this. You need a pillow or something. Forget doing a hit and hit a TJ Maxx, for fuck’s sake.”
Somehow, that’s enough to break the ice and we all sit down in the living room. I think everyone realizes that Cole’s shared a lot tonight, and though they have a million questions, they don’t have to be asked all at once. So, though they’re still looking around and taking it all in, conversation slowly turns to things other than Cole’s secret life.
Like Chance and Samantha’s honeymoon, which was beachy, sandy, and reportedly did not include visiting a single tourist hot spot. I’m pretty sure they went from the airport to the hotel suite and back, only surfacing from each other for food.
And Cameron’s need for a new nanny because Grace ran off another one, which is apparently not all that uncommon. Kyle suggests getting a puppy, not as a reward, but as a way to teach her calmness and responsibility, but Cameron’s not hearing that at all no matter how many times Kyle declares that Gracie is great with his dog, Peanut Butter, and is a virtual angel when she’s at his place.
When we move to the dining table, Cole mentions it’s never been used, and instead of its being an awkward reminder of how alone he’s been, Kyle makes a joke about popping his dinner cherry and everyone laughs. With a growl of fake annoyance, and secret appreciation for Kyle’s irreverence, Cole serves up the meal he and I made together.
Well, he made it, and I grabbed ingredients, set timers, and stirred a few things after he showed me how to because apparently, whipping, folding, and stirring are all different things.
It’s a family dinner unlike any I’ve ever had. Nobody cries, nobody gets their feelings hurt, everyone talks kindly unless teasing each other, and then it’s with good intentions. It’s everything I wished, hoped, and pretended my family dinners were for my whole life.
The Harrington siblings have it. Or more accurately, they’re creating it right before my eyes.
“How do you like being a nurse at The Ivy, Janey?” Kayla asks, turning the conversation to me.
Hearing her mention my work makes me think of something. But first, I answer her question, recognizing that she’s trying to include me, and I want to be a part of what this family has going on because it’s truly special. “I love it. I always wanted to be a nurse and kinda fell into long-term care work, but I’m so glad I did. It’s hard, especially when we lose patients who’ve been with us for a while, but I like helping make their days, however many they have left, the best they can be, especially when their families can’t always be there for whatever reason.” Before she can ask a follow-up, I switch directions on her, wondering if she and Mason might be a good match. “Kayla, random question... how do you feel about facial hair?”
“On me? Veto and scheduling an urgent waxing appointment. On other women? You do you, boo. On a guy? It depends. Are we talking neat and cared for, or full-on, scraggly bird’s nest with lunch left buried in it?”
“The first, of course!” I answer with a laugh.
“Then no.” She grins, having gotten me good. “To be fair, it was a no either way. Why?”
“Oh,” I say sadly. “I have a friend who’s recently single and thought—”
She interrupts me, holding a palm up. “And veto that too. The last thing I need is to be set up on a blind date. Not only no, butHell. No.”
It sounds like there might be bad history there, but either way, hearing her solid disinterest, I don’t press. Instead, I nod. “I get it. No worries.”
Chance sees the opening, though, and jokes, “I don’t know, Kayla. A blind date where they don’t know what they’re getting into might be the only way. Because a guy would have to have big, clanging, brass ones to approach you. You’re kinda intimidating, in case you didn’t know.”
Kayla blinks twice, feigning vacancy before delivering a death blow. “You are intimidate-ed. Men are intimidate-ed. That doesn’t mean I am intimidate-ing. It’s a failure on their part, not a weakness in mine.”
Samantha reaches across the table and high-fives Kayla. “Damn straight.”
Chance chuckles. “So big, brass ones is what you’re looking for, then? Noted.”
Kayla shrugs carelessly, laughing back. “If that’s what it takes.”
I think diamond-hard, boulder-sized balls of pure courage is more like it, but I keep that to myself, too impressed by—and maybe a bit scared of—Kayla to tease her. Instead, I give her an out of the conversation I unintentionally started. “Anybody want apple pie? It’s not Grandma Beth’s, but it’s her recipe,” I brag, placing my hand on Cole’s shoulder.
“You made apple pie? Grandma’s apple pie?” Kyle echoes incredulously. “Fuck yeah, I want some of that. Bring it on!” He picks up his fork and holds it at the ready, grinning at Cole with childlike excitement.
“You get the last piece,” Cole declares. “Otherwise, no one else’ll get any.”
“Fair enough,” Kyle agrees with no shame.
CHAPTER24
COLE
