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“Oh my god, Colt, no!” she exclaimed, cheeks flushing red. “I was going to say even though they’re married!”
“My bad,” Colt said.
Dad looked as if he were fighting a smile, and Carol had turned her head away and covered her mouth.
I leaned over to Beck, murmuring, “Colt told me she wanted to come support us when we texted. I tried to talk them out of it.”
“She’s doing a great job,” Beckett replied, sounding fond. “Even if we don’t really need the help.”
It was no wonder Andi was expecting more of a fight. Dad had a couple of weeks to get used to the possibility we’d gotten married, but Andi—and the rest of us—were struggling to catch up with the idea that he knew and accepted the truth.
“Why aren’t you mad?” she finally asked, sounding confused.
Dad smiled. “Maybe I’m just proud to see my daughter fighting for her family.” He looked over at us. “I’m proud of you guys too. I know I came down hard when I thought you’d messed up. But the truth is, I was feeling guilty for putting everything on your shoulders.”
“You wanted us to prove ourselves,” I said. “We understood.”
He shook his head. “You shouldn’t have to prove anything. You’ve been doing most of the work to run this company for years. And even if I do sign over the business, I’ll still be available as a resource for you, which is what I should have been throughout this whole process. And it’s what I’m going to be now.” He looked at his wife. “Carol, break out the coffee. We have some work to do, me and the boys, to figure out this water drainage issue.”
She nodded. “Sure, thing. You want some pie too?”
“Is that even a question?”
She smiled and kissed his cheek, then left the room.
* * *
We’d all just duginto a delicious strawberry-rhubarb pie Carol had bought from The Diner when a sleepy-eyed guy wandered in, sun-bleached brown hair mussed from bed, skin a golden tan, a cute spray of freckles over his nose.
It took me a second to place him, but then Beckett’s eyes widened, and he exclaimed, “Holy shit,Fisher? I can’t believe you’re here!”
He jumped up, making his chair scrape loudly, and tackled his cousin in a hug.
Fisher laughed, his whole face lighting up. “I needed to get away from that place.”
Carol said quietly, “Man problems.”
Fisher pulled out of Beckett’s embrace. “I heard that, but no, there’s no man problems. For man problems, there’d have to be a man.” His eyes narrowed, his expression broadcasting irritation. “And as far as I’m concerned, that man does not exist.”
Beckett caught my eye, a slight smirk on his face, even as he patted Fisher’s arm in solidarity. “You’ll find the right man eventually.”
“I guess.” Fisher cast his gaze around the room, taking each of us in. His gaze lingered on me the longest, making me wonder what Beckett had told him. “I thought family dinner was tomorrow night?”
We all exchanged glances, laughing.
“This is just a preview,” Carol said, smiling. “These guys have a work problem to hash out tonight, but I’m still planning a meal for tomorrow so you can get a proper welcome when you’re fully awake.”
Beckett returned to his seat by me, a grin on his face. “We’ll be here. Fish and I have tons to catch up about.”
Fisher eyed how closely Beckett sat to me, and I realized we didn’t have to hide anything, so I pressed a quick kiss to Beckett’s temple. “Yep. Lots going on around here.”
“I see that,” he murmured, eyebrow arching.
We finished our pie, Andi and Colt said their goodbyes, and Fisher went back to bed. Eventually, it was just Dad and us, a laptop, and our park plans so we could hash out a solution together.
Working as a team once again.
CHAPTER27
