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Hearing his name, her seven-year-old Great Dane ambled over and nudged her thigh with his ginormous nose. She scratched his head and watched Andy walk out. “Whew,” she said to the dog. “That one was a little awkward. Anywho, you ready to go?”
Charlie’s sweet eyes met hers, and just like the first moment she saw him, her insides melted. After Lucy, her twin sister and next-door neighbor, got married, Lizzie found she had a lot more time on her hands. At the suggestion of Emma, another sister, she’d gone to the shelter looking for a friend. It had been exactly a month since Lizzie had fallen in love with Charlie. The only male to ever capture her heart so completely. Now, he was her constant shadow.
“Later, guys,” Lizzie said to her employees. “Call if you need anything.”
Charlie jumped into the back of her Jeep, and Lizzie buckled him into his doggie seatbelt. “You’re such a good boy,” she cooed, getting into the driver’s seat. “Maybe Kate and Adam will bring Duke and Luna to dinner. Would you like that?”
Kate was another sister who had married recently. Although, there was no longer any point in differentiating sisters by whether they were married. As of last month,all fourwere hitched. Lizzie remained the lone single Parker sister. Her mother didn’t pressure her overtly, but Lizzie knew she worried. Her being thirty and all.
Thankfully, her siblings had gotten straight down to business producing grandkids—three this year—which took some heat off Lizzie’s singleness.
She pulled up to her parents’ mini-mansion. Judging by the cars in the driveway, she was the last to arrive. Damn it, that meant all the good hors d’oeuvres were gone. She encouraged Charlie to pee in the front grass before heading inside.
Every Sunday was the same. Lizzie’s sisters, their husbands and babies, her Nana, and now her cousin Bella, gathered ‘round a burgeoning table and stuffed their faces with whatever deliciousness her mother made. With the exponential growth of the family, and to take some of the burden off their mom, they’d converted to a semi-potluck style dinner.
“I’m here,” Lizzie called out, hoisting a box of wine bottles. “Party can start now.” As a bartender, her standing potluck contribution was the booze.
Nana, wearing a T-shirt that read, “I want the job where I push scared skydivers out of the plane,” appeared from nowhere, holding a wine glass. “Finally,” she said. “Whatcha got?”
“Two reds, two whites, and a rosé,” Lizzie said. “Pick your poison.”
Once everyone had their food and drink, they settled in at the table, and the battle was on. Lizzie’s father called it conversation combat—everyone talking at once, over, under, and around each other. If you had something important to say, you had to come in armed for a fight.
“Lizzie,” her mother said. “You bringing anyone to Thanksgiving dinner?”
“Oh,” Lizzie said. “Probably not. Andy had to be let go this afternoon, so my slate’s clean.”
“Let go…” Emma laughed.
“You make him sound like an employee. What’d this one do?” her dad asked. That opened up a can of all the wacky reasons she’d ever dumped a guy.
“Coughed or yawned too loud?” Kate guessed. “I think you broke up with one of each.”
“Bad breath?” Emma’s husband, Dirk, said. “Bad driver? Bad kisser?”
“Doesn’t know all the words to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’?” Daisy asked.
“Sewed his own clothes?” Lucy said. “That guy was awesome.”
“Only ate foods that were green?” Adam said.
“Wouldn’t sneeze in front of anyone?” her mom said.
“Thought Stevie Nicks was a man?” Lucy’s husband, Jack, asked.
“Mistook your dog for a horse?” Daisy’s brand-new husband, Noah said.
“Never mind,” her dad mumbled. “Sorry I asked.”
“I think they’re making fun of you, Lizzie,” Nana said. “Not sure if you caught that.”
“Yes. Thank you, Nana,” Lizzie said, rolling her eyes. “Y’all are hilarious. And wrong. He wanted me to meet his parents after two dates.”
“Geez, Lizzie. How many guys have you broken up with?” Lizzie’s cousin Bella asked.
“A few,” Lizzie said at the same time Lucy said, “Countless.” She shot her twin a dirty look.
“Oh, remember that guy that carried a purple rabbit’s foot everywhere?” Emma said.
