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I studied Erik Wilder—just as tall and imposing and gorgeous as the rest of them. “What is with your family’s gene pool? This is not normal.”
He laughed.
Erik and Lydia traded hugs with Greer and Poppy, and Lydia smacked Ian in the stomach as she passed to greet Tim and Sheila. Erik and Ian shook hands—a more reserved greeting than I’d seen between any of the siblings—but Ian softened when he took in the little girl in Erik’s arms. He smiled when she ducked away shyly.
“Isla must be your daughter,” he said cryptically. “She already doesn’t like me.”
Erik rolled his eyes. “She’ll get over that. We all do.” He moved past Ian and crouched down in front of Tim, kissing the top of his daughter’s head. “Want to go sit on Grandpa’s lap?” he whispered.
The happy chatter quieted down, and Adaline gave me a tiny wave from across the porch. Her eyes darted quickly down to my hand in Cameron’s, and her smile spread. She elbowed her fiancé, and he whispered something in her ear before kissing her temple.
Adaline’s attention moved from me and Cameron back to Tim and the baby.
Erik set her carefully on his dad’s lap, and we all laughed when she immediately tried to grab at the oxygen tubes snaked around his ears.
“Take that stupid thing off,” he said to Sheila without taking his eyes from his granddaughter. “Just for a few minutes.”
She sighed. “Stubborn man,” she said fondly, but she complied. Gently, she unhooked Isla’s chubby hands from around the tube and pulled it from around his head.
“There we go,” he said contentedly. “Aren’t you the prettiest girl in the world?” he whispered, then he gathered her body close to his chest and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her hair. “Yes, you are.”
Lydia snapped a few pictures, her eyes visibly shining. Her husband stood, wrapping his big arm around her shoulders.
Everyone on the porch watched the family’s youngest member bounce happily in her grandpa’s lap, and I heard a couple of sniffles.
Sheila discreetly wiped a tear from her cheek.
Poppy laid her head on Adaline’s shoulder, her other arm hooked around Ian’s waist.
It was such a heavy, private moment, and I felt like I was intruding.
Tim looked up, a tiny smile on his lips while he glanced at his family. “Oh come on now, I’m not dead yet. We better not blubber through every single moment this weekend, or I’ll go to the festival by myself.” He looked up at his wife with a wink. “You ready for her?”
Sheila approached eagerly. “Always.” Then she scooped the baby up in her arms and cuddled her tight. “Who’s hungry?”
Erik, Ian, Adaline, and Cameron all raised their hands immediately. Adaline’s fiancé laughed at the eager expression on her face.
Sheila raised her brows and tilted her head toward the house. “Great. You know how to feed yourselves. I have a baby to cuddle.”
When the laughter faded, Erik Wilder finally noticed me standing next to Cameron, and he narrowed his eyes. “Who’s this?”
All eyes swung to me, silence falling for an entirely different reason. I kept my chin level and imagined a giant fucking spotlight sweeping across a stage, the hot circle of light falling right onto me and Cameron.
Tim spoke up first. “She’s Cameron’s…” He took in the way I was pressed to his side, our hands clasped tightly. “Client,” he finished lamely. “Friend?” He gave the son holding my hand a wide-eyed look for help.
Cameron squeezed my hand, laughing quietly under his breath. “This is Ivy,” he said.
The skin of my cheeks was approaching surface of the sun level heat, even with his simple, no-frills announcement.
Poppy gave me an encouraging wink. “You’ll love her,” she proclaimed. “She offered to cuss everyone out when I was bitching about how you still treat me like a child sometimes.”
More than a few eyebrows shot up, and Greer had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. My eyes slammed shut, and I wondered how easy it would be to vault over the railing on the porch and hide in the woods.
“Thank you, Poppy,” I said. “This is exactly the kind of introduction I envisioned this morning.”
Greer lost her battle, snorting into her hand.
Cameron disentangled his hand from mine, sliding his arm immediately around my shoulder. “Well, that should tell you how great she’ll fit in,” he said easily.
