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“Thanks.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze. She belonged there with him and his family. “I really appreciate you sticking around to help me through this.”
They hadn't had a chance to talk, but he vowed to have a serious discussion with her soon. She needed to know how much he cared. How much he'd fallen in love her.
Somehow, he needed to figure out a way to convince her to stick around, permanently.
Lindsey followed Austin back down to the family center, not sure if she was doing the right thing by staying with him in Milwaukee. All this togetherness was a bit much.
Yet it was difficult to convince herself to leave when he'd asked her so nicely to stay. Even though she felt like a fraud, pretending to be Austin’s girlfriend, she really loved being treated as part of the family.
Josh and Ben were back playing video games. Her stomach growled, betraying her hunger. They hadn't had much for breakfast, just a quick bagel that seemed like hours ago.
After a few minutes of trying to ignore her stomach, others began to admit they were hungry too. She pried Josh away from the video games as they made plans for lunch.
The Monroe clan trooped down to the hospital cafeteria together, the guys arguing over who's going to pick up the tab. In the end, each of the brothers jammed several twenty dollar bills into Aaron’s hand and he paid the tab, no doubt making up the difference out of his own pocket.
She found herself seated between Jillian and Amber, with Andrea and Krista directly across from her. Austin was at the other end of the table, next to the kids. She thought it was very clever the way the women maneuvered the kids to be near the men, shifting the parental responsibility just a bit.
In her opinion, it was good for the guys to share in the task of child rearing. Sam had been a good father to Josh, but he'd pretty much left most of the discipline and involvement in school to her.
When Austin got up from his seat to help cut up Ben’s food, she found herself wondering what sort of father he'd be. If he took after his father, Abe Monroe, she suspected he'd be wonderful.
“You know Ben looks a lot like Austin,” she mused, noting the stark family resemblance.
“In looks, yes, but hopefully not in temperament,” Andrea said with a frown. “At least, I hope not. Austin got into a lot of trouble when he was young.”
“He did?” For some reason that surprised her. Sure, Austin was known to have a reputation with the ladies, but she had always considered him to be very responsible.
“Absolutely.” Amber flashed a wicked grin as she joined the conversation. “I could tell you about the time he held a party at our neighbor's house when they weren't home because he had a key so he could water the woman's plants. Or maybe you'd rather hear about the time he hitchhiked down to Chicago because he wanted to see a rock concert but my parents had grounded him. Or maybe?—”
“Stop.” Lindsey held up a hand, trying not to laugh. “Really? He did all of that?” She shot Alice, the matriarch of the family seated at the head of the table, an awed look. “Your mother must be a saint.”
“She is,” Amber agreed. “Although only the boys gave her grief. I'm the angel of the family.”
“No, you're not,” Andrea interrupted. “I am.”
“The only thing I remember about Austin was that he had a different girlfriend every week during high school,” Krista, Adam’s fiancée, interjected with a dry tone. “All the girls mooned over him.”
“Yeah, well, that hasn't changed,” Andrea pointed out.
Lindsey was forced to agree. Just walking through the cafeteria, several women's gazes had followed him. She frowned, glancing at Austin’s sisters. “Are you saying Austin has never had a serious relationship?”
“That is correct.” Amber rolled her eyes. “Not for lack of trying, at least on the women’s part. He'd always been a bit of a loner, going out with lots of women but not really getting close to any of them.”
“I see.” Lindsey 's stomach clenched her appetite fading. So much for her theory that Austin had been seriously burned by a woman in the past.
“Do you?” Andrea raised a brow. “Because, honestly, Lindsey, you're the first woman he's introduced to the family. Like, ever.”
Shocked by the news, she could only gape. “The first?”
“Yes,” Amber agreed. “So even though you haven't been seeing him very long, we were hoping you were the one to bring him to his knees.”
“Amber,” Jillian said in a shocked tone. “That's not very nice. You really don’t want Lindsey or anyone to break his heart, do you?”
“Hey, he's the one known around town as the heartbreaker, not me.” Amber raised a hand in defense. “I just think it would be nice to meet the woman who finally brings my brother down.”
“Well you don’t have to worry, we’re not that serious,” Lindsey managed. “No one is getting a broken heart, here.”
“Too bad,” Amber murmured.
