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Removing the dress from the hanger, he held it up and said, “If you don’t go with me, I will just tell my mom and my aunt that you couldn’t come to Easter dinner because you were too embarrassed after we had sex.”
Her eyes widened. “You would not!”
“Yes, I would.” He plopped the dress over her head with a sexy grin.A damn sexy grin!
“You are an awful person, Mathias.”
“And you are beautiful in that dress, but your hair looks like you just had sex. You had better fix that.” He waved his fingers at her head.
Turning to go into her bathroom, she mumbled to herself again in Russian. And not about how much she was going to enjoy dinner at his aunt’s house. She would not give him the satisfaction.
By the time she felt she was presentable, and Mathias had ushered her out of her apartment, she had only been home for around forty-five minutes. So, when they drove up to his aunt and uncle’s house, the meal wasn’t even on the table. It was still around an hour from being ready.
When they walked through the door, Mathias announced to the women in the kitchen, “I brought her. Now leave me alone.”
Tess watched him walk into a room full of men looking into a corner.Must be the living room, she thought. She turned toward the women in the kitchen who were all looking at her. “This is not awkward.”
“See? I told you he would do it,” Mandy said from a barstool at the island.
Until then, it hadn’t dawned on Tess that Mandy and Mathias were siblings—they were like twins. Neither of them had said anything about it, and she hadn’t put two and two together until that moment. For a moment, she wondered who else she knew in town was a part of this family, but dismissed the thought. She didn’t know that many people in town.
“I owe you money, Mandy.” Mia grinned from the kitchen with a woman who must be her mom, based on the similarities between the two.
Walking over to Mandy, she sat down next to her on the open stool. With everyone’s eyes still on her, Tess hoped she didn’t look like she had just had sex. Which only was in her head because Mathias had said it because she hadn’t had sex hair when she had gone into the bathroom earlier. Which meant she didn’t have it now. She touched her hair to make sure, just in case.
“How did he get you here?” Mandy asked with a knowing grin.
“A lot of yelling and some possible idol threats,” Tess replied to her friend. She could tell everyone in the room was listening.
Mandy laughed. “That’s how he gets me to do stuff too.”
From the living room area, a woman rushed to the kitchen. “Math said he apologized, and that Tess is here.”
“Mom, this is Tess.” Mandy pointed at her. “Tess, this is my mom, Dolly.”
Tess turned to the woman she could tell immediately who had given her children their looks. Holding out her hand, she said, “Hello, Mrs. Nordskov, I am Tess Thorn.”
Dolly took her hand and laughed. “We aren’t so formal around here; just call me Dolly. That’s my sister, Dotty. You already know Mia, and my Kit is here somewhere.”
“Mrs. Lawson, are your other girls here today?” Tess asked. Mia was one of six girls.
“Just Mia and Kipling; she’s in the living room, sleeping. Call me Dotty.” Tess knew that Kipling was the baby of Mia’s family. The teenager wasn’t immune to her sister’s gossipy ways, after all. Everyone in town knew that Kipling and her longtime boyfriend were no more. The other four sisters lived in other towns around the area, and Mia didn’t say much about them.
“So not everyone comes home for the holiday?” Tess asked the room. It seemed odd that everyone wasn’t there, but then again, she wasn’t always there for her family functions. Everyone else was, though.
“No. Those who can will, and those who can’t. Well, they don’t.” Dolly laughed.
“Does your family all get together? Mia said you celebrate next weekend?” Dotty asked.
“Yes, it is next weekend, and I am the only one who lives a distance. But I have always been able to make it home for Easter.”
Dolly smiled at Tess. “Where are you from?”
“New Paris, Minnesota,” she answered as she saw Math walking into the kitchen to get a snack off the table.
“I’ve never heard of it,” Dotty replied.
“It is down by Rochester,” Tess stated.
