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“You are too good for me, Willa.” He paused, giving me a gentle squeeze when I opened my mouth to reply. “No one here will ever accuse you of being selfish or thinking too highly of yourself.”
My mouth snapped shut and he nodded in acknowledgement, his lips tight.
“No one here is going to try to cut you down. Everyone here loves you and loves themselves as well. No one will feel the need to make you feel small.”
Tears sprung to my eyes, and I blinked them back, laughing. “Oh my gosh, Barrett! Enough! I’m good. I’ll be good.”
His gorgeous swirling eyes smiled into mine. “You’re perfect.”
A gruffly amused, gritty voice interrupted, “Are you guys gonna come in or make out on the front lawn?”
Rhys stood in the doorway, his hands slung loosely at his hips, a grin on his too handsome face. I looked up at Barrett and lost my breath at the matching grin on his own. He looked down at me, giving me the full wattage for a moment before turning back towards Rhys.
“Why don’t you announce it to the whole house?” Barrett mock complained.
Rhys’s face split even further as he pointed towards the front window. “You mean those people who are watching through the window?”
Both Barrett and I looked at once to catch Bex, Mara and Jeanie framed in the picture window. Mara laughed and ducked away, Jeanie shook her head at her eldest’s antics, and Bex grinned and waved. I laughed and pulled out of Barrett’s arms. If Bex ever joined forces with Junie the planet would combust.
As soon as we stepped inside, Barrett’s dad, Calum, was there to greet us.
“Well! Come on over. Let’s get a look at you.”
“She’s not a horse, Calum!” Jeanie reprimanded him.
He winked at me then turned to his wife. “Well, of course she’s not a horse, Jeanie, any fool can see she’s not a horse! I just want to take a look at the woman who brought down the bear!”
Barrett blushed.
I had never seen him blush. I was enchanted. He looked cute and boyish in a way I had never seen him before, and I could almost imagine him as a child. I wondered what it would take to get Jeanie to haul out the family albums. I grinned up into his face as he shook his head at his dad, his lips curved slightly upwards.
Jeanie opened her arms for a hug, and I stepped inside her embrace.
“It’s good to see you, Willa. How are you, honey?”
“I’m good.” I smiled as she pulled back from me.
Jeanie was petite, like Mara and Bex, but she towered over me in spirit. She all but screamed, ‘I am Mama, hear me roar!’ I liked her even more than I had the first few times I’d met her.
Calum stood behind his wife, watching her with a smile on his face. Suddenly he boomed, “All right, woman, let me in!”
Jeanie rolled her eyes at me. “I apologize in advance for whatever Rhys and Calum do today. You’re lucky Barrett is like me,” she declared.
Rhys grabbed his chest in mock injury, and everyone laughed. Calum pulled me in for a brief hug and spoke gruffly, “It’s good to see you, Willa, happy for you and my boy.”
I embraced him back but was left wordless, unused to responding to such outright, unmerited approval.
Inside, Rhys handed Barrett a beer and they headed out to the back where Zale waited, supervising the kids.
Zale assessed me, as he usually did, when I came through the back door. I smiled and got the eye crinkle from my taciturn brother-in-law.
Calum mucked around preparing the grill, amused by the kids lolling on the grass letting the dogs climb on them.
Bex and I joined Mara on the lounge chairs, and I tucked myself in close to Mara on her seat. She pulled me close, her smile just as soft and warm as she was.
Mara was in a good place, and that gave me a sense of peace. We had come through a war of sorts together. Bex was our perfect counterpart, dragging us out of the mire when necessary, just as we had done for her when needed.
Push, pull, drag, hogtie, whatever it takes. That was our battle cry and the motto for our mutual admiration society. We did our level best to live up to its premise.
