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“Spencer,” he said, shocked. “I expected you to be on my side.”
“Will, you yelled at me every day last week,” Spencer said, grinning at him. “Trust me, you were devastated.”
“Can we eat?” Lee asked. “The meatballs are going to be stone cold in about five seconds.”
“They’re fine,” Rissa said, slapping his hand away from the huge vat of meatballs she’d put on the table. Will led Gretchen past her father, and they sat next to him, facing Lee, Travis, and Shayla.
Clarissa cleared her throat. “Spencer and I have an announcement.” She slapped Travis with an oven mitt as he moaned.
“Shape up,” Shayla said crossly. “Your sister is trying to talk, and all you’re doing is delaying dinner even more.” She glared at him as the room fell into silence.
Gretchen stared at her, her mouth open slightly. Shayla moved her gaze off her fiancé’s, finally realizing that she’d caused the quiet in the farmhouse. Redness crept into her cheeks. “Go on, Rissa.”
“Thank you, Shay,” Rissa said. “Spencer and I are going to have a baby!”
If Gretchen thought the Coopers had been loud while the introductions got made, what with people yelling to each other, slapping oven mitts around, and scraping chairs, she’d been wrong.
Will whistled through his teeth, and that alone made Gretchen cringe away and clap her hands over her ears. Lee pounded his fists on the table, and Travis whooped like a police siren as he stood up and engulfed his younger sister in the biggest hug of the night.
Gretchen looked at Wayne and Chrissy, who both clapped with all they had. Chrissy wasn’t making much noise, but tears streamed down her face. Wayne got to his feet and raised both hands above his head. The noise subsided, but it took a few moments to happen.
“When is the baby coming?” he asked.
“November,” Rissa said, beaming at everyone. Travis sat back down, and Rissa turned to her husband. “We’re thrilled, and we can’t wait to share him or her with all of you.” Just as quickly as she’d transformed earlier, she picked up a pair of tongs and pointed them at Will. “You can’t get married in November. Or October for that matter.” She started to lower the tongs. “You know what, let’s just say no fall weddings. All right?”
Will’s mouth gaped, and then he scoffed. “I’m not going to get married in the fall.”
Gretchen reached for the napkin beside her plate. “We’re not?” she asked, and once again, the entire room went silent. She quite liked the power of that, and she calmly spread her napkin in her lap and looked right at Will. “So do you want a summer wedding or a winter wedding?”
“It’s kind of quick for summer nuptials,” Lee said, and Gretchen nodded seriously though she’d heard the teasing undertone in Lee’s voice. She shot him a smile and found him grinning too.
“It’s April already,” Travis said.
“I know what month it is,” Will sniped at him. He looked back to Gretchen. “I…don’t know what to say.” He picked up his napkin and snapped it open. “Can we eat already? Jeez, I’ve been starving for an hour.”
The whole room burst into laughter, Gretchen included. Will didn’t seem to think anything was all that funny, but she put her hand on his knee anyway. He smiled then, and she leaned her head toward his.
“I would marry you tomorrow,” he whispered among all the chaos of his family around them.
“Better get me a ring and get down on one knee then,” she said just as Wayne quieted everyone again so they could say grace.
