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‘William?’ Evelyn asked, and our focus turned to her. ‘Surely you mean after dinner?’
He gave her a distracted nod and settled back down. ‘Of course.’
Feeling like I’d somehow disappointed him, I shifted in my seat.
While I was confused about William’s reaction, Evelyn must’ve gotten up from her seat, because the next thing I knew she was walking around the table towards me. And much to my surprise, she bent down and wrapped her arm around my neck, giving me a warm hug from behind. I lost my words and felt a slight flush on my cheeks.
‘Congratulations, sweetheart. New beginnings are always exciting.’
She pulled back, and I peered up at her with a small smile on my lips.
She grinned down at me and lightly cupped my cheek in a motherly way. ‘I was hoping we’d get to see you around more since William mentioned you so much, but I’m sure you’ll do great in California. Do you know anyone in the area?’
‘Thank you,’ I murmured. ‘My best friend lives there with her fiancé so I won’t be alone,’ I explained, but I was mostly stuck at the William mentioned you so much bit. I needed to text Valerie asap.
‘How come Pepperoni’s name is Pepperoni?’ Ivy piped up from her seat at the end of the table, next to her dad.
Mentally I shook off the questions swirling in my head and tried to focus on Ivy. ‘The first night I adopted him we ordered ourselves pizza to celebrate and I learned that he was a pepperoni stealer. So I thought it fit. I call him Pepp.’
‘Pepp,’ she repeated, scrunching up her nose as if she were sniffing the air. ‘I like Pepp too.’
The handsome boy in question lifted his head up and thumped his tail a few times before putting his head on my shoe and falling back asleep.
‘Did you buy me a present, Charlie?’ Ivy asked next.
Both Beth and Nico interrupted before I could answer.
‘We talked about this, Ivy. Not everyone will get you presents.’
Her red lips turned downward. ‘But it’s my birthday. When is she gonna buy me a present if not on my birthday?’
‘Well,’ I started before Beth could say anything else. ‘I do have a present for you. It’s from Pepp and me.’
Her mood picked up immediately and she was all smiles. ‘Can I see it now?’
I sighed. ‘Your Uncle Willie told me you were a little sneaky with presents so I left it in the car.’
She sent a powerful William’s way, which looked funny more than anything. ‘Uncle Willie, I’m not sneaky. I only got a little excited and opened your present early once. If you didn’t want me to open it why would you leave it in the kitchen? It wasn’t my fault, right, Mom? Tell Charlie it wasn’t my fault.’
I peered at William, but he looked preoccupied.
The rest of the dinner was nothing but laughter and smiles, and while half the time I envied what they had since my family dinners were the exact opposite of this, the other half I was really happy William had brought me along with him because it had been a long time since I’d had that much fun. And it only solidified the fact that I wanted and needed a big change in my life so I could feel this kind of happiness every day.
It was around 8.00 p.m. and William was getting a few things ready and wrangling the team around for a video call, where we were going to try our best to make sure they wouldn’t realize we were together in his family home since no one else had been invited. I was in the kitchen talking to Kay, Elijah and Evelyn. Beth and her family had already left with a sleepy and excited Ivy, with the promise of showing up early the next day to help with the party preparations.
‘Do you want milk in your coffee, Charlie?’ Evelyn asked.
‘Yes, please. Thank you so much for everything, Evelyn. Dinner was amazing.’
Smiling, she glanced back at me over her shoulder. ‘Any time. I’m glad you could come. And tomorrow after the birthday party is over we’re going to celebrate your new job.’
‘Oh, that’s not necessary at all. Tonight was a celebration on its own.’
She walked towards me and handed me my coffee cup. ‘Nonsense. We’ll just have some drinks around the fire in the back. It’ll be cosy. Trust me, you’ll need cosy and quiet after the madness that will be tomorrow.’
Feeling a little embarrassed with the attention, and not knowing what to say, I nodded. ‘Thank you so much.’
‘I’ll go and get your room ready.’
I put my mug down. ‘Please let me help. I don’t want to be more trouble than I already am.’
‘It will only take me a few minutes, trust me. Plus William will come looking for you any minute now. I got this.’
