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“Nothing’s wrong.” I shook my head. “My mom wants to know if I’m bringing you all back for Sunday dinner.”
Tina shrugged. “Sounds fun.”
Funwas not the word I’d use to describe my family. “But we don’t have to.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Yeah, if you don’t want to…”
Shit. We weren’t doing this again. We’d danced around things before, and that hadn’t ended well. So I’d lay it out there. Because in truth, having them there would make my family more tolerable. Everything was better, simpler, easier when Tina was around. My stomach knotted at the thought of having to leave her in less than a week. Even though I had to—I wasn’t the type of person to quit or back out of commitments—I was sure it would be the hardest thing I’d ever have to do.
I placed my hand on her leg and waited for her to look at me again. “No. I want to. But my family’s a lot. I just want to make sure you’re okay with it.”
She smiled. “I like your family. They don’t bother me, and I’m sure Callie would?—”
“Will Sophia be there?” Callie turned to us, her eyes filled with hope.
I laughed as Tina narrowed her gaze on her daughter.
“What?” Callie retorted.
“It’s not polite to eavesdrop,” Tina shot back.
“It’s not eavesdropping if we can hear you.” Callie rolled her eyes.
I had to bite back a laugh. She would be a fun teenager, but she also wasn’t wrong.
“Yeah, she’ll be there,” I offered.
“Cool. I vote yes, then.”
Thirty minutes later, we stepped into my parents’ house, and immediately, all my senses went on high alert. The noise, the people, the general chaos, were too much to tune out.
Beside me, Tina ran her hand over my shoulder and gave me a soft smile. Some of the chaos faded away, and I felt like I could breathe again. I took one more deep breath in and placed my hand on the small of her back, then I led her into the house.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
TINA
The momentwe walked in the door, Kyle went rigid. I couldn’t pinpoint the cause of the tension suddenly oozing from him, and before I could ask if he was okay, his shoulders loosened a little and his breathing evened out.
Callie made a beeline for Sophia, and the two of them sat in the living room to the left. Teddy joined Brendan on the floor with the biggest container of Legos I’d ever seen, and Kyle and I made our way to the kitchen.
Miranda looked up as we stepped through the entryway, pausing with a dish hovering over the island. Ashley and Hattie shot us matching smiles while they picked up dishes andshuffled through another entryway that was half covered by a large wooden barn door.
“Perfect. You’re here.” Miranda smiled. “Dinner is almost ready. Kyle, can you carry the roast in for me?”
“No problem.”
“Can I help with something?” I asked after Kyle disappeared through the door his sisters had stepped through a moment ago.
She scanned the remaining clutter on the island and shook her head. “No, I have everything covered. Just waiting for the rolls to finish in the oven.” She moved to the fridge and stuck her head inside. “What would you like to drink? I have lemonade, sweet tea, and water.”
“Sweet tea, please.”
When the oven timer went off and Miranda had transferred the rolls to a basket, I followed her to the dining room, sweet tea in hand.
Kyle thought his family was a lot to take in, but they were great at making people feel welcome. I’d never been here before, yet it was natural. Even my kids fit in seamlessly.
As dinner wound down, I set my fork beside my plate and stifled a groan. I’d had enough food to last me a lifetime. The room was filled with laughter as Rhett, Kyle, and Jackson filled us all in on the shenanigans they and the boys had gotten into while building the bat house the day before.
