Family Ties

Christy’s tone was completely at odds with my appearance, so I understood Wren’s reaction.

“She’ll tell you,” I said to Wren. Then I went back out to the Cruiser for more luggage.

The girls had moved to the kitchen when I returned with the first load, so I headed straight upstairs and dropped the suitcases in Christy’s room. I took one more trip to get the last two and then hauled our smaller ones and carry-on bags upstairs as well.

I finally joined them in the kitchen, where Christy was eating a snack and still talking about our visit.

Wren stopped her. “You still haven’t told me what happened to Paul. Was he in a fight?”

I slid into the chair next to Christy and filched a carrot. “Sort of. It was pretty one-sided, though. Just two hits.”

Wren’s eyebrows twitched up.

“He hit me and I hit the ground.”

Her eyes widened even further.

“It really wasn’t that bad,” I said. “Christy’s brother Rich and I had a little disagreement.”

I grinned at Christy. “You wanna tell her or should I?”

“I sort of fell asleep in Paul’s bed.”

Wren’s reaction was a perfect mix of glee and amusement.

We told her the story in pieces between us. We left out the part about fooling around, but Wren wasn’t stupid. She could read between the lines, and her expression practically glowed with delight.

“Anyway,” I finished, “that’s how I got the shiner. Rich and I sort of reached a truce after that. He doesn’t like me and I don’t really like him.” I shrugged an apology at Christy. “But we aren’t actively trying to kill each other, so that’s something.”

“Rich likes you fine,” Christy said. “He’s just protective.”

“I am not,” she said indignantly.

“Yeah, you are. Sorry, honey.”

Wren’s eyes flashed at the last word, but I plowed ahead as if I hadn’t noticed.

“Rich and I will eventually see eye to eye—no pun intended—but not any time soon.”

“You don’t know him like I do,” Christy said. She had her rose-colored glasses firmly in place, so I decided not to argue with her.

“The rest of our visit was fine,” I said to Wren. “Good times with family, moonlit walks on the beach—”

“Very romantic,” Wren agreed.

“Lots of food and drink,” I added. “Oh… and one marriage proposal.”

Wren’s eyebrows flew up, exactly how I’d hoped.

“Oh my gosh!” Christy gushed. “I forgot to tell you. It was so romantic!

Danny had it all planned…”

I chuckled to myself as Wren realized what I’d done. She was stuck between being annoyed with me for the bait-and-switch or excited for Christy and her brother. She eventually settled on excited, although I could tell that she was already planning her revenge. She really didn’t like being one-upped.

Christy eventually wound down, and Wren fought off another yawn.

“We’d better let her get to bed,” I said to Christy. “It’s two in the morning here. We’re still on San Diego time.” Our bodies had finally gotten used to Pacific time just in time for us to return to Eastern. “Getting late for us too, though.”

“Well,” Wren said through another yawn, “I’m glad you made it home safe. It sounds like you had fun.”

“I’ll tell you about our trip tomorrow. It was good. A little stressful, but good.” She stood and looked anxious for a moment, like she couldn’t decide

I caught her eye and gave a discreet nod toward Christy.

She smiled and thanked me silently. Then she bent to kiss Christy’s temple. Anyone else would have thought it was a friendly gesture, but I knew how much affection it held.

“Goodnight,” she said to her. “Glad you had a good trip. See you in the morning.”

“See you in the morning,” Christy echoed.

Wren moved behind me and kissed my cheek. “I’ll get you for that,” she whispered, playful instead of malicious. She straightened and said in a normal voice, “Glad you made it home safe. Sleep tight.”

I touched her hand on my shoulder. “You too.”

She headed toward the stairs and bed.

“Do you wanna have a nightcap before we go up?” Christy asked.

“No,” I said immediately. “Thank you. I think I need to dry out for a couple of days. Your family doesn’t do anything in half-measures.”

“No,” she agreed with a laugh, “we’re pretty much overachievers.”

“You can say that again.”

She grinned at the deliberate straight line. “We’re pretty much overachievers.”

“Exactly. Now come on, Little Bit. Time for bed.”

“Together or separate?” she teased. “I know,” she added quickly,

“separate. Baby steps.”

We turned out the lights and went upstairs. Then we lingered at her bedroom door.

“I had fun this weekend,” I said. “I like your family.”

“I’m glad. I knew you would.” She smiled up at me hopefully, and I bent to give her a kiss. She hugged me after and pressed her cheek to my chest.

Then she inhaled deeply and sighed.