Excerpt

Rhoswen

My knee jiggles up and down. I glance down to the flash cards sitting in my lap. When I realized this was it—the big introduction—I spent days recalling all the names and stories he’s shared over the last year. Each of his family members has their own card which is then cross referenced by different cards for the subfamilies within the village trial I’m about to willingly subject myself to.

Scrubbing my thumb back and forth across the ink I think, If this isn’t love, I don’t know what is. Outwardly, I expel my breath before I murmur, “No sweat.”

He reaches over and covers my ice cold hands with his enormous one. His voice is mild when he remarks, “You’re going to rub the ink off those cards.”

I don’t bother to look at them. “Not possible. I wrote them in Sharpie.”

He hums, and just the sound relaxes something that’s been coiled tight inside of me. “Right. Your favorite.”

“They’re in purple; not blue. So they’re not quite my favorite,” I blurt out.

He takes his eyes off the road for just a moment to catch my gaze. “Since when did blue become your favorite color?”

My lips curve into a helpless smile. “Since I met you. Your eyes are so shocking against the color of the sky.”

He returns his eyes to the road, but lifts one my hands to his lips. Pressing a kiss to the back of it, he asks, “Is there anything I can do to help you relax? We’re almost there.”

Horrified, I realize we’re even with the white fencing—fencing I know lines a massive farm that was restored by this truly remarkable family that accepted the man I love. I blurt out, “Quiz me. One last time.”

I hear the fond exasperation in his voice, “Rhoswen.”

“Please.” Even I can hear the panic in my voice.

Still, he slows a little. “All right, but after this, you have to relax. They’re going to love you.”

“You’re being optimistic.”

“No, I just know them.” He pauses. “Okay. Who is related to who?”

Immediately, I recite, “The main six siblings are your Freemans. In age order, they descend from Phil to Cassidy to Emily. Then there’s a small gap before Alison, Corinna, and Holly who are all the same age but a few months apart.” I take a deep breath. “The siblings all own and work at Amaryllis Events.”

He encourages me. “Go on.”

“Phil is married to Jason, a doctor. Cassidy met her husband, Caleb, when he came in to plan his brother, Ryan’s, wedding. Alison is married to Cassidy’s biological brother—one she didn’t know she had until she was an adult. His name is Keene.”

Something is grumbled about Keene. Ignoring him, I go on, “Corinna is married to Colby Hunt. Emily to Jacob Madison, who is a school teacher here in Fairfield County.”

“You’ll get along with him great.”

Now it’s my turn to mutter, “I hope so.” I round out the main siblings by concluding, “Holly is married to Joseph Bianco, assistant chief of the Collyer Fire Department.”

He slows down even further. “See? You’ll do just fine.”

“I turned the fundamentals of their lives into a final exam in seven days.”

“Because you want to make a good first impression.”

I hold up my pack of cards and demand, “Less sucking up and more quizzing.”

“I’d like to suck…”

I shove at his shoulder. “Quiz me!”

“Okay.” He thinks. “Who is most likely to offer unsolicited life advice before you take your coat off?”

“Phil,” I answer immediately.

“Correct. Come to think of it, he’d give it to a stranger.”

“Next?”

“Who do you not sit near during dinner unless you want your clothes ruined?”

“Emily. If she spews, I’m in the potential splash zone.” I recall the stories I was told about how inevitably she laughs so hard her drink ends up on her older brother.

He praises me. “So smart.” Thinking, he tries a tougher one. “Which family member has twins?”

“You mean which three. Cassidy, Alison, and Corinna all have twins of differing sex and age.”

“Who will always have a camera in their hand?”

I scoff. “That’s easy. Holly. She’s a professional photographer.”

He places the truck in Park. “Final question.”

I brace.

“Who do we never let near electronics?”

A smile creases my face when I cup his cheek. “Phil because he’ll screw up whatever he touches.”

“You’ve got them all right, Rhoswen.” He leans down and presses his forehead against mine. “You’re ready to meet them.”

My shoulders relax a fraction but that’s before he adds, “I just don’t know if Mitch and Austyn made it back in town. If they are, well, then this becomes a whole different thing.”

My eyes dart across his face like a frightened racehorse in the starting gate. “What do you mean?” Ripping myself away, I flip through the cards at a manic speed. “I…I don’t have notecards for the Kensington branch of your family. I focused on the Freemans. You told me to focus on the Freemans!”

I’m someone who does well when I have a chance to prepare for the inevitable. I don’t know how the man next to me was a SEAL for as long as he was. Forget Hell Week; panic would have had me washing out when they asked me my name and rank. But then I realize I had a year to prepare for this. A year of quiet dinners, weekend trips. Early mornings where I woke up and found his beloved face on the pillow next to mine.

A year of him choosing me over and over in small ways that now culminate in me accepting him in a huge one.

Brushing a piece of hair off my brow, he reassures me, “Rhoswen? I haven’t been a monk since my last marriage ended.”

My lips press together. Even though I haven’t lived the colorful life my man has, something painful needles me just below the sternum when this topic arises. “I know.”

“I’ve never brought anyone home to meet the family.”

My jaw falls open. “You haven’t?”

He shakes his head decisively. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because the only person who should meet my family is family.”

I absorb the gorgeous feelings his words flood me with before I blurt out, “No one’s ever mattered enough that I made flash cards so I didn’t humiliate myself.”

He brushes his lips over mine. “Years from now, I’ll be reminding you of this very moment.”