Page 83 of Every Move You Make

“Lord bless this meal that it may nourish our bodies and give us strength to honor your loving name. Thank you for this beautiful family you have blessed us with and for Dell’s new beau, Isaiah. May you bless their life together.”

Dell’s entire body shakes in silent laughter next to me.

“In your name we pray, Amen.”

“Amen,” everyone repeats.

“So what do you do, Isaiah?” Mary Ellen beams, taking slices of brisket from a large platter in front of her as the nose of a basset pokes over the table top.

“I coach women’s professional rugby. And I used to play too.”

“Oh,” she drawls. “I didn’t know you used to be a woman. Or transitioned, rather.”

“No,” I chuckle. “I used to playmen’sprofessional rugby.”

“Oh, well that’s nice, too. Brisket?”

I offer her my plate. “Please.”

“Our Steven here is also a head coach. Men’s basketball at the University of Kentucky. Very proud of him. Guess coaching runs in the family now,” she cheers.

“Liam, how’s the wife and kids?” Dell asks from beside me, pointing his fork to his five-year-old nephew with a sweet potato stuck to it.

He buries his head into Brook’s arm next to him, unable to respond. She gives a sympathetic shrug. “He’s really into musical instruments right now.”

“Oh yeah?” I ask, taking my plate back from Mary Ellen and adding some cornbread to it. “Do you know what an electric bass guitar is?” He nods excitedly. “That’s the instrument I play.”

“Oh yeah?” Dell asks beside me.

“I can play the piano,” Liam says, surprising everyone. “And the drums and the wookawawee.”

“Ukulele,” Steven clarifies. “He’s working on that one.”

“You can play all of those instruments?” I ask, genuinely impressed.

“Yeah! Can I show you? Can you come over to my house?”

“Sure,” I laugh. “I’d love that. You must be a really good musician like my brother, Jonah. He can play all the instruments.”

Liam’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. “He can?”

“Mhm. He has the ear for it.”

“I havetwoears!”

Suddenly there’s a strong, warm hand wrapping around my knee and I turn to find Dell’s dark brown eyes gleaming. The conversation around us breaks off into various tangents, and he leans into me. “I’ve been trying to get that boy to talk to me like that for years.”

“Really?”

“You should feel proud.”

“How can I not be?” I smirk. “I’m your new beau, remember?” He laughs quietly to himself, and before he can lean back into his chair, I add one more thing. “Also, I love how your accent comes back when you’re around them. Think you could turn it up a notch for me later?”

He leans back, pops a sweet potato in his mouth, and gives me a wink.

Chapter 36

Surprise

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