Page 30 of Country Road Romance

“I cannot believe this,” Jared said. “Mother, did you call anyone?”

Joyce put her hands in the air. “I promise that it wasn’t me. Besides, when would I have had the chance to call or tell anyone? You’ve been with me the whole time since you got home.”

I guess this is just some cosmic joke at my expense,Charlie thought wryly.

Jared shook his head. “Honestly, this family. Doesn’t anyone ever bother to announce when they’re going to be dropping by for a visit? And yes, mother, I know how ironic it is that I am the one saying that.”

“When you’re as right as I am, you don’t have to say anything. People just get it.”

Jared rolled his eyes at that.

“I guess there’s no getting around it. Can we just do the best we can to make sure that everyone keeps this to themselves? In case you missed the memo, the whole reason that we’re here is so that Charlie can lie low for a few days and let the chaos of the past day blow over. That’s not likely to happen if everyone in the family tells everyone else who isn’t here that Charlie Garrett is in your kitchen.”

Joyce looked like she was going to have something smart to say, but Doug deftly intervened, which Charlie had a feeling was a fairly regular occurrence in this household.

“Don’t worry, son. We’ll make sure that everyone knows to keep their lips sealed. You can trust us.”

Jared still looked skeptical about that particular claim, but thankfully he didn’t push the issue.

Soon enough the Russells’ small house was filled to bursting with a surprising number of people. It turned out that both Doug’s brother and Joyce’s sister had shown up, along with their kids. It was immediately clear to Charlie that this was a family that truly cared about each of its members, as everyone smiled and asked all of the right (and thoughtful) questions.

One of them, a young woman who seemed to be about Charlie’s and Jared’s age, sauntered up to him.

“So, you’re Charlie Garrett,” she said nonchalantly.

“I am,” he said, trying to keep from blushing. “And you would be?”

“I’m Hannah. And before you ask anything else, I’m Jared’s favorite cousin and his protector. If you want to do anything to him or hurt his feelings, you’re going to have me to answer to.”

“Trust me. The last thing that I would ever want to do is hurt Jared’s feelings. He’s…,” he tapered off, not quite sure just howmuch he was willing to say to this person he had just met and who was already giving him a very intense look.

She snorted, as if she knew what he was thinking and what he didn’t dare say out loud.

“So it’s that way already, is it? I can’t say that I blame you. Jared is pretty great, even if he has a hard time seeing it sometimes. I meant what I said, though. If you even think about hurting him in any way, I will make it my life’s mission to make sure that you never have a moment’s peace. Do I make myself clear?”

He gave her what he hoped wasn’t too mocking of a salute. “Yes, captain!”

“Oh, knock it off. You might be Mr. Hollywood, but that doesn’t mean that you get to be dramatic here. Trust me, there are enough hams in this family without adding you into the mix.”

As they settled into a conversation, Charlie felt a warm feeling flowing through him, and it took him a few minutes to figure out just what it was.

It felt like home.

CHAPTER 9

So far, Charlie meeting his parents (and several other members of the family) hadn’t been quite the nightmare that Jared had been expecting. He wasn’t sure just how much any of them knew about Charlie’s sexuality, but he thought he could see some knowing looks among several of the cousins.

There goes Jared again,he could almost hear them saying,trying to hook up with someone who is so far out of his league as to basically be on another planet.

He wanted to shout at them that that was definitely not what was happening, that he had no romantic interest whatsoever in Mr. Charlie Garrett, but he decided against it, both because they wouldn’t believe him and because he wasn’t sure he would have believed it himself. Leaning against the kitchen counter and watching the effortless way that Charlie navigated the family–sharing a story about his own upbringing in the country with his mother, telling his dad some arcane story about the nuts and bolts of filming, or making faces at some of the younger members of the family–Jared couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. As he’d said to Charlie, pretty much every person he’d ever brought home to see his family had looked down on themin one way or another, so his behavior made for a refreshing change.

I guess that doesn’t say much about my own choices regarding significant others.

“So, cuz, you finally brought home a movie star. I gotta say that I didn’t think you had it in you.’

Hannah sidled up to him, smiling sarcastically in the way that she’d perfected. She was always the one who was willing to tell the uncomfortable truths that everyone else was content to just let slip by.

“I wouldn’t say that ‘I’ve brought him home’…,” he began.

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