Page 63 of This Time I'm Keeping You
The back door opened, and Aunt Jean walked out carrying a large plate of meat.She handed it to Nick.“Don’t burn them and make sure the temperature is up to heat before you start grilling.”
“This is not our first cookout, Aunt Jean.We’ve done this many times before, and still you don’t trust us,” Sam said.
“Yeah, what’s with that?”Nick asked with a smilebecause Aunt Jean wasn’t above cuffing him if he wasn’t polite.
He felt edgy after what happened at the hotel.Edgy and angry with no outlet.When they’d arrived at the party and Poppy was safe inside with his sisters, who had her wedged between them on the sofa, he’d needed to move.So, he’d walked out here.His brothers had followed.
“It’s my job to make sure you don’t burn the food, so don’t burn it,” his aunt said.“And I’m not letting your grumpy moods annoy me because you brought me my favorite author to talk to, and she said she’d sign the rest of my books.”
“How’s Poppy doing, Aunt Jean?”Nick asked.
“She’s okay, but that man needs to be caught so you can be happy together.”
Sam hooted after that statement.
“Now, Aunt Jean, don’t go building fairy tales around Nick and Poppy,” Thomas said before Nick could speak.“They’ve just reconnected.”
Their aunt had a sweet round face and bright red curls that were dyed in the Crimp and Cut salon every month.She always painted her lips a hideous orange, and despite having zero fashion sense like her brother, Nick’s dad, she somehow pulled it all off.
“Reconnected?”Her eyes shot from Thomas to Nick.“I didn’t know you were old friends.”
“Well, not exactly?—”
“Yes.They went to college together.”Sam picked up the story.“She was his college sweetheart.”
“Now wait a min?—”
“No!Really?”Aunt Jean clutched her chest.“Why did your father not tell me?”
“I think you should go ask him that and check on Poppy for Nick,” Sam said with a smirk.
She kissed their cheeks, patted Nick’s as well, and then left, hurrying back inside to the warmth.
“You think it’s funny, I suppose, that right now Aunt Jean has gone back inside to spread the word that Poppy and were college sweethearts and have found each other again.”He started forking up the steaks and tossing them on the grill.
“Hey, it’s not like it’s a lie.You were friends, and then you screwed it up.How do I know you didn’t secretly love her and she, you?”Sam said.
“Him, I expect that kind of shit from.You”—he jabbed the fork at Thomas—“I don’t.”
“Just having a little fun, Nicky, lighten up,” Thomas said with another fork in his hand.
The door opened again behind them, and Poppy appeared.Nick’s heart kicked up a beat at seeing her.She carried a tray with another plate of meat and three mugs.Luckily, his cousin had a huge grill.
“Your mother handed me this tray and told me I had to bring it out here.I think the mugs have hot apple cider in them,” she said, walking slowly to where they stood, trying not to drop anything.Her footwear had changed, he noted, and someone had pulled a gray wool hat with a white pom-pom onto her head.
“Lifesaver.”Thomas took a mug.
“Nice boots.I like the hat too,” Nick said, taking his drink so he didn’t grab her.The hat and pink cheeks from the cold looked cute on her.Something about this woman reached deep inside Nick and touched that place he hadn’t known was empty.“Who made you wear those?”Nick nodded to the fur-lined boots that were more suited for Alaska than city life.
“Your father.These belong to Suzie.He said my footwear was not suitable, and I could slip on a patch of ice.He then forced your cousin to get a hat for me too.”Poppy looked confused, like she wasn’t sure how it had happened that she was now wearing the boots and hat, which was the usual reaction to people being exposed to his family for the first time.
“No ice out here, but I bet your feet are toasty,” Thomas said.Poppy nodded.“I’ll go get some platters for the meat,” he added.
“I’ll help Thomas,” Sam said.
Nick didn’t roll his eyes as he watched his brothers leave so he and Poppy could be alone.Instead, he put down his drink and reached for her.
“Nick, your family is inside.”
