Page 10 of Make it Real
“A project like that,” she finished.
That dread twisted, spiraling deep and locking in tight. Had we finally come to this? I’d thought she was on my side when it came to Pop’s pushing, but turns out she’d just been waiting for the right moment to strike. Appreciated the thought, but—no, I didn’t really appreciate it. Couldn’t think of anything I needed less than optimistic introductions to family friends.
“That’s awful generous of you, Marilyn, but it sounds like Ty and I have this handled. We’ll call Wade or Booker if we need to.”
“Now Jed, there’s no harm in—”
A baby’s angry cry interrupted Pop’s wheedling.
I tossed a thumb over my shoulder. “Maisie’s calling me. Let me know when you sort out the date for the work party.” I pointed at June. “And remember I called dibs on the flower man job. Don’t go giving that to the boys.”
June and Ty laughed, but Pop and Marilyn’s twin frowns proved their disappointment. They could go right on being disappointed. I saw no good reason to turn my sister’s wedding prep into an opportunity to be forced into a blind date. I hadn’t even planned on looking for a real plus-one, sure wasn’t about to let them choose a stranger to do the job.
Callie’s request for a fake relationship was starting to sound almost sane.
I spun around, heading away from the meddling twosome, but collided with the woman herself on her way someplace fast. She hopped backward, nearly falling against my uncle Joel before I took her shoulders to steady her.
“Sorry!” She looked up, her eyes tangling with mine, and her cheeks went pink.
“I’m the one who needs to watch where I’m going.” It took my brain a second too long to realize I still held her shoulders, her bare skin soft and warm beneath my fingertips, and I dropped my hands. “Are you cutting out already?”
“Ha, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” She forced a laugh and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I mean, don’t worry, you’re rid of me. I’m not going to stalk you or something.”
I lifted an eyebrow at that random piece of reassurance.
“Not that I could stalk you,” she went on, the color in her cheeks darkening to a delightful red. “You probably learned a whole bunch of evasive maneuvers in the Army. I bet you’re totally un-stalkable.”
She lightly punched me on the shoulder as if congratulating an old pal, then looked at her hand in horror and moved it behind her back. “I shouldn’t joke about stalking you, that’s weird. I’m not a stalker, despite strange requests in coffee shops. Which would have been more like pre-arranged stalking which isn’t even a thing and—you know what? I’m going to stop speaking now.”
I smiled over how she kept digging away at that hole she’d made. She sometimes let conversations get away from her, but this one took it to a whole new level. Kind of liked it.
I leaned a touch closer to her. “Just to confirm, it’s impossible to stalk me. My stealth military skills would never allow it.”
Her mouth twisted into a smile. “Called it.”
We stood there a beat like neither of us had anything better to do than smile away at each other, but she snapped out of it first. “I was going to get something from my car.”
“Right. Well—” I stepped aside, clearing her way to the door. “I’d better let you do it.”
She nodded and slipped past me to make her way outside. For a minute, I considered going with her since it was already full dark out and Ty’s place was in the middle of nowhere. But before I could act on the impulse, she’d snuck back through the door with a thin box in her hands. Deftly dodging me this time, she rejoined my cousins on the other side of the room.
I didn’t love all the avoidance tonight.
Maisie wailed again, reminding me I’d been in the middle of something that had nothing to do with yellow sundresses or awkward smiles.
Wandering over to where Wade struggled with his youngest, I had to laugh at the scene. The pudgy baby had a fistful of his hair like she wanted to rip it from his scalp, her slobbery mouth pressed up against his cheek. Couldn’t tell if she was kissing him or biting him. Probably a bit of both. Meanwhile, my brother’s worn-out expression said he’d survived similar situations a few times already today.
“Looks like you’re being attacked by a slobber monster.”
At the sound of my voice, Maisie swung her head to me, releasing her death-grip on Wade’s hair. Forgetting about the angry tears in her eyes, she grinned, showing off all six teeth. She kicked Wade’s stomach in a happy little dance, her butt wiggling where she sat on his forearm.
“Teething’s giving her a real attitude.” Despite his poor assessment, he smiled at his baby, kissed her chubby cheek, and ran a hand over her hair. If you could call it that.
The poor thing had the most ridiculous hair I’d ever seen. A downy fuzz covered most of her head, with a puff of longer dark hair on the very top, like a terrible baby toupee. Sometimes, they put it in a tiny ponytail standing straight up in the center of her head, but tonight, it was just a cloud of strands sticking out willy-nilly. Pop called it her halo, but she didn’t often live up to the rest of that image.
“I like her fiery spirit.” I held my hands out, and she lunged into them, the little acrobat. Wade passed her over, and I cuddled her close, swaying back and forth automatically. “What’d you do to tick her off this time?”
“I wouldn’t let her eat the bouquet of flowers on the table.”
