Page 65 of Crossing Paths
Molly must’ve misread her hesitation, since she started to tap on her phone. “It’s okay. I’ll tell him we’ll meet up later.”
“No, it’s fine.” When Molly paused, fingers poised over herphone screen, to look at her, Norah gave a firm nod, not letting any of her hesitation show. “It’ll be nice to spend some time with you and John.”
She was rewarded by a broad smile. “I’ll go get ready.”
Taking a last sip of coffee before switching to water, Norah tried not to fret about how their family run was going to go. It’d be fine. John wouldn’t act like an overprotective father figure, and Molly wouldn’t give Dash the third degree as Norah went all flustered and tongue-tied and red-faced—oh no.
Her head hit the table with a softthunk. That was exactly how it was going to go.
Feeling penned in and claustrophobic in the kitchen as she came up with one disastrous scenario after another, Norah went out to the porch swing to wait. Warrant followed her, settling with a canine grunt in his dog bed next to the swing until John arrived. Popping up, Warrant ran down the steps to greet him and was rewarded with a thorough belly rub.
“Norah! My favorite sister!” He only called her that when none of her other non-Molly sisters were around, but it still made her smile. With Warrant following, he climbed the steps wearing his usual exuberant grin.
“Hey, John.” She gave him a little wave.
He leaned against one of the support posts holding up the porch roof. “So I hear you’ve found yourself a man.”
Her face flamed hot. She tried to respond, but nothing came out.So it begins…
“Don’t worry.” His voice softened a little, like he could see her mortification. “I’ll be gentle with him. Molly told me heknocked out a guy for you and then took the heat for it. I’m inclined to like him for that, but if he steps out of line, you need to tell me so I can hurt him.”
He delivered the last line with such a bouncy, happy cadence that it took a few moments to register.
“Um…Molly already called dibs on murdering him.” She worried that the way she’d phrased that made it sound like Dash had already done something wrong, so she hurried to clarify. “If he…only if he does something wrong, I mean.”
“He’s behaving himself then?” His tone was light, but she could tell he was watching her face carefully.
The question actually made her smile despite all her building anxiety. “Yes. He’sreallyinto manners.”
That made him cock a quizzical brow. “A guy who can take a burglar down with a single punch and also knows what fork to use? Sounds like a winner.”
Although she was pretty sure the humor in his voice was just because he was John and thought life was consistently entertaining rather than because he was making fun of Dash, she hurried to correct him. “More like he opens car doors for me.” She almost added that he didn’t swear, but that wastheirinside joke. Other people might not understand why she found that quirk so endearing. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of any other examples with her thoughts churning like they were, so she ended with, “And other polite things. Not that he has bad table manners. He doesn’t. He’s just not hung up on proper fork usage or anything.”
“Good to know.” There was definitely a laugh trying toescape John now. “Not sure I have much fork-related conversation in me. There might’ve been an awkward lull.”
Norah was pretty sure there hadneverbeen an uncomfortable silence within ten feet of John. He was the very definition of an extrovert. “You could always talk about punching people. You’re both very good at that.”
He let out a big belly laugh as Dash’s SUV pulled up behind John’s car. Norah’s stomach butterflies, which had been smothered in a blanket of general anxiety up until this point, took flight, and she found herself smiling as he headed toward them.
Dash’s scowl was firmly in place, his gaze focused steadily on John.
“Hmm…” John murmured, still not losing his grin, although he’d straightened from his casual lean to a more ready position. “Not exactly what I expected. You’re a deep little pond, aren’t you, sis?”
Norah wasn’t sure what he meant by that or how to even begin to respond, so she stayed quiet. Watching the two of them as Dash approached, Norah was reminded of a wildlife documentary, two dominant males meeting for the first time. Warrant didn’t seem to share any of the men’s wariness, happily trundling over to greet the newcomer. Dash rubbed Warrant’s ears without dropping John’s gaze.
As Dash climbed the steps, John said, “You must be Dash.” He held out his hand.
After a microsecond of hesitation, Dash accepted it. From the way the men’s tendons stood out on their forearms, the shake was more of a strength contest than anything. She halfexpected to hear a clash of antlers.
“I’m John Carmondy, Molly’s boyfriend.”
Dash gave a tip of his chin as he released John’s hand.
“Hi,” Norah said, standing up from the swing and bringing Dash’s attention to her. His scowl immediately lightened, and his soft expression made the butterflies in her belly go wild. “Ready to go?”
“Sure.”
“Molly and John are coming along,” she said, wishing she’d texted him about their expanded group. Maybe if he’d been forewarned, the moment between him and John wouldn’t have been so charged. She immediately dismissed the idea though. Two bossy, protective guys were going to feel each other out. There wasn’t any way to avoid an initially tense meeting.
