Page 59 of Beneath the Midnight Sky
“You're going to do great in there, Aspen, just be yourself,” he said.
I nodded, and he opened the door, not even knocking. But I didn’t say anything about it, maybe that was normal for them. My dad would’ve lost his mind when he was alive if I had just walked into his house.
“Ma!” Rowan yelled. “Your favorite son is home!” A masculine laugh erupted from further inside the house, and I smiled to myself over his brother's playfulness toward each other.
The space was wide and open, yet still homey. It was clear the bedrooms were in the addition because the entirety of the A-frame section was visible as soon as you walked in through the front door. The kitchen sat in the back of the house, the windows taking up where the upper cabinets should’ve been. A long island countertop separated the kitchen from the rest of the room. Then there was a large wooden dining room table that could easily seat twenty people, and closest to us were the couches. Two long beige L-shaped couches sat across from each other, each flipped so they fit together like a puzzle, and then were pushed apart a couple of feet. There was no television, but there were loads of short bookcases filled with books, puzzles, and board games. A few patterned rugs sat on the floor, some beneath the couches, and another two beneath the dining room table.
Everything was made of mixed wood colors. Anywhere else, it would look crazy, but somehow, Rowan’s mom made it work. I looked up and noticed that the ceiling was made up of exposed beams, and there were a few more wooden wind chimes hanging from the beams.
Rowan squeezed my hand, and I looked down from the ceiling in time to see a stunning brunette approaching me, a warm smile on her face. She had dark brown eyes and a few sporadic grays in her long, wavy hair. The same nose as Rowan graced her beautiful face, but that was the only thing that gave her away as being his mom, looks-wise. She didn’t look old enough to have five full-grown children, but I knew without a doubt this was her.
She walked up to me, and Rowan released my hand just in time for her to wrap her arms around me and pull me in for a solid embrace. It took me a few seconds longer before I hugged her back. She smelled like apple pie and cinnamon, and something about it brought tears to my eyes. I had to bend alittle because she was easily three inches shorter than I was, but I didn’t even mind. Give me all the back problems if it meant I got to hug this woman again and again.
“You must be Aspen. Rowan hasn’t stopped talking about you for weeks, so it’s about time he finally brought you over to meet us all,” she said kindly. “I’m Abigail, but you can call me Abby or Mom. I’m fine with whichever; you’re practically family now.”
I nodded. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Abby.”
She took me by the hand and led me deeper into the house. “Come on, let me introduce you to the rest of the gang.” We walked into the kitchen, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Rowan close behind us, a warm smile on his face that matched his mom’s. I knew he was happy to have me here, and it just made me want to impress them all even more.
Everyone was standing around the kitchen, some I already knew from the bar the night we’d met, and from them coming in with Rowan to The Roadhouse.
“Okay, so I know you’ve already met Theo and Wyatt here,” Abby began, pointing to Rowan’s twin brother and youngest brother. I nodded and gave them a small smile. “The tall, tan one with the Viking beard that desperately needs to be trimmed is Oliver, my oldest. The cutie pie next to him is his son, Hudson.” She pointed to the young boy next to him. He had the same dark hair as all the men, but it was curly and shaggy, draping down around his ears and eyes—the way most young boys left it when they refused to get it cut to annoy their mom.
“Hi, Hudson,” I said, which caused him to perk up from next to his father and wave.
“Then last but never least is my precious girl over here. This is Payton,” Abby stated. “You two will be best friends before you know it.”
She wrapped her other arm around the shoulder of the young woman standing next to Oliver. She was a bit shorter than me, with pin-straight dirty blonde hair, brown eyes like her mom’s, and freckles that said she spent a great deal of time in the sunshine.
Payton smiled and came up, wrapping her arms around me tightly in a hug. “Thank you for finding my brother,” she whispered, and I knew that the thanks were only for our ears.
I nodded slightly and squeezed her back. Really, I should be thanking him. I didn’t do anything but show up and love the man. He’s the one who made his appearance known and refused to take no for an answer. I opened my eyes and looked over her shoulder at the man in question. He smiled at me, a reassuring, calming smile, like he had since the moment I’d met him.
“Okay, Mom, what’s for dinner?” Rowan asked after a moment. Abby rolled her eyes and smiled.
“You would jump right into the food aspect of the evening. Heaven forbid I want to get to know my new daughter,” she replied.
“Here that, little angel? You’re already the new daughter. No reason to be nervous now,” Rowan said with a smirk as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me from Payton.
“Well, you did already tattoo her name on your body, so it would suck if you scared her off already,” Payton said with a playful eye roll.
“She isn’t wrong, cowboy,” I said, trying my best to ignore the blush I knew was covering my face right now.
“He has a nickname, guys, did you hear that?” Theo hooted and laughed.
“Now, now, boys, Rowan wants dinner. Let’s not embarrass him too much just yet,” Abby said, though she was clearly trying to swallow back a laugh.
I looked around at everyone in the kitchen, and most of the nerves I’d had melted away. They truly were a family—the kind I’d always wanted for myself but never been able to fully grasp or create. It made me want to scoop up Ivy and bring her over so I could have all of this overwhelming love in one room with me.
I cuddled in closer to Rowan and looked up at him. He smiled down at me and pulled me over to the dining room table, where I had the first family meal of my entire life.
“I thoughtabout what you said…earlier, I mean. About the teaching art and whatnot,” I said, looking over at Rowan. His hand was gripping my thigh, and we were driving the short way back to his house. The rest of the dinner had turned into drinks and board games. I was again reminded of how, eight months ago, I had no one, and now it felt like I had an entire family who genuinely liked me. It felt too soon to be that hopeful, but it was still a nice feeling to have—even if it felt fragile still.
“I meant it, ya know. I think it’s something you’d be really damn good at. Not that you ever have to make money off of your passions, but when you have a soul like you do? When you have this…innate ability to see the good in others? I think it’s something you could do and make a real difference in people's lives.” His tone was serious and so sure of himself, as if every piece of his mind believed what he was saying.
I rolled my bottom lip beneath my teeth before looking back toward him. “I think I’d want to help foster kids. Maybe the underprivileged ones, too, kids with anxiety or from rough homes.” I shrugged as if it was just a thought, part of me still terrified he’d tell me it was a dumb idea. However, the look onhis face was just pure pride, and I was forced to once again remember that he wasn’t Sam.
“That sounds like an amazing idea, little angel,” he said, a genuine smile lighting up his face as he put his truck in park and leaned over, kissing my cheek affectionately. “I vote we go inside and celebrate, preferably with a glass of fancy champagne and no clothes.”
