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Chuck laughed, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. He was testing me. So I forced out a laugh and said, “Is it working, Nora? The flowers on the table are for you.”
Nora pressed a hand to her chest. “Why, that’s sweet of you. Isn’t it sweet, Chuck?”
He grunted his acknowledgement.
Della cut in and said, “I have to show you my focaccia.”
I breathed a sigh of relief because that gave me a second to gather myself while I got all the food ready to bring to the table. I’d made rotini pasta in a cream sauce, chicken, and green beans to go with Della’s pride and joy.
And soon we were all sitting around my glass table, Chopper lying in his bed once more while we ate off black and red plates. Della said, “Hayes, this chicken is so good. You made it just perfect.”
I smiled at her compliment. It seemed a little forced, but I knew tonight mattered a lot to her. “Thanks, babe,” I replied, squeezing her hand under the glass table.
Her dad stared at our hands like he wished his eyes could produce laser beams.
I was glad he couldn’t.
Nora said, “It’s delicious.”
After a quiet moment, she broke the silence, asking, “So, how did you two start dating?”
Della and I exchanged a glance. That was a good question. Especially since Della used to annoy me with her sunny personality.
Like she could read my mind, she said, “Actually, I used to annoy him.” I barely held back a snort.
Her dad shot me a thinly veiled glare as he wiped his mouth on a napkin.
Della continued. “And it was really fun to annoy him, so I kept doing it.”
Now I really did snort, and even her dad’s lips twitched.
Her mom said, “Sounds like happily ever after.”
I chuckled. I was starting to like Della’s mom—she was clearly where Della got her warmth from. “I had a crush on Della,” I admitted, and all eyes swung to me.
“You did?” Della asked.
I nodded, setting my silverware down and wiping my fingers on the napkin in my lap. “Actually, I was hanging out with my brothers and telling them I liked you but thought you would never be interested in me. So they practically shoved me away and forced me to man up and talk to you. Tell you how I felt. It was the best thing they ever did for me.”
Della gave me a grateful smile. “For both of us.”
Her mom made a small, “Aw.”
But her dad wasn’t as convinced. “The whole town knows of your history with women, Hayes. Even knowing that, knowing how good she is, your family pushed you toward my little girl?”
53
DELLA
Oh shit.
Dad was generally mild-mannered. Sweet. But he was also fiercely protective, and he wasn’t giving Hayes an easy time.
“Dad,” I hissed. “That’s so inappropriate. We’re in Hayes’s house right now, and if you can’t respect him?—”
Hayes quieted me by squeezing my hand. “It’s okay.”
“Seriously?” I asked him. Because I wasn’t okay with how Dad was treating the man I loved.