Page 35

I nodded. “I’ll double-check my appointments. I think I’m booked on Sunday, but Saturday should be okay.”

I held my breath, but Jimmy said nothing about my schedule. No scoffing at working on a Sunday. “Okay, let me know.”

His easy acceptance shouldn’t have surprised me. It was part of our deal. But still, I breathed a small sigh of relief that he was holding up his end of the bargain on my schedule.

One week, I was dating a cute firefighter. Boom. Two weeks later, we were married and looking at houses. Life moved fast.

Jimmy cooked for us, and his kitchen skills had me sending up a silent prayer of thanks to his gran. The perfectly seasoned beef roast melted on my tongue. The noodles and mushrooms in creamy sauce had the faint tang of Dijon mustard to compliment the other flavors. Jimmy went all-out and garnished each plate with fresh chives. Changing my exercise habits was a must if eating this well was going to become routine. I would have eaten more, but the prospect of the call with my parents killed my appetite. I glanced at the clock. T-minus twenty minutes until our normal call time.

“So, what should I know about your family?” he asked, noticing my glance at the clock.

I smiled weakly. “Not much to tell. I have two brothers. They work with my mom and dad in our family business. They do residential construction; mostly remodels and new houses.”

“You said they live on the east side?”

“Yes. A small town named Colville. Population 4,765.”

“Do you miss it?”

“It was a nice place to grow up, but I’m happy here in Tacoma. What about you? Your gran lived here obviously, but did you grow up here?”

He shook his head. “No, we grew up on bases around the world. My mom only enlisted as we got older, and that’s when we went to live with Gran.”

“You don’t see them much, I gather?”

He frowned. “No. We’ve barely seen them in the last fifteen plus years. They missed out on a lot.”

I reached out my hand to his, and he flipped his hand over, linking his fingers with mine. “I’m sorry,” I said. “Does it bother you? I get annoyed with my family, but I can’t imagine not seeing them regularly.”

He shrugged. “I’d like it if we were closer, but I have Andi, and she has me. Our parents love their lives. They love us too. They’re just driven.”

My phone buzzed with an incoming call and interrupted the moment. Right on time. I swiped to open the video call and held the phone up, so Jimmy and I were both on screen. On the other end, the screen was crowded. My mom and dad I was expecting, but both of my brothers were squeezed into the frame too. It’d be comical if their expressions weren’t so serious.

“Melly!” my mom exclaimed, as if we hadn’t spoken that morning. She’d calmed down considerably. Either that, or she was putting a good face on it in front of Jimmy. Her dark hair shone, and I was thankful for her DNA. We looked a lot alike. My mother had gained the fine lines of experience, but her dark eyes still shone with vitality and energy. My dad glanced at her fondly. He played the stoic card more often than not, but I’d seen him nuzzle her in quiet moments. His dark blond hair and beard were mostly gray, and his tan face was weathered from his time spent out in the elements, but his body still retained the muscle mass of a lifetime of hard work.

I smiled, “Hi, Mom. Hi, everybody. How are you all doing?”

My mom flipped her hand down, waving away any concern. “Oh, we’re fine. We want to hear about you. You’re the one with news.”

Her forced excitement was throwing me. Was this not the same woman I spoke with this morning? What was her deal? I loved my mom, but this wasn’t like her. She was more likely to hold a grudge. Disapproving Matron to the core. Suzy Sunshine wasn’t her gig.

“Well, this is Jimmy,” I said. “We’ve been dating for a while now and decided to get married this weekend.”

We’d been dating for a ‘while’ if a ‘while’ was five minutes, but hey, who was counting?

Jimmy had clearly been waiting for me to introduce him, because he didn’t give any of them time to respond before jumping in with his own narrative. “Hello, Nemitz family. It’s nice to meet you all. My apologies for not meeting with you in person before the big event.” He glanced at me before looking back at the screen. “We were inspired to move quickly.”

I held back my snort. Inspired. That’s one word for it. I didn’t think passing out was all that inspiring, but if he wanted to spin it, I wouldn’t complain. My knucklehead youngest brother, Ivan, wouldn’t let it alone. He looked more like our dad with his narrow features and tanned skin. The baby beard he was growing had a way to go before the dark blond silvered like our dad’s.

“Smelly Melly, are you knocked up?” he asked.

I closed my eyes. Of course. Nickname hell. I should have anticipated it. At least it was an easy question to answer. “Nope, ding-a-ling. I’m not pregnant.” They didn’t need to know Jimmy and I hadn’t even come close. I felt like a fraud, nurses and family asking if I was pregnant, when it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“What’s your deal?” my older brother, Zander, asked, clearly directing his question at Jimmy. He and I looked more alike, both darker haired and with complexions like our mother. However, looking alike didn’t mean we thought alike. He was content to work inside the family business. He didn’t understand why I wanted to leave Colville. He didn’t feel the small-town straight-jacket of expectations. Enter the family business. Marry local. Have kids. Repeat.

Jimmy and I made eye contact before looking back at Zander. “What do you mean?” Jimmy asked.

“Why would you marry my sister so fast? Don’t get me wrong, she’s okay, but why rush into marriage? Is there something wrong with you?” He squinted at me. “Or did he brainwash you? Hypnotize you? He hasn’t been slipping you anything in your meals, has he?”