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Yet I didn’t.
Warmth spread from the palm of my hand up my arm to my chest, then my limbs relaxed. I hadn’t realized just how tense I was at baseline until I was touching Elliot.
He was the human form of Xanax.
Once he registered that I wasn’t going to yank my hand away, he smiled contentedly, leading us back up to the backyard where not a single person even tried to hide their blatant stares and shit-eating grins.
We were saved by the children, who piled on top of me and demanded that I play with them. Elliot happily indulged them, expertly catching the escape artist Mabel as she tore from the yard in search of the ocean and a general sense of trouble. She was already showing signs of being a daredevil like her father.
Eventually, we went our separate ways, Elliot reclaiming the beer he was offered then drifting over to the men at the grill. I sought solace in my wine glass, ignoring every single pointed look that went in my direction as I sank back into my chair.
“You’re with Elliot Shaw?” Tiffany smiled against the rim of her glass.
“I was thinking about the menu for the—" Avery attempted to change the subject, taking pity on me and earning my forever loyalty—though she already had it.
Nora let out a small squeak that had everyone’s eyes darting toward her, and Rowan seemed to teleport the few steps between them.
“Oh, thank god.” I pointed to Nora’s stomach. “Officially my favorite niece.”
“Hey!” Ava protested from where she’d been delicately pulling petals off daisies.
“Except you.” I gave her a wink. “You’ll always be my secret favorite, not some baby I don’t even know yet. She could suck.”
“We’re trying to get Avaexcitedover being a big sister,” Nora said through gritted teeth. “Not thinking she’ll suck.”
I gave her a smile. “She’ll like it.” I glanced over to Rowan. “It’s pretty fun.”
Rowan, who was in absolutely no mood to get into a warm family moment, didn’t even look in my direction. His attention was hyper-focused on his wife.
“We need to go, now,” he growled at Nora, who didn’t seem in any hurry.
Nora—who was known to be convinced that she had a brain tumor or blood clot on any given day, thanks to previously debilitating health—looked as calm as anything.
She patted Rowan’s hand. “We have time.”
His jaw tightened, and I watched panic cloud over his features before he replaced it with his ‘I am man, I take care of shit’ mask. “That’s what you said last time.” I watched him take a visible breath before his eyes fluttered, everything in him changing in an instant, softening.
“Buzzy Bee,” he murmured his pet name for his firstborn. She hurriedly climbed into his outstretched arms, a definite Daddy’s girl. Her limbs clamped around him.
“You’re going to have a sleepover with Aunt Fiona and Uncle Kip and your cousin,” he told her, brushing her long hair from her face. “And then we’re going to introduce you to your baby sister.”
I watched the bottom lip protrude from across the table. “I’m not excited anymore. Aunt Calliope’s right. She might suck.”
Now Rowan’s gaze shot to me, no longer anywhere near soft or loving. “Thanks a lot for that.”
I gave him a winning smile before focusing on Ava. “If she sucks, you can come live with me.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Rowan’s eyes were comically round.
I smiled wider.
“You said ‘fuck’,” Ava giggled, tugging on his beard. “You owe me a princess tea party.”
I almost swallowed my tongue, trying to hold down my laugh.
Nora’s soft giggle told me she wasn’t even trying.
She made to get up from her chair, and Rowan expertly changed his grip on his daughter so he could help his pregnant wife up.