All five of them turned to stare at Grace, silently demanding that she answer the question once and for all.
She took a deep breath.
“Yes, I like Jake too. And that darn website has nothing to do with why I’m here.”
But despite her pronouncement of affection for their golden boy, none of them was looking at her. All eyes were locked on a spot over her shoulder.
She knew he’d be there even before turning around.
And from the stunned look on his face, he’d heard every single word.
Grace 2.0 began making submarine siren noises in the back of her head.
* * *
Jake never mentioned what he’d overheard, and Grace told herself she was relieved. Instead, they’d merely gotten sucked into the vortex that was a Malone family get-together.
Dinner was a noisy, messy affair. Jackson and Matt were adorable, if a bit rambunctious on the eve of their joint birthday party, and Nancy Malone’s chili—topped with Wisconsin cheese, naturally—had been the spicy, casual kind of meal that Grace’s own parents would never have even considered had it not been for some sort of chili cook-off fund-raiser, the Fourth of July, or any other time it was “acceptable” to have a meal one ate entirely with a spoon.
Grace loved it. She loved the way the Malones squabbled and drank one too many beers in the name of celebrating. Loved the way they loved Jake. They teased him mercilessly and badgered him constantly for not visiting more often, and once the cat was out of the bag that they were in fact aware of his and Grace’s little website scheme, they’d given him crap about that too.
Of course, Grace had had her fair share of explaining to do. Nobody messed with “Jakey” and got away with it. But they’d done so with the good-natured badgering of someone who was already part of the family.
It scared the crap out of her. Mostly because it felt so natural.
Still, as welcoming as Nancy Malone was, she was old-fashioned about some things. Namely, bedrooms.
When the night finally wound down, the kids were in bed, and the dishes were put away, Nancy pulled Jake down for a kiss on the cheek.
“You’ll be in the guest room, Grace. And Jake’s in his old room, of course. Your room is the best room in the house as long as you don’t mind my sewing machine and Bob’s treadmill, which he touches about once a decade.”
“More than you touch that sewing machine,” Bob grumbled back from his spot on the couch. His wife ignored him. Th
ey were adorable.
Separate bedrooms, then. That was cool.
That was better.
Grace 2.0 could stop worrying that she’d drag Jake down the aisle just because she liked his family, and Grace 1.0 wouldn’t even be remotely tempted to sleep with Jake just because she liked him.
Win-win.
Jake had other ideas. “Hey, Mom, I was going to take Grace for a drive. Show her the neighborhood and stuff.”
“Now?” Nancy looked scandalized.
“It’s just after nine, Mom. And it’s not even a school night.”
She gave a sheepish smile. “I forget that you’re from the city that never sleeps.”
“Yup,” Jake said as he helped himself to another piece of apple pie. “And we all call it that too.”
“He always was the sarcastic one in the family,” Nancy said in a loud whisper. “You watch that about him. Come on, Bob, we’re going to bed.”
“Oh, are we?” Jake’s dad didn’t move.
Nancy marched over to the TV and turned it off decisively. “The kids need alone time. We talked about this.”