Wake My Heart (Jasper Falls 1)

Her brows lowered in a scowl. “But it’s important to her. What’s the harm in going?”

He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Why do you care?”

She slipped on her shoes. “I don’t know. She brought you your favorite cake and cleaned your kitchen.”

“I didn’t ask her to do any of that.”

“Well, you sure seemed to enjoy the three slices of cake you ate.” She didn’t know why she felt so defensive of his mother. Maybe because she showed Maggie more kindness and acceptance in one night than her own mother had shown her in the past decade. “If I had parents like that, I’d never miss a dinner.”

His gaze pulled from hers and drifted to the floor. “You don’t know how they can get. If I start going back to family dinners, other obligations will follow. There’s also Sunday brunch, and church, and Wednesday dinner, and Friday happy hour with the lumberyard relatives. Summer’s coming. They’ll want me on the baseball team and at all the potlucks. It’s just too much.”

“I’m not saying you should do all of that. But it seems mean to do none, especially when your mom clearly misses you.”

“I know they seem harmless right now, but you don’t know them. It took me thirty years to get some space. Before I moved out, they dictated every minute of my day by where my relatives expected me to be. I never even got to pick what I wanted for a career. Me and my cousin Finn were just thrown into the family business and told we’d take over one day. For the first time, I feel like I actually have some control over my life and I’m happy.”

She knew all about control. She knew how misleading it could be and how temporary it actually was. She also knew what it felt like when loved ones disappeared.

“I have no right to tell you how to live your life. But family’s important, especially when you’re lucky enough to have the kind of family that loves and supports you no matter what. Because one day that support might disappear, and I promise, you’ll miss it when it’s gone.”

He took a moment to process that. “Below the belt, O’Malley.”

“Truth hurts, Clooney.”

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll go to dinner, but I draw the line there. Sunday dinners and that’s it.”

She smiled and crossed the room, rising on her toes to kiss his lips. “I’m proud of you.” When she broke the kiss, she said, “When you said baseball, do you mean a league?”

“Yeah. The bar sponsors it, but this is probably the last year since O’Malley’s is going on the market.”

She wove her arms around his waist. “And you’re sure you want to sit this season out? Could be your last chance to play.”

He rolled his eyes. “This is how it happens. There’s always some extenuating circumstance that makes me crumble.”

She laughed. “It might not be so bad. Baseball sounds fun.”

“Really? Would you want to play?”

“Could I? I mean, I am the enemy and all—even though the team shares my name.”

“Hell yeah, you could play.”

She scoffed. “I thought you were against this. Sunday dinners and that’s it.”

“That was before you were involved.”

She hadn’t realized she carried that sort of pull. And while she hated social pressure, she loved baseball. Plus, it would get her outside—counteract that vitamin D deficiency her mother had been so concerned about.

While she might have to socialize with the players, there wasn’t much small talk that could happen in the outfield. It seemed like a good start. “Count me in.”

He kissed her, shifting the mood with a good dose of unexpected passion. He must really like baseball.

“There’s just one small issue.” He broke the kiss.

Her lashes hung low over her eyes. “What?”

“In order to be on the team, you have to meet the family. So, I guess you’re joining me for dinner after all.”

Chapter 32

Maggie fidgeted as the truck bumped up the unpaved road leading to Ryan’s aunt and uncle’s home, hidden high on the largest mountain in town. Her eyes stayed mostly closed on the drive, but she never once forgot she was riding in a vehicle.

“We’re almost there.”

She blew out a forced breath. The house had been too far to walk and too steep of a trek to ride her bike. The good thing about the drive, however, was it made her forget how nervous she was about meeting his entire family.

The truck slowed and he shut off the engine. She opened her eyes and looked out the windshield. Her heart jolted at the amount of four-wheel drive vehicles parked on the lawn. It was like a compound. Then she saw the house and her jaw dropped.

An actual log cabin raised on tall stone pillars and wrapped in an enormous porch dominated the horizon. “That’s where your aunt and uncle live?”