“Dana’s party,” Tess finished in unison. “I haven’t forgotten, Nina.”
“You’ve responded to the evite?”
Nina was very much in “mama mode” this evening, treating Tess exactly the way she would one of her children. Again, Tess had to cling to patience. “I have responded.”
“Did you tell her you’d bring a guest? Because if you haven’t invited anyone—”
“I’m bringing a guest. It’s already arranged, Nina.”
Her sister’s eyes widened in curiosity. “Who are you bringing?”
“Hon, we need to help Olivia carry out her gifts,” Ken interrupted the conversation to say. “The room’s booked for another party so they’re ready for us to clear out.”
Nina lifted her chin. “We have it reserved for another ten minutes. I will not be hustled out.”
“It’ll take us that long to gather everything up and get the kids out to the van. Come on, Nina, grab a couple bags, will you?”
Tess moved a step forward. “Can I help?”
Her brother-in-law gave her a quick wink. “We’ve got it, thanks. Get out of here while you can.”
She took grateful advantage of his suggestion.
* * *
&nbs
p; A particularly boneheaded play in the football game would have made Scott curse in exasperation had a baby not been asleep on his chest. As it was, he grumbled beneath his breath, making little Henry squirm and nestle his nose into Scott’s shoulder. Scott hoped fleetingly that it wasn’t a snotty little nose, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been used as a tissue by one of his brothers’ offspring. He patted the kid’s diapered bottom and Henry settled back into a limp slumber. Sprawled on Jake’s couch with his stocking feet crossed on the coffee table, Scott glanced at the canned soda on the table and wondered if he could reach it without waking his nephew.
As if he’d recently mastered the art of mind reading, but more likely correctly interpreting Scott’s expression, Jake snagged the can and handed it over. “Game sucks, huh?”
With a nod of thanks, Scott took a sip of the beverage, which had gone rather flat in the past hour since he’d opened it. “Yeah. I thought the score would be closer than this.”
“You okay there? Want me to take the rug rat?”
“He’s okay. We wake him up, he’s just going to want to eat again, and we promised Christina we’d give her a little more time to herself. Might as well stretch it out as much as we can after the week she’s had.”
The virus Henry had picked up at Thanksgiving had held on for several days. He was recovered now, but his parents were tired and frazzled. Scott’s mom had helped out when she could, but as a full-time accountant, she’d been busy with end-of-the-year work for her clients. Today had been a day for Christina to get some rest, with Jake and Scott taking care of the baby.
His eyes on the big-screen TV on the opposite wall, Jake munched a handful of popcorn, then asked idly, “You going to Bethany’s engagement party next Friday?”
“Looks like. You know Mom would pout if any of us skipped out without a damned good reason, and unfortunately I couldn’t come up with one.”
Jake chuckled wryly. “Yeah, us, either. We’ve got a babysitter lined up, so I guess we’ll make an appearance.”
“Lousy time for an engagement party, if you ask me. This time of year, seems like I’m running from one party or fund-raiser or holiday reception to the next one. Bethany and what’s-his-name aren’t even getting married until spring, so I can’t imagine why they thought they needed an engagement party now.”
“Mom said Jeremy—that’s the groom’s name, by the way—has an aunt in poor health. They aren’t sure she’ll still be around for the wedding, but they wanted to have her at the engagement party.”
“Oh, well, now I feel like a jerk.” With a grimace, Scott set the soda aside and patted the sleeping baby again. “I’ll be there. With a smile.”
“Are you bringing someone?”
“Yeah. Tess is coming with me.”
He wasn’t sure how he’d expected his younger brother to react to that, but it hadn’t been with a laugh. “Tess? Man, she really is on call 24/7 for you, isn’t she? Do you pay her overtime for keeping you company at parties you don’t want to attend alone?”
Scott shook his head. “She isn’t coming as my employee. Tess has agreed to be my date for the party.”