Page 56 of HEA: Happily Ever After

Marigold leaned down. “His name is Frank now, remember? It got too confusing when everyone was calling them both Oscar.”

I squatted down and pulled Frank from my inner pocket. He eyed me warily but kept himself soft and approachable like the sweetheart he was. “Careful,” I warned gently. “Remember the rules about petting other people’s animals.”

Marigold beamed down at her niece. “Rosette’s good with him. Aren’t you, sweetie?”

“May I please pet him?” After I nodded, a small finger reached out to pet Frank’s spines. The look of awe on Rosette’s face never failed to pulverize something inside of me. “He’s so cute I can’t stand it,” she gasped. “Thank you for bringing him, Uncle Oscar.”

I grunted and nodded, uncomfortable with the title. Once she’d had her fill, I returned Frank to my pocket and continued into the kitchen, kissing my mom on the cheek and inhaling her familiar scent.

“Baby,” she said, looking at me with love-bright eyes. “You made it. Let me have a look at you.”

I shrugged off my coat and shoved it at Marigold to get her back for accosting me at the front door. “Make yourself useful, woman.”

She grinned and carried it off, but not before calling out, “Heath’s bringing someone for you to meet too. Some guy from work. But I call dibs with my guy.”

My stepbrother Sage wandered in and grabbed a cookie from a stack on a platter on the butcher-block island. “I owe you ten bucks,” he muttered before biting into the cookie and causing a shower of crumbs.

“Why?” I asked.

“At the beach this summer, I said the fam wasn’t that bad at playing matchmaker. I was wrong. But they’re not all that bad. Lily set me up with someone in her yoga class, and things are looking good.” He shrugged and took another bite of cookie. “Maybe you should let them give it a try.”

“Sure, Sage. I’ll get right on that. As soon as you agree to give up rooting for the Buffalo Bills.”

He snorted before raising his voice so everyone in the kitchen could hear. “No setups for Oscar. Got it? Good.”

My stepsister Jasmine rolled her eyes. Her dark hair was longer than I remembered and lay in lazy waves over a hand-knit sweater. “Hey, that reminds me. I met someone you used to date. Dominic Caliari. He’s showing his ceramics at the same gallery as a friend of mine.”

I thought back to the passionate man who’d taught me how to appreciate modern art in the city’s museums. “Nice guy. How is he?”

“He seems good. Doing well with his art, and now he and his husband have created a few pieces together too.”

“He’s… married. Of course he is. Great.”

Jasmine nodded. “It’s fairly recent, I think. They met through the gallery, which is how my friend met her husband too. Isn’t that funny? Sounds like a magical place. Maybe you should check it out.” She shot me a wink. “You know, if everyone’s setups don’t work.”

I rolled my eyes. “Everyone needs to take ten giant steps back and worry about their own love lives instead of mine.”

Mom squeezed my upper arms and met my eyes. They carried more emotion than I wanted to see right now, or ever, for that matter. “We just want to see you happy and settled. Hyacinth is already planning on inviting a handful of single guys you might like to the wedding. Just meet them, okay? Give them a chance.”

I gritted my teeth and began to understand why Hugh had been so desperate to take a date to his sister’s wedding. This family pressure was excruciating. I would do just about anything to get everyone off my back and back to their own business.

“How’s the new baby?” I asked, realizing there was one topic that would at least distract my mother for a time.

“Oh my gosh! They’re in the den. Lily wanted somewhere a little quieter to nurse her. Come see!” She led me through the kitchen and down a corridor to the smaller den my mom and Birch used on cozy winter nights.

Inside was my stepsister Lily and her wife, Mallory. Lily’s face lit up when she saw me. “Oscar! I’m so happy you’re here.” Lily couldn’t get up because she was currently breastfeeding a baby, or at least I assumed that’s what was going on under the pastel blanket draped over her front, but Mallory jumped up to give me a hug.

“Thank you so much for the baby gift. You were too generous.”

I shook my head. “Everyone needs a savings account from day one. At least, that’s what all the experts say.”

Lily looked up and winked at me. “Keeping her off the pole like a good uncle. We appreciate it.”

I shrugged. “Let the girl dance if she wants to dance. Who are we to judge? At least now she’ll be able to afford good costumes to wear while doing it.”

Once the baby was done eating, they made me hold her. Thankfully, I was sitting down, so the risk of accidentally tossing her onto the floor wasn’t quite as great as the time my mom had handed me one of the other grandkids while I’d been standing in the kitchen with soapy hands from washing dishes.

I spent the rest of the day playing happy family for my mother’s sake. It seemed to make her happy to see me there among them, even though it always left me feeling strangely alone.

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