Page 41 of Why Not Both?

“She left it to my mom. But it’s not really Mom’s style, so she keeps it safe somewhere.” She waves a hand toward the rest of the house. “I think it was those family dinners that really fostered my love of cooking. Feeding people, bringing them together.”

When dinner is done, she sets out the food and her parents and I sit at the table. They start filling their plates—and it all smells awesome—but Lis still putters around the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” I ask. “Come eat.”

“I just have a couple things I need to sort out first,” she says.

Linda rolls her eyes. “She’s always like this. Never sits with us until the kitchen is clean.”

“Can’t she do that after she eats? Her food will get cold.”

“You try telling her,” Dan says, pointing his fork in her direction.

I twist in my seat to see that she’s putting dishes into the sink and loading it with soapy water.

“Nope,” I say, standing. Then I go to her, lift her, and literally carry her into the dining room.

“Spencer! Put me down.”

I do as she says, setting her in the chair next to where I’d been sitting. I don’t look at her parents, but I know they’re both laughing.

I lean toward her, one hand on the back of her chair, caging her in the spot at the table. “Dishes are patient as fuck. They will literally wait forever. Right now, you’re going to sit and have that family dinner you love so much. While the food is hot. Or else.”

She glares at me. “Or else what?”

“Or else I’m not going to eat until it gets cold. And then, I’ll put the food in the microwave to heat it up.”

“Ooh,” Linda says. “I never thought of threatening her with that.”

Lis’ eyes widen. “You wouldn’t.”

I sit back, my arms crossed, eyebrows raised, waiting.

“I will help you with the dishes after dinner,” I say.

Finally, she rolls those beautiful eyes—she’s been doing that a lot today—and picks up her fork.

“Sweetheart,” Linda says. “You need to marry this man.”

Lis chokes on her first bite.

“I actually asked her to marry me, Linda. I think we’d known each other for about twelve hours.”

“What did she say?” Dan asked, as though he was asking about the weather.

“If I remember correctly, she didn’t say anything. She just laughed at me.”

“Great,” Lis mumbles under her breath, staring hard at her plate. “Now there’s three of you.”

Chapter 17

Lis

I sink into the bath with a sigh. The water is far hotter than most people would probably like and it’s turning my skin pink. The bubbles smell like lavender, the music is soothing, my white wine is cold. Everything is perfect. I close my eyes and relax. Three weeks after I’d brought Spencer to dinner with my parents, I have another few weddings under my belt—including a weekend with two weddings—and I feel like I’m on a roll.

After the first wedding from hell, the rest of them have been pretty easy in comparison. But this past weekend had two weddings—one on Saturday and another on Sunday. So today, my big plans are to relax. I’d taken Cerberus out for a run in the morning, did my laundry in the afternoon, and now I have my eyes closed as I consider whether to read a book or watch a show on my phone. Until it starts ringing.

I sigh and answer it without looking.

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