Page 83 of Forever Player

“She is something special,” Brett chimes in with hearts in his eyes.

I don’t even know what is happening right now.

“I shouldn’t have surprised you the way I did. I’ve been dying to meet Maylee since Brett told me about her weeks ago. I’ve been waiting patiently and then I just couldn’t wait anymore. I told Henry to grab a flight out of Connecticut and he met me at the airport.”

“Sorry.” Henry winces. “I didn’t want to just drop in, but Mom forced me to.”

“It’s totally fine. You all must be so hungry after traveling. Maddie came over earlier and we cooked dinner together.”

“Oh damn, you lucky bastard,” Henry says standing and smacking Brett in the stomach.

“You didn’t have to cook, Willow. You had your hands full enough with Maylee.”

“I wanted to do something nice for you,” I say. He gives me a smile that is absolutely golden. It shines like a ray of sunshine hitting me straight in the chest because not only is he handsome, but I can see he really appreciates the gesture.

“Okay, come on over to the kitchen. I’ll get the food heated in a jiff,” I invite everyone. They all follow me to the kitchen. Brett sets up the table and they all joke and laugh. I’m not used to this kind of togetherness. My family is all very independent.

We finally sit down.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Willow. Brett hasn’t stopped talking about you,” Ms. Noble says, looking at Brett with so much love in her eyes.

“It is definitely nice to meet the woman who has swept my brother off his feet,” Henry confirms.

“Okay, that’s enough you two,” Brett chides them.

We start the meal with an organic salad mix that has roasted pine nuts, roasted peppers and goat cheese in a balsamic vinaigrette.

“This is delicious,” Ms. Noble says.

“Thank you.” I smile.

“Brett tells me you’re a physical therapist,” Ms. Noble continues.

I nod. “I work at a gym not too far from here.”

“That’s lovely,” she says. “And how is my little granddaughter?” Her grin is so wide. “I can’t believe we have a little girl in the family. I’m sorry for surprising you today, but I am just so excited. I was all stressed out when my kids were young. I didn’t get to enjoy them, but I want to spend more time with my grandchildren. I told Will we should move to New York.”

“Mom. . .that’s. . . amazing,” Brett mutters. I can’t tell if he is surprised or if this is bad news to him.

Henry looks at Brett conspiratorially and laughs at him. I’m beginning to think Brett’s mom would want to be here all the time if she could, and Brett isn’t digging the idea.

“I’ll grab the main course,” I announce, standing from the table.

“I’ll help you,” Brett offers, standing too. I think it’s just an excuse to get away from his family.

I walk over to the oven and place oven mitts on my hands before removing the chicken cacciatore. “That smells so good,” Brett compliments, wrapping his arms around my middle. “Thanks for being a good sport with my family.”

“They’re great.”

“Mom is going to move to the city and never give us a moment of privacy,” he whispers in my ear.

“It won’t be all that bad. We’d probably have a babysitter whenever we needed,” I murmur back, looking on the bright side because this is the new me. I’ve taken risks coming to the city with Brett and moving in with him. Now I am risking my heart to see if we can have something real between us.

“Good point, but seriously, we have to set boundaries for sexy times. I’m still half-mast from seeing you in that getup at the door.” Brett chuckles.

I turn and pat his chest. “Anticipation will make things so much better.”

“Willow, I haven’t had sex in like a year and a half,” he deadpans.

---