Page 15 of Summer Kisses

"You've spent your whole life around my family. It won't be any different than any other time."

Hazel shook her head. "I hope you're right."

But itwasweird taking a woman home who was my fiancée. Hudson recently started dating Elena, and Dalton was starting a family with Oakley. I wondered how the news had been received. I had no doubt my parents would be happy for me, but would they try and talk me out of it? Would they say I wasn't mature enough to get married?

It was always a concern when it came to my dad. He tended to assume I was irresponsible. But I felt like I had more together than Dalton or Shep and Coop. I just wished my family could see it.

Hazel insisted on stopping at a local grocery store to buy flowers for my mom.

"You know flowers aren't necessary. My mom loves you."

Hazel touched my stomach. "You and me? This is different. No matter how much you want to think it's not."

I sucked in a breath at her touch. "She'll love them regardless."

"That's all that matters," Hazel said softly, and it reminded me how much I liked her as a person. She was sweet, always taking care of those around her. Whoever ended up with her would be the luckiest guy in the world. I hoped it would be me.

At my parents', I parked next to the other Kingston Construction pickups, helping Hazel out of the truck. I let her carry the flowers, since they were her gift.

At the door, I opened it without knocking. Inside, I followed the noise to the kitchen and then the door which was open to the deck where the large table was being set for dinner. Mom and Dad added a screened-in deck to the house after we moved out. Now they used it to entertain when we all came home for family dinner.

Mom wiped her hands on a towel and moved around the table with a smile on her face. "What's this I hear about an engagement?"

"Mom, meet my fiancée," I said proudly.

"Welcome to the family." Mom hugged Hazel tightly. Then she pulled back, still holding her shoulders. "I can't tell you how happy this makes me." She dabbed at the corner of her eye with the end of her apron.

"Please don't cry, Mrs. Kingston."

She waved a hand at Hazel. "Oh, please, call me Joy. You're family now."

Hazel's eyes were suspiciously shiny now too. "I brought these for you."

Mom accepted the bouquet of sunflowers. "These are gorgeous. Let me put them in water. They'll look perfect on the table while we eat."

Cooper grabbed a flower vase from the top cabinet and filled it with water while Mom unwrapped the flowers and trimmed the stems.

I reached for Hazel, pulling her closer to my side. "I told you she'd be happy."

Mom arranged the flowers in the vase, giving me a look over the top of her glasses. "But I want to know why I wasn't the first to know."

Hazel looked at me uncertainly.

"It wasn't planned. We were hoping to keep it a secret until we could tell everyone at once, but then Mabel saw the ring."

"You should have known you couldn't keep a secret at bingo night at the senior center, sitting at the same table as those ladies," Mom said dryly.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you first," Hazel said.

Mom shook her head. "Nonsense. I was just curious how it came out. I assume you two have been seeing each other secretly so you could explore things without everyone else's opinion."

Hazel let out a breath. "We wanted to be sure before we announced it."

Jonathan moved closer. "I suppose congratulations are in order. I assume you'll be having a long engagement."

I bristled at Dad's assumption. "Why's that?"

Dad waved a dismissive hand. "You're so young. Plenty of time to get married."

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