Page 33 of Fumbled Love

His parents were pretty laid-back, but no matter how hard he tried to convince me I had nothing to worry about, I still felt anxious.

“Things might get a little weird when they find out about the baby, but nothing we can’t handle.”

I wish I shared his confidence.

The front door flew open, and a little boy rushed out. Maverick barely had time to prepare before he crashed into his leg. “Uncle Mav, Dad said I had to wait for you to get here before we played Madden.”

This must have been Declan’s son.

Maverick laughed and ruffled his hair. “I’m surprised your dad is even brave enough to play me seeing that I kicked his as…I mean butt last time.”

He pointed and started laughing hysterically. “You almost said ass.”

“Shh…” He placed a finger over his nephew’s lips for him to keep quiet. “You look like you’ve grown ten inches since I saw you last. What are your parents feeding you?” he asked, holding him at arm’s length.

The little boy pushed a fistful of bangs out of his eyes. “Depends on who is feeding me. Mom makes me eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, but Dad lets me eat pizza and McDonald’s when she’s not around.”

I giggled at how cute he was.

He tilted his head and locked eyes with mine. “Who is this?”

Maverick paused for a moment as if he wasn’t sure what he should introduce me as. “This is Kinley,” he settled on.

He thought bringing me would be easier because I already knew his family. However, if you asked me, it only seemed to add another layer of complexity to an already fragile situation.

“Maverick, you’re just in time.” I turned my head, my eyes catching on his mom standing in the doorway. Her snowman apron was tied along her waist and a potato peeler dangled from one hand. Her gaze lit up when she saw her son and slid over to me in confusion. “Did you guys come together?”

Maverick flinched at how tightly I gripped his hand. She gazed at us across the lawn like she was working on a puzzle and trying to get the pieces to fit together. Now that we were here, I wished we had done this privately, as opposed to the front yard, where any nosy neighbor could hear us.

“Easton,” a woman I’d never met before yelled from the porch. Her red hair was pushed back, and a reindeer headband sat on top of her head. “I told you to wait inside.”

I recognized her now from the pictures that Rylee had posted online. She was Chelsea, Maverick’s sister-in-law. The last I knew, Declan had moved to Chicago a few years ago. I didn’t know him that well because he was five years older than Rylee, but I knew he was an engineer for some big energy company in the city. Speak of the devil. Declan came to an abrupt stop and drew his eyebrows together, making a huge dent in between his eyes.

“Kinley Roberts, is that you?” Interesting. Even Declan recognized me. In Maverick’s defense, it’s only been five years since I last saw Declan, as opposed to twelve.

“Hey Declan, it’s great to see you.”

“Kinley?” Rylee stepped around her brother.

Every muscle in my body tightened as she leaned against the door. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes into slits. I knew that look; I’d seen it countless times on her face. This was my first time on the receiving end of it, though.

“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?” she asked, directing the question at me.

My eyes pinched shut, and my stomach turned over. There was no way to avoid this confrontation. She was making it obvious that she wasn’t happy, and I couldn’t blame her. I should have listened to my gut and met with her privately before ambushing her in front of the entire family. Instead of handling it as I should have, I chickened out.

“Yes.” I ran my hand through my hair, feeling guilt eating away at me. “I didn’t want to show up like this. I’m sorry.”

When I called her last night, it went to her voicemail. I left a brief message, letting her know I was in town and wanted to talk to her. Instead of trying to reach her one more time, like I planned, I allowed Maverick to convince me that it would be a good idea to tell his family together.

And now I regretted it.

Beth shot Rylee a sidelong glance. “Why don’t we go inside.” She nudged her daughter with her elbow. “I need to finish cutting up the fruit for the salad.”

We all filed into the house, and I immediately smelled the turkey baking in the oven and spied three different pies on the cooling racks. Maverick walked to the fridge, helped himself to a beer, and handed me a bottle of water. The room was tense and quiet; if we didn’t get this conversation over with, I was going to lose my mind. I took a slow sip of my drink and tried to ignore the strange looks coming at me from every direction.

“All right,” Maverick braced his arms along the granite countertop, “I guess I’m going to go first.”

His dad wrapped an arm around his mom’s shoulders. His concerned gaze stayed on his sons. “Go ahead, Mav, say whatever it is you have to say.”

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