Page 65 of Matthew
Callie covered her face with one hand. “I can’t take you all anywhere.”
“Sure, you can,” Maggie said, grinning. “We’re very portable chaos.”
Jo raised her glass again. “And we tip well.”
Laughing, Matthew met Callie’s gaze. “See you in the morning.”
She nodded, a beautiful blush coloring her cheeks. “Bright and early.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” he said, then turned to smiled at three other grinning faces. “It was nice to meet the rest of Callie’s beautiful family.”
“Okay, that settles it,” Grandma Jo said. “If you don’t marry him, Callie, I will.”
“Mom!” Callie’s mother cried, but her smile was still in place.
Grandma Jo shrugged. “Well, I would.”
Janice gave him a warm smile. “We won’t keep you any longer. Your friends are probably wondering what happened to you.”
“Yeah, before they send out a search party,” Maggie said with a grin. “Or text Callie for answers.”
That earned another soft laugh from Callie, who gave him a look that managed to be fond and exasperated all at once.
“Enjoy the rest of your evening,” he told them, and as he turned to go, Callie’s fingers brushed against his, barely, but the contact was deliberate.
He glanced back and caught her watching him.
And in that single glance, she said everything he didn’t have words for. Gratitude. Trust. Somethingsofter, still forming.
It anchored him. And that was dangerous, because he didn’t only want to protect her for now.
He wanted to protect her always.
With a strength born out of practice, Matthew forced himself to turn away, still feeling the ghost of her touch on his fingers.
By the time he reached the table, Bennett was tucking into that roast beef dinner he’d mentioned Laurel had saved for them, and she was sipping from a chocolate shake that didn’t go with her salad at all. She raised a brow at him.
“Well?” she asked.
Matthew sank onto his chair across from them, still half-lost in the moment. “She’s got a good family.”
“Laurel passed inspection, too,” Bennett said, glancing up from his plate. “I think Jo once threatened to marry me if I didn’t step up.”
“She’s equal parts menace and icon,” Laurel murmured fondly.
Matthew huffed a laugh, picked up his fork, and dug into the roast beef dinner in front of him that Laurel had also saved and ordered for him. He wasn’t really hungry, although it gave his hands something to do.
He wasn’t used to being seen that way. Not in public. Not as someone who belonged at a table filled with laughter and warmth.
But the way Callie had looked at him had made him believe he did.
And somehow, that mattered more than it should.
A little while later, he stepped out into the warm night air, the glow of the diner lights casting long shadows across the parking lot. The scent of coffee and pie still clung to his clothes, but the laughter from inside was already fading behind him.
Callie stood near a vehicle, saying goodbye to her mom and grandmother as they climbed into a weathered SUV. Maggie must’ve already headed out. Janice leaned across the seat to say something—probably one last piece of advice—while Jo gave Callie a dramatic wink before closing the door.
They drove away with a honk and a wave, leaving her standing alone, smiling to herself.
