Page 91 of Embers in Our Souls
“Hi,” Indiana greets him. “Where’s Ella?”
“She’s with my mom,” he and River answer at the same time.
Indy chuckles, while her eyes ping-pong between the twins.
“Dude, she’s asking me. Ella’s my kid.” Clay rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, but we all know she favors me.” River puffs out his chest.
“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” Clay gives Indiana a hug, then comes to shake my hand, but I pull him into a hug of my own.
Luckily the brothers don’t take the disagreement any further because the doorbell rings.
River answers it and to my surprise it’s Marissa and another woman who I assume to be her girlfriend, Josie, from the way she’s holding her near.
“Hey, Marissa.” I give her a hug.
“Hunter! How’s my pseudo-boyfriend doing?” She smiles, winking my way.
I laugh, then pull Indy into my side. “Marissa, I want you to officially meet mywife, Indiana.” I feel Indy stiffen slightly, likely from the last encounter with Marissa at the restaurant.
“So, you two finally figured your shit out, huh?” Marissa has that signature Cheshire grin across her face.
“And you must be the one and only Josie.” I extend my hand to her girlfriend.
“Hi.” Indy says to both of them.
Marissa laughs. “You two really are stubborn little things, aren’t you?”
“Leave them alone, Mar.” Josie smacks her girlfriend on the arm. “They’re together now. Stop causing trouble.”
“What? I’m just pointing out the obvious,” Marissa says.
“Let them be.” Josie rolls her eyes. Then she turns her attention to Indy. “Please don’t mind her. She’s full of fire, but loyal to a fault. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Ditto. You live nearby?” Indy asks them.
“No, we both live in California. The timing worked out though. Marissa had a few days off. So I forced her to step away from the office and we came out to visit. Just happened to be during Malloy’s birthday, which was a bonus. This one’s a workaholic.” She points to her girlfriend.
Right then, the front door swings open, revealing Kennedy and Abby, food platters in their hands.
“The party has officially arrived,” Kennedy declares.
Kennedy turns heads when she walks into a room. As the CEO of the Boston Gaels, the Major League Baseball team here,she commands a boardroom and, apparently, a living room. She’s wearing a form-fitting, black dress, red heels, and her smile radiates as she takes each guest in.
“I’m so glad everyone is here already. Samara and Ashton are parking right now,” she announces.
We start grabbing items from their hands and set them in the kitchen. As we’re pulling lids off the trays and making sure everything is set up the way the party planners envisioned, River wraps his hands around Kennedy’s middle.
“Babe, just curious… if you ordered all this food, why did I see so many empty olive oil containers in the trash?”
“Well, I thought I’d do something nice for you.” She pats his forearm, looking up at him.
He gives her a quizzical expression. “What do you mean? Did you make something?”
She moves out of his grasp and leans against the counter. I finish my task and grab a beer from the cooler set out for the guests. I have a feeling I want to listen to whatever Kennedy is about to say. Something about her overly sweet smile gives me pause.
“No, sweetie. You know how Abby’s been teaching me how to drive a bit,” Kennedy continues.
