Page 6 of The Glass Dolphin

Kristen hadn’t joined them, and looking at them from across the room, she knew she didn’t fit with them yet. They’d had their whole lives to mesh, to learn about one another, to become a family. She was the outsider here, though Theo still stood at her side.

Rowena lived in Connecticut, and her divorce had been finalized in the fall. Kristen knew women like her; some of them were her own Seafaring Girls, and she knew Rowena likely needed time to heal. Having Kristen and Theo’s relationship shoved in her face wasn’t something she wanted.

Kristen stepped away from Theo and went around the people standing at the end of her peninsula. She started getting out the frostings she’d made and colored that morning and putting them on the dining room table. She’d already fitted in the leaf, and it still wouldn’t hold them all for their dinner tonight.

Theo would probably have his sons set up the folding table that currently waited in Kristen’s hallway, and they’d butt it up against the table to make one big long one.

“So,” Rowena said as Kristen returned to the kitchen. “Are you and Daddy going to get married?” She took a bite of her shortbread cookie, which Kristen had decorated like a wreath, and looked at Kristen fully for the first time.

Panic shot through her chest, sending barbs into her ribs and fleshy organs.

“Row,” Terry admonished. “Don’t.”

“What?” Rowena asked. “It’s a valid question.”

“One Dad said not to bring up.” Terry gave his sister a pointed look and then Kristen a warm smile. “Don’t mind her. She’s—” The rest of his words got drowned out by a hearty shout from the direction of the doorway.

Kristen looked over to it and found Theo’s final child entering. Nelson carried more weight than his older brother, and he had far less hair. He’d shaved his head completely, but he wore a full beard. He laughed and practically yelled, “We’re here!” as he held the door open for his four children to parade through.

Two boys and two girls entered, each of them wearing a bright red or green sweater. They were a festive bunch, and they were followed by their mother, who wore a red, white, and green plaid dress with a pair of four-inch, bright red heels.

Kristen had never met anyone like her before. Her blonde hair had been swept up into a ponytail high on her head, and she surveyed the condo like she could single-handedly transform it into a penthouse suite if given a few hours and a roll of duct tape.

“Nelson!” Terry boomed, and he went to hug his brother. Lots of greetings got exchanged, one where Nelson picked up Rowena and hugged her in a bouncing way while she loudly protested.

Kristen stood out of the way and watched Theo interact with his kids and grandkids. He glowed, as he obviously loved them all. He’d told her they hadn’t gotten together like this in a few years, and he’d really been looking forward to having the holidays with his family back together again.

She swallowed as he finally looked at her. He held out his hand, and Kristen forced herself to move to stand beside him. The door opened again, and Marty and another teenage girl entered.

“Ah, Hailey,” he said. “Rowena’s daughter. My son, Nelson, and his wife Victoria. Their kids, Raven, Fiona, Denver, and Dallas. The last two are twins.” He beamed at the boys in matching red sweaters like they were the cutest things on the planet. They had good genes, and they were good-looking boys.

Kristen smiled at all of them, and said, “Welcome. Thanks for coming.” She gestured to the cookie bar behind her. “It’s great to meet you all, and I have dessert first today. We can decorate the sugar cookies when everyone’s ready too.”

All four of Victoria’s children looked at her for permission to eat a cookie, and she gave it with a quick nod of her head. They then converged on the counter, nearly knocking Kristen out of the way.

She laughed as she moved into the safer recesses of the living room, Theo at her side. The noise from the kitchen only reached its current level when she held the luncheon for her girls here at the condo. She’d only done so once, because it was easier to meet at a restaurant. Then someone else cooked and cleaned up.

“They’re great,” she said.

Theo took her hand in his. “I think so too. Even Rowena. She’ll come around.”

Words gathered in Kristen’s mouth, and she tried to order the properly before they came out. She finally landed on, “You told them not to ask about our relationship?” She looked at him, searching those brilliant gray-blue eyes.

He suddenly looked nervous, and Theo never looked like that. “I didn’t want it to be awkward for you.”

“Why would it be awkward for me?”

“Because we haven’t talked about it.” He waved to one of the twins, who lifted a sandwich cookie Kristen had made from a boxed cake mix.

“Maybe we should,” Kristen said, her voice dry and brittle.

Theo looked at her. “You want to get married?” He seemed genuinely surprised, and that sent a barb of uncertainty into Kristen’s heart.

“Maybe,” she hedged. “Do you?”

“To be honest,” he said. “I—”

“Grandpa,” Hailey yelled to him. “Get over here and look at this stained-glass cookie. It’s amazing!”

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