Page 144 of Stepbrother Dearest

“I want up too,” Harper pouted.

“Come here.”

She heaved a big, dramatic sigh and trudged over to me. “Fine.”

Chuckling, I scooped her up and kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry, you can claim Caleb later. We have to let him say hello to everyone.”

“Caleb, this is my husband, Glenn,” Mom continued with the introductions as Glenn came to stand next to her.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Glenn held out his hand.

“You too, sir.” Caleb shook it, looking a bit dazed.

“Sir.” Glenn chortled. “I feel so fancy when people call me sir. Glenn is fine. Or hey you. Just don’t call me late to dinner.”

“Already dropping the dad jokes?” I teased.

“Like I ever stop.” He motioned for us to come into the café.

“I’m just going to go say hi to Marilyn and Tabby.” I pecked a kiss against Caleb’s cheek. “You okay for a few?”

He nodded.

“Do you want to come with me, or stay here?” I asked Harper.

“Stay.”

I put her down and ruffled her hair. She absently swatted my hand away, her attention on Caleb as he stood with our parents.

“Gray tells us you’re a nurse?” Glenn said.

I glanced at my boyfriend. He nodded, his expression was neutral, but his eyes were wary.

“My nephew wants to be a nurse. He’s going into his junior year. Do you have any advice for the types of courses he should take or what he should look for when he applies to college?”

Caleb visibly relaxed and smiled.

Knowing he would be fine for a few minutes, I made my way to the counter where Marilyn and Tabby stood.

“Heya, stranger.” Marilyn gave me a big hug. “We’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. Haven’t been around town much.”

“And why is that?” She put her hands on her hips. “Forget about us little people?”

“I could never forget about you.” I waved to Tabby, who was more introverted than her wife. “I’ve just been working a lot.”

“You have?” Marilyn beamed at me. “That’s great.”

I came to the café whenever I was in town for a coffee and to chat. I’d met them when I worked on the crew they’d hired to renovate the place before they opened, and they’d sort of adopted me. They’d heard me talk about my work woes for over a year now and had introduced me to Evie.

“Yup. I have three jobs now.”

“Three?” Tabby laughed. “You can’t do anything halfway, can you?”

“Apparently not.”

“So, tell us everything,” Marilyn prompted excitedly.

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