Page 25 of From Grumpy to Forever
“Almost family.” It was my twin who made the clarification.
Unlike the others, Grayson wasn’t smiling.
Fuck.
There were a lot of details I hadn’t considered when I proposed our little arrangement to Avery. My brothers and how they might react were definitely one of the bigger ones.
“Feel like filling us in on some of the details, brother?” Ethan leaned back in his chair. “Like, maybe…who she is?”
“She’s a super cute blonde.” Grayson spoke up, his face still an unreadable mask. “She just inherited the Tamarack Inn from her grandparents and moved back to town.” He lifted his bottle to his lips and took a drink before continuing. “What? A week ago or so?”
“Almost three weeks ago, now.”
“Feels pretty quick, don’t you think?”
I stared directly into the eyes that were identical to my own. “When you know, you know. And it’s really not that quick after all. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
Grayson shot me a look.
“Remember when Grandma would take us over to the inn in the summers while she visited with Mrs. Walker?” There was a flicker of remembrance on my brother’s face. “We’d run around the gardens and there was always a little girl there, too.”
“No shit?”
I nodded. “So really, we’ve known each other most of our lives.” Grayson opened his mouth to object, but I didn’t give him a chance. “Besides, if I’m not mistaken, you were more or less pushing Avery on me. I guess I have you to thank for all this.”
He didn’t look away. “I guess congratulations are in order.”
“Thank you.”
Guilt flared through me, but I worked to keep it off my face. I’d never lied to Grayson before. There wouldn’t have been any point to it anyway. We’d always been so close, he could see right through any and all of my bullshit.
If he could see it now, he wasn’t saying.
“So?” Preston pulled my attention away from my twin. “What’s she like? She must be pretty special if she managed to melt your frozen heart.”
“My heart is not frozen.”
“No,” Preston agreed. “Just hard.”
“Like a rock.” Brody laughed. “Seriously, she must be some kind of magical to break through your walls so quickly.”
Magical? Maybe not. But special? Abso-fucking-lutely.
“Quinn said she was pretty,” Ethan offered. “And really nice. She said that you all had ice cream yesterday.”
“Was that before or after your engagement?”
I ignored Grayson and focused on Ethan.
“We did.” I glanced around the kitchen. “Where is Quinn? We need to talk about how she hears everything. That kid is always listening.” And I needed to pull my niece aside and try to explain this new situation to her.
“She’s at a friend’s.” Ethan shrugged. “And yes, she is a good little spy.”
“Right.” I drained the last of my beer, set the bottle on the counter, and lifted an eyebrow. “That works both ways, brother. She mentioned something about my potential and how I needed a good woman.”
Ethan burst out laughing. “I can’t speak for your potential, but it sounds like maybe you’ve got a good woman now.”
“She’s a good one, all right,” Grayson said. “No idea what a cute little blonde with a smile that bright saw in a grump like you, but…cheers, Reid. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
