The gesture, however, seemed to please Mrs. Sothard, no end.
“Tabitha, this is my mother, Ellen Sothard.”
“I’m so pleased to meet you, Mrs. Sothard,” Tabitha responded, sticking out a hand.
“Oh, no, dear,” the woman clucked. “First off, call me Ellen. And second, nothing but a hug will do for the first woman my Spencer has ever brought home.”
“Ma!” Spencer rolled his eyes, but cheerfully removed his arm and gave Tabitha a gentle nudge in the direction of his mother’s open arms.
Tabitha stepped forward and felt herself enfolded in a warm, motherly embrace; one like she hadn’t felt since her own parents had passed. Now it was Tabitha’s eyes that grew wet. “Spencer’s…never brought a woman home before?” Tabitha asked to tamp down her suddenly tender emotions.
Before Ellen could answer, Spencer spoke up.
“I have,” he defended himself. “Remember, Ma? Rosalyn Davers?”
Ellen Sothard ended the hug somewhat reluctantly, but kept hold of Tabitha’s hand as she playfully chastised her son. “Sixth grade crushes donotcount, Spence,” she snorted. “Now fill me in. I can’t wait to hear how the two of you met,” she trilled,turning toward Tabitha, forgetting about Spencer for a moment as she towed her toward the house.
“That’s kind of a huge story,” Tabitha allowed, letting herself be led up the stairs.
Ellen nodded. “Okay then. Save it for the group. I’m sure everyone will want to hear the details.”
“Speaking of groups,” Spencer got involved again, taking the steps behind them two at a time. “Who’s here?”
“Your father, of course,” Ellen enumerated. “Mase and Ever drove up a few minutes ago, along with Rowan and Kyle. And FYI, I’ve warned Kyle to be on his best behavior, but we already know that Rowan will keep him in line, so don’t worry that he’ll be too much of a sourpuss,” Ellen Sothard chuckled. “Grammie and Grampie are also here, but Julian had some kind of special project at work, and wasn’t able to make it.”
Ellen, however, seemed satisfied with the crowd size.
“What? No Seifer, either?” Spencer teased.
“Bah. He’s off at someplace called Mammoth Mountain, late spring skiing.” Ellen shook her head and tsked. “That boy. He’s been skiing so much over the past few months, do you know he still hasn’t completed the credits he needs to graduate?” She seemed a bit exasperated. “I’ve made him promise that he’ll make it all up with summer classes and get his diploma by August.”
It sounded to Tabitha like Seifer, out of all the brothers, was marching to his own tune, and she wanted to say “good for him”. But having just met his mother, it wasn’t her place.
It was a little sad that it had taken so long for Spencer to find the drum-beat for his own life, but Tabitha was elated that it looked to finally be happening. Not that she blamed Spencer’s parents for his delay-of-career. That was partly on his brothers, but mostly on Spencer himself, for not finding his individual rhythm, sooner.
Still, Tabitha could easily see how wanting to please the people in Spencer’s clan had overridden his own desires.
“What’s Seifer studying?” Tabitha asked Ellen as they entered the cool exterior of the Sothard homestead. Ellen let go of Tabitha’s arm, turning right and entering a big kitchen.
There were people everywhere. Nine, not counting her and Spencer, if Tabitha was figuring correctly.
“Computer this or that,” Ellen said with a grin. “But you’re asking the wrong person. I basically use the computer to look up recipes. Other than that, I’m a complete luddite.”
“And we all benefit from that,” Mason stated from a stool at a central island in the middle of a large kitchen that smelled heavenly.
“Mmm. Something is going to be good,” Tabitha breathed deeply of the pungent spices in the air.
“It’s just pot roast,” Ellen said, dismissing the compliment with a grin. “And it still has about a half hour to cook, so how about I introduce you to the rest of the family?” She hooked her arm through Tabitha’s again and led her to the center of the space where most of the people sat around a huge, trestle table. “Everyone, this is Tabitha.”
Ellen then took a hot minute to introduce her to each and every person, after which Tabitha found herself shaking hands and being embraced by them all in turn.
She couldn’t get over what a good-looking crew this was. It was easy to see where the younger Sothards got their stellar looks. Spencer’s mother was a beautiful woman, but she was short and fair. Guy Sothard, on the other hand, was tall, broad across the shoulders, and swarthy skinned. His hair, now liberally streaked with gray, had once been the same dark color that all the boys seemed to favor. He was still a very handsome man, even approaching sixty, and all the next generation Sothards favored him, completely. Grandpa Sothard was noslouch, either. Pushing eighty or maybe even beyond, he was still a square-jawed, imposing figure.
“Hey, jerk-face,” Kyle called attention to Spencer. “You promised earlier that when we were all together, you’d tell us what danger you, Buck, and Tabitha had to deal with.”
“Wait, Buck?” Ellen’s face lit up. “You two were with Buck recently?” Her countenance fell just as quickly. “And you were all in danger?”
Spencer rested a hand on her shoulder to calm her, and started in on the story.
