“Pull them out and cover them with that towel,” she instructed as his dad meandered through the sliding glass door with a tray of steaks. “Oh! James, dear, come say hi to Sammie.”
James shifted the tray to one hand and offered his other to Sammie. “Hello there, Sammie. It’s nice to meet you.”
Sammie shook his hand as she smiled sweetly. “It’s nice to meet you, too. Those smell delicious.”
Nick flipped a spatula and used it to gesture at his dad. “Dad’s a master at the grill.”
“I can see that,” Sammie agreed. “What happened to you?”
Nick made a growling noise as he bent down to squeeze her shoulders and kiss her cheek again. “You’re relentless.”
“And you love it.”
“I do indeed.”
Evelyn gleamed again as she stood from the table to begin slicing and plating the roasted vegetables and fruit while James chuckled and shook his head. “Nick was always far more interested in hiking and studying than learning to use the grill.”
Nick shrugged. “Probably could’ve been worse.”
“True,” James concurred. “It’s just funny that you pursued a career in the food industry with zero knowledge of food.”
Nick waved a hand. “It was—”
“— a pragmatic business decision,” both his parents and his girlfriend finished for him in unison as they laughed, which caused him to lift his eyebrows in mild exasperation and amusement.
“Well, it was.”
* * *
After dinner, Evelyn tugged Sammie into the living room and went ahead with the obligatory sharing of Nick’s baby pictures so Nick decided hiding in the kitchen to clean up was a great idea.
“You know she’s been waiting for this moment for your entire adult life,” James mentioned after he ambled into the kitchen and leaned against the counter.
“I know. Could be worse, right?”
“Of course.”
A series of loud giggles drifted from the adjoining room, causing Nick to let out a sigh.
“I’d guess in about ten minutes they’ll move on to planning the impending wedding,” James continued.
Nick groaned and dropped his head backward. “It’s only been three months. There’s no wedding in the forecast.”
“Yeah. But there will be. These things tend to have a bit of a snowball effect.”
He shot his dad a look. “Not necessarily.”
“You still don’t think you’ll ever get married?”
“Why is marriage automatically a given? What’s wrong with just having a girlfriend?”
James shook his head. “Nothing. Until it’s not enough.”
“I think it’s plenty,” Nick insisted. “People don’t feel the need to get married for the sake of getting married anymore.”
“Some people don’t,” James agreed. “But I don’t think you’re some people.”
Nick huffed. “Right.”
